Zecora was waiting outside her tree hollow. She stamped her feet impatiently. Twilight spoke up, "I tried to get here as fast as I could! What do you need to see me for?"
The zebra looked right into Twilight's eyes, piercing her soul and bringing with it an indescribable aura of seriousness and fear. Zecora began to speak in her usual rhyme, "A spell created years ago will soon bring Equestria's final glow. It shall start and end with Ponyville, and all shall bow to it or it will kill. In the mind of a pony already it sleeps, and it will not be long until every pony it reaps. There is no time to waste, so Twilight Sparke do make haste, and save Ponyville from this evil face." Zecora turned her back to Twilight and went back into her hut, without saying another word.
Twilight's jaw gaped wide open. What was that just now? A prophecy? What am I supposed to think of that? So mysterious… Twilight stood there for a few moments, not quite sure of what to do. As the seconds drew on the realization of the impending doom just described to her washed over Twilight's mind. There isn't much time! I have to figure this out!
"I- I just don't know what to do! I always thought that I could handle anything… but this, this is just… I don't know what it is!" Twilight said to herself as she ran back as quickly as she could to Ponyville. She knew that in her current frenzied state, there was no way she could figure out any solution, and she certainly couldn't tell the others about this. She didn't want to cause a panic. She kept it to herself and decided to sleep on it. Maybe in the morning she would have a plan. She hoped.
The next morning, Twilight woke up at around 6 in the morning. She had not had a good night's sleep. How could she? That prophecy rang in her head like a bell. Her mane was a mess and there bags set deep under eyes. Twilight sighed at her reflection in the mirror and gently combed her mane and tail using her unicorn magic. She looked at her eyes. "There's nothing I can do for these bags… ah well, I'm sure nopony will notice..." Twilight noticed something strange out of the corners of her eyes. Her horn. It had sharped to a point and even grown a little. "That's strange… I thought only royal ponies had long, sharp horns… Ah! But I can't worry about this right now! There are more important matters at hand!" She screamed.
Spike jumped out of bed at the sound of Twilight's yelling. "What's wrong, Twilight?"
"Oh Spike! I know it's early, but I need you to get Applejack to come over, please." Twilight heard a weak "yes" from her baby dragon as he reluctantly yawned and stretched and left the library. At least one of us can relax.
The orange southern pony immediately arrived after she was sent for. Twilight knew that she could trust Applejack to not only keep a secret, but to also not panic.
"Good mornin', Twi!" Applejack said as she gave Twilight a quick hug. "Ow! Twilight, what? Since when is yer horn that sharp?"
"Oh, sorry about the Applejack. It just happened this morning. But listen, that's not important right now. Zecora told me something yesterday… and I think we might be in danger."
"Well, go on Twi! Ah'm listenin'."
Twilight started to reveal Zecora's mystical and chilling prophecy to Applejack, and Applejack's eyes widened with fear.
"I know… it's vague, but there's no doubt about it. Danger is coming to Ponyville, and if we don't do something to stop it, Equestria itself might be in peril." Twilight concluded.
"Well, Ah think… the first thing we need ta do is warn Princess Celestia! And wasn't there some kinda spell that yer brother used in Canterlot with the Changelin's?"
"You're right! Shining did have a spell that could protect a whole city! If we just use that, then we wouldn't have to worry." Twilight called Spike over and asked him to send a letter immediately to Princess Celestia, informing her of the prophecy and requesting help from Shining Armor ASAP. Spike's green fire consumed the letter and off it went to Celestia's castle. All they could do now was wait.
It was a few hours before Shining Armor finally arrived at Twilight's library. "BBBFF! I'm so relieved to see you!" Twilight exclaimed as she galloped to her brother for a hug. It had only been a week since she last saw her, but Twilight loved the stallion more than anything.
"Alright Twilight, Celestia told me about all of this stuff that's been going on, and she said that your plan was as good as any. I'll teach you the spell, but remember, it will only keep things in or out. If what you're talking about is already in Ponyville, I'm afraid there's not much it will do." Shining Armor said to his little sister.
"I'm aware of that, Shining. But this is the best thing. Even if that evil is already here, at least it will keep it away from the rest of Equestria."
"But… that puts all of Ponyville in danger!"
"We can't evacuate. It's possible that one of the ponies here is the one who has the darkness, and I can't risk letting that pony loose into the world. Trust me, Shining. I need you to back me on this."
Shining Armor nodded, though he was still unsure about all of it. He taught Twilight the spell and then watched her work her magic. Any spell done by Twilight would be more powerful than what Shining could do, and Shining was hopeful that it would be enough. Twilight cast it and a thick black beam shot out of her horn. When it reached the sky, a semi-transparent dome began to form around Ponyville. Shining Armor created magical doors in the border that only approved ponies could leave through and stood guard over them.
Suddenly, there was an uproar. Ponies everywhere were starting to freak out about the black dome that appeared around their home. It was Applejack's turn. The ponies of Ponyville naturally trusted her, as she was the element of honesty. "It's alright, every pony!" She shouted, "No need to be afraid. It's only Twilight's protection spell. Zecora's warned us about a certain danger and this is what we're doin' to stop it! Please, go back to yer lives!" Every pony started to calm down after that, and slowly things returned to normal. Applejack could admit that the black dome was extremely foreboding. And it was unusual, since Twilight's magic spells were usually purple. But what did she know about magic? Applejack looked for Twilight, but Spike told her that Twilight had already gone inside to go to sleep. Applejack smiled. Twilight must have been exhausted from all the worry. Applejack left to go back to her farm.
