“Come on wings, don’t fail me now!” Twilight Sparkle shouted, encouraging her body to continue its exhaustive flight. Her wings were beating frantically, their tendons burning and growing weary. “We have to keep going, you can do this! I can do this!”

Twilight’s flight from Cloudsdale had brought her several miles south west of the floating city, putting her right above the entrance to the Flame Geyser Swamp. The swamp stretched well over one hundred miles from the northern end to the southern, and she was entering from the north eastern corner. If her calculations were correct – which they always were – then Rainbow Dash should have landed within the first ten miles of the swamp’s perimeter. With a glint of hope in her determined stare, she would only have to search a small part of the swamp itself.

Wasting no time at all, Twilight immediately activated her magic. Bending and weaving the intricate threads, she formed her magic into a spell that was relatively new to her. She had never actually cast it before and had only read about it during her previous years as an adult. Despite this, the thought that she might not be able to do it was entirely laughable. Magic was natural for her, and she still had all her talent from before the time travel spell. Besides, there was no way she’d fail now; her magic needed to work in order for her to find Rainbow.

With a soft yet audible whoosh, the magic dispersed from her horn all around her, spreading in all directions. She could feel the magic as it had tethered itself to her mind, feeding her information about everything in the area; from the smallest bug to the tallest tree, nothing was missed within the spell’s range. The magic itself was spread out in an enormous diameter, her head acting as the center. Everything present within her magic’s reach was made known to her.

With a soft bit of concentration, she lowered the data of the magic, forcing it to stop telling her about the trees, the water, and the insects. She only needed this spell to inform her of life forms the size of a filly or larger, plants excluded. As amazing as it was for her to know that there was exactly forty seven ants crawling on that particular tree root, it was a distraction from her real goal.

Slightly disappointed, she let out a quiet sigh as the information feed diminished to zilch, signifying that there were no ponies, Rainbow Dash or otherwise, within her magic’s reach. She had been hoping that her spell might find Rainbow immediately, but that was apparently not the case.

Time to get to work…

Twilight pushed with her wings, working hard to ignore the trace amounts of fatigue that were slowly worming their way through her body. Flying all the way to Cloudsdale had been tiring enough, coupled as it was with a quick search of the city. At the time she hadn’t noticed her body’s complaints; she had been pretty preoccupied in her search for Rainbow Dash. Now though, after flying all the way to the Flame Geyser Swamp, she was going to spend Celestia-knows-how-long searching it, all the while with a magic spell slowly draining on her energy. Despite her best efforts, Twilight could feel that she couldn’t keep this up for much longer.

She didn’t have to fly for long though. After just about ten minutes, her life-detection spell informed her that it had spotted a small cluster of ponies to her left.

Adjusting the angle of her wings, she immediately altered her course to fly straight towards them. She had a pretty good idea who it was; after all, she had heard the Governor of Cloudsdale mention the Search and Rescue teams that had been sent out. Still, she needed to know for sure.

Twilight’s eyes widened in shock after a whole minute of flight had passed and she had still not arrived at the group of ponies. Just what is the range of this spell…? She had expected them to be little more than a few hundred yards away, but the seconds ticked by and there was still no sight of anypony. If she had to wager how far, she guessed now that the life-detection magic had probably spread out a quarter of a mile. Possibly even further.

At last, as she passed over the top of yet another gloomy birch tree, she spotted a small group of pegasi that were resting in a clearing without any of the swamp’s geysers nearby. There were five of them and they were each wearing the standard attire of a Cloudsdale guard. On their bodies was a strong, yet light armor that pegasi would wear in dangerous environments; it provided them with a decent amount of protection but it didn’t hamper their flight. Each pegasus also carried a weapon, though they were all still sheathed.

With a relieved sigh, Twilight lowered herself to the ground. She couldn’t help but hope they might have news on Rainbow Dash’s whereabouts. With a soft squelch, her hooves set down on the ground a little ways away from the pegasi. She plodded her way over to them quickly, her body easing out the soreness from within its muscles. Her wings relaxed and her joints all enjoyed the slight reprieve of being on the ground.

One of the pegasi, a stallion, spotted her before she got up to them. He jumped up from his sitting position, where he had been enjoying a nice sandwich for lunch, and looked at her apprehensively.

“Who are you? You’re not the filly we were sent out to find.” His eyes flicked up to her horn momentarily before then looking back at her wings. His mouth stretched open in shock as his eyes widened, realization dawning on his face.

His fellow Search and Rescue members, which consisted of three mares and one stallion, all noticed her as well by now. After a few stuttering mumbles, they all stared at her with similar expressions.

Twilight didn’t have time for this. “Do you have any data on the whereabouts of Rainbow Dash yet?” Her voice, despite having the softness of a filly, resounded with a resolute determination. The pegasi briefly looked at one another upon hearing her question. They obviously didn’t know what to make of this tiny alicorn who was suddenly questioning them. Without any better courses of action to take, one of them, a mare with a white coat and light blue mane, spoke up.

“No, not yet…” she said, attempting to keep her voice steady and composed. Upon seeing the small grimace that crossed Twilight’s face when she gave her statement, she quickly continued. “But that doesn’t mean she hasn’t been found! There are multiple patrols sweeping through the swamp. It’s possible somepony else might have found her.”

Twilight lifted her eyes and met the gaze of the rescue pegasus. A small smile softened Twilight’s features. Upon seeing her expression, the mare started towards Twilight.

“Look, you shouldn’t be out here,” said one of the stallions who had yet to speak up. “This swamp is dangerous, and–”

Twilight cut him off by turning around and immediately flying away. She heard one of them call after her, but she didn’t care. Whether they were right or not about the danger was unimportant. She may look like a filly, and she might have begun to feel like one again, but she had actually been an adult. She knew she could take care of herself. Besides, Rainbow Dash needed her and if those ponies hadn’t found her yet, then Twilight simply needed to keep looking.

Angling herself to continue flying deeper into the swamp once more, she put her attention back on her magic. After a little while she could feel the presence of the pegasi disappear from her mental radar, leaving her with the slightly stifling sensation of being alone again.

However, the loneliness didn’t last for long. Less than ten minutes had passed when her magic once again flared up to inform her of a small group of ponies directly ahead of her. Pleasantly surprised, and even a little hopeful, she began to fly even faster.

The tops of multiple trees passed underneath her over the course of her continued flight. Twilight was once again astounded by just how far the life-detection spell worked. It even felt like it was possibly a little bit bigger now than it was in the beginning, though Twilight dismissed the thought instantly. Such notions were simply not possible; she must just be imagining it.

At last she spotted the small group of ponies that she had felt. Just as she suspected, it was another group of Search and Rescue pegasi. They were thoroughly searching the area around them, some of them up in the air flying between the trees and checking within their branches, the others on the ground. All of them were working hard and had determined looks on their faces.

Twilight sighed as she began to glide to the ground, preparing to let her wings and lungs take a breather. However, she didn’t get the opportunity to rest. Before she had even been able to descend below the tops of the trees, a resounding splash echoed forth from an area of the swamp that was mostly water and muck. The five pegasi quickly turned to see what had caused it, as did Twilight, and together they all stared in shock.

There, sticking up from the murky waters of the swamp, was a massive, flaming tentacle. It went straight up into the air about thirty or so hooves and was made entirely of what Twilight determined to be bone. The flames, which covered the massive appendage, were burning brightly and were setting fire to the tops of some of the trees that were nearby amidst its flailing.

Twilight looked on in horror, her eyes widening from fear. She couldn’t figure out how her magic had failed to inform her that this monster was there! The spell was supposed to inform her of all living beings per the parameters that she had set! How had this beast managed to get passed her spell and surprise her!?

The Search and Rescue unit scattered in different directions as the flaming tentacle suddenly whipped down towards the ground. Four of them were able to evade it; one of them was not so lucky. With a sickening crack, one of the stallions on the ground got caught by the flaming strike. The whip wasted no time and immediately wrapped itself around its victim, the flames burning away at the stallions barrel as it dragged him along the ground towards the water.

Twilight grit her teeth as she watched the stallion scream out in pain. She wanted to do something, anything to help him, but something in the back of her mind was stopping her, forcing her to hold her position. His voice called out, a pleading wail that was begging for help. Twilight couldn’t hear it however, as her ears filled with a sharp ringing that seemed to bounce about her skull.

Her breathing sped up as her pupils shrank, for deep within the noise in her ears, she could have sworn that she heard the powerful tones of a gargantuan bell.

… Bong…

… Bong…

… Bong…

Twilight subconsciously began backing away from the scene, still hovering near the tree tops. The screams and shouts of the ponies below were drowned out by the cacophony of sound within her ears. She looked on, paralyzed by fear, as they struggled to save their friend. She desperately wanted to help them, but… What was it that was holding her back?

She watched as the other pegasi quickly jumped into action. One of them, wielding wing-blades, flew at high speed directly over the flaming tentacle. Rolling his body upside down at the right moment, his blades sliced clean through the appendage, causing it to fall to the ground as it loosened its grip on their comrade. The other half of the tentacle quickly sucked itself back into the swamp, disappearing beneath the murky waters.

One of the ponies, a black coated mare, rushed over to the stallion who had been attacked. The tentacle around him continued to burn despite being removed from the rest of its body. Twilight saw sweat matting the mare’s coat as she used her spear to unravel it from around him. She then lifted him up from the flaming appendage and carried him away to treat his wounds.

The ringing in Twilight’s ears stopped and she found she could move her body again. She let out a few shaky breaths before she closed her eyes and attempted to steady her nerves. I’m alright. It was just a surprise battle... That stallion can recover.

Opening her eyes, she expected to see the scene below her resolving and everypony beginning to recover. Twilight had never been more wrong.

The water where the tentacle had disappeared was now roiling and bubbling. A few seconds later, a beast that Twilight had hoped she’d never encounter came crawling out of the muck, slowly trudging its way through the water and onto solid ground.

Its body was a mismatched skeleton, held together by sinewy flesh at every joint. Twilight counted several bones from several creatures, but together they formed a crude equine shape. The monstrosity, aflame much like the tentacle, lumbered forwards, towering over the rescue ponies. The flames licked at everything they touched, leaving a scorched trail in its wake. On the skull where two eyes should have sat were instead a pair of solid black flames.

Twilight gasped in shock, unable to believe what she was seeing. “That’s a… Flame Monarch!”

The pegasi were seemingly just as shocked as she was, but didn’t have the luxury to just stand around and gawk. With one of them injured and another busy trying to save his life, there were only three members of the Search and Rescue team available to fight against the hulking monster. They wasted no time in doing so.

Two of them flew up to the front of the Flame Monarch, hoping that together they could steal the monster’s attention away from their fallen ally. One of them was the pony who had cut the tentacle in half, and the other was using a large spear which he held with his teeth. Together the two of them were keeping the Monarch distracted, though it was taking all of their skill in flying to do so.

Twilight watched, her eyes widening in surprise as she witnessed the pegasi holding their own against the Monarch. All the books she had read which discussed the various Monarchs talked about how dangerous they were, the Flame and Ice Monarchs being the most lethal. She had never read a single treatise which did not mention running away as the best course of action.

Her eyes followed the two ponies as their flight patterns kept them bobbing and weaving around the Flame Monarch, just barely keeping out of range of its attacks. They weren’t able to do any real damage to it as the monster’s flames kept the ponies well at bay. However, they were keeping it busy, as it kept flailing its hooves after them and thus it was not going after the rest of their team.

Again and again they dodged its attacks, forcing it to stagger around the landscape in its attempts to strike them. Twilight watched, amazed by the movements until she saw out of the corner of her eye something which connected it all together. The last pegasus, a blue coated mare with her sword still in its sheath, had positioned herself behind a nearby tree and was preparing to buck against it with all her might.

The mare pulled one of her hind legs back and rocketed it straight out, a solid blow against the tree which proved resilient. Twilight could tell that given enough time and energy, the mare could possibly kick that tree over. After all, she was well aware that Applejack had been strong enough to kick a tree over with a single blow. Still, this mare wasn’t Applejack and was not nearly as strong as she was.

Twilight turned back towards the Flame Monarch and gasped in shock; the monster had ceased its physical assault and had now opened its jaw. Inside, Twilight could see a ball of what appeared to be liquid fire being formed, and she suddenly remembered the reason why the Flame and Ice Monarchs were among the most lethal of their species.

The ground shook as the Monarch launched the ball of fire, aiming it right at one of the ponies that had been attacking it. The poor stallion never saw it coming. A scream tore past his lips as the ball of flame collided with his chest, the sheer force of the impact more than enough to send the pony flying. The sphere continued its ballistic trajectory, pushing against him with the strength of a landslide until at last they crashed into the ground a few hundred yards away. His body continued to tumble like a ragdoll, the ball of fire wedged into his chest.

… Bong…

… Bong…

… Bong…

Twilight forced herself to look down where she saw the Flame Monarch preparing another ball of fire, about to launch it at the second of the two pegasi. It was there, in that moment, that something inside her shifted. To Twilight, it felt as though a whole piece of her mind had suddenly twisted and locked itself in place as her mind cleared up and the ringing in her ears vanished. Before she even knew what she was doing, she had activated her magic and was flying straight towards the ground, relying purely on instinctive reaction.

The world felt strangely surreal as Twilight became aware of two important changes. First, her magic had taken hold of the Flame Monarch’s head and wrenched it to the side just as it had launched its attack. It had been just enough for the Monarch to miss its intended target by mere inches.

Second, she watched as her magic then enveloped the ball of fire, yet it did nothing to slow it down. Instead, with careful precision that surprised her, she teleported it in a way that allowed the ball to keep its momentum. It then reappeared a few hooves away from the tree that the mare had been attempting to buck over. The fireball sailed with unerring accuracy and crashed right into the tree. A loud crack rippled through the stifling air as the tree was forced over with the strength of a cannon blast before falling directly on the unaware monstrosity. The Monarch let out a roar of pain as the tree hit it with a sickening crunch, crushing it entirely.

It was all over before Twilight had even touched the ground. The Flame Monarch lay dead beneath a toppled cypress tree, its bones shattered and scattered about the area. The pegasi retrieved their ally who had been sent flying and were bringing him back to where the black coated mare had been performing emergency first aid on the other wounded pony. Neither one of them looked to be in a stable condition.

Twilight walked on over to the pegasi and watched them work. They knew she was there and occasionally gave her furtive glances while they tended to their injured friends, but otherwise they left her alone. That was alright though… She didn’t really feel like talking.

Twilight's frantically beating heart was finally beginning to slow and the ringing in her ears had stopped. She could now hear the gasps, grunts, and sobs of the ponies as they tried to save their friends. Physically and emotionally drained, Twilight fell to her haunches. Sniffling, she buried her head in her hooves and found that her cheeks were streaked with tears.

This is all my fault... If I hadn't changed the past, these ponies... They wouldn't have... She couldn’t say the word, let alone think it, but she knew it was true. After all, her life detection spell was still active...

Twilight rubbed her eyes roughly. All she wanted to do was save Rainbow Dash. She didn't want anypony to get hurt because of her. Shaking her head, Twilight struggled weakly to her hooves; Rainbow Dash was still out there and still needed to be found.

She tried to put on a brave face; to grit her teeth and narrow her eyes in a stern determination, but at the sight of the rescue ponies, a choked sob forced its way out. Tears welled up in her eyes as Twilight collapsed back into the muck. Her face found its way back into her forehooves as she whimpered and sobbed quietly. Tears poured from her eyes and mixed with the swamp beneath her.

The ponies paid her no mind, and Twilight didn't blame them. Through hiccoughing sobs, a single question burned at the forefront of her mind: Why can't I get this right?

“Uuuugh…” Rainbow Dash’s head hurt, a lot. She wasn’t sure what had happened, but her whole body felt as if it had been trampled. Through the grogginess of her mind, she tried to think about where she was. Her legs felt like lead and her head as if it were stuffed with cotton.

She attempted to open her eyes and found it incredibly difficult to do so. Slowly and with great effort, her right eyelid lifted just a crack, revealing the environment around her. She couldn’t make anything out through her blurred vision though. With a groan, she attempted to lift her head.

A sharp pain spasmed through her neck as she forced her muscles to awaken. Gritting her teeth, she worked through it and forced her head up off the ground. She opened her eye further and took a glance at her body. What she saw wasn’t pretty.

Her back left leg appeared to be broken somewhere along its cannon, while her other legs were all covered in bruises and some minor scratches. Her barrel, however, was a different story. While it was also bruised and hurting, there was a jagged cut that stretched from her right flank all the way to her shoulder. It had seemingly bled a lot as the fur around it was crusty and matted.

She tried to flex her wings only to be met with another jolt of pain. With a shuddering whimper, Rainbow found a little hope in the situation as her wings twitched feebly behind her. At least they’re not broken.

She tried to open her left eye so that she could further look around only to find that she couldn’t. She delicately lifted her front right hoof, which caused her sore muscles to screech their objections, and tentatively felt the fur around her left eye. The best she could determine, it was at the very least bruised and swollen, but she could still move her eye inside the socket which led her to believe that the eye itself was intact.

She lay her head and hoof back on the ground, choosing to just let her body lie for a minute. While she lay, she swiveled her right eye about, inspecting the area around her as best she could.

Trees stretched out as far as she could see in every direction. As best as Rainbow could tell from between treetops, the sun was beginning to make its descent. Most of the trees had no branches on them and were mostly just tall, thin sticks with the occasional large trunked behemoth, and just about all of them came out of a massive pool of reddish brown muck. Very few of them connected to solid ground.

Am I… in a swamp…? Rainbow thought to herself.

As if to confirm her thoughts, she heard a strong gurgling noise as some of the muck about twenty hooves away began to bubble. With a mighty roar, a massive flame bellowed straight out of it, at least twice as tall as an average adult pony. Rainbow’s working eye widened in surprise as she felt panic course through her battered body.

Adrenaline began pumping as her breathing quickened. The pain in her legs, while still harsh and sharp, was pushed aside as terror took hold. Through gritted teeth, Rainbow pushed herself onto her three good legs. Through the slick and suction of the muck below her, she managed to shakily hold her ground.

Through heaving breaths, she limped as quickly as she could away from where the flames had risen. After moving only about five small steps, she again heard the same sound of whooshing air. Only a few paces in front of her another flame erupted from the swampish mud, so close to her that her face felt the heat. Instinctively, she opened her wings wide and began flapping with them to push her backwards faster than her hooves could move.

She only succeeded in making two light flaps which lifted her barely a hoof off the ground before she landed roughly, her wings too sore to go further. A scream tore its way past her lips as she forcibly landed on her broken leg. Hissing in pain, Rainbow fell to her haunches, clutching her broken leg with her hooves. As quickly as she dared Rainbow stood back up, careful to avoid putting any weight on her injured limb.

“Oh, it’s awake!”

Rainbow’s heart nearly stopped. Somewhere amidst the trees, a figure began to step towards her. She couldn’t quite see them, but she could hear their plodding as their paws stepped through the muck.

“You’re right, sister… It’s about time too. We were sssstarting to get hungry.”

Rainbow let out a small whimper and backed up a few steps, careful to not touch down with her back left hoof. Her ears flattened against her skull as she took in several quick breaths. Her head twisted back and forth, frantically searching for the owners of the voices. Her heart skipped a beat when she found them. From between the trees, a monstrous figure prowled towards her.

The voices belonged to one being. Rainbow gaped as it leered closer. The monster, with the body of a lion, had three heads that bobbed as it lumbered forwards. First was a lion’s head, snarling and growling as it licked its lips. The second head – a goat’s – nickered victoriously. The third head, a snake on the end of the creature’s tail, hissed as it approached. Rainbow stared helplessly into the three pairs of eyes, each glinting with predatory glee.

Rainbow gulped, not sure what to do. Her legs trembled, threatening to drop her back into the muck.

“Remind me why we didn’t eat her earlier when we found her?” the lion asked as it continued licking its chops.

“You don’t remember?” the goat head replied, a slight amount of annoyance evident in its voice. “When fillies go missing, others come searching. Had this one been found, we would have had more to eat.”

“Oh right! Well, at least we can eat this filly filet before it gets away.”

Shaky breaths were hammering in and and out of Rainbow’s lungs as tears began to fall from her eyes. She watched helplessly as the monster advanced closer and closer upon her, all the while baring it’s three sets of fangs. She wanted to say something, to beg the creature to not eat her, but no words came out. Her chest was shaking too much and no matter what she tried, she couldn’t get any breath to form words in her throat.

The beast lunged at her, determined to cover the last few steps with a fatal pounce. Rainbow Dash squeezed her eyes shut... and cried.

“Oh Princess Celestia, thank goodness… She hasn’t come out of her room and she won’t let me in.”

“I see… Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Lady Dublin. I will take care of everything from here.”

“Thank you, please, just… make sure she’s okay.”

“I am sorry, but I must be honest… I sincerely doubt that she is okay.”

Twilight Sparkle could hear their muffled voices through her bedroom door. She didn’t care though. She lay there in her blankets, her forehooves clutching tight against a pillow that had long since lost it’s fluff. It lay limp against her legs, crushed and lifeless, and it offered her no comfort in her sorrow.

The door to her bedroom opened and a ray of light cut its way through the darkness, cast from the torches in the hallway beyond. The light was then momentarily blocked as a pony walked in front of it, making entrance into the darkened room.

“Twilight, it’s me, Celestia.”

Twilight did not respond. She continued staring off the side of her bed, her legs tucked to her chest with the dead pillow crushed between them.

“Please Twilight, you can talk to me. I understand what you’re feeling.” Celestia’s voice spoke with a comfort and a tenderness that Twilight had not heard from the Princess before. Her eyes flicked towards a different spot on the far wall, but she did not otherwise respond to Celestia’s statement. Celestia, undeterred, tried again.

“I know very well the suffering that you’re going through. I have experienced it many times myself. Please, you must trust me when I say that it helps to speak of it with loved ones.” A pleading undertone had creapt into her voice. Twilight’s ears flicked a bit in response, but again, she stayed silent.

Celestia then walked across the room and moved around the bed so that she could stand before Twilight. Kneeling down in front of her, she reached out a hoof and gently pushed it beneath Twilight’s chin. Twilight raised her eyes to finally acknowledge Celestia’s presence, and gasped when she did.

Celestia’s head had turned into a massive mirror which stood atop her shoulders. In the reflection of the mirror, Twilight could see herself, but in the mirror she was not on her bed. She was instead in a massive and luxurious bathroom. Twilight spun around and found that her blankets and mattress were gone. Instead, she heard the click of her hooves against bathroom tiles.

“Princess, what–” she began, but her voice died when she looked back to find that Celestia too had vanished. Where her body had stood beneath the mirror, now there was just a sink and a few cabinets. Twilight looked back up into the mirror, and stopped in her tracks.

She took in the sight before her, a morbid sense of satisfaction building up in her mind. “How fitting it is,” Twilight mumbled, “that I should be covered in her blood…” She raised a hoof to her reflection, shivering as her hoof met the cold glass. She watched as her reflection, its coat covered in spattered blood and stained a deep red, mirrored her actions. She stared into her own eyes and remarked at how empty they seemed. It was as if there was no soul behind them.

“Twilight, please, just talk to me!” a male voice called out from behind her.

“Spike, just leave me alone!” Twilight cried, her voice cracking as tears ran down her face. She spun around to find the baby dragon standing right behind her, a look of dejection evident on his face.

“Twilight, you know it wasn’t your fault! Please, just accept that! You couldn’t have done any–”

“No! It was my fault! Rainbow died because of me!” Twilight fell to the cold stone floor, sobs shaking her whole body as her world crashed down around her.

“Twilight, it wasn’t your fault I died.”

Twilight’s eyes snapped open. “Rainbow Dash!?” She threw her head up and jumped to her hooves. There, standing directly before her, was the cyan pegasus herself.

“Yeah, it’s me. And don’t worry, it wasn’t your fault I died.” Rainbow flashed her signature grin, causing Twilight’s heart to miss a few beats. Twilight wanted to say something, to respond, but couldn’t form the words in her throat. Instead she just took in Rainbow’s features, marveling at how clear and pristine she appeared.

Rainbow turned her head to the side, letting a more comfortable grin settle onto her face. “Man, these gardens sure are beautiful, aren’t they?”

Twilight blinked. “Gardens…?” She turned and looked as well. She was standing in the Royal Gardens of Canterlot Castle, overlooking the rest of Equestria. The sun was shining far in the sky to the west, a few minutes away from beginning its descent beyond the horizon.

“I’m… I’m glad I came out to see you today,” Rainbow said, her voice going soft and taking on a sensitive side that she only ever showed to Twilight.

“I am too. This Princess Summit has been… stressful. A lot of political problems that are just very taxing to deal with.”

“Well, I’m glad I could help you relax away from it all…”

Rainbow looked at Twilight and smiled, causing Twilight’s heart to flutter in her chest. Suddenly, she realized where she really was. “No, wait, this is it! What am I doing? Rainbow, don’t look at me! This is when–”

“Twilight, look out!”

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight screamed, jolting awake. She was gasping for air and could feel her heart as it was pounding against her chest. Her eyes widened as she looked around, trying to figure out where she was.

“Hey, calm down! It’s alright!” The frantic voice belonged to one of the pegasi whom she had saved. Specifically it was coming from the black coated mare that Twilight had seen earlier. She was currently resting on the mare’s back and could see the swamp rushing past far beneath them as they flew.

After a few moments of confusion, Twilight figured out just what was happening. Apparently she had fallen asleep, and the remaining members of the search and rescue team hadn’t wanted to wake her. Not knowing what to do, they must have decided to just take her back with them to Cloudsdale.

A slight moment of guilt flashed across Twilight’s features as her eyes glanced at the other two remaining pegasi. Each one of them was carrying one of their fallen allies and wore a grim expression on their face. Neither even bothered looking over at Twilight or the pegasus who was carrying her.

“Wait a minute…” Twilight thought back. There had been a reason she woke up… All of a sudden, feeling like she had just taken a brick to the face, Twilight realized just what it was.

My life-detection spell is still active, and it found Rainbow while I was sleeping!

Without any hesitation, she quickly activated her magic and teleported away from the pegasus that had been carrying her. She reappeared at the same altitude, but twenty yards behind where she had started. Wasting no time, she began pumping her wings as hard as she could heading back the way they had come from. Behind her she could hear the sounds of the pegasus mare calling after her, but she didn’t care.

Within less than a minute, she felt it. Twilight experienced a wave of happiness wash over her as her spell flared to life and informed her that there was a pony somewhere far to her left. At first she was slightly confused because in the past few hours her life detection spell had only been telling her the size and race of the creatures it had found. This time though, it was flat out telling her ‘This life we’re sensing here? Yeah, this is the pony you were looking for.’

She angled her wings sharply to the left and began channeling a second spell. She hardly even registered it though as the magic took hold of her wings and her speed nearly doubled. There was something more important that she had just discovered.

There’s a second life form with Dash, and… it’s a chimera!

She pushed herself to the breaking point, forcing her body to work harder than she had ever done in the past. The agony and wailing of her muscles was lost to Twilight’s mind, however. Her eyes had hardened and her jaw had set.

All those months… Almost an entire year of agony and hell…! You won’t steal Rainbow away from me again! I will protect her!

With just a few more powerful flaps of her wings, Twilight burst past the last set of trees. Her eyes flew downwards and spotted that which she had worked so hard to find. There, just thirty hooves away, sat a filly named Rainbow Dash. Twilight’s heart soared at the sight, but it was short-lived. Rainbow was crumpled upon the ground, her back littered with jagged cuts and scratches. Twilight’s mouth went dry as she spotted one of Rainbow’s hind legs twisted at an odd angle. As if all that wasn’t bad enough though, she then spotted the real problem.

There, just beginning to leap towards the scared little pony, was the massive chimera Twilight had detected earlier. The beast had all three of its heads extending forwards, eagerly awaiting the moment when its fangs would sink into Rainbow Dash. It never got the chance.

With a quick burst of her magic Twilight created and released two separate spells, the first of which teleported her directly between Rainbow Dash and the chimera. Her second spell then threw up an arcane bubble around herself so big that it encompassed Rainbow as well. It was too late for the chimera who had already began its pounce. It collided with Twilight’s bubble, which immediately burst, causing an arcane blast that sent the chimera spiraling away through the air.

After watching the chimera collide with a tree, Twilight spun around. Rainbow Dash stood there, swaying unsteadily on her three healthy legs. Her body was covered with cuts, scrapes and bruises, and her wings looked rough and ragged. Twilight nearly cried, both from relief and worry, as Rainbow raised her head, revealing to Twilight her swollen and purple left eye.

Twilight watched as Rainbow slowly cracked open her good eye, seemingly confused as to why she hadn’t been eaten yet. Upon seeing Twilight, her eye flew open and she gasped in shock. Twilight smiled and let out a shaky breath, her eyes taking in everything that they could. This was really Rainbow Dash! She was really standing right here!

Unable to contain it, Twilight let out a joyful cry as her mouth split into the widest grin she could manage. She rushed forwards and embraced the filly in front of her.

“It’s you! It’s really, really you! Rainbow Dash, I’ve missed you so much!”

“Ow ow ow!” Rainbow cried out as Twilight overzealously hugged her. She managed to keep her back leg from touching the ground, but the rest of her body couldn’t take the pressure. Snapping her eyes open, Twilight backpedaled, releasing Rainbow from her grip.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry!” Twilight yelped, her smile unwavering as she stared at Rainbow Dash for a moment. Her cheeks ached as she tentatively stretched out a forehoof. “C’mon, we’ve gotta get you out of here!”

Rainbow just looked at her dumbfounded, her one eye flicking between both of Twilight’s, before a sound from a little ways away caught their attention.

“Haha, you were right ssssister! Another pony did come looking for her. And” – the tail snake smiled devilishly – “it’ssss a filly as well!”

The chimera had returned, relatively unhurt from its unexpected collision.

“Ah yes,” the goat head spoke, failing to contain its laughter. “We will eat so well tonight!”

Twilight turned back around and set her legs apart, leveling her horn towards the chimera threateningly. “Sorry Rainbow, but I’m going to have to handle this first. Once I’m done, we’re going straight to a hospital.”

With a bit of a wild glint in her eye, she prepared to fight against the beast that dared to threaten Rainbow Dash.

I’ll make sure it never threatens her ever again!