Luna and Twilight were sitting in the library, drinking coffee. Twilight's
cup was already empty. Drinking the coffee had made her feel fully
awake. Unfortunately, her headache had also gotten worse. Luna saw
Twilight's depressed look from the other side of the table.

“Would you like to have another cup?” Luna kindly asked.

“No thanks, I've had enough.” Twilight answered. “We should head out soon, there's still much we don't know.”

“Indeed. But before we go anywhere, you should comb your mane. You've got quite the bed hair right now.” Luna said.

Twilight hadn't thought of her looks in the last few days. The way her mane
looked felt like a minor issue after everything that had happened.
Twilight noticed how messy her mane had gotten as she looked at herself
in the mirror. To fix this, she tried to levitate a comb. It was harder
than usual, as her horn hurt when she cast the spell. This made her lose
focus and drop the comb on the floor.

“You really overworked yourself yesterday. Let me do that for you.” Luna
said. She levitated the comb and used it to get the hair out of
Twilight's eyes. Twilight looked at the floating comb as it moved onto
the back of her head. It stopped in the middle of the first swipe.

“Promise me you won't panic, okay?” Luna said. Twilight looked at her, confused
as to why she sounded so serious all of a sudden.

“Huh? What's wrong?” Twilight said.

“There's something stuck in the back of your head. Hold on, I'll get it off.”
Luna said. She lifted her hoof to raise Twilight's mane. There was a
silver piece of metal connected into her neck. It was embedded into her
skin, as if it was a part of it. Luna winced as she saw it. She did her
best to hide how disturbed she was. She tried to rip off the piece of
metal with her magic, but it was stuck tight.

“Ow! What are you doing? That hurt!” Twilight said.

“Sorry! It'll sting a bit, but I have to do this.” Luna said. She amplified her
magic to tear off the metal. Twilight's head hurt as the piece flew off
the back of her head. The skin underneath it was swollen red.

“I got it out. Are you okay?” Luna asked.

“I'm fine, aside from this annoying headache.” Twilight said. “What was that something you were talking about?”

“This thing.” Luna said as she levitated the small piece of metal in front of Twilight. “Do you know what it is?”

“No idea. When did it get there? I never noticed it.” Twilight said.

“There isn't anything remarkable about it. Weird, why was it there?” Luna wondered.

“Well, it doesn't look like it was anything dangerous. Let's ignore it for now
and move on. We've got more important things to worry about.” Twilight
said. Luna was still curious about the mysterious piece of metal, but
she decided to get back to fixing Twilight's mane. She combed it until
it was as straight as it usually was. Twilight looked like her usual
self now. After the two were satisfied with the way she looked, they
left the library.

The sun was rising outside. The village was tinted red from the light
above. It felt eerie to Twilight. After being assaulted by strange
events non-stop for the last few days, Twilight didn't feel safe in the
village. It was her hometown, but it didn't feel like it anymore. Every
single detail that had changed made her feel less comfortable. The
Ponyville she loved was nothing but a shadow of its former self.

Mixed into the red scenery was a pink pony. She walked towards the two at a
casual pace. After closing around half of the distance between the two,
she broke into a run. Twilight recognized her as Pinkie as she drew
close. It took her a moment longer than usual, as her wings still
distracted her.

“Hi Twilight! I was just coming to see you. I haven't seen you since chapter 2!” Pinkie said.

“Glad to see at least one of us is still upbeat in this mess.” Twilight said.

“That was so long ago! This story needed more Pinkie Pie! I mean, any scene is better when I'm in it!” Pinkie said.

“What is she talking about?” Luna whispered to Twilight's ear.

“Never mind her, she's always like that.” Twilight muttered. “Anyway, did anything noteworthy happen since we last met?”

“It's just been the normal summer days since. The sun is shining, the birds
are chirping, flowers are booming, demons are attacking. You know, the
usual.” Pinkie said.

“That sounds nice- wait, what? Did you say demons?” Twilight said.

“Yeah, but don't worry. There's only been three attacks today!” Pinkie said calmly.

“Only?! Where are they coming from? I thought Ponyville was isolated from the rest of Equestria.” Twilight said.

“See for yourself, there’s another one coming up!” Pinkie said and pointed at the ground.

Soon after she finished her sentence, the ground underneath them turned
black. Twilight stared at the darkness underneath her in shock. Luna
sensed danger and pulled her further away. The darkness on the ground
spread in a circle, stopping after it had grown large. A high,
otherworldly sound came from the inside. Two large, veiny hands reached
out from the inside. They flailed around looking for the ground past the
hole. They gripped the ground and it pulled itself up. The head of the
demon appeared from the hole. It had a thin skin, one large red eye and
sharp silver teeth. It looked around Ponyville as the rest of its body
appeared from the hole. It had a small midsection with large silver
wings attached in its back. It had no legs and was only capable of
flight. The hole faded away as the demon flew up into the sky. It let
out an ear piercing howl as it floated above Ponyville. Rainbow Dash
quickly flew towards the demon with a large group of pegasi following
her.

“It's a Flight Eater! Demon Watch, hold it in place! Aim for the back of its
head and don't let it eat anything! 3, 2, 1, go!” Rainbow Dash firmly
ordered. The squad closely surrounded the demon. The ponies in the front
distracted it while the ones in the back bucked it in the head. The
demon tried to grab the ponies in the front into its hand, but they
swiftly dodged out of the way. Thankfully, the demon was stupid enough
to stay in place. Twilight was crouching on the ground, holding her
head. The annoying howls the demon hurt her ears. Luna was standing next
to her, unsure of what she should do. Rainbow Dash flew next to the
group.

“Pinkie, why are you just standing there? We need all the help we can get! You
too, lady in the princess costume! Everypony has to fight or the village
will be destroyed!” Dash said.

“Sure thing! Lead the way, Dashie!” Pinkie said in a cheerful voice. Dash
waited for Luna to join them. Luna hesitated, seeing Twilight's pitiful
form on the ground. Twilight looked up at Luna.

“Go on, I can take care of myself.” Twilight said weakly. Luna stood still
for a moment, then nodded. She flew up towards the demon along with
Pinkie and Dash. Twilight was left alone on the ground. She wanted to
help the pegasi, but she had no way of doing so. Her horn wasn't working
at all. Twilight gave up and lied on the ground. She felt useless.
Every moment in this screwed up village was too much. She closed her
eyes and wished that she could sleep forever. Even if it wasn't real,
she felt at peace in her dreams. Any attempt at falling asleep was
pointless when it was so noisy outside. Twilight lied down, hoping this
would all be over soon.

Somepony poked at Twilight. “Hey, are you alright?” A female voice asked her.
Twilight opened her eyes and slowly stood up. Standing next to her was
Daisy, looking worried.

“I'm fine.” Twilight quietly answered.

“Thank goodness, I thought you were dead for a moment. You never know what'll
happen with all these demons attacking.” Daisy said.

“If you're so worried, go help them.” Twilight said angrily.

“But I'm just an earth pony! I can't do anything to a flying demon, you know.” Daisy said defensively.

“I guess. Sorry, I'm in a really bad mood.” Twilight said.

“It's okay. Nopony likes these attacks, but I can't fight against demons. I'm
trying to help in my own way by writing articles about them.” Daisy
said.

“Oh yeah, you run that tabloid, right? I'm not very familiar with it.” Twilight said.

“Really? We've been very popular lately. Almost the entire Ponyville is already
subscribed to The Flower. Would you like to order it too?” Daisy said.

“No thanks, I'm more into books.” Twilight said. The only time she'd read
the tabloid, she'd hated it. It was sensationalistic. Every article had
been twisted and exaggerated to make it more interesting. Twilight
preferred to get the pure facts and nothing more.

“That's a shame.” Daisy said, disappointed.

“When did you get so popular, anyway? The last time I heard of The Flower, it wasn't well known.” Twilight said bluntly.

“We only became famous recently. Rose did a popular article on the royal
castle in Canterlot. That was our first issue that sold well.” Daisy
said.

“Right, the fact that no newspapers can come from outside of Ponyville now must help too.” Twilight said.

“Obviously. That's why almost everypony reads The Flower. We're the only source of news available here.” Daisy said proudly. This really was a nightmare,
Twilight thought.

The conversation was interrupted by a loud, high pitched scream from above.
The demon desperately flapped its wings, trying to stay in flight.
Crimson blood bled out of its head. Its wings soon stopped. It fell down
with a trail of blood flowing behind it. The body made a thud as it hit
the ground nearby. Daisy took out a piece of paper and began writing
notes on it. The pegasi assembled in front of the demon, led by Rainbow
Dash. They were sweating and many of them had bruises on them.

“Good job guys! We made it through without any serious injuries. A special mention goes to you, miss...” Rainbow Dash began.

“Luna.” Luna said.

“Luna! Thanks for helping us to kick some demon flank! That thing is faster
than it looks, let's hope it was the last one for today.” Dash said.

“You know what this calls for? A party! Let's go to Sugarcube Corner, I've got cupcakes for everypony!” Pinkie said excitedly.

“Sounds good. Demon Watch, you are ordered to party hard!” Dash said. The squad
cheered at her words. They began to slowly walk away as they talked
amongst themselves. Luna went to see Twilight, who was still looking at
the demon.

“Are you okay?” Luna asked.

“Sort of. I thought we'd be safe from monsters, but apparently even that is
too much to ask. If they can't come out of Everfree Forest, they come
from underground. This place really is insane.” Twilight said,
frustrated.

“That's exactly why we can't lose hope. We're the only ones who can do anything
about this. Nopony else thinks this is strange.” Luna said.

“I know. I keep telling myself that, but honestly, I just want to give up.
This all seems way too complicated for us to handle.” Twilight said.

“I understand how you feel, but it's important that we keep going. We can't let things end like this, right?” Luna said.

“Yeah... You're right.” Twilight said.

“Why don't we join the others at Sugarcube Corner? I’m sure a party would cheer you up.” Luna said.

Twilight agreed with her. She smiled at the thought of going to one of the
Pinkie parties she liked so much. The two turned their backs at the
demon and followed the group of pegasi walking in the distance.