In the apple family house, everyone was busy with something, even if it was just watching someone else work while relaxing. Fluttershy and Rarity were helping Applejack prepare a small dinner for everyone in the kitchen. Twilight was conversing with Tom and Rainbow Dash in the living room. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were sitting in the far corner of the room chatting amongst themselves. And Pinkie Pie had enlisted the help of Spike and Big Mac to string up streamers and other decorations.

“Uhh… you know Pinkie, I think that we’re just having a small dinner together, so why do we need this many decorations?” The young dragon groaned while climbing on top of a table to anchor a set of the colorful ribbons.

Pinkie Pie chuckled jovially while zipping around the room and placing decorations everywhere she stopped.

“A little decorating can go a long way in making any gathering that much more fun!” The pink mare stated while leaning on a table with one of her arms to take a break.

Spike shrugged in frustration while struggling to balance on the table and reach the spot needed for the streamer.

“Key word being a little.” Spike muttered to himself while catching his balance to avoid falling.

“I’m a bit more curious as to how you managed to fit that many decorations into one bag…” Tom looked over and inspected the vast array of colorful decorations littered around the room.

“She has her ways of doing things, that’s for sure.” Rainbow Dash added while admiring the energetic pink blur moving swiftly around the room as she checked over each decoration to ensure it was properly placed.

“There… that should do it.” Pinkie stated while nodding confidently at her work. “Ok boys… you can stop now, everything’s all set.” She exclaimed to her two workers around the room. Big Mac dropped what he was doing and stepped back.

Spike finally placed the streamer he was wrestling with and teetered precariously on one foot from his attempts at gaining height.

“Well that’s a relief…Whoa!” Spike cried out in surprise as he fell backwards onto the floor with a loud thud. Everyone looked over to the dragon as he took a moment to lie still on the ground to process his own mistake.

“You know… I’m sure one of us could have gotten that for you Spike.” Tom remarked teasingly while observing Spike lift himself up.

“Now why didn’t I think of that before…” The dragon shrugged sarcastically while shooting the human a bitter scowl, but he couldn’t deny that what he said was right.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash chuckled briefly at the display in front of them. They gave the dragon a quick passing glance to ensure that he didn’t bump his head on the way down and tried their best to hide their smirks.

Suddenly, Applejack walked out of the kitchen and looked around at the group scattered around the room.

“Alright guys, dinner is ready. Come on in and grab a plate.” The orange mare announced happily. Everyone got up from their spots and walked into the kitchen.

The group was met with Fluttershy and Rarity standing beside a table with a few pots filled with various foods.

“What did you guys make?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously while stepping forward to look at the array of cook ware spread out around the room.

“We didn’t want to make anything too complicated, and we figured that Tom didn’t eat anything with hay in it, so we settled on some pasta and mashed potatoes as a side.” Rarity explained while pointing to the respective pots that contained the items.

“And a few apple fritters for dessert... not to mention those cupcakes Pinkie brought.” Applejack added with a slight smirk.

“Wow… this looks and smells really good.” Twilight commented while taking a moment to take in the aroma coming off of each container.

“Well hopefully it tastes good too, now let’s grab a plate and head into the other room.” Applejack exclaimed while stepping forward to help hand out plates and serve the food. Once everyone had gotten a serving of each food item, they all went back into the living room and found a seat.

The group immediately dug into the food. They were amazed at how much a few hours of studying, and for some a run in with a hideous monster, could make one so hungry. It may have been simple cuisine whipped up in a few minutes, but to the ponies, the meal tasted like it was a gift from the heavens.

“This stuff turned out pretty good! You three make a great team of chefs.” Rainbow Dash stated while trying to prevent herself from eating too fast.

“We all have experience with cooking for ourselves or our family, so I would like to think we could put something decent together.” Rarity commented while admiring her work and the happy ponies eating around her.

“I should come over for dinner more often…” The cyan pegasus shrugged while reflecting on her own cooking skills.

Everyone continued eating for a while, shared stories of the more unique things that had happened to them throughout their lives, and talked with each other for the better part of an hour. After an hour had passed, everyone got up and prepared to leave.

“Thanks for dinner Applejack, it was nice to sit down and relax for a change.” Twilight stated while moving towards the door with everyone who wasn’t staying.

“Sure thing. If you need any more help with your investigation, be sure to drop by and ask.” The farm pony replied while smiling and giving a friendly wave to her departing friends.

The group stepped out of the house and started making their way through the farm towards Ponyville. Once they reached the edge of the farm, they started their way onto the road back home. The ponies all continued talking through their trip, until they reached the point where most of the group would have to split off to get home.

“Thanks for coming with us to the school Fluttershy.” Twilight wanted to show her gratitude for putting the gentle pegasus through the mess back at the school, even if it was unintended. “And thanks for… you know.” The purple unicorn felt a little shame as she thought back to how Fluttershy had pushed her out of harm’s way only to take her place.

“It’s ok… I know you would do the same for any of us.” The yellow pegasus smiled sympathetically to the unicorn and placed a hoof on her shoulder reassuringly. “You were just scared… we all were.” She shuddered as she remembered how she voluntarily faced up to the horrible creature.

“I just hope we can figure out what’s going on before someone gets seriously hurt or…” Twilight stopped herself from thinking of the possible casualties that would inevitably come from another attack like that. She steeled herself and mentally decided that she would do everything in her power to prevent anyone else from getting hurt in any way.

Fluttershy nodded in determination as she shared the unicorn’s desire. She then bid her goodbyes to the group and started down the path to her home. As the pegasus departed, Rainbow Dash turned to the group and let a tired expression fall on her face.

“Guess I should be getting on home for the night.” The cyan mare stated while looking off in the direction of her house.

“Just be sure to come by the library before you head down to the hospital. We would like to come with you and see her before she is released.” Twilight reminded the pegasus of her plans before she decided to take off.

“Well I hope you plan on getting up early… because I don’t want to wait for too long.” Rainbow Dash added before getting a walking start and flapping her wings a few times to take off. She turned in the air and waved at the group beneath her before flying off into the distance. As the pegasus disappeared into the horizon, the group decided to continue into Ponyville.

Eventually, the group whittled down as each pony reached their house. Before long, only Twilight and her two companions remained to keep her company. The three made their way through town and found themselves at the library once more.

Twilight opened the door and made her way inside. She took a few moments to think of how she would spend the rest of the evening before heading up to bed. She walked over to the table with the symbol paper on it and sat down to look at it.

“Are you really going to keep going over those? I thought it was pretty much pointless now.” Spike asked quizzically while standing near her to watch.

“It is… but I might as well figure out how good these guys are at magic before we start poking around.” The unicorn shrugged as she affirmed her complete lack of progress in deciphering the symbols.

“You know… all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” Tom remarked jokingly. The purple mare looked to him with a confused expression.

“Who’s Jack? Is that from something?” Twilight asked with a puzzled tone of voice. Tom shrugged upon realizing his lapse in memory.

“Sorry… gonna take a while to realize that all the cultural references I know are out dated by a couple million years.” The human stated drearily.

“Either way, he has a point there Twilight. Remember that Princess Luna is doing something to help us out in a few days? Well you should probably take that as a cue to rest for a while.” Spike suggested kindheartedly while removing the paper from in front of the unicorn.

Twilight sighed and rested her head on her hooves. She didn’t want to admit it, but after the princess gave her the job of finding out what was going on, she felt important. Like she had a job to do, and doing anything else would be shirking that responsibility.

“*Sigh* I guess…” The unicorn rubbed her temples in frustration before finally deciding to get up. She turned to look at a clock sitting on a wall and shook her head slowly.

“Well… I think I’m just gonna head up to bed. We need to be up early to head down to the hospital anyway.” Twilight announced while getting up and heading to the stairs.

“Yeah, I think I’ll join you.” Spike yawned tiredly as he started to make his way upstairs with the unicorn. The two turned to look at the human downstairs.

“You coming, Tom?” Twilight asked curiously.

“Sure, why not.” The boy replied while walking up to join them. The three retired to the bedroom and got comfortable.

Even though she wanted to get right to sleep, Twilight found it hard to drift off. She tossed and turned for a while as she tried to get in the one position that would be good enough to force herself to wait until she slept.

She sighed in frustration before finally giving up and looking over to see what her two friends were doing. Right below her bed, Spike had already drifted off to sleep. He was tucked away into the side of his basket and curling up beneath his blankets.

Twilight couldn’t help but marvel at the adorable baby dragon as he peacefully slept. She wondered if she could find a spell to make him stay that cute and tiny forever, rather than grow up into a giant dragon.

The unicorn then glanced over to the make shift bed on the floor a few feet away. Tom was lying face up with his arms under his head. He looked like he was thinking to himself while staring up at the ceiling before going to sleep.

“Hey Tom…” The unicorn whispered loud enough to carry down to the human and get his attention, but quiet enough to not wake her sleeping assistant. The boy lifted his head up and looked surprised that the purple pony was still awake.

“Hmm?” Tom hummed curiously in response. Twilight now had to think of a good reason for disturbing the human. Now that she thought about it, she just wanted to talk with someone to pass the time until she could fall asleep.

“Sorry to bother you, it’s just…” Twilight mumbled while trying to formulate a reasonable question or statement. Tom hoisted himself up and half way out of his sheets. He then sat up and chuckled quietly to himself.

“Can’t sleep?” Tom stated perceptively. Twilight wondered if he had terrific reasoning skills, or if she was just so obviously restless.

“Yeah… I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind talking for a while, to get my mind off trying to sleep.” The purple mare said whilst sitting up and dangling her legs off the side of the bed.

“Sure…” Tom replied while carefully getting up and fixing his bed. He then walked over and climbed up the ladder to the small loft area the unicorn was on and sat down on the edge of her bed a short ways from her.

“So what’s on your mind?” Tom whispered quietly while giving her a knowing smile. Twilight was a little confused by the statement.

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked quizzically while kicking her legs in the air to pass time.

“If you can’t sleep, then something must be up. Usually it’s something that’s bugging you.” Tom said while trying to keep himself from growing too tired.

Twilight thought about what the human said for a moment. It hadn’t occurred to her before, but she did have a few troubling thoughts swirling around her head, mostly having to do with the events of the past two days.

“Well…” Twilight muttered quietly while deep in thought. “I’m just a little worried is all.” The unicorn’s statement puzzled the human.

“Worried… about what?” Tom asked curiously while giving her a quizzical expression.

“I keep thinking about the cause of all these new problems that keep popping out of nowhere. If it really is those hooded ponies behind all these strange events, then who knows what else they could be capable of?” Twilight spoke softly while glancing over to Spike with concern. The mere thought of the baby dragon being put into some sort of danger made her sick.

“What if we can’t stop them? How many ponies would get hurt if they had their way?” The unicorn fumed with concern as she finally voiced her own thoughts on the matter.

Before she could continue spiraling into a worried mess, Tom stopped the purple pony by placing his hand on her shoulder reassuringly.

“Relax… We’re going to be fine.” The human said in a confident tone. Twilight was slightly relieved to hear that at least one person thought they were going to succeed.

“Really…? You think so?” The unicorn asked curiously while lightening up her tense nerves.

“Of course… Between you and me, I don’t think anything poses a real threat to Equestria.” Tom added reassuringly while trying to be enthusiastic to instill confidence in the unicorn.

Twilight sighed sadly and lowered her head. She felt like she wouldn’t be capable of handling such an important job without cracking when things got more serious.

“But you’re a warrior for justice picked out of an entire race of people for the sole purpose of battling evil… I’m just some pony with an aptitude for learning.” Twilight moped while resting her head on her hooves. Tom frowned slightly as he watched the depressed pony.

“Hey… you shouldn’t think like that.” The boy’s surprised tone of voice made Twilight look up to face him. “You were hand-picked by the princess herself to handle this job. She didn’t pick you because she wanted to see if you could do it, she picked you because she knew that you were the right pony for the job.” He looked at her with a confident expression on his face. Twilight’s spirits were lifted slightly upon hearing the confidence the human had in her. She let a soft smile creep across her face before returning to the blank expression of somberness she had before.

“I suppose you’re right… but what if I can’t do it?” Twilight asked with a bit of uncertainty still in her mind. Tom chuckled briefly before smiling at her.

“Twilight… I ask myself that very question every day I wake up. Sometimes I’m not sure if I deserve to hold such an important power… what if I screw up? In my position, failure means letting a lot of innocent people down. But I still somehow find the drive needed to push me forward… and if a dork like me can handle something that important, I have no doubt in my mind that you can handle this.” Tom smiled warmly at her. Twilight laughed lightheartedly as she felt her usual bright demeanor returning. She felt more confident in her own abilities as she mulled over the human’s words in her head.

“Thank you Tom… that really helped put things into perspective for me.” The purple mare stated serenely while giving a smile.

“Not a problem… and if you ever get doubtful of yourself again, just remember this. You aren’t alone… you don’t need to shoulder everything by yourself, you have a great bunch of friends that would gladly do anything to help you out.” Tom added reassuringly while thinking about the unicorn’s odd group of friends.

Twilight smiled even brighter upon taking the human’s words to heart. She knew that any of her friends would lay down their lives to help her, and she would gladly do the same in return. The unicorn then yawned tiredly. She couldn’t believe that she actually felt groggy for once.

“Thanks… I think I’m gonna try to get to sleep again. It is getting late after all.” Twilight said in a sleepy tone while still projecting a warm smile to the human. Tom nodded cheerfully while getting up off of the bed. He then climbed down and walked over to his sheets before sliding under them.

“Goodnight Twilight.” The human whispered across the room before turning over and snuggling into his pillow. The unicorn scooted her way to the top of her bed and worked herself under the covers.

“Goodnight Tom.” Twilight whispered back before nestling her head against her own pillow. The warm feeling of her sheets combined with the softness of her pillow actually made the unicorn tired for a change instead of reminding her of how much she wanted to sleep. Twilight closed her eyes and laid still for a while before finally drifting off to sleep.

The next morning, Twilight was up bright and early as she tried to get a good start to the day. She even managed to wake up before Spike did, although Tom was already up as per usual. After stirring the baby dragon from his sleep, the unicorn went downstairs and prepared for their trip to the hospital to visit Scootaloo and ask her about what she knew. The two gathered with the human downstairs and rushed around the library to find all of the things they would take. Twilight decided to take a few books for them to either read or give to Scootaloo to read so they could pass the time. She placed them in a bag and slung it over her side.

After gathering all of their supplies, the three settled down and had a quick breakfast while waiting for Rainbow Dash to arrive. No sooner than the trio finished their meal, they heard knocking coming from the front door.

“That’s probably her now.” Twilight observed happily while getting up to head to the door. The unicorn opened the door and was greeted by the cyan pegasus giving her a welcoming smirk.

“Wow… you’re up early.” Rainbow Dash commented while stepping inside with her friend. “I would have expected to wait a few more hours at least.” She chuckled to herself while observing the active purple pony.

“Hey now… we don’t get up that late. We would be getting up in like an hour anyway.” Twilight retorted in a friendly manner while looking over to Spike pleadingly for support. The dragon chuckled to himself for a moment before speaking up.

“Yeah right… I would be getting up in like an hour. You on the other hand sleep like a rock for like three more.” Spike added cynically while smirking at the unicorn.

“I sleep in like one time and you never let me live it down…” Twilight sighed in annoyance. Rainbow Dash and Tom shared a warm chuckle at the two bantering in front of them.

“Alright… enough about who gets up first. Which by the way, I am beating all of you by like three hours.” Tom stepped in to put an end to the potential argument and to remind the two about their task at hand. “Anyway, we should probably get going.” Everyone nodded in agreement before returning their friendly smiles. They then made a quick double check of their supplies before heading out the door.

As they were walking through town, the four chatted idly with each other to pass the time. The conversations informed Tom about several things in the Equestrian world, from social events like the grand galloping gala, to the Wonderbolts and how Rainbow Dash wanted to join them.

After a while, Rainbow Dash turned her attention to the bag Twilight was carrying. She had been curious about it before, but hadn’t opted to speak up about it previously.

“Hey Twilight… What’s in that bag you got there?” The cyan mare asked curiously while pointing to the bag around the unicorn’s hips.

“Oh this…? I decided to bring a few books with us. We could be waiting there for a while before Scootaloo gets the ok to be released, so I took the liberty of bringing some entertainment. ” Twilight explained while looking back to the white bag dangling from her side.

“Oh… good idea, I just hope we won’t be there long enough to go through too many books.” Rainbow Dash added while cringing at the thought of waiting for hours at a hospital. But if it was necessary to take Scootaloo home, she would have to do it.

The group traveled for a few more minutes before reaching the hospital. They wasted no time and immediately went inside the main lobby of the building. After searching around the room for a moment, the four found Nurse Redheart walking back behind the desk from a door. Upon noticing the visitors, she smiled and waved them over to her desk.

“Back bright and early I see.” Redheart stated in a friendly manner while observing the small group.

“Yeah well, we weren’t kidding around when we said we’d be here as soon as we got up.” Twilight spoke up first to introduce the group. “Anyway, is Scootaloo able to be seen?” She asked curiously.

“She’s in a room upstairs resting. We should be able to release her in a little while, but if you want to see her now I could lead you up.” Redheart suggested while pointing to a door off to the side.

“That would be great, thank you.” The unicorn replied courteously. The white pony nodded before walking out from the desk and heading to a door. She turned and motioned for the group to follow her.

Redheart led the four through the hospital and up to the second floor. After winding through various wings and corridors of the building, she stopped in front of a door and went inside. The room was a standard hospital room with a bed in the center and various other pieces of furniture for visitors.

Sunlight streamed into the room through the windows on the far wall, and white curtains drooped down over the window sill and almost onto the floor. There were also a few cabinets and cupboards on the side to store the various effects of long term occupants.

Lying on the bed and relaxing under the thick blankets was a small orange filly. She appeared to be bandaged around the waist and had numerous other small cuts that were healed up from the incident. Upon noticing Nurse Redheart approaching with visitors, Scootaloo sat up and smiled warmly.

“Rainbow Dash! Twilight! You guys came all the way down here to see me?” The filly exclaimed excitedly as the group huddled around the bed.

“Of course we did! You had us all worried for a while there Scootaloo.” Rainbow Dash stated eagerly to the filly while observing the extent of her injuries.

“That reminds me… how are Sweetie Belle and Applebloom doing? Did they make it out ok? I’ve been asleep for a while, and nobody has told me anything.” Scootaloo asked with concern for her two fellow crusaders evident in her face.

Twilight smiled reassuringly before stepping forward to answer.

“Don’t worry, they’re doing just fine. They both got mild concussions, and Applebloom broke a leg, but they are home resting now.” The unicorn spoke softly to ease the orange filly’s concerns. Scootaloo breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that her friends were safe.

“Good… I got separated from them after everything that happened, so I was worried that they ran into that thing that was chasing us.” The orange pegasus shuddered upon thinking about what could have happened to her friends in her absence.

“Speaking of which, we need to ask you a few questions about what you saw. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were mildly concussed, so I doubt that they would remember any fine details about the experience. Anything you can remember might help us.” Rainbow Dash spoke up to change the subject.

Scootaloo nodded slowly before trailing her eyes off in thought. Nurse Redheart started walking back towards the door.

“I can see you all are going to be here a while, so I’m going to head back downstairs. We should have the paperwork for her release done soon enough, so let me know if you need anything while you’re here.” The nurse explained while waving to the group and stepping out of the door. Everyone turned their attention to Scootaloo and waited to hear what she had to say.