“Are you sure you don’t remember anything else?” Twilight asked sincerely while trying to sound less disappointed than she actually was. Scootaloo shook her head before sighing in frustration. She had tried her best to think of any details that stuck out to her, but failed to find many things noteworthy.

“I’m sorry… but the only useful thing I can think of is a couple of names. There was a unicorn and a pegasus. The unicorn called the pegasus Raincloud, and the pegasus just called the unicorn Cotton. Other than that, you pretty much know what happened.” The filly hung her head sadly as she reflected on her lack of usefulness.

The unicorn felt bad for putting the orange filly in a situation like this. She probably felt like she was worthless and couldn’t do anything to help. Thinking back to how the three girls were separated, Twilight figured that Scootaloo also felt powerless when it came to keeping her friends safe.

“Don’t worry… I’m sure those names will prove extremely helpful to us in finding out who those hooded ponies were.” Twilight spoke in a sincere tone while giving the young pegasus a confident smile. Scootaloo slowly looked up to face the unicorn.

“Really…? You think so?” Scootaloo asked in slight disbelief at the statement. Twilight nodded eagerly, causing the filly to smile softly.

“I know so… before now we had nothing to even go on in terms of leads.” The unicorn added while looking to her trio of friends for support. Everyone nodded in agreement.

Scootaloo smiled brightly upon hearing this. The thought of her actually managing to provide a useful piece of information after her ordeal made the filly swell with pride and happiness. Seeing the chipper attitude of the young pegasus made everyone else feel happy and relieved.

“So how did you save me from that monster? I thought I was a goner when it cornered me in a room.” Scootaloo asked curiously while giving a brief shiver from remembering the intense fear she felt while running alone through the dark flooded corridors of the school basement.

“We found you in the room those hooded ponies were in. You were lying unconscious right in the center of that strange symbol on the ground.” Tom explained to the young pegasus.

“I do find it strange that the monster didn’t hurt you when you were unconscious… I would have thought for sure that it would have…” Twilight thought out loud, but decided to not finish her line of reasoning so as to not upset Scootaloo.

“Who knows? Maybe it wanted to make a trap for us, so it kidnapped you to do so.” The human reasoned while scratching his head in thought. The mere notion made everyone uncomfortable as they thought about Scootaloo being at the mercy of that creature.

“Well whatever it wanted, I’m just glad that nobody got hurt too bad.” Rainbow Dash added to get off the subject. Everyone nodded in agreement as they reflected on their luck.

The group decided to drop the subject of what happened at the school and instead focused the rest of their stay on keeping the filly company to make her happy. Rainbow Dash chatted with the eager orange youngster to lift her spirits and give her a well-deserved moment with her role model. The cyan pegasus was surprised however when Scootaloo opted to hear more about Tom and his exploits.

The orange filly seemed star struck as she asked question after question about the slayer and his previous accomplishments. Rainbow Dash was surprised to see herself feeling slightly jealous of the human, but decided to let it go and allow the filly to do whatever she wished.

“And I’m telling you… the monster was as big as a house!” Scootaloo and the others laughed lightheartedly as Tom put on a show for the young filly. He was surprisingly good at putting a comedic spin on his stories, especially given the grim nature of his job.

Just as they were starting to enjoy themselves, a quick knock at the door followed by the sound of someone entering interrupted the group’s fun. Nurse Redheart walked into the room and smiled upon seeing everyone in high spirits.

“Sorry to interrupt you guys, but I thought I would let you know that we’re just about ready to release Scootaloo. We just need to give her one last checkup before we discharge her, so if you would be so kind, could you head downstairs and wait for us to bring her out?” Redheart asked courteously while still maintaining an assertive nature.

“Awww….” Scootaloo huffed angrily and pouted while crossing her arms. “I was just starting to have fun too.”

“Don’t worry kiddo. You can come hang out with me after we get out of here, and I’m sure Tom wouldn’t mind coming over to see us someday when he isn’t busy beating the crud out of every monster he sees.” Rainbow Dash smirked at the filly and placed a hoof on her shoulder in an attempt to cheer her up.

Scootaloo uncrossed her arms and changed her frown into a more blank expression. The promise of spending more time with the cyan mare was appealing to the orange pegasus to say the least.

“Really?” The young pegasus asked curiously. Rainbow Dash nodded in return. This made the filly return a smile to her face.

The group said goodbye to their young friend and turned to the patiently waiting nurse sitting in front of them. They then followed her out and through the hospital as they walked back to the lobby. Upon reaching the first floor and entering the waiting area at the front of the building, the group was greeted by a familiar orange farm pony toting her little sister beside her.

“Applejack? What are you doing here?” Twilight asked curiously as she walked beside the two. The orange mare smiled upon seeing her friends before sighing and turning to her sister.

“Applebloom slipped on the stairs and hurt her leg again. We decided to come down and have it checked out, but not that many ponies have been through here to help us out.” Applejack droned in annoyance.

Nurse Redheart went behind the front desk and immediately grabbed a pen and some paper to start writing them in.

“Deeply sorry about the wait… we’re a bit under staffed at the moment due to not many cases coming in this month.” The nurse apologized sincerely for the lack of help for the two before turning to look into the door behind the desk. “Patches! You mind coming here for a minute?” She yelled into the back room. Before long, a grey stallion wearing a white shirt with a red cross on it came out and looked curiously at the nurse.

“Yes Redheart?” He asked before glancing over to look at the group gathered around the front desk.

“Applebloom here had a cast done for a broken leg. She fell off some stairs and might have hurt it again. Would you mind taking her over to a bed and looking her over for me?” Redheart asked gingerly while trying to look as sweet and cute as possible.

Patches chuckled at the attempt to win him over by smiling sweetly. He then walked out from behind the counter and over to the filly standing on three legs to protect the casted one.

“Sure, I’ll be over in bed three if you need me. Alright then… Applebloom was it? I’m going to help you walk over to a spot where you can rest and see if I can’t take a look at that leg of yours.” He bent down and smiled at the filly. Applebloom looked away shyly before finally smiling and allowing the pony to remove her from her sister to help her walk.

The group watched as the two walked slowly to a wheelchair. Patches gently lifted Applebloom up and sat her in the chair while being careful not to hit her leg on anything. The two then walked off into the rest of the hospital before disappearing from sight.

Nurse Redheart then picked up a few more pieces of paper and shifted them in her hooves to make them line up.

“Don’t worry, I made sure someone will be looking over Scootaloo shortly. We should have her ready to leave before you know it.” Redheart stated eagerly to the group waiting in front of her desk.

Everyone was relieved to hear that they would be able to leave soon. Twilight wanted to find Princess Luna again and talk with her about her plans for the investigation, as well as telling her about the two names she had gotten from Scootaloo. The unicorn decided to quickly make a note of her plan, when she turned to reach into her bag and found her side bare of any accessories.

“Oh great… I think I left my bag up in Scootaloo’s room.” The unicorn sighed in frustration before turning to head into the hallway that lead to the stairs. She was suddenly interrupted by Spike walking in front of her and stopping her progress.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get it for you.” The dragon volunteered while walking to the edge of the hallway.

“Are you sure? I can get it just as easily.” Twilight said as she watched her assistant start down the hallway. The young dragon turned and smiled warmly.

“It’s alright… I can get it.” Spike added with a friendly tone before turning and walking out of sight down the hallway.

The unicorn was happy to see the young dragon being so eager to help out when needed. She remembered him being too young to even speak as if it were just yesterday. Deciding against going on a trip down memory lane, Twilight turned to converse with her friends until it was time for them to go.

“So how did Applebloom trip anyway?” The purple pony asked her orange friend. Applejack shrugged as she was forced to address the incident further.

“Ah think she got a little too eager while climbing downstairs. She was starting to get used to her cast, so she tried to find ways to walk faster with it. As you can see… it didn’t end favorably.” Applejack shook her head sadly as she went over the details of the accident in her head.

“But at least she’s healthy otherwise. I don’t even want to think about how lucky we got considering nobody got hurt all that bad.” Twilight stated gratefully as she thought about the possible worst case scenario in her head.

“Yeah… ugh, just the thought of somepony being cruel enough to do this to innocent children makes my blood boil.” Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth as she thought about the hooded ponies and what they did. Between attacking a school full of innocent children and almost killing her friends numerous times, the cyan pegasus felt nothing but contempt for them.

“If you guys find them without me, be sure to give them a piece of my mind for me… right Tom?” Rainbow asked to the human who was leaning against the wall next to the desk. He looked up from his thoughts and nodded.

“Right… I wouldn’t dream of letting them get away with t-” The boy paused suddenly and stood still for a moment while staring ahead. He then started coughing and wheezing.

“Tom…? What’s wrong?” Twilight asked with increasing concern as she watched the human struggle to stop coughing.

“Is he alright?” Nurse Redheart asked curiously while peeking over the desk to observe the human.

“I don’t know… he has never done this before.” The unicorn stated nervously as the boy’s knees started shaking. Everyone rushed over to his side when they observed him collapse to his knees and coughing more violently.

“Tom?! What’s wrong?!” Rainbow Dash asked urgently as she hovered her hooves near the human in preparation to help him in some way.

“Are you okay?!” Applejack added with concern as she helplessly watched the boy cough for extended periods of time before managing to suck in a short breath.

The constant heaves suddenly ceased as Tom paused in the air. A large amount of blue mist came out of his mouth causing the boy to expel any air left in his lungs. A more drawn out and harsh sounding version of the usual high pitched gasp erupted from Tom’s lungs. It almost sounded like an inhuman shriek was laced into the raspy sound as it hissed through the air.

After the mist disappeared and the noise ceased, Tom took in several deep breaths and remained on his hands and knees while he rested. The ponies grew more concerned now that they knew the cause of the boy’s ailment.

“What?! How can there be something evil here? I don’t see anything.” Rainbow Dash looked around nervously as she remained next to the human.

“Well something must be here… Tom’s senses haven’t been wrong yet.” Twilight gulped nervously as she suddenly became much more uncomfortable.

“Can someone please tell me what just happened?” Nurse Redheart asked with confusion evident on her face as she examined the boy to ensure that he was alright.

Before anybody could answer the white mare’s question, a loud crackling noise erupted from around the room as several lights violently went out, causing everyone to jump. A whirring noise combined with the rest of the lights flickering a few times before going out signified the power being shut down.

The room was suddenly split in two as half of the room was plunged into darkness while the other half was dimly lit by the sunlight streaming in through the small windows on the main doors. The hallways leading to the other parts of the hospital seemed to be steeped in a foreboding veil of pitch blackness in comparison to the low level of light in the lobby.

“Great…the power went out.” Nurse Redheart fumed in annoyance as she failed to grasp the importance of the current situation. Meanwhile on the dimly lit side of the room, everyone was still gathered around Tom as they waited for him to catch his breath.

“What did you feel Tom?” Rainbow Dash asked nervously as she helped the slayer to his feet. He took a few moments to compose himself before answering.

“I don’t know… I couldn’t identify it. All I know is that something very potent is all around us.” Tom spoke while still trying to catch his breath.

“All around us… like throughout the entire hospital?” Twilight asked nervously as her mind raced to think of whatever horrific imagery she would be subjected to this time. The human took in a sharp breath of air and let his senses go off again to scope out the situation.

Tom’s attempt at figuring out what was going on resulted in him coughing again as the blue mist came from his mouth in spurts. After composing himself he shook his head in defeat before turning to face the others.

“Whatever it is, I can’t sense it long enough to analyze it without it overwhelming me.” The boy explained grimly. He was at a loss for solutions at the moment. The human’s lack of ideas only made the three ponies feel even more uneasy.

“What in the hay are you guys talking about?” Nurse Redheart questioned the group in an attempt to find out what was going on.

“That’s not important right now. We need to get everyone together first. We can’t figure out anything while the others could be in danger.” Twilight stated confidently while trying to ignore the creepy atmosphere that lurked in the many dark doorways on the other side of the room.

“She’s right… Applebloom and that feller Patches are closest to us, so we should go get them first.” Applejack suggested as she thought about her sister being stuck in pitch blackness with a pony she didn’t feel comfortable with.

“Nurse Redheart…?” Tom spoke over to the pony behind the desk suddenly. The white mare perked up as she heard herself being addressed.

“Yeah?” Redheart asked quizzically and waited for a response.

“Could you lead us over to where Patches and Applebloom went? I don’t think we can find our way around in the dark.” The boy requested while walking closer to the dark hallway where the two had disappeared to.

“Sure thing, bay three is right through here…” Nurse Redheart paused in front of a dark hallway and motioned for Twilight to stay close to her to light the way.

“Oh right… sorry.” The unicorn quickly walked up to the white mare and lit up her horn. The ray of light projected a short ways into the hallway before stopping just short of a wall of pitch black nothingness. Un-phased by the sinister looking hallway, Nurse Redheart walked forward and paused to wait for the others.

Everyone quickly followed the earth pony through the darkened hallways of the hospital. After making a few twists and turns, the cramped corridor opened up into a larger room filled with curtains that separated the various beds that made up the medical bay. The curtains were mostly closed, with a few vacant exceptions being open.

Nurse Redheart walked forward and peered into one of the bays. Discovering it to be empty, the white mare became very confused.

“What…? They should be right here.” Redheart scratched her head in confusion before looking back and counting the various curtains to double check that she had the right one. “Patches… you in here?” She raised her voice to fill the entire room. However, the pony’s call was only met with cold silence.

The others eyed around the room as Nurse Redheart went outside the bubble of light to search the rest of the area for the two missing ponies. Twilight hadn’t noticed it before, but the room had a strange eerie quality to it. Almost as if something was waiting to jump out and pounce on her and her friends when they least suspected it.

“Hey Tom…” The unicorn whispered over to the human next to her so the rest of the group wouldn’t hear.

“What’s wrong?” Tom whispered back once he got the signal that she didn’t want the others hearing them.

“I don’t feel… I just feel uncomfortable being here. I feel like something is watching us.” Twilight said nervously while eyeing the darkness around them. The unicorn could almost swear that her light didn’t shine as far into the shadows as it had when they started down the hallway. The air around them was very cold as well.

“Well I did sense something earlier… not sure what though. But judging from what I can manage to feel out right now, there doesn’t seem to be anything around us.” The boy explained while keeping a close eye on Rainbow Dash and Applejack as they hovered close to each other to the side of the room.

“AH!” Nurse Redheart suddenly yelped in surprise from beyond the veil of light created by Twilight as a loud crash could be heard. The ponies darted their eyes to the source of the noise and watched nervously for any signs of the white mare being in danger.

“Redheart? Are you alright?” Twilight asked with a slight sense of urgency as she waited for what seemed like an eternity for a response. Suddenly the pink uniformed nurse stumbled back into the light and appeared to be rubbing her shin.

“I’m good, just tripped over a table… dang power outage.” The white mare cursed under her breath as she rubbed the last twinges of pain out of her leg. She then walked back over to the group and sighed in defeat.

“I can’t find them anywhere… I even went out into the hall to search there.” Redheart stated her findings with a frustrated frown on her face.

“Maybe they doubled back to the lobby and we missed them… Either way, let’s head back there and think about what to do next. This place is giving me the creeps anyway.” Rainbow Dash suggested apprehensively while glancing around the eerily dark and silent medical ward. The others nodded eagerly at the suggestion. They couldn’t wait to get back to a better lit area.

-A few minutes earlier-

Spike tried his hardest to not get lost through the seemingly unending hallways of the hospital. The dull white paint and carpeted floors seemed to blend together into a hazy maze of corridors. The only things keeping him on his path were the informal signs scattered around to tell him which wing he was in, and his own memory of how to get to Scootaloo’s room.

“Let’s see… was it the first or second left?” He spoke to himself as he tried to figure out which way to go. It would be incredibly awkward if the dragon was forced to go back and ask for directions, so he pressed forward and winged it where necessary.

Suddenly Spike came to a halt in front of a particular sign on the wall. It pointed down the hall and signified that rooms fifty through seventy-five were somewhere up ahead. Remembering the orange filly to be in room sixty-two, the young dragon smiled in satisfaction and continued along his path.

“Fifty-two… fifty-four…” He started counting off room numbers as he made his way down the hall. The rooms were spaced evenly down the corridor with odds on the left and evens on the right.

“Man… Twilight better appreciate me getting that bag for her… even if I did volunteer myself up to get it.” The dragon thought out loud to himself as he tried to break up the monotonous cycle of walking and counting room numbers.

“Fifty-eight… fifty-nine… wait… what the?” Spike’s train of thought was suddenly derailed as he noticed the lights flickering around him. The bulbs seemed to strobe randomly down the hallway as they all dimmed and buzzed.

Spike nearly jumped out of his scales when he heard bulbs shattering behind him with a loud pop. He turned around to see the lights going out in sequence down the hallway, causing a wall of darkness to approach him rapidly as each bulb either blew out or simply ceased glowing.

The dragon backed up nervously as he watched the row of darkening lights reach and subsequently pass him, leaving him in pitch blackness. Spike couldn’t help but feel uneasy as he was suddenly deprived of light. Although the dragon was slightly afraid of the dark, being plunged into darkness in a hospital corridor made chills go down his spine.

“The p-power must have gone out… nothing to get all bent out of shape for Spike.” Spike gave himself a pep talk to get his mind off the sudden eerie atmosphere. He then turned and felt his way through the hallway while keeping count of the doors in his head.

“AHHH!” The silence of the dark hallway was suddenly broken by a high pitched shriek coming from a room just up ahead. The sound of the scream almost made Spike’s heart skip a beat as he tensed up upon hearing it.

“That sounded like Scootaloo!” He exclaimed anxiously. Spike rushed forward while being careful to finish his count of doors until he reached what he determined to be number sixty-two. He quickly yet cautiously opened the door and peered inside.

It was indeed the correct room, a shivering filly shaped lump under the blankets of a hospital bed told Spike as much. The filly was clutching the sheets over her head and shaking uncontrollably in fear. The entire bedframe was vibrating from the shaking mass on top of it.

“Scootaloo?” Spike spoke softly with a sense of nervous concern. Upon hearing the dragon speak, the mass on the bed stopped moving around. Scootaloo quickly poked her head out from under the sheets and darted her eyes over to the door nervously.

“Spike!” The filly shouted eagerly upon seeing the familiar form of the young dragon in the doorway. It was a bit easier to see inside the room as sunlight barely managed to stream in through the window. It was almost like something was blocking most of the light from coming in, leaving the room in an almost grey sort of dim light.

“What’s wrong? I heard you scream from down the hall.” Spike spoke calmly to ease the nervous pegasus on the bed. He stepped away from the door and walked toward the middle of the room.

“Wait… stop!” Scootaloo held her arm out frantically and waved it to prevent the dragon from moving any closer. Spike looked puzzled at the frightened filly, but heeded her warning.

“What’s going on Scootaloo? Why are you so on edge?” The dragon asked with confusion and concern evident in his voice.

“All of the lights went out suddenly, and I heard something under the bed. I could even see it moving from the sides!” Scootaloo resumed her frightened shaking as she pointed underneath her while staying squarely in the center of the bed.

“Something under the bed…?” Spike repeated to himself while nervously looking to the dark void under the bed. Although he thought that the filly had just gotten scared of the dark and imagined something, the dragon couldn’t help but feel uneasy as he approached the bed.

Scootaloo flinched an eye shut and looked away. She peeked out of the corner of her vision to barely keep an eye on the dragon as he cautiously pressed forward. Once Spike reached the side of the bed, he knelt down and mentally prepared himself for anything his own imagination could cook up.

He gripped hold of the edge of the blankets as they hung over the opening to the bottom of the bed and clenched them tightly. After mentally steeling himself for the worst, Spike threw up the edge of the blanket and quickly jerked his head downwards to see what was under the bed.

Having realized that he flinched upon making his move, Spike cringed as he slowly opened one eye to ensure that some hideous creature with glowing red eyes and sharp teeth wasn’t staring him down. The entire time he opened his eyes, he could feel his entire body tensing up in refusal to his actions.

Scootaloo found it in herself to nervously peek over the side of the bed to check on the baby dragon. She was relieved, if not slightly shocked, to see Spike was still in one piece as he scanned the pitch blackness of the underside to her bed.

Spike got up and wiped a droplet of sweat from his forehead and breathed a sigh of relief. He then looked up to the nervous filly and smiled.

“See? Nothing… no monsters… no nothing.” He chuckled nervously to himself. The dragon probably felt just as relieved as Scootaloo did upon making the discovery. The filly frowned sadly as she started to calm herself down.

“But… but I heard it.” Scootaloo muttered in disbelief as she recalled the vivid memory in her head. Spike softened up his cheerful expression to a more sympathetic one.

“It’s alright… you were just scared is all. I would be amazed if you didn’t hear something under the bed if the room suddenly became dark like that.” Spike tried his best to lift her spirits. Scootaloo sighed before offering the dragon a small smile of her own.

“That’s more like it… Now how about we head downstairs and- Ah!” Spike was suddenly interrupted by a loud scraping noise coming from under the bed. The dragon was abruptly knocked to the floor by an unseen force as something banged against the frame of the bed.

“Spike!” Scootaloo cried out fearfully as she watched the scene unfold in front of her. A blurry shadow reached out from the black void of the bed and grabbed onto the hapless dragon’s leg. Spike was suddenly and violently jerked forward as his lower half was pulled under the bed. He yelped in surprise and desperately reached upwards to cling onto the bed frame.

He managed to get a flimsy hold on the frame of the bed, but quickly realized that he wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer. Just as Spike accepted his fate as his grip began to slip, an orange hoof reached down and grabbed onto his arm.

Scootaloo heaved as hard as she could as she wrestled for ground in her struggle with the unseen creature. She sweated as her muscles barely managed to keep up with the demand she was placing on them. Spike was slowly lifted upwards to the top of the bed. He feverishly grabbed for the side of the bed with his free arm and pulled. After what seemed like an eternity, the dragon was flung onto the bed as the shadow let go of his leg.

Scootaloo pulled the dragon backwards onto the center of the bed and hugged him tightly against her, partly to actually hug him, and partly to keep him in her grasp. The two sat and looked at each other with wide eyes as they breathed heavily.

“I hate to say I told you so...” Scootaloo impishly scalded the dragon as she let a tear roll down her cheek. In the heat of the moment, she thought that she would have watched helplessly as the dragon was pulled away by whatever that thing was.

“Yeah…” Spike was at a loss for words as he thanked his lucky stars that he was still alive. He then looked over the side of the bed and eyed the way to the door.

The pair heard a low rumble that sounded like some sort of terrifying beast was growling at them angrily for escaping. The two children nervously glanced over the side of the bed and just barely managed to catch a glimpse of a shadow moving back under the bed. The bed frame jolted as something moved underneath it before falling silent.

“H-how do we get out of here without it grabbing us?” Scootaloo stammered nervously as their grim situation sank in.

“Maybe… maybe Twilight and the others will find us.” Spike tried his best to offer a positive outcome to the frightened filly. He himself was feeling his muscles tense up with intense fear.

“Yeah, and maybe that thing will climb up here and get us!” Scootaloo squeaked with fear as she anxiously watched the outline of the bed’s shadow on the ground for movement.

"Don't give it any ideas!" Spike exclaimed fearfully as he stared at the bed with a terrified expression. He couldn't even bring himself to look over the side of the bed anymore. The dragon just stared at the sheets of the bed with a knot slowly developing in his stomach. He knew that something that would normally only be reserved for his worst gem induced nightmare was currently sitting a few feet underneath him, watching and waiting silently for the children to hop down or peer just a little too closely into the dark void under the bed.