//------------------------------//
// The Beginning 
// Story: The Blackened Skies 
// by gosha305 
//------------------------------//

It was a normal morning in Ponyville. In the sky, Celestia's Sun was shining bright as always. Everypony could feel its warm and reassuring rays. The clouds were slowly drifting by. Nothing was the harbinger of the terrible event to come.

In mere seconds, a dark haze appeared from nowhere. It was like a gargantuan wildfire was sending its clouds of smoke into the atmosphere. And yet, there were no fire. The smoke-like clouds appeared from what seemed like a hole in the very fabric of reality. They quickly filled the sky and blocked out the sun. Those that saw this event could do nothing but panic. But it wasn't over. Soon, tiny stars started to appear all over the darkened skies. Their unnatural glow was now the only source of 
natural light.





Twilight Sparkle was reading in the castle library when the noise coming from outside got her attention. She got up and decided to check what was causing all this agitation. The purple princess didn't have the time to reach her window, when Spike, her number 1 assistant rushed through the door with a terrified look.

"Twilight, you have to see this! There's something wrong with the sky!" He cried, his eyes filled with panic.

Twilight followed his pleas and looked through the window. What she saw made her shiver. Or maybe, the shiver only was caused by the lack of warmth normally brought by sunlight. While she contemplated the mist that now covered the sky, Spike was nervously pacing in circles between the piles of books. After Twilight's initial surprise faded, it was replaced by a strange feeling of unease and an irrational fear (actually, it was probably somewhat rational). The first thought that came to her head seemed to be the most logical in the current circumstances: ask the Princesses. After all, they were the ones who controlled the course of celestial bodies. They had to know what was happening.

"Spike," she called, "write a letter to princess Celestia. She must know what are these clouds."

She then proceeded to enounce the content of said letter while the little dragon quickly wrote it down. After this task has been completed, the letter was sent and there were nothing left to do except waiting for an answer. However, the boredom and nervousness didn't have the time to take place because somepony knocked on the front door. Of course, Twilight and her assistant couldn't hear this knock from their library.

Thankfully Starlight Glimmer, Twilight's faithful student,  happened to be passing by the door at this very moment. The pink unicorn had overslept and was going toward the dining room to eat her breakfast. Without thinking about it, she swung the door open with her magic and looked outside. The first thing she saw, were Twilight's friends. They were loudly panting and weren't hiding their worried looks. The second thing she saw was the sky. It was covered in dark smoke, but still had stars. The pale glow that was coming from it seemed cold and unnatural. It just... felt wrong. When her friends stopped panting, they asked her a question that also came to her mind at the moment she looked outside.

"Where is Twilight?" they all asked at the same time "Does she know what's happening?"

After they saw, that Starlight seemed as puzzled as they were, the group started moving upstairs, towards the library.





Twilight's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of hoofsteps coming from the corridor. This sound quickly approached as the panicked mares entered the room. Before she could say anything, Starlight spoke:

"Here you are!" she said with a sigh of relief. "Do you know what happened to the sky?" she quickly added with hope in her voice.

"No, I'm as worried as everypony else." Twilight replied "But I think the Princesses might know more about these clouds. We already sent them a letter and are waiting for an answer" she reassured her friends.

While the others talked, Spike was carefully looking through the window and trying to find at least a patch of clear sky. He hoped it was nothing serious. That this dark haze would just be blown away by a gust of wind. And yet, he knew couldn't happen. The entirety of the sky was now covered by this weird mist and it seemed to continue beyond the horizon. His melancholy was interrupted by a terrifying event. In the middle of the starry clouds, where they were even darker, a bright light appeared. Of course the light itself wasn't the source of his worries, it was its source. The clouds were torn apart by an enormous eye. It seemed to be even larger than the Sun. It's pupil was brighter than any light that this world has ever seen. The ambient darkness was gone, but the fear only rose. The light it produced was a cold blue glow that seemed to have the opposite effect from the Sun's rays.

Everypony in the room now saw it too. They didn't even have the resolve to panic, they just froze in place as if petrified by the gaze of a cockatrice.

Suddenly, the answer from the Princesses arrived. This ripped everypony out of their awe. Twilight quickly caught the scroll in her magic, broke the seal and unrolled the parchment. The mares and dragon all gathered to read around Twilight hoping for an explanation. What they didn't get what they wanted.


Dear Twilight Sparkle

What happened to the skies is indeed quite disturbing. I am as bemused as we all are. To solve this mystery and decide what will be our actions regarding the current events. I require you and the other Elements of Harmony in my castle as soon a possible.

Yours truly, Princess Celestia.


"So, not even the Princesses know what happened!" Rainbow Dash snapped of disappointment. "What am I supposed to do with the weather when this thing won't let me get to the clouds?"

"This blue light sure ain't good for the Apples." said Applejack with worry in her voice.

"And this eye is truly disturbing!" added Rarity.

At the mention of the eye, all looked through the window. What they saw wasn't by any means reassuring. The celestial eye was now looking directly at them. The only rational thought that came to their panicked brains was the most obvious one: close the window! After this was done, they decided that complaining about their current position wasn't the best option. The second option was to prepare for the trip to Canterlot, so they started doing just that. The next train would only depart tomorrow so this was going to be a long and anxious evening and a long sleepless night...