The Blackened Skies

by gosha305

Visions of the End

It wasn't long until the group of friends fell asleep, embracing the soft comfort of oblivion. Not even the Entity's presence or the fear of another potential attack from the cultists made their slumber any less comfortable. As they all slept, their minds inevitably steered towards the Elements of Harmony, the trinkets so close and yet so far away...

---

A blinding light

A glow so pure and so marvelous that its source could only have been some noble being. It hit Twilight's unprepared eyes as she tried to squint and blink to avoid its overwhelming rays. This light was far greater than that of Celestia's Sun itself, largely surpassing it in brightness and warmth.

As she tried to get an idea of her surroundings, the purple princess' eyes finally started adapting to this preposterous luminescence. She was now able to identify the stone under her hooves, the cavernous walls around and above her head, the slight sensation of wind touching her skin. It all felt so strange and yet so familiar. As if she already was in this place before, and not so long ago... Turning her head back towards the light source, Twilight saw it, the Tree of Harmony.

It was majestic, once again bearing the trinkets it was famed for. The light the young princess saw earlier was in fact coming from the latter. The Elements, glowing in their respective colors, formed a beautiful rainbow Twilight could recognize among a million. But why were they glowing?

All of a sudden, a loud cracking noise could be heard echoing around the illuminated cave. It continued, only becoming louder over time. Soon the cacophony was almost unbearable. At this moment, a large crack appeared on the cavern ceiling above. The minerals struggled as an unknown force tore them apart, shattering the concrete surface. Soon, through this gargantuan opening, the sky showed itself. But neither the Sun's nor the Moon's rays hit the rock ground, instead the Entity's Eyes, appeared through the aperture, their gloomy glow battling and losing to the Tree's light.

Seeing this spectacle in awe, Twilight couldn't help but worry about her life and that of the Tree itself. But as she saw the latter's glow intensify, prismatic flares jumping around the stone walls, her fear left, astonishment completely overtaking her mind.

A rainbow, the multicolored rainbow the pony was so familiar with. The one turning Discord back in to stone, the one sending Tirek to his prison in Tartarus, the one she knew was capable of so many things just shot into the sky heading straight towards the biggest of the Eyes. The latter, followed its path, visibly anxious, their pupils could be seen, first shrinking to a hardly perceptible size, then starting to maniacally shift, trying to escape their inevitable doom.

Then it happened, the Rainbow touched the Eye, burning through it as a hot knife through butter. As it penetrated the Entity's cursed flesh, a loud hiss resonated across the land, filling the atmosphere and reverberating within the princess' very head.

Suddenly, an explosion of extraordinary amplitude occurred somewhere behind the black fog, chasing most of the Entity's remains away from the epicenter of its destruction.

As the shock wave of light mixed with pure mana washed upon the astonished mare, her vision faded to white, erasing all color from the surrounding world...

---

Twilight woke up with a start, snapping her eyes open. However, she did not feel scared, nor worried. This dream was all she needed to assert the Elements' superiority compared to the Entity. She knew it wasn't just a dream. All of this just felt too real, too solid to only be a product of her imagination. This was the future. She knew it, no matter how absurd this idea sounded, it was true.

Too excited to fall asleep again, the mare decided to ponder the question of the Elements' location.

Suddenly, the thought hit her, was this cave in the dream really the Cave of Harmony? It remained confused in her memories, but the outside looked different from the Everfree Forest. It looked more... mountainous. Scanning the area around her, the Princess couldn't help but notice the resemblance of adjacent peaks to those from her dream.

The cave mustn't be too far from here! She thought, scanning the area once again, but this time closer to the ground. And yet, no cavern showed itself to her careful eyes.

Shirting and turning around in search of any form of opening in the rocky walls of the adjacent mountains, the young princess finally saw it.

Its entrance covered in snow, the grotto remained, overlooking the Whitetail Woods and doubtlessly giving access to a dazzling panorama. It was however perched, far above the tops of even the tallest of trees. Getting up there won't be an easy task. Or will it? Having already visited this cave in her dream she could try teleporting there. Perhaps, with Starlight's and Rarity's help it could be possible to get all of them up there in the blink of an eye. That was worth a try.

Hardly holding back her enthusiasm, Twilight started working on that. She prepared a safety plan, she pictured the cave in her brain again and again, in fear of forgetting its interior, she even created a version of the teleportation spell particularly suited for this exact transportation.

Too absorbed in her work, she didn't notice the fact her friends started waking up, a bit confused by the early activity. Finally, as Spike was the last one to return from his slumber, all was ready. The group could ultimately reach the Elements and finish it all...