Once in the throne room, the ponies took their seats and activated the map that showed all of Equestria. Twilight examined it very closely.
" So what are we up against?" Applejack asked her.
" Is it a horrific monster?" Rainbow Dash questioned hopefully.
" Uh... enough with the monsters already Rainbow Dash!" Rarity told her, annoyed.
" Quiet." Twilight said, hushing her friends.
As she quietly inspected the map, Pinkie Pie noticed something very odd.
" Hey, what's that huge, ugly, dark cloud doing near Canterlot?" She said, pointing it out to her friends.
The ponies looked at the strange cloud that was hoovering near Canterlot. It wasn't like any cloud they've ever seen before.
" I've seen a lot of clouds in my day, but never seen one quite like that one before." Rainbow Dash said.
" They're not moving on their own either." Applejack pointed out.
" What does this mean?" Rarity questioned.
Just then, a strange wind filled the room. It blew faster and faster as it approached and spun above the ponies heads. Frightened, they hopped out of their thrones and backed away. They watched as it spun violently around the map. It turned into a red cloud and shot its magic at the map, causing it to crack and being destroyed. Shards of it came at the ponies, but Twilight shielded themselves with her magic before it could hit them. The cloud and the wind disappeared, leaving behind the destruction that it made. The map had huge cracks in it. Bits and pieces of it layed on the floor. The ponies were dismayed.
" Twilight! Girls!" Starlight yelled from outside.
She trotted in with Spike following behind her.
" I heard a strange noise. Spike told me not to bother you guys, but I just had to come." She explained until she turned and noticed the destroyed map.
" What happened to the map?" She asked, confused.
" A scary red cloud came in and destroyed it." Fluttershy muttered.
" We have to get rid of that thing!" Applejack declared.
" That cloud was only a warning. The real threat is yet to come." Twilight told them.
" Let it come because this time, me and my party cannon are ready!" Pinkie announced, pulling her party cannon out with determination.
Rarity and Rainbow Dash hussed her, causing Pinkie to stay quiet.
" Okay; so how do we stop it?" Applejack asked Twilight.
" We can't. If we try, it'll kill us." Twilight acknowledged sadly.
The ponies were in disbelief.
" Can the princesses help us?" Rarity suggested.
" No. They 're too busy protecting their own kingdoms." Twilight answered.
" How about The Elements of Harmony?" Rainbow Dash asked.
" It'll shatter them. Besides, they're keeping the The Tree of Harmony alive, remember?"
" Oh yeah. I forgot about that." Rainbow replied, scratching her head, embarrassed.
" So what do we do then?" Fluttershy said.
Thinking long and hard, Twilight came up with an idea.
" We need to search the library." She proclaimed with a smile.
This didn't surprise her friends. Knowing Twilight, books would always be involved in whatever problems that they would come across.
" Okay, let's go then." Rainbow Dash said, her and the rest of the ponies heading for the door.
" No girls, not my library. The one in Canterlot." Twilight replied, teleporting herself in front of them.
" What? You don't mean..." Starlight tried to say.
" Yes. We're going to Star Swirl the Bearded archives. " Twilight announced.
" That library?" Rarity spoke, thinking Twilight was crazy.
" Not that one. Don't you remember last time?" Pinkie recalled, remembering how Twilight and her tried to sneak in to find a time spell.
" But this time it's different. We're dealing with a serious issue." She explained.
" How are you going to get in? Even with my magic I had a hard time getting in." Starlight admitted, recalling how she stole Star Swirl's time spell.
Then, the ponies heard the sound of flapping big wings enter the room. It was Princess Celestia.
" Princess Celestia! What are you doing here?" Twilight asked, surprised to see her former teacher.
" I needed to see if you girls were okay. There's an evil danger coming." She replied, looking very seriously at them.
" We know. Some strange magic invaded here and destroyed our map." Twilight told her, showing her the remains.
Celestia went over and observed it.
" So, what do you think." Twilight questioned after giving her a moment of silence.
" I know who it is." She answered.
She turned to the ponies.
" This is the work of Black Mist."
The ponies wanted to know more.
" Who is he?" Twilight wondered.
" He was a former student of Queen Chrysalis. Unlike the other changelings, he has the body of a pony with both the powers of an alicorn and a channeling."
" Does Queen Chrysalis know what's happening?" Spike asked.
" No. This is all his doing. And what he's planning, I'm afraid to find out." Celestia admitted, worried as she looked up.
" And now he's coming for Ponyville."
" Hang on. How come he's coming to Ponyville and not Canterlot or the Crystal Empire?" Rainbow Dash pointed out.
" Not sure, but from what I can see, he intends for Ponyville to be the start of his rampage."
Twilight knew they had to get to the library immediately.
" We need to get to Star Swirl the Bearded archives." She firmly told Celestia.
" I figured you might go there, so I brought these."
Princess Celestia's horn glew and a pair of keys appeared. She gently lowered them into Twilight's hoofs.
" What are these for?" She asked, looking at the keys confused.
" These keys unlock a secret door hidden in the back of the archives. It's forbidden to all ponies. Only princesses are allowed back there. There, you will find the answer to defeat Black Mist." Celestial explained.
Twilight smiled confidently.
" Thank you. You can count on us!"
Princess Celestia smiled at all of them before departing.
" You mean she's not going to help us?" Rainbow Dash spoke.
" She just did." Applejack replied, staring at her blankly.
Rainbow Dash grinned sheepishly.
" Okay girls, we have no time to lose. Gather around me." Twilight instructed.
Her friends gathered around her. She turned to Starlight and Spike.
" We'll be back. Watch the castle."
" Can do Twilight." Spike said, Starlight nodding next to him.
Her horn lightning up, a bright, pinkish, force surrounded them and in a snap, they were gone.
