The Blackened Skies

by gosha305

A Somewhat Comforting Setback

The last night's fight remained fresh in the ponies' minds. It might have been won rather easily, but the marenappers almost achieved their goal. Indeed, transporting a sleeping pony in one's magic without disturbing its slumber wasn't that hard. If Spike only happened to fall asleep for a minute, it could have been too late. But in the end, everything turned out well.

---

In the morning, the group resumed its progress at a steady pace discussing the recent events, their enthusiasm, although slightly attenuated, persisted and quickly took over their minds.

It's in this happy atmosphere, that the friends eventually arrived near Ponyville. A choice was now before them: were they about to continue their path straight to the Elements or would they check the town's state first? The dilemma might have seemed insignificant, but both options still had their own risks and advantages.

"We can't just walk past our home town!" yelled Applejack, extremely annoyed "Ah need to check on mah farm!"

"And what if the town folks are scared?" added Fluttershy "We can't let them down, can we?"

"But if the city is indeed in bad shape, staying here and helping out the ponies can take a lot of time!" argued Starlight, uneager to deal with a Canterlot-like situation "Don't forget that the sooner we defeat the Entity, the sooner we'll all be back home!"

"Oh, I can't wait to see the Sun again!" intervened Rainbow Dash, eyeing the sky with disgust "All this foggy mist and gloomy Eyes mike me nervous."

"I think we should go for the Elements first, this way if they don't work, we'll still have enough time to come up with a backup plan." asserted Twilight, then added "I know I shouldn't be worried about that possibility too much, but I just can't stop myself from thinking about it."

"Oh, darling, you shouldn't stress yourself like that!" said Rarity, trying to comfort her friend "Do you even remember a time they didn't work?"

"I guess not, but still, there's always a chance..." replied Twilight, nervously shivering.

At this moment, an intersection appeared in their field of view. Amidst the greenish trees, three paths became visible. One, commonly used, clean and welcoming, led to Ponyville, another, covered with wild vegetation, rarely taken by anypony and overall intimidating continued deeper into the Everfree forest and, eventually led to the Tree of Harmony, bearing its Elements, finally, the last path led back to Canterlot, only slightly deviating from their previous route. The choice needed to be done now.

Surprisingly, it was Spike who decided to speak "I really think we shouldn't waste our time. I understand the town is very important and I'm also worried about what happened to it, but can't this issue wait? After all we aren't only saving Ponyville, but the entirety of Equestria! Getting the Elements should be a priority."

Although unexpected, Spike's speech did a good job at convincing everypony. They turned away from Ponyville's welcoming direction, stepping on the wild and malicious road through the Everfree forest.

Somehow, the Entity's presence was less overwhelming in this murky place. The trees hiding the sky helped to forget about most of its manifestations. However, this place remained far from pleasing. No birds could be heard, singing on the twisted branches, no critters surprised the visitors by traversing the road. Actually, the place looked even worse that usually. The Entity's magic influence wasn't killing this place, it only made it darker. The comforting sound of wildlife was replaced by a strange silence, creeping into your mind and miking you feel awkwardly uncomfortable. But it didn't end there, the light normally emitted by the Entity's clouds and Eyes somehow infused itself into the trees' foliage, giving them a meagerly slender glow. Overall, getting out of here as fast as possible became an immediate goal for the group of friends.

---

After walking through the forest for several hours, its aura started seriously tackling the ponies' psyche. But they stood strong, trying to drive their thoughts towards the happy future, minimizing the place's spiteful influence. First, chatting with one another, soon even Pinkie Pie couldn't bring herself to talk. The ambient silence almost absorbed all sounds, unsettling to the highest point.

Finally, the Tree's location became visible, thus bringing joy back to everyone's mind. All of this was about to be over.

The group of friends was slowly approaching the cave's entrance, finally exiting the forest's shade, as something struck them. Something was off. The cave didn't look as bright and welcoming as usual. It was almost like something was missing.

Getting closer and looking towards the Tree itself, the nature of that lack became apparent: the Elements of Harmony weren't here.

Panic overtook the poor ponies. What were they supposed to do now? Where did the Elements go? Did the Entity destroy them? Terrified and shocked at the same time, they just sat there, considering their discovery.

But as hope started leaving them, a sudden event made it come back. The formerly bland Tree of Harmony sparked to life, bathing the ponies in its soft, comforting glow. Then, a vapor-like substance came out of its center, forming a small round cloud. The cloud started spinning, spiraling into a flat surface. Its texture changed, now resembling hard crystal. An image started appearing on this new facade, slowly settling on what resembled a map of Equestria. An image of the Elements appeared on this strange device, gradually drifting West from its usual location in the Everfree forest. Finally, it stopped, somewhere above the Smoky mountains. It wasn't over yet...

Author's Note:

"Do you even remember a time they didn't work?"

After writing that line, I realized there actually was a time the Elements didn't work, but since it was in the IDW Comics, I decided not to talk about it.