Justin just sat there, outside the door to the room Twilight was in. She was being examined thoroughly, along with Applejack in the room across. The first one to get progress was Applejack, having passed out due to trauma and blood loss. The pony who was in charge of taking care of her was Nurse Redheart, while Doctor Haywick had to take care of Twilight.

Justin already received a report on Applejack's health status by Nurse Redheart just mere minutes after their arrival. Of course, he was originally ambushed by a few ponies thinking he was responsible for the conditions his friends were in, but after a run-in with Rainbow Dash, they agreed to listen to Justin's testimony, where he explained the situation that they got themselves out of.

Sure enough, after hearing reports of an apple shortage in the market, Justin told the former pursuers to look around Sweet Apple Acres, to make sure that Big McIntosh wasn't hurt in the craziness. He then received word that he was found lying in bed, with a severe back injury, and nothing more.

Rainbow Dash was sitting next to Justin, rubbing her hooves on the floor, and glancing around nervously. Justin turned towards her, and weakly smiled. "Hey, at least we know Applejack's okay, right? And if I don't know any better, it was her who had the worst beating out of the two... so I'm sure Twilight's okay!" He brushed her mane, which made her look up at him, and smile.

"Y-you're sure?" She asked, before her ear started twitching at the unusual, yet soothing feel of his hands brushing on her mane.

"As positive as multiplying two negative numbers!" Justin replied, which made Rainbow Dash look at him confusedly. Justin sighed, then said, "Sorry, I'm trying to think of catch-phrases right now... y'know... take my mind off of things."

Rainbow Dash stared at him even more confused, before shrugging his odd way of words, and ask, "So tell me... what happened out there?"

Justin closed his eyes, and looked down. "It was... terrifying, to say the least." When his eyes opened, he was staring at his right hand, and rotating it around, viewing the front and back. "During the stampede incident, I had an odd feeling in my head... like a sixth sense of some kind... a spiritual vision of what was going to happen in a split second. Time itself seemed to move slower, and as a result, I managed to save Twilight from a flying arrow."

Rainbow's jaw dropped right there. "W-wait... somepony tried to harm Twilight?!" Her glare itself gave Justin the idea that she was about to make the wrong assumption, so he quickly shook his hands defensively.

"Actually, it was the opposite! The stampede just made him trip, and his arrow lost course as a result!" Then, Rainbow Dash sighed, and sat back down, then motioned for him to continue.

"So anyways, after you yelled the phrase, I somehow... had a memory from some time ago, telling me that the cows in the world are sentient... when they weren't when humanity was around." Rainbow nodded her head. "After I had that vision, I chose to do what instinct I knew best... protect my friends."

Rainbow smiled at that statement, and nodded her head. "Hey, I hear Twilight's supposed to write friendship reports to Princess Celestia! Would you mind telling me one, since it might benefit her as well?" She asked.

Justin placed his right hand under his chin, and hummed for a second. Then, he looked at the door to Applejack's room, and smiled. "While it may not go with the current events, I can remember what my mom told me, before I went to High School..." After clearing his throat, he looked at her, and said, "When life gets you down, sometimes it takes a true friend to bring you back up."

"Wow..." Rainbow Dash said, with her eyes widened. "I didn't know you of all ponies... err... creatures... could sound both, intelligent and awesome!" Then, she chuckled. "But if you tell anypony I said that... I'll deny it!"

Justin chuckled, before replying, "Hey, don't worry! Your secret's safe with-"

Suddenly, the door to Twilight's room burst open, followed by Doctor Haywick galloping out of it, and into Applejack's room, yelling, "Something's terribly wrong, here! We need Princess Celestia here, ASAP!" Just the sound of that caught both Justin's and Rainbow Dash's attention, and in unison, the two of them rushed towards the door, only for Rainbow Dash to get caught in a spell, while Justin walked in the room freely. Doctor Haywick, of course, was confused and worried when he realized that his spell to catch the two of them only worked halfway. "Hey, HEY! Don't go in there!" He yelled to Justin, before the door to Twilight's room slammed shut.

When he stepped inside, Justin looked around, and saw that Twilight was strapped into the bed from the chest and waist, by a pair of leather straps, while the bed appeared to have four opened metal clamps on the upper and lower side corners of the bed. She seemed to be breathing unusually calmly, though, despite the situation and condition she was in. Her eyes were emitting a black aura from the edges, but the white around her irises were still there, and her snout was opened, revealing her teeth, which were slowly turning into sharp nail-like fangs. Around the room, Justin saw the tools, papers, and a lot of other miscellaneous equipment floating around. The walls, however, were unusually purple and black, with the black appearing like a mist that flowed upwards in the purple background. It was clear to Justin that this wasn't just an ordinary wallpaper.

Suddenly his eyes flashed blue again, only this time, it stayed that way, rather than turn back to normal in a heartbeat. Within Justin's mind, time stopped again, and in a split-second, he became aware of the proper actions he had to take.

I must remain calm... and prepare myself to face a horror that I'm more than likely to deal with more than once...

First, I block off the door, avoiding any unwanted visitors, and grab a thick sheet of cloth from the counter by the door. Afterwards, I roll the sheet into a rope, and rush to Twilight. Seeing the type of bed she's in, I'm more than capable of locking her hooves on the clamps in the sides... so I'll do just that.

Start with the upper-left hoof, while dodging her attempted bite, and catching her upper-right hoof, clamping it down after. Then, I lick my right finger and thumb, and douse her attempted spell from her horn by placing the fingers on the tip. No doubt the saliva will extinguish the spell, while the contact will give the Dark Spirit a sharp pain. Using that to my advantage, I tie the rope over her snout, and on the back of her head. This should be the time where she would try breaking free. A double-knot is a must.

Catch her lower-right hoof, for it will attempt a kick to the face, and could easily succeed, giving her Equine Anatomy. Clamp it down on the bed as well, catching her lower-left hoof, and repeating the process. Now that she is bound, there's no other chance of escape, as the hooves are locked, the body is bound, and the horn is suffering pain, and is too sore to cast anything else.

Then, I run up to her forehead, grasping it with my left hand, my middle and ring fingers around the horn, and my palm on her forehead. She will start screaming, so I have to act fast with my right hand. Quickly, yet carefully, I place my right middle finger between her eyes, right thumb on her right cheek, and right pinkie finger on her left cheek. While doing so, I have my right pointing finger and ring finger directly in front of her pupils, which entrances her eyes to stare, while the smoke from my hands start balling up towards my right palm. Carefully, I hold it there, and draw the Dark Spirit into my hand. When the smoke stops flowing, it is at the tip of her soul, and is too weak to hold on. That's where I pull it out, and crush it with my right hand, absorbing it's powers, and sealing it's fate right there.

Since I'm Undead, the chances of it taking over my body is impossible, and due to my immunity to Magic, I will be able to withstand any and all spells it would attempt to cast into me.

It would also seem likely that I will be able to cast whatever the Dark Spirit knew, which in this case, as the room would appear, would be a mixture of fire and wind magic.

Then, I explain the results to Doctor Haywick, who will be rushing inside, questioning what they saw on the Security Cameras.

That, of course, is for later concerns.

After the flash of the plan was in place, Justin's eyes continued their glow, but he regained control of the situation. Hearing hoof steps in the hallway, his plan instantly went into motion. Quickly, he locked the door, and blocked it off with a table, while grabbing a sheet. Then, he tied the sheet in a rope, and rushed to Twilight. There, he bound her with the clamps, tied her snout with the rope, and in fifteen seconds, he had the Dark Spirit crushed, right as the table flew out of the doorway.

The first pony to rush in, of course, was Doctor Haywick, who stared at Justin worriedly, then looked around, and saw the purple and black foggy wall was back into it's regular light-blue paint, and the objects were no longer floating, although they were still scattered around the floor. Then, he opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Justin's eyes went back to it's normal blue-green color.

"D-did you just use... Magic?!" Doctor Haywick stuttered, to which Justin looked at his fingers, and shrugged, unable to hide the confusion in his expression.

"I don't know... did I?" Was the confused human's response. He could remember the events that just took place, yet he couldn't help but feel confused at how he suddenly knew what to do at that situation.

Before anyone else could speak, a Sun Guard rushed into the room, carrying a long white spear, while saying, "Halt! You're under arrest for intruding in Official Business, and the use of Forbidden Magic! Anything you say can, and will, be used against you in the Royal Court of Her Highness, Princess Celestia!"

Justin's right eyebrow raised up, before he asked, "Um... okay? I don't know what you're going on about, but I need to see Princess Celestia, anyways, so please lead the way!" As he said that, he lowered the spear the guard was holding from his chest, and positioned it to his left.The guard, of course, wasn't amused.

He raised the spear again, but this time, he pointed it at Justin's neck, much to his discomfort, and yelled, "Do I look like I'm playing?!"

With a sigh, Justin replied, "You're serious?"

Suddenly, a rainbow blur shot into the room, and in a split-second, Rainbow Dash stood between both, Justin and the guard. Then, with a glare, she yelled, "What the hay is wrong with you, you foolish guard?! Don't you even know who he is?!"

Justin, however, patted her back, and said, "It's alright, Rainbow Dash... I'm new here, yes, but as such, I still need to abide by the laws of the land, regardless of whether or not I knew what I did wrong." Then, he looked back at Twilight, who was breathing normally, but was in a deep sleep. "When Twilight and Applejack wake up, I want you to tell them where I am, alright? Maybe they can be the proof I'll need to drop the charges."

Rainbow Dash was silent for a moment, glaring at the guard, who seemed unfazed by Justin's surrender, before her eyes closed, and her head lowered, while a single tear fell from her right eye. "Fine... but you better not go to jail for protecting your friends!" Then, she turned towards the guard again. "I swear, in the name of Princess Celestia herself... if you so much as mistreat him, then I'll make sure you end up behind bars!" After her statement, the guard rolled his eyes, and dragged Justin out of the building.

Once outside the building, the guard looked both ways, before escorting Justin towards the Everfree Forest, where two other guards joined them. At this point, Justin's memories of the location Canterlot was in hasn't returned yet, so he followed through without question.

It was when they walked towards the ruins of the Castle of the Two Sisters that his suspicions began to rile up.

One of the guards, a brown stallion with the same Sun Guard armor, turned his head towards Justin, and said, "Now, then... you need to jump into the well up there." He pointed towards an ancient-looking well that sat behind the decrepit gates. "It will take us to where we need to be, so we can explain things better."

Justin's right eyebrow raised, while he stared at them in confusion. "Weren't we going to Canterlot to face a trial, though?!"

The first one that Justin met shook his head, and replied, "I'm sorry... it was a cover-up to something much more bigger we need to discuss... but we've already sent our message to our leader, so she understands what's going on."

At first, Justin doubted their words, and thought that they were nothing more than bandits, and that the well thing was a hoax, until the other two of them literally dived head-first into the well. Justin stared in awe, as he couldn't hear the sound of anything landing inside.

"You have to jump in upside-down, though... as the saying goes, 'Sometimes, you'll have to get down to go up'." Justin slightly smirked at the irony of the phrase, but understood, and nodded his head, while the guard leaped in. Justin looked inside the well, and could see that inside it was nothing more than a few rocks that literally went only a couple feet below the outside walls of the well.

"Okay, then..." He said, before standing on top of one of the stone walls of the well. "... I can do this." With that, he jumped up as high as he could, and while in the air, made a dive, only to land flat on his face on the rocks within the well. In that very instant, his spine cracked, his breath ceased, and everything around him faded into darkness.

When Justin's vision became clear again, he rose from his old rugged bed, and looked around. "What the..." Whenever he looked around, he couldn't find anyone inside. He groaned in annoyance. "Did I really just die again?!"

Before he could say anything else, the guards' voices replied from outside his closet door frame, "Yes, but you were drawn from the surface, and brought back to where you began. This is, however, where you needed to go. Now, then... this way, please..." Their sudden appearance from outside his closet door frame, placed in the far-right corner of the golden portal door, startled Justin enough to jump up, and look their way. There they stood patiently, and waited for him to follow suit. When he did, the four of them walked along the old, deserted streets, until they reached the end of the road.

"Now, then..." the leader of the group began, "to carry on, you must clear your mind of the lower levels. Only walk straight ahead, and you will reach the end of The Valley of Death... worry, though, and you will fall into the lava, only to wake up in your bed again."

Justin's eyes widened at that statement, as he stared into the distance, and couldn't even see the slightest bit of landscape for well over twenty miles or more.

"Time has been slowed down for us while we're in here, by the way... so you won't have to worry about any of the others out there until this trial ends." The third stallion, a black-coated one, said.

Justin looked at them confusedly. "Wait... this is the trial?!"

They nodded their heads, while the leader replied, "And no, you don't have to worry about jail, either! That, too, was just a cover-up... and we're sorry, but the exit to Canterlot has been dispelled for the time being, so there's no escaping this... it's for the fate of the world, after all. Our leader will explain everything to you when you get there... deal?"

Justin sighed, and shook his head, unable to comprehend what's going on, but he soon nodded his head, and said, "Alright, then... but if I make it to... whoever your leader happens to be, then may I please at least have some answers that also relate to this whole 'Element of Death' thing?" With a smile, the three stallions nodded their heads, and walked off of the edge of the road. As they did, however, Justin's eyes widened when he saw that they were walking on nothing but air.

"When you fall, and we can tell you will, then we'll wait patiently until you reach us again." They said in unison.

Justin nodded his head, and stepped forward, only to realize a slight problem... he didn't stop moving down. The next thing he knew, he was back in his bed again, while in the distance, one of the stallions sighed, and said, "Ugh... this might take a while..."

Celestia looked worriedly at a guard who was bowing his head on the ground. She asked him, "And you're sure that they weren't one of us?!" The stallion gulped, and nodded his head.

Then, Rainbow Dash bolted through the door, dodging a few spells that the guards from the hallways were firing at her, until she landed in front of Princess Celestia, and bowed her head, while the guards burst through the door, only to catch Celestia glaring at them. Seeing that it was pointless to stop Rainbow now, they backed away, while Celestia looked back at Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow Dash! What is the matter?!"

Rainbow couldn't control her tears, as she tried answering the question, only to stutter beyond comprehension. Seeing the pain her subject was in, Celestia quickly trotted towards the emotionally torn mare, and wrapped her left wing over her, cooing, "Shh, it's okay, Rainbow... it's going to be okay... deep breaths. Take deep breaths. It'll calm you."

Rainbow nodded, while her breathing slowed, yet her breath intake and outtake increased. When she was calm enough, she looked up at Celestia, and stuttered, "I... I d-don't know how it happened, but... J-Justin was taken by three guards posing as your own! They headed into the Everfree Forest!"

Celestia's eyes widened, while the guards began talking amongst themselves in a worried manner. "B-but that's not all!" Rainbow said, which silenced the guards from chatting amongst themselves. "According to what Justin said, some guy that called himself a 'Shadow Figment' hurt Applejack, and put some sort of curse on Twilight!"

The guards that were at the entrance all gasped at once, while Celestia's worried look turned to one of shock, and anger. Then, she trotted towards her window that overlooked the Everfree Forest, and lowered her head, before closing her eyes. "Those traitors..." Her mane flowed more quickly, while a pure white aura started emitting from her entire body. "So they think they can just harm my subjects like that, and expect us to do nothing about it?!" Her breathing intensified, while her rage was beginning to get frightening even for Rainbow Dash. "And they think they can just harm my Faithful Student like THAT?!" Her final word echoed through the whole room, and her right fore hoof slammed onto the ground, shaking the room in the process, which caused the guards inside to shiver with fear.

Finally, one of the guards looked at her with tears of fear in his eyes, before asking, "W-what should we do, Y-Your Highness?!" She turned from the window, and gave them one of her most serious-looking faces they've ever seen. Then, she spoke in a voice that struck terror into those within the whole castle that heard it... her "Royal Canterlot Voice".

Author's Notes:

:Sneak-Peek:

"Twilight! You're okay!" Doctor Haywick's voice echoed.

"W-where's Justin?!" Twilight asked in a worried tone.

"Ah don't know, sugarcube... but ah'm about to find out!" Applejack replied.

"W-what can I do to help, though?" Rainbow Dash asked Fluttershy.

Softly, Fluttershy replied, "I... don't know..."

"Well, I say we go, and save our friend!" Pinkie Pie yelled at the top of her lungs, followed by the approval of the other five mares.

"So who exactly is your leader?" Justin asked.

"We're sorry, but we aren't authorized to tell you, but don't worry! She's kind and benevolent, so you don't have to worry about-" One of the stallions replied, only to be interrupted by Justin falling into the lava again. With a sigh, he mumbled, "Well, at least he made it past one hundred steps, this time!"

---

To Be Continued...

---

---

:Note From Author:

---

Before anyone asks, the answer is yes. "The whole 'Mental Plan' scene from this chapter WAS inspired by the famous 'Sherlock Holmes Fight Scene', and yes, more moments like that WILL happen later on!"