Fear was that all that passed through her. The horn on her head ached and her insides were wound as tight as a spring about to snap. As the real world around her finally came into focus as the fog of sleep lifted, a new feeling joined the fray. A sense of dread as deep and profound as the fear of those final moments when Tirek held her friends. Something was nearby, and it hurt.

Climbing slowing out of her bed and putting on her slippers, so as to not make a great deal of noise. Sounds tended to travel in the castle, and she did not want to wake Spike. As she left the bedroom and walked out into the night air of her balcony, she could begin to feel the pain transform into something darker. She could not place the emotion, yet he made her clinched insides freeze as if the ice winds of the Windgo had gone through her.

That is when the sun began to rise. As the sun came up something caught her attention in the periphery of her vision, a black dot between Sweet Apple Acres and the rock quarry. As she focused her eyes on it every feeling grew until she was forced to look away. This was bad, she needed help, she needed her friends! But they no long carried the Elements of Harmony. She needed to bring Celestia and Luna in on this. Her heart told her that she would not be able to handle this alone.

“Spike wake up I need you to send a letter for me!”

Spike rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Twilight had woken him up early to send letters before, it rarely happened these days, but it still felt familiar. Reaching up to his night stand to grab a quill and paper he kept handy in case he needed to take note of a thought. Spike looked up to see that Twilight had already written the letter and that the words looked rushed with none of twilight normal precise writing. Looking more like a school filly’s scrawling. All of the drowsiness that normally came with Spike’s wake up process banished itself in a strange feeling fear.

“Twilight what wrong? Whatever it is, I’m sure we can fix it.”

Twilight looked away from him. He knew in that moment she was going to lie to try and avoid telling him something that she believed would scare him.

“It nothing Spike. Celestia raised to sun early this morning I’m sending a letter to find out if its something I need to bring the girls to Canterlot for.” The smile that she gave him felt false. “You can send it and just go back to bed.”

He hated how she still treated him this way. He followed the dragon migration, won the dragon heart staff, and even was the hero of the crystal empire. She needed to stop treating him like a little kid that couldn’t handle the truth. He set the letter aflame and watched it disappear into the ash. He made to act like he was going to curl up and go back to sleep, watching Twilight quickly leave his room.

Spike climbed out of his bed and made to follow, knowing whatever could make Twilight this upset was important enough to miss his sleep. He looked at the already risen sun and then looked to hi his clock. It read 4 am.

He looked up at the sound of beating wings and saw Twilight flying off in the direction of Rainbow's cloud house. Then something wrong caught his eyes. It looked like a storm made of the darkness from the deepest reaches of Tartarus. It felt like the feeling that stirred in him when he had woken up saw Twilight.

“If Twilight is going to Rainbow’s I’ll go to Sugar cube Corner and Carousel Boutique. It’s pretty clear where they’re going to have to meet up.”

Rainbow was actual a morning pony. She got up early, long before the sun rose in the warmer months to do her less fun exercises such as wing lifts and endurance training. Those where not fun for her fans to watch. It allowed her to get them done in the cool air of the pre-sunrise. When the sun rose earlier than in the even the earliest spring mornings. She was up even earlier then normally because she had felt something wrong was going to happen today. She saw something dark in the corner of her eye. over the nearby edge of Sweet Apple Acres, it felt even worse than moment before a crash she knew she might not walk away from so easily.

She lost herself in a desperate attempt to not give into the fear, she was barely able to keep herself in the air. Rainbow did not give in she held her gaze and refused to allow it to bully her. She didn’t know how long she was staring at it, when suddenly someone was shouting in her ear. “Rainbow Dash!” Turning to the source of the sound, Rainbow found herself looking at Twilight. The first thing that she noticed was that Twilight flight form was still poor. She never seemed to be able to sense the world around her. The next was Twilight overall state. That nearly lock Rainbow wings together. She had the look that reminded Rainbow far too much of the time that she enchanted her Smarty Pants doll.

Seeing that she finally had Rainbow attention, “Rainbow I need you to go to Applejack’s house and Fluttershy’s cottage and bring them to the storm, I sure that you can feel it by just look that it bad news.”

Rainbow knew that Twilight probably was going to go on one of long spiels and sped off before she could begin. Twilight did not react the way that she excepted and instead just started flying back towards town.

Fluttershy did not know why she woke up at first. It felt like she had not gotten enough sleep. Yet some instinct told her that going back to bed was a bad idea. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Fluttershy listened. Her short life she had learned that often she got a lot more out of listening then by talking. What she did hear was far worse then anything she could have imagined. Nothing. There was not a single sound of any of her animal friends. She had bobcat resting in the living room, it breathing should have been loud enough to hear it because it snored.

Rushing down her stairs, she found herself in her cottage’s main living area to find that there was not a single animal anywhere. Listening, she finally found Angel Bunny hiding under the couch that Discord sat on during their tea parties. He was curled up, openly revealing fear that he would never have even shown her. He openly jumped into her forehooves upon seeing her.

The sun began to rise in the window bringing light into the living room. To Fluttershy that felt wrong. Looking at the clock that that was barely ticking in the corner in the kitchen and saw that it was far too early, it was only 4 am!
Fluttershy then heard a scared squeak of an animal that she knew very well. It was the first sound Angle her loyal pet had made this whole time. Fear came off him in waves almost visible in a dark halo. Angel Bunny looked at Fluttershy. What most people do not understand is that Fluttershy did not so much talk to her animal friends she actual was able to just understanding the emotions and hearts of her friends. Angel Bunny related to her that he could feel a Predator that scared him in a way that he could not even begin to understand. It was something that could not be matched or questioned. The other animals had fled the moment they had felt it. They knew that it they met this creature it would be beyond them.

Lifting Angel up in a hug. "Its alright Angel, I’m going to go and see the girls. Maybe we can figure out what’s going on and stop things from going so bad.” Setting him down on the couch, she turned to leave. She had a little trouble keeping up the tough act in front of Angel, but she had grown a lot braver from her adventures as the Elements of Harmony and as member of the Friendship council.

As she opened the door and looking into the rising sun, she felt more scared then she looked. Looking back to find some courage in Angel normal obstinate nature. She found that he had crawled back under the couch and was no longer in view.

Applejack was making some morning Coffee before she and her brother got started on chores for the day. It was 4 am, still too early for the sun to rise, but she had to get some of the work done before it did and it started getting hot. Big Mac was sitting across from her to drinking from his own cup. Granny was outside trying to work the kinks out of her body before the day started. Applebloom was still asleep. It was important for the filly to get as much rest as possible at this stage in her life so that she could grow up into a fine mare.

Setting the cup down. “Well ah guess it’s time to start getting that hay into the loft.”

They always did the hay early in the day because hay trapped heat inside of the barn and made it warm up to dangerous levels if done in Celestia’s sun. That when she saw the sun rising up in the window.

Running into the sitting room to look at the Grandfather clock, she saw that it was exactly the time that she believed it was. 4 am. The sun did not rise at 4 am. Celestia had followed strict schedule for as long as even Granny could remember. The sun, no matter the time of year did not rise at 4 am. Big Mac had come up next to hear and was staring at the sun. He knew just as well as her this was wrong.

“Big Mac ahm going into town to meet the girls, this aint righ”. Big Mac looked at her. Eeyup. ah’ll take care of chores.” Applejack was shocked. It was rare for Big Mac to speak more than a word. She knew that this had unnerved him enough for him to feel the need to speak.

Applejack leaped off the porch and galloped towards town.

Pinkie pie was setting up the kitchen for the day. Most people did not know that her day started very early. Many of the Sugar Cube Corner desserts needed to sit so that the yeast and other rising agents could get to work. As a result, most of the baked goods they sold on the regular had a basic batter premade in the morning, before the day begins and left in the walk-in freezer. They just added the remaining ingredients needed for any specialties then they just had to bake them. It allowed them to get food out faster to people. That was the real secret to why food seemed to get done so quick. That, and Pinkie. Speaking of…

Her sense flooded her with a full body shake that she almost never experienced. Left ear, Right ear, Tail twitch, Back right leg, Back right leg, left front leg, Head shake, Tail twitch, Shiver. The moment the feelings hit her, her mane and tail fell flat. A sheen of grey began to leach the color from her. Normally, this came only when something began make her really truly super-duper sad. But this was different. This. Was. Different. This was another pony’s feelings. Whoever this pony was, they were confused and lost and in more emotional pain than Pinkie could understand. She was not able to actually feel the emotions herself, but she was well aware of them.

The Cakes would be disappointed in her for not finishing her chores before she left, but it was to important. She HAD to help this pony. Whoever it was, was in trouble. She felt like a dark void was going to swallow this pony whole and then they would be lost forever and ever!

Pinkie dashed out of Sugar Cub Corner. Normally she’d bounce where ever she was supposed to go, but her heart just wasn’t in it. She felt the darkness nearby and headed in that direction.

Rarity was able and ready to stich some eyes closed, though she was not sure who yet. The sun a had just risen and she had been woken up be the sound of knocking pounding on her door. Most people knew that Rarity was not a morning person, like most true artist she had a bad habit of working long into the night. As a result, she preferred to sleep till at least 10 am in order to have had gotten at least some sleep. She’d been up till around 2 am that night working on a series of dresses for a order out of Manehatten.

So, when she had been woke up at the crack of dawn by someone, she had not been happy. Taking off her sleeping mask and wiping off her mud mask had taken just a moment. Yet whoever it was had not relented for a second in the pounding on her door. She knew who ever was, if they kept this up, it was going to annoy the neighbors.

Opening the door, she was surprised to see Spike! This was not at all like the little dragon. He was polite, almost to a fault to her and most other ponies.

“Rarity! Twilight needs you!” Spike shouted at her!

That was not like Spike either. Spike, as a result of the cutest little crush he had always tried to show his braver, more gentlemanly, side to Rarity. She knew the odds of them every being together were slim; He was far too young, having not even gained most of his more dragon like features yet, and most likely would not begin to get most of them until she had returned to the earth.

Yet she knew what it was like to have your love dreams crushed, thanks to a certain prince. And she would not do that to her Spike-wikey! She had hoped that he would move on if she just waited and played into that crush for small favors now and again. It was a soft way of letting him move on in his love life. She had really hoped that that Dragon Lord Ember might become a place for those feelings to go but so far not much of that had accorded. Why was it that almost of her friends love life was as dry as a bone? By Tartarus, Twilight had a possible stallion lined up, but instead had just let him go only exchanging a letter as a apology for running into him.

Finally snapping out of the mental tangent that may have seemed long, but in reality, had only taken a second, she looked at Spike, the true level of his destress began to clearly show. The poor dear’s pupils had shrunk to the size of one her needles and the poor thing was quaking on her steps.

“Alright, do we need to grab any of the other girls are we all going to meet at Twilights castle?”

A voice answers that was neither one of theirs and it surprised them both. “No, I think the others will met us there.”

Turning to look, they saw a washed-out Pinkie. The effect of seeing her like that shocked them both, Spike actually jump right behind Rarity! Pinkie continued, “I think the rest would have seen or noticed something wrong by now” she looked at the sun.

“Whatever do you mean dearie? The day seems a bit quiet, but with the sun just coming up. Not every pony is as early a bird as you girls.” Rarity questioned.

“You really should look at the time Rarity.” Pinkie said, giving Rarity a strange look.

Looking over at her clock on the wall of her shop, she froze upon seeing the time. Though Rarity was not much of a morning pony by nature she was well aware of how the day and night cycle worked, have stayed up through a few of them in her exhaustive years of rising to the top. The clock read a cold 4:20 am. Celestia did not raise the sun that early, ever. If she had, her sister would have lost her temper, and they would have needed the elements to break up that fight.

Levitating a brush out of the shop she stepped out the door and locked it. “Alright darlings, let’s go. If this is bad enough Celestia and Luna agreed to raise the sun early, then it must be worth getting ready on the go.”

Rainbow met with Fluttershy on the way to Applejack and found Applejack already heading up the road towards town. They redirected her towards her towards the storm. They girls all waited for the others to show before they decided to enter. The last group to arrive was Spike, Rarity, and Pinkie.

“Spike what are you doing here?! I thought I told you to go back to bed!” Twilight exclaimed,

“I saw the storm, Twilight. How was a supposed to sleep after seeing that?! I would gotten nightmares and doubt Luna has time to deal with anything like that today.” The drake glared at her in a way Twilight could not remember seeing before.

Applejack butted in, “ Y’all stop that now, ah don’t think Celestia woulda raised the sun early if we had time ta argue. Let’s go look at this storm then we can make a report to the princess. Spike being here will just make it easier, Twi.”

Twilight couldn’t argue with that logic. “Fine, just stay to the back Spike. If you get hurt, I won’t know what to do with myself. Let’s go take a look at this thing, then sooner we know what we’re dealing with the sooner we can stop it.”

Twilight reviewed her friends and notice all of them seemed out of sorts. It was strange they had been through so much, yet this small black storm seemed to have hit them harder than sombra. Pinkie was a hair’s breath from losing all her color; Rainbow seemed to be in a bad way as well, she had not made a single over confident remark since she had arrived; Rarity was not up to usual standards of beauty; Fluttershy look more like the time that she had been taking classes with Iron Will and Applejack and Spike looked like they gearing themselves up for a fight.

They saw something upon entering the clearing in which the storm was seeming to materialize. A form; grey, black, and white. In the air before it, a book made of plastic sheets as white was freshly fallen snow. The cover was the same; no title or info on it, yet it looked like it been through war. Scratched and dented with a corner cut off. The pages looked like they had melted once upon a time. Despite all this, the book was a perfect white that felt unreal. No object outside of snow had a right to be that white.

It bugged Twilight. If the storm’s presence was not filling up her mind with such a feeling of wrongness, she would have gone right over to figure out who would make a book out of plastic. She didn’t know who the colorless figure who was standing with the book. Till Fluttershy ran ahead of the group and placed a hoof on it.

“Discord! Whats wrong?” Discord did not move expect to turn the page of the book. He was as stiff as a board and his eyes scanned the page where pinpricks. Twilight turned back to the storm. Discord was hear he only ever showed up when there was trouble. She turned to Spike to have take a letter to the princess, telling them they had found the storm that she believed was the source of the feelings she had wrote to them about earlier. She found that Spike was already burning a letter.

“I sent a letter telling Celestia we’re here with the storm and that were going to try to do something about it.” This close to the storm he had to yell to be heard, as the winds whipping around made it harder to hear. Yet it was also strangely quiet for a storm. The winds sounded more like a blustery day then those of the clear tornado that seemed to be in the middle of the clearing. What was even more unnerving was that it was not shaped like any storm had a right to be. Instead of beginning shaped like a funnel, it was a perfect dome, a half sphere. Though, she would not have been surprised to find that it went underground as well.

Just then, behind her, she heard the distinctive popping of a teleport spell. Standing behind her were the other three other princess and prince of equestia. Celestia spoke not in greeting but in a clear straight to business way that was rarely seen from her.

“Shining Armor, I want a barrier around the storm. Try to keep it contained, we do not want it expanding towards Ponyville. Cadance I want to fly up and scout around, make sure this force has not broken out anywhere else nearby. Luna and I will use the spell with the element bearers to disperse this storm and get rid of whatever evil is the source of it.
As Candance and Shining went to do as Celestia bid, she and Luna walked over to Twilight. “Twilight Sparkle, it nice to see you again. Thank you for your letter, it would take us a great deal of time to find the source of this darkness if you not found it in Ponyville first. The rest of the us felt it arrival in Equestia the moment it arrived, but where not able to locate it. Without your quick action we don’t know how large this storm may have gotten and how powerful the evil within may have grown.

“Twilight, I have a spell Luna and myself have been working on ever since the events with Tirek. It will allow to draw fourth the power of the elements again for just a moment in the Rainbow forms you used. It will damage your connection to the elements slightly, but if this works we should be able to remove this evil without too much heartache.”
Celestia finished by describing the spell formulae and Twilight was amazed at the level power and complexity involved. “If Luna and I are right that should allow you to draw and your connection to the element even without them being present. I only wish it had not taken Tirek for us to get the last bits of information we needed in order to complete this spell."

Twilight could not help but feel like all of this was far far too fast. They still did not understand anything about this storm, and they were just going to blast it with the power of the Harmony. Then she heard something that changed her mind in a single moment.

“Ahhh!” Looking behind her the storm and grown by 50% in a single large surge and in doing so, had shattered the shield that Shiny Armour had placed around it. He was laying on the ground in shock from the magical rebound of having his shield broken. Running over to Shiny Armor she knelt by his side.

“Shiny! What happened, how was it able to break your shield?”

"Twily, it didn’t break it, in unraveled the moment my shield came in contact with the storm. I don’t think I am going to be able to contain it. I don’t think magic can even touch it.” He was gasping for breath every few words.

"That proves that we need the Elements of Harmony.” Celestia said as she walked over. “My magic unraveled the moment it touched it as well. I don’t think anything but the Elements with their power over reality that can affect this. Twilight, get the girls in formation. I will add my magic with Luna’s so that it will last longer against this force. We must act quickly Twilight, we may not have much time.”

Luna and Celestia had created a simmering shield that covered the storm, the barrier constantly flickering in and out as they tried to make a barrier that did not unravel. Twilight memorized the spell and gathered the girls. Discord still seemed to be returned to stone. Candance was with Shinnying trying to understand how his magic was completely exhausted.

“Alright girls, I think we’re ready.” Twilight looked around to discover that her friends did not seem so sure. Fluttershy, having become braver then when she had first met, spoke up.

“Twilight, I know Celestia wants us to use the magic of the elements on it, do we even know what it is? When we used this power before we at least knew what we were using it against.

Twilight’s resolve showed on her face “If Celestia did not know that this needed to be banished she would not have asked us to do this. She always knows what’s best.” She stared up at the storm. “Plus if this thing unwinds all equestrian magic it will destroy everything.” Channeling the magic through her horn she then connected it to her friends. The spell reached out like invisible strands to the Tree of Harmony deep in the Everfree. The flood gates opened. The power of the elements filled them and began to roar forth from them the rainbow power bloomed like a morning rose. Focusing on the storm they unleashed the energy. The energy seemed to pass through the storm without a fight. Twilight was surprised she expected it to disperse the storm not pass through it.

Pain, pain it felt as if the my mind and body had been torn to ribbons. I hoped that I would be able to die and ended it. But I can’t allow he is alive that monster is alive I must kill It, I must hold together. Feeling my very flesh squirm I dragged my flesh back into myself. I could feel my powers leaking from my body. Time seemed to become fluid I could not tell how long I was there, but my energy seem to be leaking from me at near constant rate. I could feel something working against the power. It must be some energy in this universe.

That when I felt it a power great enough to crush even me. It was a glow of light the colors of a rainbow. Then the power turned on me. The energy ripped through my world made of energy. But I could feel the energy it was powerful but wielded by a child that never smelled blood. Grabbing the space around me I twisted it until I had a tunnel a wormhole as it know in the in earths old tongue. I allowed the energy to enter the tunnel and poured everything I could bring to bear into the blast and returned the attack.

Twilight was surprised to see that the storm just seemed to allow the power of the Elements to enter it without a fight. A few seconds pass and the power of the Rainbow did not seem to be able to dissipate they were still in those forms. In the past when they banished things using the power it would return everything of normal. Then She heard a scream. It was not the scream that any mortal could have made. It sounded more like the world itself seemed to be screaming. Then it came out of the storm it was the rainbow. Yet the colors where darker and the whole thing was covered in darkness that was deeper then even the midnight on a moonless night. It was a terrifying, it was the first time that she had been on the receiving end of the of the Elements of Harmony. She hoped that after this that Celestia would take care of her statue for the thousand years? She hoped Celestia would be able to undo the damage? But what about the darkness did that mean that for the first time the Elements could kill?

As the blacked rainbow drew closer, I could hear Celestia scream for us to get out of there. There was no time for that. Twilight closed her eyes ready for a thousand years of pain. Yet the blast hit and seem to travel through them. It passed into the tree of harmony trying to protect the it’s bearers. Then the elements of Harmony shattered, and Harmony itself was absent.

Author's Note

Well no answers in this author's note because chapter one and the prologue where a package set.