The Gates of Obscura

It was one of the finest days Ponyville had ever seen in months.

For the past 9 months it had been odd weather all around because Cloudsdale weather factories were going through an incredibly tough time. It was hectic and quite scary for the pegasus workers who had to fix the malfunctioning machinery. Several factory workers were sent to hospitals because of hypothermia, electrocution, dehydration and many other things nopony wishes to have gone through, but this day, oh today was perfect!

Cloudsdale had finally fixed itself up and was running perfectly- no more injuries or accidents- well, as far as anypony knew.

Ponyville was currently undergoing great repair from the numerous maelstroms and horrible hurricane winds, but everypony was happy nonetheless to still have their homes, even if there was tons of work to be done on them.

Everypony helped out each other out by carrying wagon loads of wooden planks or shingles for the buildings which roofs had fallen in.

Big Macintosh and the rest of Ponyville's buffest and strongest stallions were moving boulders and debris out of the town; Applejack, along with Pinkie Pie and the other earth ponies were pulling carts full of wood, paint, tools and snacks to the others; Rarity and Twilight, with the help of the unicorn denizens took it to themselves to replant the shrubbery and paint the buildings, and last but not least, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy lead the pegasi through the broken roads to repave and did so with speed and efficiency. The colts and fillies were given the job to take care of the little animals whose homes had been destroyed until they had new places to stay.

Because of the cooperation of everypony, the town was looking like new by sunset.

Everything was back to normal.

Twilight and her friends along with Big Mac gathered in her library to rest and write a letter to the Princess.

Dear Princess Celestia,

The past months we have spent panicking have served to show us that even in the roughest storms, destruction and malfunctions-

Spike had stopped writing, and with the others, ran outside at the sound of shrieks and shouts. The quill and parchment Spike had been holding, floated down to the wooden floor of the library.

As the eight made it outside, they all froze at the site of Celestia sitting awestruck in the middle of the square, staring up into the sky. Her guards surrounded her, but were distracted by whatever the Princess had laid her eyes on.

"Holy Smokes!" Rainbow Dash cried, pointing a hoof to the sky as she lifted off the ground.

"Jeepers," Fluttershy squeaked.

"What in Tarnation?" Apple Jack and Big Mac both exclaimed.

Rarity gasped, Pinkie Pie bounced once, Spike hiccuped a flame and Twilight stood speechless.

The whole Town gaped upward.

There was an ominous cluster of black puffs, almost like clouds. They were growing rapidly and swirling round and round.

Somepony in the crowd of ponyfolk groaned, "Those darned Cloudsdale factories are broken again!" and the rest grumbled in agreement, but Celestia stood up and silenced the crowd by proclaiming something even more....... frightening.

"My dear civilians! I have been in the factories of Cloudsdale all day making sure nothing else went wrong, I assure you it isn't them! I fear this is something not of Equestria, not of this world-"

Simultaneously, the crowd of townsfolk began to shriek and panic.

"Now, Now! Please! Do not Panic-uh- SILENCE!" she finally yelled, using the very intimidating "Royal Voice".

At once there was silence.

"My little ponies! Please hear your Princess, do not panic! I need you all to follow my directions! Leave for your homes and lock every door and block the windows!" she said normally. Every single pony did as instructed, though slightly panicky, and went home.

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Twilight! Oh, I must ask a favor of you and your friends! I am fearful of this...... I have seen this once before and it was almost the end of Equestria. I beg you, I cannot do this alone-I-I-" the Princess stammered.

Applejack quickly went and put a hoof on the Princess' shoulder, "Don't fret Princess, we're always here to help."

The rest of the group smiled in agreement, but their attentions were diverted back to growing mass of darkness that was now flashing green- almost like thunder.

With each flash came a bone-chilling, blood-curdling, ghostly wail. It shook everypony to the core.

Big Macintosh suddenly realized something wrong.

"Taint getting bigger, it's comin' closer!"

At his observation the others began to freak out, even the Princess.

The swirling dark mass touched the land outside of Ponyville and made the ground tremble beneath their hooves, stray pebbles bounced around like jumping beans.

It was very visible even from the distance they were at and they could see a giant gate of twisted dead trees.

The gate opened and the sky dimmed.

The Princess, Twilight, and her friends decided to get a closer look.....

As they arrived at the open gate all they could see was a tall shadow walking toward them.........