A chill engulfed the castle. Something was wrong. Twilight Sparkle could hear it. A presence that rang throughout the invisible eldritch magic web of the world. She had always been sensitive to these occurrences. But it was different then the ones before.

“Something wrong Twilight?” Applejack asked from her crystallized throne near the cutiemark map table.

“Yes, Darling you’re completely flustered!” Rarity stated in a motherly tone.

Twilight glanced at each one of her colorful friends that surrounded the table. Each one staring back. The temperature around her returned to normal. The presence receded like a memory. The Princess of Friendship put on a soft smile with practiced bravado.

“It’s nothing girls.” Even if she told them, what would they say? How would they even react?

Fluttershy managed to speak past her silk pink mane, “Are you sure Twilight. There’s nothi--”

“Then let's move on with this friendship meeting,” Rainbow Dash cried out. “Wonderbolt practice is in thirty minutes and I can’t be late again.”

“Alright Rainbow, lets begin.” AJ took control of the situation.

The discussion became nothing more than white noise. Static played through an old speaker. The presence returned to the forefront of Twilight’s mind from her subconsciousness. It was powerful but weak due to the distance. A pulse created from anger and desperation. From her countless adventures with her friends, Twilight knew that acts of desperation can have grim consequences. It was this that weighed heavy on the alicorn’s mind.

“Something’s wrong.”

Her five friends all paused to look at the purple alicorn.

“Whatcha mean Twilight?” Applejack raised a brow.

“I can’t explain it. Something just feels… off.”

The room was quickly overtaken by a blinding magical teal light. Like the gravity well of a black hole, the light pulled together to a single point. Twisting inward, tightening until a figure’s outline was visible in the air. A pony. White and orange colors raced up the pony’s hooves to the tip of its horn. He fell into the map with thud along with his silver spectacles.

All the ponies around the table jumped a little at the sound. Spike was the first to speak, “S-Sunburst? What are you doing here?”

“It's horrible!” He yelled, still recovering from his dazed state.

“There is a magical creature threatening to destroy all of Equestria!”

“There is a magical creature threatening to destroy all of Equestria.”

Twilight and Starburst spoke at the same time. The stallion looked shocked, unsure of what he just heard. The princess blinked. Completely unaware of what she said.

Sunburst hopped off the table, dumbfounded, “How did you know?!”

“I don’t know, really...”

The map began to pulse. Demanding the attention of all around. The cutiemarks of all the bearers of harmony swirl over a single point like a maelstrom. Sire’s Hollow. But something was off. An ugly black ink was in the center of the town. Remodeling the map slowly before their eyes. Were the elements calling them? Or something darker? The temperature continued to drop around Twilight. Colder by the second. As it was, her magic was being forcefully drained. She began to shiver.

“Tell me exactly, what’s going on.” The alicorn asked Sunburst.

He opened his mouth to speak but paused. The unicorn was unsure how to word it, “Starlight summoned some sort of otherworldly beast. It’s agile. Extremely intelligent. Even magical! The creature’s large frame easily overshadows a normal pony! An eldritch abomination of wings, horns and fangs.”

Sunburst’s eyes reddened. Tears had built on his orbits. “And Starlight is fighting it alone! You have to help,” He dropped to Twilight’s hooves. “Please!”

In Twilight’s mind, there was no way she could abandon her student. Her friend. She looked at her companions. They looked ready for a fight. It brought a grin to her.

“Come on girls! We got a friend to help!”

“Aw yeah! Monster fighting time!” Rainbow Dash hollered, flying in loops through the air.

“What about your practice, Rainbow?” The orange earth pony wondered.

“They’ll understand,” The rainbow maned pegasus batted a hoof at Applejack. “Saving Equestria always comes first.”

Everypony came close to Twilight. Her horn began to glow. A ring of violet energy quickly cut the shape of an ouroboros in the floor around the party. The alicorn’s eyes shined bright. The ring turned into a dome. The dome turned into a bright flash. They were gone.

Spike sat in his chair, staring at the mess of papers, dust and books the spells had flung around. The small dragon let out a long sigh, “I guess I’ll just stay here.”

Author's Note

Written by Lone Writer.