"Thank you for coming so expediently, my little ponies," Princess Celestia said warmly, though her stern expression belied that this was more than a social call. She continued, "You may have already guessed what this may be all about." She sighed.

"This is about the unruly black cloud over Ponyville, right?" Rainbow Dash piped up, her demeanor as eager as ever.

"Darn near ruined the Zap Apple harvest, it did...yer highness," Applejack added grumpily.

"I don't like it, and neither do all the animals. They're all hiding in my house right now." Fluttershy said in her dulcet tones.

"My Pinkie Sense is whipping up a doozy of a doozy beyond all doozies!" Pinkie bubbled as she stood there, vibrating.

"I just don't understand why it had to block out the light from my bedroom windows," Rarity complained, "of all the things that could happen, this is The. Worst. Possible. THING!"

Everypony glared at her.

"What? I've had to do up my mane by hornlight for three days."

Twilight nudged Rarity. Rarity glared at her.

"Oh, come now, those are just dreams-"

"That we've both been having, Rarity." Twilight intoned.

"What dreams? What are they about?" Princess Celestia asked, alarmedy.

Twilight Sparkle unfurled her wings. "Well, Princess, there appears a large column of sharpened metal covered over by a geometric design I recalled seeing in my studies about cults-"

"Whoah whoah whoah...cults? Not cool!" Rainbow Dash blurted out.

"How uncouth, joining a cult!" Rarity admonished"

"...I was in a cult"

Everypony stared at the butter-colored pony who made the declaration.

"Now just a dadgum minnit, Fluttershy! Why would you off and join a cult fer?" Applejack asked accusingly.

"W-well, it was before I met most of you. A pony named Sky Carpenter...asked me to. He said we would give thanks to the color Blue..."

"And you jus' said 'yes', jus' like tha-yat!?" Applejack pressed on.

"Well, he had come all the way to my cottage, and I didn't want to be rude..."

"So you joined a CULT just to be NICE!? Pinkie Promise me you won't do that again!" Pinkie shot in as she vibrated towards the yellow pony.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. It wasn't very enlightening. We just stood around in a barn and chanted "Blue, Blue" over and over again-"

"PINKIE PROMISE!", the pink pony shouted in Fluttershy's face.

"Oh, ok, if you insist...'cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye" Fluttershy intoned as she crossed her heart and stuck a hoof into her closed eye.

"While that was certainly...enlightening, Fluttershy, I don't think that's what Twilight had in mind," Celestia interjected. "Please continue, Twilight."

Twilight shot a look at her friends. "As I was saying before-I-was-so-rudely-interrupted," Twilight said as she took a deep breath.

"Here we go." Rainbow muttered nonchalantly.

"-so I thought back to my Ancient Cultic Studies which I was researching on orders from the Princess, I recalled the symbol from an incredibly ancient book that had been preserved by magic. That symbol was used by an ancient sect called Qlappalists in their study of what they called "Qlappalah", or 'receiving'. What it was, I couldn't make out, but it said underneath it 'Etz Chayim' and that they were called 'Sephiroth'. I couldn't really make much sense of it, because it appeared to be mystic mumbo-jumbo-"

"Etz Khayyim, Twilight. The word is Etz Khayyim" Princess Celestia interjected.

All the collected ponies turned to stare at the Princess, save Rarity, who looked away.

Twilight's mouth stood agape. "How did you pronounce that?C-c-cayim?"

"No, she said Khayyim! Khayyim, khayyim, khayyim-"

"I get it, Pinkie. But how did you know how to pronounce that, Princess?"

Princess Celestia looked down at her subjects, sighed, and said, "It is from a language older than recorded Equestrian history, but not quite older than I. It is a language that I was worshipped in, in another time. It is called 'Hebrew'. It has a very unique script, written from right to left with no vowels."

"Then how did they know what words sounded like?" Pinkie cut in. "How do you say names? Does Hebrew even have names? What's my Hebrew name? 'pnk puh'? Oooh, let's try Twiligt! Twlght sprkl! That was a lot easier! Maybe you're a Hebrew, Twilight! Maybe-" Pinkie's mouth was plugged by Applejack's hoof.

"Sorry about that, Yer Majesty. You know Pinkie gets as hyper as a sack o' squirrels," Applejack helpfully explained. "As yew were sayin?"

"Thank you, Applejack." Celestia giggled. "Now, as I was about to say, Etz Khayyim means 'Tree of Life'. It used to be a metaphysical notion people would use to try to enter heaven."

"Heaven? W-what's that?" Fluttershy asked.

"The plane where I used to reside, my dear."

"But the texts I read said they would do that by meditation," Twilight Sparkle mused, a wingtip scratching the top of her head while her chin rested on a forehoof, "I thought Interplanar travel could only be done by the highest level of mage, like Starswirl the Bearded or you and Luna."

Celestia chuckled. "Maybe in body, but not in mind. They would send their minds up to me."

Twilight blinked. "What do you mean, 'send their minds?' How does that even...wait, we're getting off track. What does Etz Khayyim have to do with the black cloud over Ponyville and why are we dreaming about it overlaid with-what is the"

"A sword." Celestia replied matter-of-factly.

Everypony stared at her.

"A greatsword, actually, wielded once by a renowned warrior who fused with the planet in an attempt to destroy it."

Rainbow Dash said, "What now? This is a metatarsal or something, right?"

"Do you mean perhaps 'metaphor'? A metatarsal is a wingtip bone-"

"So-o-o-ry, Miss Know-it-all Twilight. I'm not a walking dictionary like you-"

"Yet you know the name of a bone most ponies don't even have-"

"What can I say? I know my bones. Broke 'em enough times."

"No. I'm afraid it isn't, Rainbow Dash. He literally became one with the planet and infected it with his drive and ambition. I had to wipe out everything and plant a seed to grow over his corruption." Princess Celestia informed the ponies. "That seed is my Etz Khayyim for you ponies.

"The Tree of Harmony..." Rarity murmured.

"That's right, Rarity." Princess Celestia replied.

"And that other word you used, Twilight. I heard it in my dream." Rarity said, "but it was as if it were a name."

"Sephiroth" Twilight and Celestia said at the same time. Twilight looked up at her mentor with a confused expression.

"Sephiroth is the name of the infection upon this planet-"

"You mean how Nightmare Moon infected Luna?"

"Y-yes, Pinkie I suppose that to be an apt similarity to draw. His return would cause chaos-"

"L-like Discord, before he reformed."

"Not quite, Fluttershy. Discord is more of a trickster, whereas Sephiroth would claim dominion over all-"

"Sounds like 'Queen' Chrysalis and her Changeling Army!"

"Your imagination is too small again, Rainbow Dash. He is a dark stain upon the planet who wishes to break free-"

"Like Sombra an' th' Crystal Empahre!"

"Somewhat, Applejack." Celestia sighed. "Now, my little ponies, I have asked so much of you already, but I must ask it of you again. You must figure out how to wash this stain out of our world before it coalesces into itself. The black mass is Sephiroth trying to assert himself. The cost of failure would be unimaginable, even for me. Please save our planet."

Six gulps emanated from six ponies.

"We'll do it. Right, girls?"

"Right, Twilight!" five ponies replied in unison.