The Midnight Zone

As soon as Twilight and her team got out of the everfree forest, Twilight realized the town was deserted. Nopony roamed the streets, doors and windows were locked and in some cases, boarded. The streets were covered in the strange, flowing Darkness. Rarity looked at it and asked: “is it dangerous?”

Twilight grimaced. “Only one way to find out.” She put one hoof into the stuff. It was like vapor; Twilight’s hoof passed right through it, and touched the path beneath it.

“It’s really cold, but not dangerous,” said Twilight.

Rarity and Pinkie both put one hoof into the stuff, before drawing back quickly.

“It really is cold,” said Rarity.

Twilight sighed. “No time to waste.” She stepped into it fully.

And disappeared beneath it.

Rarity gave a gasp. “Twilight!” she called. “Are you okay?”

Twilight’s head appeared through it. “Eh. I’m cold.”

Pinkie smiled. “So it’s like a game, where we can’t fall into the holes? Fun!”

Twilight jumped out of the hole and picked up a pile of rocks with her horn. “I’ll find out if there’s any holes.”

There weren’t any more holes, and Twilight and her team kept moving, past houses that were boarded up, taverns that were shut down with large crates covering the doors and windows, and shops that were abandoned–the Darkness flowing inside of them.

With their swift pace, the gang was able to reach town hall in a matter of minutes. Interestingly, there wasn't any smokey Darkness around it.

And as Twilight looked at the place, she realized what her fight with Midnight Moon had caused.

There was a large ring around the town hall that was burned, and blackened. The walls were cracked, the entire roof had caved. Every window was shattered. Around town hall, many buildings in the near vicinity had been damaged, and quite a few of them had their roofs burned off.

“What happened here?” asked Pinkie. “Looks like the S.H.I.P after you lose in Alien Ship Wars.”

“My spell,” said Twilight, slightly awestruck. “I shot a spell at Midnight Moon, and it exploded.”

Rarity looked over, confused. “What do you mean the spell exploded? There are explosion spells, but the spells themselves don’t explode.”

Twilight looked at the damage in wonder. “I shot a spell at Midnight’s, and they connected. After a few seconds, one of our spells exploded. Like, it shattered and there was a lot of heat. It must have been my spell that broke, Midnight Moon’s couldn’t have. She’s too powerful.”

After searching the whole town hall and finding nothing, Twilight and her friends decided to head to Canterlot: it was where Celestia lived, and that seemed like the most likely place to find her.

“Remember,” Twilight cautioned. “I’m not the greatest at teleportation spells, so hold on tight. Also I can’t just teleport us into Canterlot, since my brother, Shining Armor, has cast an anti-teleportation charm on the whole city. I’m gonna try to teleport us right outside the place.”

Rarity and Pinkie nodded.

“Okay. Hold on tight.”

Twilight cast the spell, and they quickly whizzed away from Ponyville.

Twilight’s spell worked surprisingly well, teleporting her and her team less than ten feet away from the gates. Since Twilight was a friend of the Princess, the guards waved her and her friends in.

“Let’s head directly to the castle,” said Twilight.

The castle was in the center of Canterlot, and Twilight and her friends chose to head around the path that ran around the outside. Since Canterlot was located on a mountain, Twilight was able to look over the edge. She couldn’t see Ponyville, but there was clearly a cloud of Darkness hovering in the direction of it.

“The Darkness is spreading,” said Pinkie glumly. It was strange to see Pinkie so glum, as she was usually so happy and cheerful.

“Then we have no time to lose!” said Twilight. “Come on!”

Celestia’s castle was huge, and Twilight had to hope Celestia was in the top room.

They quickly headed up to the top room.

“Let’s hope she’s in there,” said Rarity.

Twilight opened the door.

Celestia was sitting in her office looking troubled. “Twilight,” she said. “I’m so glad you're visiting!”

“You have no idea how happy we are to see you,” said Twilight.

“Why weren't you at the Summer Sun Celebration?” asked Pinkie.

“Why didn’t you answer the scroll we sent you?” asked Rarity.

“The Summer Sun Celebration starts tomorrow,” said Celestia. “And I haven't received any scrolls today.”

“Well, why are you troubled?” asked Twilight.

“It’s because there is a cloud of Darkness over in the direction of Ponyville,” said Celestia thoughtfully. “And because…” she sighed. “You all know my job is to raise the sun, right?”
They all nodded.

Celestia sighed. “Well this morning I tried… and couldn’t.”

Twilight gasped.

Celestia seemed extremely frustrated at herself. She didn’t say anything more.

Rarity and Pinkie looked at Twilight. They seemed to be silently asking her: is it time?

Twilight nodded. “Celestia. Midnight Moon arrived in Ponyville and cursed Rainbow.”

Celestia suddenly seemed more frightened than Twilight had ever seen her. “Then…” she trailed off. “...we must evacuate Ponyville.”

Twilight shook her head. “Not an option. Ponyville’s trapped, they're locking themselves in their houses. The only way to save Ponyville wil be to defeat Midnight Moon.”

Celestia seemed even more frustrated. “Then… I’ll hardly be of any help to you.”

“Why not?” asked Rarity.

“I can’t fight Midnight.”

“Why not?” asked Twilight.

“Because,” said Celestia. “Midnight Moon is my sister.”