The ponies wheezed and panted heavily as they ran through the dark corridor. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie headed the group in order to prevent Rarity from running into anything while she carried the two fillies. Twilight struggled to keep up with her friends as she tried to at least make it close enough to light the way for them. Sweetie Belle held on to Applebloom to keep her steady as her sister carried them. Rarity looked back occasionally to make sure that the two were balanced properly on her back while she ran forward.

Eventually the group found their way back into the large room that led to the stairway back upstairs. They decided to get as much distance as they could from the watery floor of the basement and ran straight for the safety of the ground floor.

After Twilight and Tom burst through the metal doorway to the basement, they quickly turned around and shut the door behind them before finding the nearest wall to lean against. Everyone was on the verge of hyperventilating as they recovered from running so much.

The purple unicorn slid to the floor and took in as many deep breaths as she could handle without passing out. She then looked over to Rarity as she gently placed the two fillies on the floor. She couldn’t help but feel worried about Applebloom as she lay motionless on the ground.

“Is… is she ok?” Twilight asked with concern while looking to the white unicorn as she inspected the filly’s wounds.

“Well she definitely hit her head hard, and that leg looks pretty bad… but hopefully she will be fine with a little medical treatment.” Rarity shrugged as she observed the filly’s oddly bent leg. She then looked over to Sweetie Belle and put a loving hoof on her shoulder.

“Are you ok Sweetie Belle…? Where is Scootaloo? What happened down there?” The white mare peppered her sister with questions.

“Give me a second to answer those in order.” The young unicorn took in a breath in preparation to explain what had transpired in the basement. “One… my head kinda hurts, but other than that I’m alright. Two, we got separated from Scootaloo while we were running from that thing… and as for what happened… well.” She hesitated and looked down as she remembered what she had experienced.

“It’s alright darling… you can tell us anything.” Rarity spoke softly to comfort her sister. Sweetie Belle sighed sadly and looked up to the group.

“We were going to investigate the leaking pipes like we said earlier; but when we got down there, we heard somepony walking towards us. We hid and waited to see who it was, and found out that it was two ponies wearing greyish dark hoods… Scootaloo wanted to follow them, and we couldn’t change her mind once it was made up. We followed them into this other big room that had some other hooded ponies in it. They had candles set up everywhere, and there was this weird thing drawn all over the floor.” Sweetie Belle explained the details of what had happened after they went into the basement.

“Sounds like a summoning spell to me.” Tom stated while thinking about the details of the story.

Sweetie Belle shuddered as she recalled her ordeal. The group frowned as they watched the filly in such distress. She took a moment to collect herself before continuing.

“They did all kinds of spooky stuff that we didn’t understand. Like chanting in some kind of weird language, and drawing other things onto the picture on the floor. After they got done, the thing on the floor lit up and filled the entire room with bright light. When we opened our eyes, we could see water pouring out of the center of the floor. Most of the hooded ponies reached into their pockets and pulled out some kind of paper with odd writing on it. They lit the paper on fire with the candles and started walking out of the room. But before some of them could get their paper out, that thing we saw earlier started pulling them under the surface of the water. It looked around when it was done and must have noticed us, so we ran. Scootaloo took a different turn than us... We tried to find her, but we ended up in that room and fell through the floor.” She looked down sadly as she thought about her friend being alone down in the basement somewhere.

“It’s ok Sweetie Belle. We will find her and get rid of that thing while we’re at it.” Pinkie Pie stated cheerfully to lift the young unicorn’s spirits.

The party pony’s statement managed to make the filly stop frowning and look up from the floor. She smiled briefly before returning her face to a more sullen expression.

“I hope so…” Sweetie Belle sighed dejectedly before returning her gaze to the floor and continuing to sulk.

Twilight got up from the floor and gave one last deep breath. She then walked over to the basement door and turned to the group.

“We better get going… Rarity, you take the girls to the library with the other children. Anybody else want to head back with her?” Twilight asked as a curtesy while looking at Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. If anyone was going to stay behind, now would be the time to speak up.

The two mares glanced at the basement door nervously. They both seemed to be dealing with their fear internally, and Pinkie Pie was the first to conquer hers. She turned her attention forward to the purple unicorn with a confident expression.

“We aren’t going to just leave you two alone down there… right Fluttershy?” The pink pony smiled and looked to her friend for support. The pegasus nervously eyed the metal door out of the corner of her eye. She then looked away from the others apprehensively.

“Right… I just… well.” Fluttershy stammered nervously avoiding eye contact. Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder and smiled warmly.

“You don’t need to go if you’re scared Fluttershy. We will be fine on our own.” The purple unicorn spoke softly to the shy mare. Fluttershy immediately received flashbacks of what had happened in the classroom when she got injured. If she hadn’t intervened, then Twilight might not have survived the encounter with the crimson creature.

Finally, the yellow pegasus shook her head and put on her best look of determination. She faced upwards to her friends with a newfound sense of confidence.

“No… I want to help. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to any of you and I could have done something.” Fluttershy stated with resolve and walked to the door to wait for her friends to go.

Twilight was impressed by her bravery. The yellow mare was normally very timid in frightening situations like these, but seeing her friends in need seems to have lit a spark in the shy pegasus. The unicorn nodded confidently before looking over to Tom and signaling him to open the door.

The human nodded and pulled on the door for a few moments. The metal eventually gave way and screeched open. Everyone gathered by the door and looked downwards into the blackness with varying levels of apprehension between them. Twilight took a moment to look back to Rarity before venturing into the depths.

“Stay away from water. And no matter what happens, just be careful alright?” Twilight asked to reassure herself that the white unicorn would exercise as much cautiousness as possible.

Rarity nodded before turning back to her sister and caressing her hair lovingly. She wasn’t about to take any risks with the two fillies in tow.

“Of course darling… same goes for all of you alright? I don’t want any of you getting hurt.” The white mare spoke apprehensively as she thought about what her friends would have to deal with. The group nodded before turning and heading into the doorway. They then descended the stairs and proceeded into the large room that split off into the rest of the basement.

The group went through the door on the right side of the room and pressed on with Twilight at the lead. The purple unicorn shivered as she felt the cold, damp air hit her. She could almost swear that the atmosphere was getting darker, colder, and more foreboding the longer they were down in this place.

She found herself retreating into her own thoughts to get her mind off of the bleak darkness around them. The unicorn thought back to the encounter they had with the creature while saving the two fillies. She couldn’t help but wonder what had gotten into Tom when the monster was approaching them.

“Hey Tom?” Twilight spoke up suddenly, causing everyone to jump from the sudden break in silence. The human looked at her and raised an eyebrow curiously.

“What’s up?” Tom asked quizzically while walking closer to the unicorn. Twilight looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“What happened back there? Back in the room we found the girls in I mean… You kind of froze up for a minute there when that thing was coming after us.” Twilight asked, curious to hear what had happened to make him tense up with fear like that.

“Oh…” Tom looked away from the unicorn and sighed. He took a few minutes to put into words what he was feeling at the time. “I’m not sure… I guess I panicked for a second.” Twilight seemed confused at the human’s response. She couldn’t think of any reason why he would suddenly panic in a familiar situation.

“Panic…? Why did you panic? I know that thing was terrifying and all, but I thought things like that didn’t bother you?” The purple mare asked calmly. Tom had not expected such a non-hostile answer. He thought that the unicorn would be furious at him for failing to help them in their time of need, but instead she seemed more curious and concerned for why he froze up suddenly.

“I have never run across a situation like that... I am not used to having to keep someone else safe while fighting something. I usually just wandered around and fought whatever evil creatures I came across; but… I threw everything I had at that thing, and it didn’t even flinch. And to see that thing coming after you… well.” Tom paused to look down sadly. Twilight and the others looked at him understandingly.

They had not expected the boy to have such a reaction. He was normally so confident in the face of danger, and stood up to creatures that would leave any pony too terrified to move by choice. So to see him so concerned for their wellbeing touched them deeply.

“It’s ok Tom. You don’t need to beat yourself up so much. I know you chose to help people in need, but you don’t need to feel so bad when you aren’t able to solve every problem.” Twilight said lovingly while placing a hoof on the human’s shoulder.

“But I’m a slayer… I’m supposed to be the one that people count on to fight evil when everyone else is unable to…” Tom droned sadly while thinking about his own short comings. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy walked beside him and smiled caringly.

“But you don’t need to be the only one people depend on. That is too much for anyone to handle, even a slayer like you.” Pinkie Pie stated sympathetically while placing a hoof on his side while they walked. “And besides, you have already done so much to help us. You protected us from those monsters out in the woods.” She added cheerfully.

“And you saved our skins back in that cave.” Twilight chimed in happily while thinking back to their earlier encounter.

“And if you hadn’t healed me, I probably wouldn’t even be here speaking with you guys.” Fluttershy added confidently to cheer up the human. Tom smiled as he thought about how many times he had already helped out the group of ponies. He started to feel more confident in his actions.

“The point is, you don’t need to feel bad for the things you can’t do. You should reflect on the things you have done to help people previously, and what you can do to help them now. You were chosen to be the slayer, but you don’t need to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders.” Twilight smiled warmly at the human as she finished her motivational speech.

“Thanks girls… that means a lot coming from you.” Tom stated happily while returning a lighthearted smile to the ponies. “Now let’s find Scootaloo and get rid of all this water… I swear I’m going to get sea sick if I see any more of it.”

The others nodded confidently before returning their attention to the dark corridor ahead of them. They continued walking through the blackness for several minutes while keeping their eyes peeled for any sign of the young pegasus.

Eventually, they came to a doorway that led into a larger room. The floor was covered in a thin layer of water that prevailed throughout the entire room, and several objects lay strewn about as they floated in the liquid. Twilight moved her light around in an attempt to scan the room thoroughly, when her eyes fell on an orange shape lying in the center of the room.

“Scootaloo!” Twilight gasped in surprise as she saw the filly. The young pegasus was lying face up in the center of a large drawing on the floor with a thin layer of water beneath her. She did not respond to the unicorn’s outcry, and appeared to be sitting in a pool of her own blood.

Twilight rushed forward to get to the filly, when she was suddenly stopped by Tom as he reached out a hand to prevent her from moving forward. She looked at him with confusion evident in her face as he pointed in front of them.

“Watch where you’re stepping.” Tom stated while pointing to the floor ahead of them. Twilight gasped in surprise as she saw a large section of the floor in front of them had no discernable bottom. A murky pit of water seemed to isolate the filly on an island of solid land.

“We need to get to her. She looks like she is hurt bad.” The unicorn stated with a worried expression.

“I know… but doesn’t this seem a little weird to you?” Tom asked curiously while looking to the others. The three ponies looked at him with perplexed expressions.

“What do you mean?” Fluttershy voiced the confusion of the group as she took another look around the room.

“That drawing underneath her looks like the one that Sweetie Belle described, and she is on an island of water that she couldn’t have possibly gotten to by herself… all of this points to something fishy going on here.” Tom explained while pointing to the various objects of interest in front of them.

“So… what does that mean?” Twilight asked with a puzzled expression, still unsure of what the human was getting at.

“It means that this might be a-” Tom started his sentence, but was interrupted by the sound of water moving around them. The group turned around to see water bubbling up from under the floor. Before long, the floor had vanished from sight, leaving a trench of water in its place.

“Trap…” Tom shrugged as he knelt down and stuck his arm into the water. Sure enough, the floor really had disappeared beneath the murky depths.

The ponies backed closer to each other nervously. They tried to stay as far away from the deep sections of water as they could. Twilight looked around fearfully as the sounds of water splashing emanated from somewhere she could not determine.

“We’re stuck in here then…?” Twilight squeaked with fear as the weight of the situation sunk in. She turned to Tom in the hopes that he might offer her some words of confidence.

“Looks like it… that thing must be toying with us. We need to get over there to save Scootaloo and reverse whatever spell this is, but we can’t get over there without first crossing a rather large pit of water…” Tom sighed in frustration while walking over to the edge of inch high water. Fluttershy looked into the murky trench and back over to Scootaloo. She turned to the group with an indication that she might know a solution.

“Why don’t I just fly over there? It isn’t that far away after all.” Fluttershy suggested eagerly while looking over to the unconscious filly. Tom merely shook his head in response.

“If you did that, I’m pretty sure our ugly friend down there would spring up and pull you in faster than any of us could react.” The human stated while pointing down at the murky cut off of water. Fluttershy gulped nervously as she pictured herself getting dragged under the surface.

Twilight was growing more anxious by the minute as she stared at the motionless filly. She seemed to be bleeding out into the water, but the purple unicorn could not see how severe her wounds were from over here.

“We need to do something… Scootaloo could be dying over there while we’re sitting here watching!” Twilight exclaimed uneasily. Everyone looked down grimly as they thought about the young pegasus’s situation.

Tom took a few steps closer to the edge of the trench and peered in. He had to find a way to get over to the small island without the creature noticing, but it would have been impossible. Once something jumped in the water, the monster would doubtlessly be alerted to their presence. Suddenly, the human had an idea pop into his head. He turned around and gave the group a hesitant expression.

“I may have an idea…” Tom shook his head nervously as he mentally prepared himself for what he was about to do.

“What are you-” Twilight started to ask a question, but was interrupted by the human suddenly jumping straight into the murky trench.

He resurfaced and took in a sharp breath of air. The ponies looked at him with shocked expressions as he bobbed up and down in the water.

“Are you out of your mind?!” The purple unicorn yelled frantically at the display of bold carelessness.

“Maybe… I’ll get back to you on that later. Right now, I need you to get ready to swim over there if he grabs me.” Tom spoke loudly enough to be understood as he swam towards the island.

“What?!” All three of the ponies shouted in shock.

“You can’t be serious!” Twilight stated while shaking her head adamantly. She couldn’t believe that the human would attempt something so stupid.

“It’s ok, he won’t be able to hurt me… I think.” Tom muttered to himself as he started to rethink his actions. “Anyway, you should be able to swim across while he is distracted.” He explained while motioning behind him with his head.

Twilight glanced up to the unconscious filly across the water. Not only did she have to save her, but the means to ending this nightmare was just underneath the young pegasus. Finally, the unicorn looked down to the human bobbing in the water with a hesitant expression.

“But… what am I going to do once I get there?” Twilight asked nervously while sizing up the distance of the trench.

“It looks like a simple summoning symbol… just use your magic to interrupt the spell’s energy, and everything should go back to normal. Just be as fast as you can, and he shouldn’t be able to get you.” Tom explained while floating still in the water.

Before Twilight could question the boy’s plan any further, he suddenly cried out in surprise as he was forcibly pulled under the surface of the water. The ponies stared at the spot where Tom was submerged with unease. They looked at each other nervously before settling their eyes on the purple unicorn.

Twilight gulped nervously before steeling her nerves for the task ahead. She backed up a few feet to get a running start at jumping into the water. She leaped as far as she could and managed to make it half of the way to the solid platform that the young filly sat on.

The unicorn immediately tensed up from the cold water hitting her body. The water seemed like it was even chillier than the water she had been treading through since they arrived in the basement. She quickly pushed through her shaking muscles and began swimming as fast as she could for the island of safety.

Pinkie and Fluttershy watched the unicorn nervously as she made her way across the murky trench. They were mentally preparing themselves to watch their friend being pulled under the water to her untimely demise. Much to the two anxious ponies’ and her own surprise, Twilight managed to reach the edge of solid floor with no trouble.

She quickly pulled herself up and ran over to Scootaloo. She gently turned the unconscious filly over and examined her. Twilight gasped as she looked over the orange filly’s wounds. She was covered in numerous gashes and cuts. One of which appeared large and dried out, as if the creature had drained her blood as it had done to Fluttershy.

“Oh my goodness… Scootaloo, can you hear me?” Twilight shook the pegasus gently to see if she could wake her up. Much to her dismay, the filly did not stir. Had it not been for the steady rise and fall of her chest, Twilight would have thought the orange pegasus was dead from appearances.

The purple mare hesitantly tore her eyes away from the injured filly and glanced to the symbol beneath her feet.

“*Sigh*… here goes nothing.” She steeled herself and lit up her horn. Twilight quickly scanned over the symbol with her magic to see if she could figure out how it worked. The complexity of the spell placed over the symbol was almost breath taking. Had it not been for the urgency of the situation, the unicorn would have studied it more thoroughly.

Suddenly, the sound of something breaching the surface of the water made the unicorn dart her eyes upwards. She gasped in shock as she quickly found the source of the noise. The bloody creature was sitting in the water, staring at her with its empty black eyes. The monster held Tom in its arm, seemingly having rendered him unconscious as he dangled limply from its grasp.

Twilight let a shrill squeak of fear die out in her throat as her heart plummeted to her feet. She felt herself tense up as she stared wide eyed at the bloody creature. Suddenly, almost as if it could sense her fear, the monster let out a deep gurgle while moving forward.

“Oh no… oh no, no, no!” The purple mare shook her head in a panic as she watched the creature floating closer to her. It seemed to glide through the water, with only a slight heave in its torso to indicate that it was using any effort on moving.

With time running out, Twilight immediately returned her attention to the symbol beneath her. She only prayed that if she destroyed the pictogram, that the monster would follow suit. Even though this was optimistic thinking at best, it was the only thing that she could do.

The two ponies on the far side of the room watched the unicorn frantically run from side to side as she tried to circumvent her approaching doom. They anxiously eyed between her and the bloody monster charging straight for her.

“Hurry Twilight!” Pinkie Pie shouted fearfully to the purple pony across the water. Twilight needed no reminder of her grim predicament as she started sweating nervously.

“Come on… come on.” She stammered in a panic as she looked up occasionally to check on the monster’s progress. She could feel her stomach churning as she surveyed the mess before her. She could scarcely understand anything about the odd symbol, let alone how to dismantle it. The constant sound of splashing water mixed in with the monster’s groans and gurgles, driving the unicorn closer to her imminent panic attack.

“Yes!” Twilight exclaimed victoriously. She finally found an area of the spell that seemed like it could be destroyed.

“I hope this works…” She stated nervously while channeling her energy into the spot she found. A bright flash of light emanated from the symbol as a loud buzz filled the air. Twilight flinched her eyes closed and prepared herself for the worst possible outcome.

Twilight suddenly heard the sound of water flowing. She opened her eyes and looked ahead to find the source of the noise, only to gasp in amazement. All of the water in the room was draining downwards. The flooring that had been absent for so long was slowly coming into view, as if it had been there the whole time and the water was simply on top of it.

The creature let out a distressed roar as it started flowing downwards against its will. It dropped the unconscious human, who landed on the newly risen floor as the monster continued to flow downwards with the water. Finally, the creature, as well as all of the water vanished from sight as it disappeared through the ground.

Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie rushed over the newly formed floor and ran to Twilight and the unconscious filly. The symbol had disappeared from the floor, leaving only a puddle of Scootaloo’s blood lying in its place.

“Twilight! You did it!” Fluttershy exclaimed excitedly as she wrapped her arms around the unicorn for a friendly hug. Twilight gladly accepted the gesture and returned it by putting an arm around the elated pegasus. She then looked over to the human laying on the ground a few feet away.

“You okay over there Tom…?” Twilight asked loudly while observing the unconscious slayer. Receiving no response, the unicorn was starting to get worried for his wellbeing. “Could you go check on him Pinkie?” She asked while looking over to the pink mare. Pinkie nodded before turning and trotting over to the human.

Pinkie reached forward to check to see if the boy was breathing, when he suddenly sputtered out some water and shot upright. He coughed for a few minutes before looking around at his now dry surroundings.

“Well… seeing how I don’t see any water around here, I would wager that you did something right.” Tom stated sarcastically before getting to his feet. He walked over to the group gathered around Scootaloo and glanced down at the injured filly. “Is she alright?” He asked while observing her wounds. He had used too much energy during his time at the school to heal the filly effectively.

“She’s in pretty bad shape, we need to get her and the other injured children to a hospital immediately.” Twilight shook her head sadly before picking up the young pegasus with her magic.

“We better hurry up and get out of here then.” Tom replied with a serious tone while joining the ponies in walking away. The group slowed down to a halt when they noticed Pinkie Pie staring behind them with wide eyes.

“What’s wrong Pinkie?” Twilight asked with a confused expression as she watched the pink pony’s color drain from her face. The unicorn’s question was suddenly answered by a low gurgling noise erupting from behind them.

The ponies turned around and followed the petrified pony’s stare to where the noise was coming from. Everyone’s jaw dropped in shock as they saw something that filled them with terror and dread. The pool of blood that the young filly had left on the floor was now undulating and moving around as it slowly started forming upwards into an eerily familiar shape.

Twilight’s jaw trembled in fear as she tried to process the images in front of her. She thought that their ordeal was finally over when she disrupted the spell that caused all of the water to appear, but she was apparently mistaken.

“W-what… how?! We got rid of that thing!” The unicorn stated fearfully while backing up. The ponies started moving towards the doorway as the creature started forming its own features out of the blood.

“It needs fluid to survive… so it must have jumped to the only source it could find.” Tom stated grimly while stepping forward.

“What are you doing?” Fluttershy asked nervously as she watched the human defiantly step towards the still forming creature.

“I’m hoping that it’s less stable now that it doesn’t have a copious amount of water to feed it.” Tom shrugged before forming his claws and charging forward.

The creature stood on fully formed legs as the last bit of the puddle of blood disappeared into its form. It looked much less fluidic, and its body was gloppier looking as well. It took a step forward and growled at the approaching human. Tom dodged the first swipe the beast threw at him. He then swiped his claws across the creature’s mid-section. The creature let out an oddly satisfying gurgle of pain as the thick liquid turned to smoke from the impact of the blades.

Tom smirked triumphantly before launching a flurry of strikes on the monster. The bloody beast recoiled in pain and tried to back up as its body was rapidly disrupted by the slayer’s weapon. Blood was flying off the monster in streams, almost as if it couldn’t sustain its body. The monster suddenly careened to the floor as its legs failed to retain their solid characteristics. Tom finally plunged his claws into the middle of the monster. It let out a sharp gurgle before sinking into the floor and turning into a smoking pile of blood.

The ponies were amazed to see the creature finally meet its end. They walked up to the human as he wiped the excess blood off of his claws before sending them back into the fiery aether from whence they came.

“Good job Tom! We won’t be seeing any more of that guy.” Pinkie Pie patted him on the back eagerly as she smiled warmly.

“I certainly hope not… at this rate I’m going to turn into a prune if I get any more water on me.” The boy breathed a sigh of relief while admiring his handy work. The group chuckled lightheartedly before turning their attention to the injured filly Twilight was holding.

“Let’s get out of here and get her and the others to a hospital.” Twilight returned a sterner look to her face as she started walking towards the door. The others nodded before following the purple pony out into the basement.