The search party diligently made their way around the other side of the building to reach the stairway that would lead them upwards. The journey to Scootaloo’s room had taken the group what seemed like a few minutes earlier, but now that the power was out and the atmosphere around them had shifted into a cold and foreboding shroud, the journey through the dark halls and rooms was taking the ponies what seemed like an eternity.

Twilight took the lead with her horn shining brightly into the dark corridor in front of the group, Nurse Redheart stayed close to the unicorn to ensure that she was going in the right direction, while Rainbow Dash stayed near Tom at the back of the group.

The ponies darted their eyes around nervously as they marched on in silence. Their spines tingled and their muscles tensed as they anticipated some horrible monster lurking around every corner or hallway they passed.

Finally the group found themselves standing before the door that led into the main stairs of the hospital. Despite Twilight’s best efforts to open the door silently, the hinges creaked and moaned as the door slowly opened into the tight landing of the stairs. The ponies cautiously went inside and surveyed their surroundings.

The light from Twilight’s horn illuminated the entirety of the small shaft, save for the shadows cast from the light being blocked by the stairs further up. A thin metallic railing separated the group from the steep drop off of the stairwell. Taking a quick peek over the side of the cold metal bars, Twilight could determine that the stairs only descended one level into another landing for the basement.

“I didn’t know this place had a basement.” Rainbow Dash observed curiously as she leaned onto the railing next to the unicorn.

“Yeah… we have a lot of our heating and electrical machines down there. There’s supposed to be a backup generator that should have kicked in… but clearly that didn’t happen.” Nurse Redheart sighed as she cursed the misfortune that had befallen her recently.

“That might be a good place to investigate the cause of this blackout after we find the others. Maybe we’ll find another symbol down there.” Tom speculated with slight intrigue as he imagined the possibility of progress.

Twilight shuddered at the thought of heading into another dark basement. She shook her head defiantly to rid her mind of the eerie thoughts.

“I hope it goes better than the last basement we went to.” The unicorn stated gloomily while eyeing the lower floor anxiously.

“I hope it’s a little less flooded with ice cold water…” Tom remarked as he pictured the amount of time it took his clothes to dry from the time he spent in the school’s basement.

“Enough talking about the basement for now…” Rainbow Dash stated while looking upwards to the spiraling stairs above the group. “We have enough of a hard task in front of us without worrying about how scary it will be down there.”

The others nodded solemnly before starting their ascent up the stairs. After a brief climb, the group was suddenly at the second floor landing outside the doorway back into the hallways. The ponies gathered around the door and pressed their bodies against it to peer into the small window set into the door.

“It’s too dark to see anything in there… It’s like my light can’t shine through the window.” Twilight observed curiously as she tried to position her head in such a way that her horn would have a better chance at shining through to the other side.

“Twilight… I can see your breath.” Rainbow Dash said with a morbidly intrigued tone. The unicorn backed her head away from the window and stared in front of her face for a moment to verify the pegasus’s claim. Much to her surprise, she noticed a light mist shoot out from her mouth as she exhaled.

“I can see yours too… it’s freezing up here.” Twilight exclaimed while wrapping her arms around herself and rubbing her shoulders to create warmth. The group quickly realized that the air had suddenly gotten much colder once they reached the second floor landing.

“All the more reason to find the others and get out of here as fast as possible.” Tom stated with determination as he grabbed the handle of the door and pushed it open. A blast of even colder air flooded into the stairwell as the door slid open. The group could barely move forward as their muscles tensed up from the cold, but they somehow managed to step into the dark corridor and close the door behind them.

“S-sweet Celestia… it’s even c-colder out here than it is in there.” Rainbow Dash stammered as she tried to manually stop her body from shivering to no avail. On top of the decrease in temperature, the entire atmosphere had changed from what the ponies had experienced downstairs.

While they were exploring the first floor, the ponies felt apprehensive and nervous, like they were being watched from down the hall. But the dark and cold corridor they currently found themselves sitting in made them feel like they shouldn’t even be there. Every fiber of their bodies told the ponies to turn back and flee to the safety of the lobby. The anxious band dreaded the thought of taking any step further into the darkness, like they were convincing themselves to walk further and further into a foreboding dark tunnel out in a haunted forest.

Twilight wanted so badly to turn around and leave the searching up to Tom. She felt like she wasn’t cut out for facing her fears and pressing forward, but then she thought of Spike being just as scared as she was. The images of the baby dragon drifting around in her head gave the unicorn confidence.

“Let’s hurry up and get this over with.” Twilight said with false determination as she forced herself to step forward despite her feelings. The group was surprised to see the sudden bravery displayed by the purple pony. Rainbow Dash and Nurse Redheart walked forward, if only to keep up with the unicorn and her sphere of protective light.

The group made their way through the hallway for a short way before reaching a set of doors with numbers on them. After quickly inspecting the numbers on one of the doors, the group determined that they had come across a stretch of patient rooms.

“Alright, let’s break off into two people per side and search these rooms.” Tom instructed confidently while walking over to the left side of the hallway.

“What…? But there are so many.” Rainbow Dash stated pessimistically while observing the pattern of rooms and concluding that it went on for a long distance.

“We don’t need to go in and search every inch… we just need to give each room a passing sweep to make sure nobody is hiding in there. Now come over here Rainbow Dash, we’ll need a flashlight on this side to scan the rooms.” The human beckoned for the cyan pegasus to come over to his side of the hallway to join him. Rainbow Dash gripped her flashlight confidently before walking over to the boy.

The four made their way down the hallway while methodically opening each room door and sweeping the inside with their flashlights. This pattern continued for what seemed like an eternity until they reached the end of that particular section of rooms. The ponies then pressed forward down another hallway in search of more rooms to search through.

“About how many patient rooms are on this floor Redheart?” Rainbow Dash shrugged in annoyance as the group came across another set of rooms.

“Around fifty or so…” The white mare replied while opening the first door on her side and looking inside with her flashlight. “Scootaloo is in sixty-two, so with any luck we’ll find Spike and Daisy there as well.” She stated with a hint of optimism while still trying to sound realistic.

“I hope so… I can’t imagine what it must be like for them to be in this place by themselves.” Rainbow Dash stated gloomily while taking note of her own sense of nervousness about the dark. She sighed sadly before walking over to another door and looking inside. Much to her surprise, the cyan mare noticed something off in the corner of the room by the window.

“Hey… I got a pony over here!” Rainbow announced with excitement while waving her friends over. Cowering in the dim light of the window was a yellow pony with stringy black hair. She wore the usual pink outfit that a nurse would wear, with a heart shaped string of daisies as a cutie mark.

“Daisy!” Nurse Redheart exclaimed happily as she rushed into the room. The yellow pony looked up from the floor and gave a joyful smile upon seeing other people coming into the room.

“Redheart!” Daisychain squeaked in a mixture of relief and happiness as the white nurse gave her a quick hug before helping her to her feet.

“I’m so glad you’re alright! I was starting to get worried that something awful might have happened to you!” Nurse Redheart smiled warmly at her colleague while observing her emotional state. The yellow mare seemed to be shaken up by something and was visibly tensing up from her nerves being strung out so much.

“I was on my way to do that checkup you asked me to do… when the lights suddenly went out. I thought nothing of it at the time, until I heard noises and saw things around me in the darkness.” Daisy shuddered as she recalled her terrifying encounter. “I ducked into the first room I could find that had a window and huddled up by the light.” She was almost on the verge of tears as if she was still convincing herself that she was safe now.

“You’re going to be ok now… we’ll take you somewhere safe.” Rainbow Dash spoke softly to console the frightened nurse. She gave her a sincere smile and a look of confidence to ease her fears.

Daisychain looked around at the group of people smiling at her. Although she was puzzled by the sight of the human amongst the row of ponies around her, she felt much better knowing that she was no longer alone.

The group ushered the shaken up nurse along with them as they walked out of the room. After they got back out into the hallway, the ponies took a moment to look at the frightened yellow pony and think about their next course of action.

“I think we should take Daisy back downstairs. She seems like she is too frightened to help us out.” Nurse Redheart suggested while observing the jilted pony looking around nervously.

“But… what about that filly over in sixty-two? She could be in trouble right now! You shouldn’t delay helping her just because of me.” Daisy exclaimed in a short burst of bravery. Everyone looked at the timid pony sympathetically. They knew that she wanted to help them find the others, but they also knew that she should rest downstairs where it was safe.

“Don’t worry… we can do both. You will head downstairs with Redheart and Twilight, while me and Rainbow Dash head over to room sixty-two and find Scootaloo and Spike.” Tom suggested confidently while looking to the cyan pegasus for support. Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement while waving her flashlight around.

Twilight was a little apprehensive about leaving the search for the two children, even if it was just for a few minutes to deliver another pony to safety. She trusted in Tom and Rainbow Dash, but wanted to be involved herself to give her own personal best effort to find the two.

After looking at the yellow mare for a moment, Twilight felt empathetic for the nurse. She was clearly scared out of her wits, but also wanted to help. The unicorn saw a little bit of herself in the frightened pony. She wanted to help her friends no matter the circumstances, even if it meant facing her worst fears.

“He’s right… we’ll find them, you can be certain of that. But for now, we need to get you somewhere safe… come on, let’s go.” Twilight stated while walking back towards the stairwell and beckoning for the two to join her, Daisy hesitated for a moment before deciding to walk forward to prevent herself from being enveloped in darkness. Nurse Redheart quickly followed the two, leaving Tom and Rainbow Dash alone to watch the three disappear around a corner.

“I guess it’s just us now...” Rainbow Dash chuckled nervously as she kept her flashlight trained in front of her. She felt much more uncomfortable now that there were considerably less people around her to make her forget about her surroundings.

Tom noticed his companion staring uneasily into the dark void around them. He felt a little uncomfortable himself due to knowing little to nothing about their current situation.

“Don’t sweat it… I can handle anything stupid enough to attack us.” The human stated reassuringly. The cyan pony felt a little more at ease upon hearing the slayer’s lighthearted remark, but still had shivers going up and down her spine from their eerie surroundings.

“I hope so… otherwise I’m taking this light and leaving you up here.” Rainbow said jokingly. The two laughed jovially as they walked down the dark hallway, the pegasus felt happy to get her mind off of the fear gnawing at her.

Twilight led her two companions through the halls on the way back to the stairwell. Having memorized the way back, the unicorn freed Nurse Redheart to comfort her friend as they marched on through the dark corridors.

The unicorn was having an internal struggle with her feelings on leaving the second floor. She wanted to come back up and help find the two children herself after she dropped off the yellow nurse, but she knew that it would be pointless to venture back out into the darkness when Tom and Rainbow Dash would have no difficulties in finding the room Scootaloo and Spike would be in.

“Why the long face Twilight?” Nurse Redheart’s voice snapped the purple pony out of her thoughts. The unicorn looked back to the white mare to see her with a concerned frown.

“I’m fine… why do you ask?” Twilight asked the nurse curiously.

“You’ve been looking upset ever since we left the others.” Redheart stated sympathetically while looking at the unicorn with a puzzled expression.

Twilight sighed and looked off to the side for a moment. She then looked back to the two ponies behind her.

“I just feel a little upset over having to leave finding the kids up to Tom and Rainbow Dash. It’s not that I don’t trust them... I just…” Twilight paused for a moment while thinking of the right words to say.

“You want to be there to make sure.” Daisychain spoke up suddenly from beside Nurse Redheart. Twilight was surprised to hear the timid pony speak up. She had been quiet for the entire time they had been walking.

“I know the feeling… it’s why I became a nurse. You want to be able to help your friends, and to give your own effort in making sure they’re safe.” The yellow mare sounded very earnest and had a sincere look on her face.

“Yeah… I guess you’re right. Between everything that’s happened recently, I’m just not sure if I have what it takes. As student under the princess herself, I feel like ponies should be able to rely on me to keep them safe from things they don’t understand.” The unicorn was happy to hear that someone else understood her frustration. She felt that if she couldn’t protect Equestria from some unknown magical threat, then who could?

“Well that Tom fellow seems to know what he’s doing. I’m sure that he will find them in no time flat.” Redheart stated while thinking back to the level-headed nature she had seen the boy display.

“I hope so…” Twilight sighed while looking down sadly as she thought about the two children being alone somewhere in this dark and cold place.

“Are you sure he’s trustworthy?” Daisychain asked quizzically. The yellow mare’s question caught Twilight off guard.

“What do you mean?” The purple unicorn retorted with a surprised and confused tone in her voice.

“I didn’t mean anything bad by it, but from what I know about humans, they were known to be violent and hateful creatures.” The nurse elaborated in a sincere voice to make her previous question seem less hostile.

The unicorn hadn’t given the boy’s motivation much thought. After he had saved her and her friends lives, she had assumed that he had good intentions. And after learning more about his past and personality, Twilight was certain that he was a good person.

“Not all humans were bad… sure they sometimes did bad things, and there were a few exceptions… but Tom has proven that he is a kind and caring individual.” Twilight explained confidently to the two behind her. They were surprised that she was so adamant about defending a person she had only met recently.

“Then you should relax… he and Rainbow Dash will definitely find them.” Daisy stated reassuringly while offering a friendly smile. The unicorn shrugged her negative thoughts off before returning a soft smile to the two nurses.

The three pressed on through the hallway before making a sharp right turn to get to the corridor that led to the stairwell. The ponies were relieved that they were almost out of the overtly cold environment of the second floor.

“Whoa!” Nurse Redheart exclaimed in surprise as her foot landed on a loose object on the floor and slipped, causing her to pause for a moment to regain her balance. Twilight and Daisy turned around to see the white mare regaining her composure as she stood on the edge of the sphere of light emanating from the unicorn’s horn.

“You alright?” Twilight asked with mild concern as she observed the nurse getting back up from her lowered position from slipping.

“Yeah… just tripped on a bottle or something….” Redheart stated while reaffirming her feet to ensure they were planted solidly.

Twilight was relieved to see that the white nurse had not fallen on the floor and hurt herself from slipping. She started to turn her head back in front of her when she suddenly noticed something that made her face pale with confusion and fright.

“What…the…?” Twilight muttered under her breath while trying to process what she was seeing. Behind Nurse Redheart was a tall blurry figure standing in the darkness. The unicorn couldn’t make out enough shapes of the silhouette to determine its appearance, but she could see the rough outline of what appeared to be a torso and an arm turned sideways as if it were arching towards her.

“What are you staring at Twilight…?” Redheart asked in bewilderment as the unicorn stared behind her in shock. Twilight blinked her eyes shut a few times to ensure that her mind wasn’t playing tricks on her. She grew even more fearful when she moved her head around and realized that the shadowy figure wasn’t just a trick of the light and in fact had depth.

Before the unicorn could react and call out to the white nurse, the figure suddenly disappeared from view while jerking forwards into the shadows towards the group. Redheart cried out in surprise as her body was violently pulled backwards, sending her to the floor as her back legs were pulled out from under her.

“Redheart!” Twilight and Daisy screamed in unison as the nurse was pulled out of the bubble of light completely. The only thing to alert them to her presence was the sound of her shrieking in fright and struggling to gain a hold on something along the ground with her front legs.

As the hapless nurse was yanked down the hallway by her back legs, her flashlight crashed to the ground and flickered on from the button being hit. The beam of light arched at an angle down the hallway, illuminating the terrified white mare with her legs being held together in the air as if they were being grasped.

Much to the surprise of the horrified onlookers, as soon as the white pony was lit up by the flash light, they couldn’t see any signs of anything near her as her body suddenly fell to the floor. The nurse sprawled onto the floor from the force of the impact. She scooted her body backwards before pausing and looking around her frantically.

“Wh…w…wha…” Redheart stammered fearfully as she darted her head around to search for her attacker. Twilight and Daisy walked forward a few steps cautiously in preparation to help the white mare.

“Redheart! You need to get up and run!” Twilight exclaimed frantically to the dazed nurse as she mentally prepared herself to charge forward to pick her up. Before Nurse Redheart had a chance to react to the unicorn’s instructions, one of her legs that had been sticking out of the beam of light was suddenly pulled taught by an unseen force.

“AHH!” Redheart screamed loudly as her body was violently yanked towards the edge of the light. She desperately grabbed onto the edge of the wall and held on for dear life as the force pulled on her forcefully. The white mare groaned in pain as her muscles started tearing from her attempts at clinging to the wall.

Daisychain suddenly bolted out of the sphere of light provided by Twilight. She ran out into the darkness and hopped over the flashlight in an attempt to get to her coworker. Just before the yellow mare reached the edge of the wall where the nurse was holding on, Redheart cried out in fear as she was pulled off of the wall and down the other hallway into the darkness.

The yellow pony skidded to a halt and reached out in vain to make an attempt on grabbing her friend. She backed up in fear as she suddenly heard the noise of feet scuffling on the ground beside her. The nervous nurse backed up into the broader part of the flashlight’s beam and turned around to look to Twilight for advice.

“Daisy!” The unicorn cried out before starting to run over to her. She stopped mid stride as she noticed a rather large silhouette in the darkness between her light and the flashlight’s. Twilight and Daisy looked at each other uneasily as they tried to think of a way out of their grim predicament.

“What do I do?” Daisy stated while on the verge of a panic attack as she stared pleadingly at the unicorn for help.

“I think it doesn’t like the light! Just stay there and…” Twilight trailed her voice off as the flashlight started to flicker. The two ponies looked between the flickering flashlight, the multiple shapes looming in the darkness around the yellow mare, and each other as they felt their nerves tense up.

“Twilight…” Daisy stated sadly while giving the unicorn a frightened expression. Before she could say anything further, the flashlight flickered off one last time and submerged the terrified nurse in darkness. The unicorn tried to step forward enough to illuminate her frightened companion, but it was too late.

Twilight could only listen in horror as the sounds of the yellow mare screaming and smacking against the wall and floor pierced through the dark corridor. Before the unicorn knew it, the waning noise of the nurse screaming as she was pulled down the hallway died down, leaving Twilight alone.

“Daisy?!.... Daisy…?” Twilight noticed her voice cracking from fear as she called out in vain to see if the nurse would somehow call back to her. She almost forgot about the various silhouettes looming around her in the darkness.

The purple pony started backing up nervously in an attempt to get to the stairwell, but she was interrupted by the sound of something stepping forward behind her. She turned her head to see a figure standing just outside her sphere of light. It appeared to be staring at her intimidatingly as it stood in the middle of the hallway. Twilight’s heart skipped a beat when the figure in front of her disappeared and the loud noise of something stepping all around her made her back into the wall out of fear.