The ponies of Ponyville happily enjoyed the day upon them. Some casually walked either solo or with friends or family. Other ponies tended to their shops serving for their customers. Most played hoofball in the local park while other ponies talked to one another about random topics.

It felt like an ordinary, peaceful day to them and they couldn't want it any other way. But that suddenly changed when a few ponies noticed an enormous black anomaly float over the Everfree forest and slither like a snake to Ponyville. Some ponies were confused and others were worried and scared of its sheer abnormal darkness. More ponies turned to eye the unknown cloud approaching their town, stopping their usual routines. They watched on, baffled and confused. Most of the pegasi tried to figure out the cloud's bizarre movement patterns and strange lighting it occasionally emitted.

A familiar voice called out to some of them.

“Everypony, get back!”

They looked and spotted as Twilight and the five element bearers rushed toward Ponyville at a breakneck pace with the eerie cloud in hot pursuit, floating high above where it seemed to be slowly growing as it approached Ponyville getting wider and expanding in size. It took the form of a nightmarish wave of lightning and fog.

As the mane six successfully arrived in Ponyville, Twilight swiftly turned her body and stood in the middle of the bridge. She glared defensively and aimed her horn at the oncoming ominous wave cloud. Her magic ignited and she concentrated her magic into a bright flow of aura around her horn.

Rainbow Dash stopped and turned as she watched the stunt Twilight was doing, “What are you doing, Twilight!?” she called out to her friend.

“I’m going to cast a force-field. You and the others tell everypony to get to their homes and hide. I’ll try to hold off this cloud as much as possible.” She didn't know if the cloud was gonna cause severe collateral damage to Ponyville, but seeing the forest earlier and how lucky Fluttershy's home survived the ruthless onslaught, if she could call it lucky, she couldn't take any chances.

“Are you sure you’re strong enough to keep that cloud at bay?”

“I won’t know if I try. Now go, please. Help the others and get to somewhere safe,” Twilight barked, ordering Rainbow Dash to do her task. Rainbow Dash nodded and rushed to the others to help them, not questioning Twilight’s decision. But that didn't stop her from worrying.

Twilight focused her mind and sharply concentrated, gathering as much magic she could muster and store it all in her horn for a powerful force-field. She may have powerful magic and she does know her limits, but she’s never channeled her magic all at once and it sort of worried her if she'll mess this up or if this will cause any effect on her like put her in a coma, destroy her horn, or kill her; that was the last thing that needed to happened. No, she shouldn't be thinking that right now. Twilight gathered more energy and magic, ignoring those thoughts and focused on the task at hoof. She needed to save her friend, family, and home at all costs. The magic aura around her horn lite up brighter than normal as layers of magic built up over one another and growing stronger. Some of the ponies that safely made it to their homes peaked out from either their windows or doors to see a bright pruple light shine in front of Ponyville. It looked like a single candle lighting up a dark room.

The cloud already upon them and, like a falcon drop, curved its form and dived down directly at Twilight. And at the same time, Twilight finished her stored magic and unleashed her spell in a powerful burst, summoning a force-field big enough to cover half of Ponyville. She crushed her eyelids and grunted in slight pain, trying to keep the concentration straight and strong.

Having successfully gotten all citizens to their homes, the five mares watched as Twilight conjured her force-field. They widened their eyes in awe from what they're witnessing; Twilight was just like Princess Celestia defending Canterlot. They wanted to help, truly they did, but what more can they do? They’re basically a distraction at this point and distracting Twilight would be a grave mistake.

The wind picked up as the enormous tsunami of a cloud closed in on Twilight’s force-field, blowing through Ponyville and knocking anything it could, yet it wasn’t strong enough to blow the ponies away, just wave their manes. Applejack, however, held her hat in place as she was about to witness the mother of all clashes.

Meanwhile, in Canterlot, Princess Luna stood on her balcony and watched an ominous black cloud diving over Ponyville. She gasped in horror and was about to go find and inform her older sister, but Celestia walked by her side the moment she about departed. Celestia was already aware of the cloud’s arrival. She stood by Luna’s side and watched, baffled and worried about the situation. Yet, as it took place, a hint of familiarity dwelled in her mind, trying to drill into her core. She tilts her head and glanced at the cloud confusedly.

“That cloud? It looks… familiar,” Celestia tried to remember what occurred back in her youth that would cause her such puzzlement. It was almost nerve-wracking to her.

“Do you think it’s King Sombra? Has he survived death hooves?!” Luna asked very worriedly.

“It’s likely he did, but something is amiss here. If Sombra is still alive, we would’ve seen him by now, or felt his presence,” Celestia said with a deep sigh, baffled and confused.

“Shouldn't we do something, sister?”

Celestia shook her head, “No. This is something Twilight can handle herself.”

Luna looked at her sister with an unsure glance, “Are you sure, Celestia?” She had a feeling that statement was gonna backfire on her.

Celestia nodded, “Positive. I have complete faith in Twilight. She can take care of this.”

“Alright, but still, I’ve never seen anything like this before. If it’s not King Sombra, then who or what do you suppose it could be?” Luna glanced back at the cloud while Celestia tried to figure out why in blazes this mysterious cloud was giving her such hard time to remember. It was really bothering her.

“I don’t know, Luna. I can’t remember what it is, yet why does it look so familiar,” Celestia placed her hoof on the side of her head and closed her eyes before she opened them to notice a strange pattern in the cloud's movements. She locked her gaze on the cloud and let out a quick gasp, “No, that’s impossible.“ Something finally rang a big bell in Celestia's mind.

With the monstrous cloud approaching, Twilight focused her magic on keeping her force-field as strong as possible and keeping other distractions like the violent winds blowing across her body and screaming ponies out of her mind. But she can't help shake the feeling this wasn't gonna work. No, it has too. She tightened her focus and kept her magic strong while hoping this plan would succeed. If it didn’t, what other plans would she have to stop a large thundercloud?

“Come on Twi, you got this,” Applejack watched with anticipation and worry. her friends were the same.

Fluttershy hid her face behind her mane using it as a shield to block her vision from what’s in front of her and her friend despite hearing the hums from the force-field and terrifying roars from the cloud.

Time felt slow to Twilight as the roaring, dark cloud dived closer and closer to the force-field and she felt her heart race a bit the longer she kept it up, yet she concentrated as best as she could.

Then, like the sound of a loud, powerful explosion, the cloud collided against the force-field with force so strong it shook the earth under the ponies' hooves, catching them all off guard. It felt like an earthquake shaking the stores and homes like bobbleheads.

The battle between offense and defense was cut, however, as Twilight screamed aloud from the clash. The impact was so strong it forced her to cut off her link to her force-field. The cloud broke through the force-field like mere glass and landed mere inches away from the stunned Twilight, emitting a roaring thu’um as it did. The force of the landing sent Twilight flying like how a minotaur would flick a bug. Her friends gasped in horror as they watched Twilight fly high over their heads and crash through the roof of Sugarcube Corners with a hard impact, leaving a decent-sized gaping hole.

“Twilight!” they shouted in unison as they rushed to the bakery, completely ignoring the motionless, dark cloud behind them while six flaring, red eyes beamed down and spied on them and the rest of the small town.

Hours pass but the shock still loomed over the royal sisters. They watched as the cloud just stood there over

Princess Luna gasped in utter shock, “W-What just happened?”

Celestia widened her eyes in disbelief, but she wasn’t surprised by this turn of events. “Twilight…”

A unicorn guard swung open the doors and ran up to the princesses before stopping to take some heavy breaths, “Princesses, we have an emergency! A large cloud has appeared in Ponyville,” the royal guard inhaled a large of air and continued, “And, Princess Twilight has been reported to be injured trying to stop it.” A beat of sweat slid down the side of the guard’s head, out of breath and somewhat terrified of the situation that loomed upon them.

“We are aware of its presence! We can see it from here!” Luna glanced at the guard then back over the balcony, watching the cloud.

The guard flinched briefly but regained his composure, “Forgive me, Princess Luna. But I would like to also inform that strange noises can be heard from the cloud.”

“Strange noises?” Luna raised a confused brow, “What kind of strange noises?” Celestia was listening in on this, too. But she kept her eyes glued on the cloud while also pondering if Twilight is alright.

“I’m not quite sure, Princess Luna.” The guard said as he speculated for a second before giving Luna a reasonable answer, “Some describe it as odd, deep clicking cackles, or random hissing,” he shrugged slightly, “That’s all I know, Princess Luna."

Before Luna had anything to say to this, Celestia jerked her head with shocked eyes and shouted in a frightened, panicked tone, “What!?” from hearing those words, the bell finally rang and she remembered what that cloud was and what it actually is. She thought it was all over. That what she had to deal with was gone. That was not good for any of her subjects.

“Sister?” Luna craned her head up and looked at Celestia confusingly, but the towering princess ignored her little sister and only glared at the guard with worried, troubling eyes before marching up to him.

The guard looked at Celestia in confusion and fear, “Princess?”

“Follow me and gather some of the guards and load as many weapons as possible, then head to Ponyville, immediately!” Celestia ordered with a stern bark. “And, by the heavens, tell them that what we're about to face is nothing they’ve ever fought before.”

“Yes, your majesty!” The guard gave Celestia a salute before rushing out of the room to do what he was told, even if he was slightly out of breath.

“Sister, what’s going on? Doth thou finally remember about that cloud?” Luna asked.

“Yes, little sister. But that cloud you see before you-” Celestia looked at Luna with panicked, serious eyes, “-isn’t what it seems.” She did a quick sigh before she continued, “I thought the nightmare was over, but we were wrong.”

“We? What’s going on, Celestia?!” Luna’s confusion grew into annoyance. “If it isn’t a cloud, then what kind of monstrosity is looming over Ponyville?” Luna asked in a frustrated and scared tone.

“I’ll explain later. I need to make some calls. Twilight and the others will know soon. For it will be something they cannot defeat alone,” Celestia walked out of Luna’s room with a glare so serious it'd make a drill sergeant's glare look like a fussy filly's after not getting a cookie. Luna followed close behind, keeping pace with her older sister.

Next Chapter: A Guardian Emerges Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 33 Minutes