Hello! I only just recently got into the Friendship is Magic show, and I've had this idea floating around in my head for a little while. I've posted it on /b/ and Equestria Daily, so I figured I'd might as well post it here. Enjoy it for what it is!

CHAPTER 1: A Letter Unanswered

The sound of hooves echoed throughout the house. Spike could feel the tension in the air. Twilight had been pacing back and forth for hours now. It wasn't as if it was unusual to see her stressed, but this time was different. Of course, this was the reaction Spike would expect from Twilight in a situation like this. Still, he thought that she was overreacting. She looked over to Spike and their eyes met.

"Anything yet?" Twilight asked. Spike shook his head.

"Not yet," he replied. Twilight hung her head and sighed. She continued her pacing. At this point, Spike started to worry. "Don't you think you're over reacting a little bit? I'm sure there's a good reason for this."

"Spike, Princess Celestia has never taken more than a half hour to respond to one of my letters." She sighed again. "I sent that letter this morning. It's the afternoon and she still hasn't written me back."

"That doesn't mean anything," Spike shot back. "She could just be busier than usual today." Twilight didn't seem too reassured. She went back to her pacing. Whatever was happening with the Princess, it was deeply affecting Twilight and Spike knew it. He knew how close the two were, and that it wasn't healthy for Twilight to keep worrying about it. Besides, he was convinced that it was nothing. There had to be a real reason why she hadn't responded to Twilight's letter. As Spike was lost in his thoughts, Twilight spoke up again.

"What if you sent the letter to the wrong person?" Spike frowned at her. He knew that wasn't the reason, as did she. She gave a nervous smile. "Well, I mean, don't you think it would be possible... just this once?" Spike's frown grew. Twilight's smile disappeared. "Sorry."

"Look, you need to calm down Twilight. It isn't good for you to dwell on this." Twilight nodded in agreement. She knew Spike was right. "Why don't you go out? Y'know, go see what Applejack or somepony is up to? Anything to get your mind off this. You haven't been out all day." An unsure expression grew on Twilight's face. It was true that she hadn't gone outside since yesterday, but she didn't want to miss the Princess's letter. "If she writes back," Spike continued, "I'll let you know as soon as I can." That seemed to reassure her a little bit. She figured it couldn't hurt to distract herself for a while. She shrugged and started heading for the door.

"I guess I'll be back later then," Twilight said.

"Okay, bye Twilight!" Spike waved as Twilight stepped outside the house. She looked around outside, wondering what she could do. Anything that would kill time would be fine. To be honest, she didn't think anything would take her mind off the Princess. It just wasn't right that she didn't respond yet. Though, perhaps Spike was right. Maybe she was worrying about nothing. At least, she hoped she was. She began heading towards the town square. Browsing the shops would be a great way to clear her mind. As she approached the bakery shop, she noticed that Ponyville seemed relatively empty. Many of the shops were closed, and there were barely any ponies around.

"Where is everyone?" she thought to herself. At that point, she heard a gust of wind behind her gradually getting louder. She turned her head to find out what the noise was, only to find that whatever it was had already passed by her.

"Hi Twilight!" It was Rainbowdash, and she was already far ahead of Twilight.

"Dash... hey, wait!" Twilight began running towards Dash in a feeble attempt to catch up. Luckily, Dash heard her and quickly stopped in her flight. She looked slightly annoyed by this. As Twilight got closer, she said, "Wow, you're in a hurry. Where are you going?" Dash's annoyed look grew.

"The same place I hope you're going," she replied. Twilight raised an eyebrow. What was she talking about? Dash sighed. "You don't remember? The annual Cloud Shaping Competition!" Twilight gasped. That's right, it was today. Dash had told her about it yesterday. How could she have forgotten about it?

"Sorry Dash," Twilight said sheepishly. "I guess I forgot about it. I've had other things on my mind today." Dash merely rolled her eyes.

"Well you're still going right?" Twilight nodded. "Then hurry up, it's gonna start soon! I'll meet you there, I'm already running a little late." With that said, she dashed off. Twilight headed towards where Dash was headed and eventually came across a large group of ponies, eagerly awaiting the competition. The pegasus ponies in the air were warming up by stretching and practicing their flight techniques. Twilight admired their intricate flight patterns before returning her attention to the crowd. After a bit of searching she found who she was looking for.

"Well look who's finally here!" Applejack smirked at Twilight and motioned over to her. She was standing with Fluttershy and Rarity. "'Bout time you finally came. I was worried you forgot!"

"Well, I kinda did," Twilight admitted. "So where's Pinkie Pie?"

"She's a bit preoccupied at her bake stand right now," Rarity said, casting her gaze at a second group of ponies standing in front of a large wooden stand filled with cupcakes, pastries, muffins, and many other kinds of baked goods. If she squinted, Twilight could almost see Pinkie frantically running back and forth, providing the treats to the ponies. The competition seemed to be perfect for her business.

"And what about you Applejack?" Twilight asked. "Why aren't you selling your apples?"

"Well we don't really got too many to sell. The others aint quite ready to be harvested yet." Suddenly, the crowd of ponies broke out in cheers. Twilight looked towards the front and saw the Mayor of Ponyville on stage. The show was just about to start.

"Welcome everypony," the Mayor began, "to the annual Cloud-Shaping Competition! We have a lot of competitors this year so let's not waste too much time with introductions. All pegasus ponies will be judged not only by the shape of their cloud, but also by the time it takes to shape. Each pony will have a maximum time limit of ten minutes! All ponies will have their own separate round, and no two ponies will go at once. With that said, let us begin!" The judges took their place by the stage and stared at the sky where the contestants would shape their clouds. The first contestant wasted no time after she was given her cloud. She quickly flew around the cloud, crafting it as carefully, and as quickly, as she could. It wasn't too long before it began to take shape and Twilight realized it was in the shape of a bunny. She heard Fluttershy giggle quietly.

"Ohh I love this competition," she said. "I love seeing the shapes that everypony comes up with." Twilight had to agree with that. As the competition went on, she witnessed clouds of all kinds of shapes. There were birds, flowers, cupcakes, and many others. It wasn't until now that Twilight realized the true skill of the pegasus ponies. Not only were they fast, but they were detailed in their creations. Some even used their wings to move the clouds to give the illusion of moving art. It was quite a sight to see.

"Hey look!" Applejack exclaimed. "Rainbowdash is next!" Dash slowly floated out towards the cloud that had been provided for her. Twilight noticed that, unlike her last competition, Dash seemed completely confident. After all, it's not like she had to do a Sonic Rainboom. Besides, she had nothing to prove this time around. The competition was nothing more than good fun.

"Ready?" one of the judges asked Dash, to which she nodded. She tensed up and locked her joints in place. She twitched slightly as she waited for the signal. The whistle blew, and she was off. She began rapidly circling the cloud, which began to stretch out vertically. Once it was the right height, she zipped down to the bottom and began her circling once more. The clouds at the bottom began to shape legs. She then began working on everything above. Twilight watched nervously as Dash finished up her cloud. She was probably getting close to the time limit by now. Just as Twilight thought that time would run out, Rainbowdash flew directly in front of her art with a grin. She had shaped the cloud into a large dragon, much to the dismay of Fluttershy who slowly lowered her head.

"Oh for the love of... You do realize it's just a cloud right?" Rarity stared down at Fluttershy, flashing her a questioning look. Fluttershy merely kicked away at the dirt in silence as Applejack and Twilight giggled to themselves.

-

After the festivities, Twilight bid her friends farewell and headed back to her house. It was a good thing that she had run into Dash earlier, otherwise she would have missed out. She felt sorry that the dragon cloud was only enough to snag second place, but Dash didn't seem too upset by it. "After all," she had said earlier, "it's all just fun and games right?" That comment came as a slight surprise. After all, Dash was never much of a modest pony, and she definitely wasn't a fan of being anywhere below first place. Twilight was quite impressed with that. Maybe Dash was finally growing up.

As she opened the door, Twilight's mind immediately went back to Princess Celestia. She sighed in anger for letting her mind worry. The whole point of her day out was to keep her thoughts away from the unanswered letter. However, maybe Spike had received the letter while she was out. She sure hoped so.

"Spike," she called out, "are you here?" Spike walked into view with an uneasy look on his face. Twilight frowned at the sight. "I guess I don't even need to ask if you got a letter back?" Spike shook his head. Twilight's face fell and all the worry she felt that afternoon had emerged once more. "Well, what do you think now? Still think this is nothing?"

"Well..." Spike began, uneasily. There was a long pause before he was able to find the right words. "Look, I know this is odd, but I still don't think you should be worrying about it." Twilight scoffed. "Hey, I'm just trying to make you feel better!"

"I know, I'm sorry." She walked into her room and looked out the window next to her bed. The night sky was a beautiful sight. Twilight always used it to cheer her up. There was something truly mystical about the night. The stars and moon gave off a surprisingly intense light, and the light covering of clouds gave it a chilling atmosphere. If she ever needed to think about anything, she always turned to the night sky. Suddenly, Spike broke her concentration.

"We'll send another letter tomorrow. If she doesn't respond, we'll go visit her in person. Does that sound good?" Twilight nodded and gave Spike a forced smile. "Try not to stay up too late thinking about this. It'll work out! I promise!" He started heading towards his own bed.

"Thanks Spike. Good-night." The night sky caught her eyes once more. What would happen if Spike was wrong? What if the Princess really was in trouble? How would she know? What would the other ponies do? What COULD they do? These were all questions that Twilight really hoped went unanswered. Though she was going to take up Spike's offer on sending another letter, somehow she felt that it wouldn't matter. In her mind, the best thing to do would be to visit the Princess in person. She planned on telling Spike this tomorrow before sending the letter.

So many thoughts and what-if's were floating around in Twilight's mind. She tried blocking them out, but she couldn't get them out of her head. One thing was for sure, she wasn't going to get a good night's sleep.

-

Somewhere in the forests of Equestria...

It was nearly pitch black, mostly thanks to the trees blocking out the light from the stars and the moon. A dark figure walked through forest, trying to get as far away from any witnesses. The figure eventually reached a large rock formation lacking trees that were too close for it to work. This would have to do. By now Ponyville was probably far enough away. It couldn't be instantaneous, it had to be gradual. He didn't want anyone to know what was happening until they were already affected. He braced himself on the rock and closed his eyes in concentration.

Soon, a bright light emerged from his horn. Come on... concentrate. Even the slightest mistake would ruin the spell. He kept up his concentration and the light grew bigger and brighter. Soon, a relatively small shockwave exploded around the figure. He completed the spell. Breathing heavily, he looked around to see if the effects were taking place. At first, he didn't think it had worked. That was, until the flowers around him began to wilt. The grass gradually became dried and brown. The leaves on the trees quickly disintegrated as the bark started cracking and peeling off. Finally, while it may be hard to see with the untrained eye, the once nearly clear night sky started to become covered in pitch black clouds. The figure smiled and flew up into the air to view his handiwork.

The clouds were slowly spreading all around where he cast the spell. The plants had a similar effect. A circle of dead plants grew larger by the second. The figured looked out in the distance and saw Ponyville. It wouldn't spread there until morning at the very least. However, it didn't matter. The deed was done. He took off into the night sky, viciously laughing at the impending chaos he had caused.

Bam! Chapter 1 done! Hopefully this won't meet the same fate as my other fics. We'll see what happens. I'll try to get this updated regularly.

Until next chapter folks!

-eaglefan101