//------------------------------//
// The Dark Cloud 
// Story: Even Harmony has an Opposite 
// by Optimistic Pessimist 
//------------------------------//

	


The Dark Cloud




Twilight left the party with a huge grin and a light-head. She looked up to see a darkened sky. She chuckled and smiled, “That was definitely the longest party I’ve ever been to.” Just then another pony walked up to her with a confused look. “That can’t be right...” Twilight looked over. “Oh Mayor, you were there too? Look how late it is!” The mayor looked at her watch. “That’s just it, it’s seven at night.” “So?”, Twilight asked. The Mayor looked at her, “It’s the middle of the summer, it’s not supposed to get this dark this early.” Just then they heard a scream from right around town square. “Fluttershy?” Twilight and Mayor said in unison.

There was a large crowd around town hall when Twilight and the Mayor arrived. Twilight looked around and saw nothing of interest. Then the pony next to her tapped her and pointed skyward. She looked up and gasped. There, floating above town hall, was a black cloud of smoke. There were dark clouds swirling around it, along with six peculiar diamond shaped rocks floating in a circular orbit.

The Mayor turned to Twilight, “What IS that thing?” Twilight could not respond. She had never seen anything like that. Her horn lit up in an attempt at identification magic, but to no avail.

All of the sudden, Rainbow Dash appeared. “Hey! We're not supposed to have any clouds until next week!” and with that, she grabbed one of the strange floating rocks. Instantly three bolts of red lightning rained from the sky, striking the pegasus down to the ground in flames. Twilight gasped in horror and immediately ran to aid her. Rainbow Dash laid there unconscious, with some minor burns on her wings. Twilight turned to the dark cloud in a heavy rage.

“WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?” Twilight screamed. Suddenly, two bloody red eyes appeared from within the cloud, and a dark voice sounded from it’s core. “It does not matter who I am. What matters is, who do you think you are, speaking so boldly against me?” The eyes appeared to mock her. ”I have already struck down your friend, would you like me to strike you down as well?”

Twilight was about to respond when she noticed four figures racing towards her. Applejack was galloping along with Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Fluttershy. Fluttershy looked down on Rainbow Dash and tenderly lifted the burnt wings. “This is bad, we need to get her to the doctors quickly!” 

Applejack turned her head towards the mysterious smoke. ”Ya have no right to be here, what ever ya are!” The dark cloud eyed the group suspiciously. “And what right do you have here?” the cloud questioned. “We reside here of course. And you’re not welcome here!” Rarity countered. A hollow laugh echoed from within the dark mass. “I wield the Preludes of Chaos! What power do you have against me?” Pinkie Pie was actually frowning. “We’re the Elements of Harmony, silly! How could you not know that?”

The red eyes blinked open in surprise. “The Elements of Harmony, eh? This is going to be easier then I thought!” Then the sky began to crackle with red electricity. Twilight and her friends gasped. Then lightning struck.