The death of Twilight Sparkle casts a shadow over Equestria. The fallout is dramatic, and while the nation staggers, the agents of darkness do not wait for the nation to recover.

But in Ponyville, the Shadow is both emotional, physical, figurative, and literal. Ponyville suffers from the national depression worst of all the country; demoralized weather teams have more and more trouble cleaning away the dark cloudcover; Pinkie Pie begins to doubt her sixth sense as it consistently warns her of imminent danger to her friends that never arrives; and a strange and animate darkness stalks the alleyways of Ponyville, and fleeting between the glimpses of its inhabitants.