Twilight and the others quickly made their way back through the dark hallways on their way to the lobby. The hospital had been quiet before, but now that the power was out, the silent atmosphere was starting to get to the ponies.

They could only hear the sounds of their own hooves clattering on the floor, along with the occasional soft breathing of someone nearby and their own heartbeat. Normally there was safety in numbers, but they didn’t feel safe at all in the eerie corridors.

Once they saw a thin ray of light in the distance, the group rushed forward and eagerly burst into the lobby to get away from the darkness in the hall. After taking a brief moment to get over the tension of dealing with their own fears, the ponies looked around the lobby for any sign of Applebloom and the medic.

“Ah don’t see them anywhere in here.” Applejack stated with increasing concern for her sister as she looked around the empty room.

“They aren’t back here either.” Nurse Redheart shrugged sadly as she stepped out from the room behind the front desk. She was starting to get worried about the pair herself.

“We need to find out what’s going on here… they didn’t just disappear into thin air did they?” Rainbow Dash asked grimly before looking over to her friends. Their grave expressions made her think about the possibility of her statement being true.

“We better head upstairs and find Spike and Scootaloo before we lose track of them.” Tom reminded the group of the two children upstairs. Everyone grew more alarmed as they remembered their two friends being stuck upstairs with no lights.

“You’re right… let’s hurry up there!” Twilight stated anxiously while ignoring her fears to walk off into the dark hallway.

“Hold up!” Tom quickly rushed in front of the unicorn to impede her progress. “You can’t just go rushing off like that. We need to think logically about this… we already have two missing people, and the entire hospital is dark. Who knows what we could be dealing with?” He explained uneasily.

The boy’s statement made Twilight gulp nervously as she thought more about heading off into the dark by herself. She cautiously backed up and walked into a better lit portion of the room.

“What do you think we should do then?” The unicorn stated uneasily. As fearful as she was, she still wanted to do anything in her power to find the two children and keep them safe.

“I think we should find some candles first… set up an area we know is safe before we go walking blindly into the fray.” Tom suggested while looking over to Nurse Redheart quizzically. Taking the boy’s hint, Redheart began thinking of where some candles might be stored.

“I believe that we have some candles in a storage closet a short ways from here.” The white mare stated while walking to the front of the room to lead the way again.

“Alright then… you, me, and Twilight will go get candles and any other supplies that might come in handy. Applejack, you and Rainbow Dash stay here just in case anybody decides to come to the lobby.” The human looked to each of the ponies as he gave them their instructions. Everyone nodded with determination as they willingly accepted the boy’s orders.

Twilight stood beside Nurse Redheart and lit up her horn again to light the way while the white mare guided them. Before the three disappeared into the hallway on the right, they turned to their two friends and gave them a confident nod.

“You two stick together alright? The last thing we need is for you to go missing on us.” Tom said in a half joking- half serious tone as the cyan and orange ponies waved to them.

“You three worry about yourselves… we’ll be alright.” Rainbow Dash smirked to the farm pony, who offered a confident nod in return. Satisfied that the two wouldn’t do anything stupid while they were gone, the trio slowly made their way down the darkened hallway.

The only noise in the lengthy corridor was the sound of hooves and feet clicking against the hard tile floor. The cold air of the hospital seemed to have been amplified eleven fold, causing the chilled floor to sting the ponies’ bare hooves. The three pressed onwards as the pink clad nurse led them through the twists and turns of the building.

“I thought you said it was a short ways away. We’ve been walking for like five minutes now.” Twilight groaned in a mixture of annoyance and nervousness. The quicker she could get out of the unnaturally cold and dark rooms of the hospital, the quicker she could relax her progressively tightening muscles.

“Patience is a virtue Twilight… and besides, walking is good for your heart.” Nurse Redheart retorted in a friendly manner while trying to keep track of where they were. The unicorn merely shook her head and sighed upon hearing this.

“I think walking through a creepy dark hospital with who knows what lurking around the corner cancels out the benefits to my heart.” Twilight shrugged nervously while checking behind the group. She couldn’t shake the feeling that they weren’t alone in the pitch black halls.

Nurse Redheart chortled warmly at the unicorn’s witticism.

“Don’t worry so much Twilight. After all, there are no such things as ghosts.” Redheart added in an attempt to calm the purple pony’s fears.

“I beg to differ… said the dead guy who hunts monsters for a living.” Tom stated just loud enough for Twilight to hear. She chuckled briefly at the boy’s lighthearted remark before cutting herself off after remembering their dismal surroundings.

The group suddenly came across a more open room with numerous other open doorways. Set into the back wall was a door with a sign on it that read storage. Nurse Redheart quickly walked over to the door and opened it. Inside the small room were a few rows of shelves with various boxes and clear containers on them. More boxes were strewn around on the floor and up against the walls, making the dark room all the more hazardous to traverse.

“Here we go… there should be some candles and maybe even a couple flashlights in here.” The white mare stated optimistically while scanning around the room to identify the various boxes.

“Well… we better start looking.” Twilight shrugged as she eyed the large number of boxes crammed into the room. The three filed into the storage closet and started sifting through the contents of each box, all the while keeping an eye on the darkness outside the door for any signs of movement.

Twilight was going through the bottom row of one of the shelves. She had already managed to find a box of batteries to use for any flashlights they would find. Upon finding a few candles in a plastic container, she jerked her head up to place them on a higher level and slammed her head into the metal beam of the shelf.

“Owch…!” Twilight huffed in pain and rubbed the back of her head gingerly. “I need to stop hitting my head on things… at this rate I’m going to get a concussion.” She chided herself before looking around the room to check to see if her friends had noticed the embarrassing incident. As she passed over the doorway, the unicorn’s eye caught something that made her pause suddenly.

“What the…?” Twilight was at a loss for words at the puzzling display before her. She could see that a thin line of darkness was obscuring the door and the wall. It was like her sphere of light had shrunk in size and now didn’t carry to the doorway, but the unicorn was sure she remembered seeing the door from where she was.

Before she could elaborate on her thoughts, Twilight caught a glimpse of something else that surprised her. Out in the distance, presumably outside the now barely visible door, was a blurry shape sticking out of the shadows. It was like the silhouette of something was hanging in the air, as if a person was standing just outside the unicorn’s vision.

“What’s wrong Twilight?” Tom’s voice suddenly brought the purple pony out of her daze. Twilight turned around to see the human shooting her a concerned look. By the time she turned back around, the unicorn noticed that the odd silhouette was gone.

“I… I thought I saw something outside, but now it’s gone. And I’m pretty sure my light was shining out a bit farther than it is now.” Twilight explained while pointing out the change in position of the wall of darkness that used to be outside the door. Tom walked over to the door and observed the cut off of light.

“You sure…? I don’t see anything weird.” The human stated while poking his head out of the door and taking a look around.

“I don’t know… maybe I’m seeing things, but I definitely know that my light shined to the door from where I’m standing now.” Twilight shrugged with worry as she focused harder on her magic to project her light farther. Much to her surprise, the increased brightness of the light didn’t seem to do anything to pierce the darkness.

“That can’t be good…” The purple mare muttered grimly as she looked to the human with worry on her face.

“Let’s hurry up and get out of here… how many candles do we have?” Tom asked with mild urgency as he stepped away from the door and back into the light. The boy’s question was swiftly answered by Nurse Redheart dropping a box down onto a shelf in front of him enthusiastically to make a loud noise.

“I got like three or so, along with a couple of flashlights. And with what Twilight found over there, it looks like we have around six candles.” Redheart explained to the pair with a satisfied tone.

“Alright, not bad… now let’s get going. The faster we find the others, the faster we can find out what’s going on.” Tom exclaimed while gathering up the supplies into one box and picking it up.

“Are you sure you can carry that Tom?” Twilight observed the human straining under the weight of the box and struggling to move. “I can easily lift that for you.” She suggested kindheartedly.

“I’m fine with it. And besides, you need to focus on keeping your light on. I’ve got a feeling that whatever is going on, it has something to do with the dark.” Tom shrugged while trying to maintain his balance as he wobbled out the door.

The unicorn nodded in agreement before walking out with the human while being careful to keep all the members of her party inside the sphere of light she was creating. Nurse Redheart took the lead once more and began guiding her two companions back through the dark.

The group had started to notice a change in the atmosphere around them. It had gotten much colder and eerier since the last time they had wandered into the interior of the building. Even Nurse Redheart, a pony who was typically against believing in such things as ghosts and monsters, was beginning to feel uneasy and apprehensive about going any further into the blackness in front of them.

Twilight was forced to bite her lower lip to prevent herself from making a frightened noise. She was certain that she could see things just outside the reach of the light. As if someone were watching them from around corners and inside doorways they passed in the dark.

She looked to Tom nervously for any sign that he could see the vague figures she was seeing. The sight of the human eyeing around them uneasily made the unicorn unsure of whether she should feel relief or fear.

“We should be close to the lobby now… shouldn’t be much longer.” Nurse Redheart announced to calm everyone’s nerves, including her own.

“Well that’s good to hear. I was-” Twilight’s statement was interrupted by the sight of her horn flickering on and off for a split second. The odd occurrence started happening more frequently, as if a light bulb were going out.

“Umm… Twilight, I hate to be painfully obvious, but your light seems to be going out.” Tom said with increasing nervousness as each flash of the light briefly left them in pitch blackness.

“What…? How is that possible? I’m concentrating as hard as I can on it!” The unicorn was almost panic stricken as she tried to solve the problem on her end.

While the purple mare was struggling to maintain the flow of magic to her horn, a sudden noise carried from across the hallway. It sounded like the quiet scuffling of feet against the floor. The noise would start in one place, stop for a few moments, and then start in a completely different direction. It was like there were numerous people around the group that were each taking single steps in sequence.

“I think we need an alternative source of light… like right now!” The human stated urgently while putting the box down on the ground. He fumbled around with a flashlight and some batteries while trying to join the two together as quickly as possible. He flicked the switch on the flashlight upwards, but the only thing that happened was the loud click of the mechanism moving.

“Oh come on, who stores dead batteries?!” Tom cursed the group’s bad luck before quickly ejecting the useless batteries and scrambling to get another set.

Meanwhile, Twilight was at a loss for thoughts as to the cause of her light dying on her. It seemed like nothing she did had any effect on the stream of light as it struggled to stay on.

“Hurry up Tom! I don’t know how much longer I can keep the light going!” Twilight’s voice was starting to crack as she darted her eyes around fearfully. The frequency of times she saw silhouettes in the darkness around them seemed to increase as she could practically see one every time she turned around.

Tom flicked the switch on the flashlight once more, causing a satisfying beam of light to shoot out of the glass top just as Twilight’s horn fizzled out. He waved the beam of light around them rapidly to view the entire hallway.

The cone of light cut through the dark much farther than the unicorn’s centralized bubble of light could, illuminating the entire corridor. The group looked around nervously for any signs of something else being close to them. Much to their surprise, the trio failed to see anything out of the ordinary as the human scanned the light back and forth around them.

“Huh…? But I could have sworn that I heard something.” Twilight stated with a confused expression as she started to calm herself down. The three breathed a collective sigh of relief as they once again had a source of light.

“You did… I heard it too.” Nurse Redheart spoke quietly as she tried to slow her racing heart.

“Maybe whatever is going on is fear based… It could be making us see and hear things that aren’t really there.” Tom tried his best to offer an insightful solution with his knowledge on the paranormal.

“At least I hope they aren’t really there.” The unicorn gulped nervously as she tried to channel magic back into her horn. Much to her surprise, the light on her horn came back on and projected as it normally did.

“Maybe you should rest for a little while. If we’re going to search upstairs for Spike, Scootaloo, and any other people, you might need to use your light there.” Tom suggested while shaking the flashlight to recommend it as their primary light source for the moment.

“I guess you’re right…” Twilight shrugged at her own apparent mess up before letting her horn dim. She couldn’t imagine how she could have lost control over her magic like that.

Without delay, the group started walking forward to make their way back to the lobby. After a few short minutes of walking that felt like an eternity, the trio finally came out of the dark and into the lobby. They were immediately greeted by Applejack and Rainbow Dash smiling and waving at them from the far wall of the room.

“Hey guys…. What are you doing all the way over there?” Twilight asked curiously while observing the numerous chairs and sofas in the waiting area to their side. Instead of making use of any of the comfortable seats, the two were huddled together at the far end of the room with their backs to the wall.

“We wanted to stay as far away from the hallway as possible.” Rainbow Dash explained ominously while walking over to greet the trio.

“But… why would you-” Before Twilight could finish her question, the cyan pegasus pointed to the ground behind them. The unicorn gasped as she noticed what her friend was directing her attention to.

The group hadn’t noticed it upon rushing into the lobby, but the edge of the darkness that used to just connect the two adjacent hallways was now substantially farther out into the lobby. It seemed to defy the physics of lighting and shadows as it jutted out unnaturally into the room.

“We noticed the shadows were moving towards the rest of the room a little while after you left. That, along with all of the noises we heard, made us back up to over by the entrance where it’s brightest.” Applejack explained apprehensively as she looked down both hallways for any signs of movement.

After taking a few moments to observe the edge of the light and comparing it to memory, Tom quickly walked over to the front desk and sat the box down.

“Let’s hurry up and get these candles set up.” The human suggested with determination as he pulled a few candles out of the box.

The group watched the slayer with intrigue as he used his powers to imbue each candle with energy. He set aside each deep blue candle he created into a growing pile, and before long he had transformed the entire box.

“What are you going to do with those?” Nurse Redheart asked quizzically as she observed the human setting a candle down on the corner of each wall leading to the two hallways. Seeing that Tom was busy arranging the candles in their proper places, Twilight decided to explain to the white mare.

“He is setting up some blessed candles to keep evil things out of this room.” The nurse raised an eyebrow curiously at the unicorn’s explanation. She had never imagined seeing something so bizarre when she came to the hospital that morning.

“Evil things… like what? I haven’t seen anything out of the ordinary aside from a few noises, and we have been through most of the first floor.” Redheart stated doubtfully. She didn’t want to seem harsh, but she was the type of pony who thought that it wasn’t real if she couldn’t see it with her own eyes.

“There’s something going on… I’m sure of it. The power going out suddenly, the change in atmosphere, me sensing something, it all points to something paranormal, and I would wager those hooded ponies from the school have something to do with it.” Tom stated with a serious expression as he finished placing the candles. He then turned to the group and looked at Twilight thoughtfully.

“You ready for me to light them up?” The unicorn asked to be sure that everything was set up correctly. Tom nodded to her and stepped back to give her some room. The purple pony walked up to each of the six candles placed at the corner to each entrance and exit to the room. She then concentrated for a moment on each and lit the candles on fire.

After the unicorn ignited the final candle, a bright pulse of blue light surged through the room. After the light faded, the space between the candles rippled and shimmered as the blue force fields took shape. Much to the surprise of the ponies, the edge of the darkness that had been creeping into the room suddenly receded back to its normal position. The light coming in from the entrance seemed to intensify as well, bathing the room in more light and shifting the cold atmosphere to a more warm and comfortable one.

“Wow…” Applejack was awestruck as she observed the difference in the atmosphere of the room. She felt that the blue flame of the candles had provided a comforting distance between her and the dark and eerie openings of the hallways.

“This place feels a lot less creepy now… kinda like it did before the power went out.” Rainbow Dash stated as she walked up to the edge of the candles and stared into the black abyss of one of the corridors. “Still getting an eerie vibe off of the dark places though.”

“Alright… now that we have a safe area to bring people to, we need to focus on finding the others.” Tom said with a determined look on his face. He then looked over to Nurse Redheart. “Redheart, how many staff and patients are in the building?” He asked in a serious tone and waited for an answer as the white mare thought about it for a few moments.

“Like I said earlier, it has been a pretty slow week for us here. Scootaloo was the only patient we had staying in a room, and the only staff on site currently is myself, Patches, and this other nurse Daisychain.” Redheart explained apprehensively as she thought about her coworkers being in danger.

“And where was she the last time you saw her?” The human questioned solemnly as he walked over to the box of supplies and started fidgeting around with them.

“She was upstairs actually… she was getting ready to give Scootaloo her last check up before we released her... Y-you don’t think something happened to her do you?” Redheart adopted a more concerned expression as the weight of the situation finally became clear to her. She wanted to remain blissfully oblivious of the grave situation she was in, but seeing the serious expressions on everyone’s faces and thinking more in depth about the sudden disappearance of two ponies made the white mare think more critically about her current predicament.

“Don’t worry… we will find them.” Twilight said reassuringly to the upset earth pony. She looked around to her friends, who all gave a determined nod in return.

“Alright everyone, here’s what we’re going to do.” Tom finally stopped messing around with the supplies and pulled out two flashlights. He then walked over to the group with a confident expression and gave Rainbow Dash and Nurse Redheart the lights.

“Everyone except for Applejack is going to head upstairs to search for the others. We’re going to sweep each room we find to see if anyone has taken shelter in them.” The human instructed to the ponies before walking over to the threshold of the candles.

“What am Ah going to do if you’re not taking me with you?” The farm pony asked curiously. The boy paused and turned around.

“You’re going to stay here and hold down the fort so to speak...” Tom stated simply to the orange mare before turning back around. The human’s statement shocked the farm pony slightly.

“All by myself…? Are you crazy?” Applejack asked rhetorically while nervously staring outside the protective barrier.

Tom smiled reassuringly before turning around to face the ponies once more. The orange mare’s fears were justifiable, but he was confident that she would be safe.

“Don’t worry, you will be perfectly safe inside the confines of the candles. I wouldn’t ask you to stay if I thought you would be in any danger... Besides, we need someone to stay here just in case someone wanders by.” The human explained calmly to ease the farm pony’s concerns. Applejack felt a little more confident, but still wanted to help search for her sister and the others. She shrugged before offering an accepting nod.

“Now that we all have a plan, are you guys ready?” Tom asked with a more serious expression. The three ponies looked at each other with a slight sense of apprehension. After taking a moment to think about their friends being in danger, everyone steeled their nerves and adopted a more determined expression.

“I’m ready whenever you guys are.” Rainbow Dash stated bravely while stepping forward to join the human next to the edge of the hallway.

“If it means rescuing a couple of helpless children… I’m in.” Nurse Redheart gripped her flashlight confidently before walking forward to join the others.

Only Twilight was left standing in the lobby next to Applejack. The others looked to the unicorn pleadingly as she decided what to do. Twilight was apprehensive about going out into the darkness again, but then she thought about Spike and Scootaloo being scared and alone in the dark while who knows what kind of horrible monster roamed around the halls. The image of the baby dragon and orange filly in her head gave the purple pony confidence.

“Let’s go… we’re not going to get anywhere by standing around here.” Twilight said with a determined smile. Hearing the unicorn’s sudden bravery made everyone surprised and joyful to see her stepping forward to join the party. After giving their orange friend a confident wave and smile, the four stepped out of the protective barrier and made their way down the darkened hallway to find the stairs to the second floor.