Twilight shivered fearfully as she clung to the wall behind her while staring into the darkness that filled the corridor she was in. She couldn’t imagine the exact time she had been sitting still while jumping at any noise she had heard, but she wagered that it had been several minutes since she was left alone by her companions being pulled away into the dark.

What am I going to do? The unicorn thought to herself as she nervously scanned her head back and forth to catch a glimpse of the shadowy figures she had seen before. She wondered if whatever had taken the two nurses was the same reason why Applebloom and the other pony had gone missing. The more Twilight analyzed the situation, the more fearful she grew as she thought about how she was going to get back to safety.

The frightened pony forced herself to get up from her seated position. She then inched her body forward as she fought against her desire to curl up into a ball and wait. Slowly but surely, the unicorn’s sphere of light moved forward as she took baby steps down the eerie hallway while searching for any sign of movement around her.

Where are those things…? There were so many of them around me before… but now I can’t see anything. Twilight noted the lack of any shapes in the darkness. She could only wonder if her brief observation of the creatures’ avoidance of light was correct, and what would happen to her if it wasn’t.

The unicorn contemplated fleeing to the relative safety of the first floor. She wanted nothing more than to cower in fear under a chair in the lobby while waiting anxiously for her friends to return safely, but then she resolved that the only chance to save the two nurses would be to find Tom and the others.

Cursing herself for her sense of valor, Twilight gulped nervously as she removed the false hope of finding the stairs from her mind and replaced it with her new plan of delving further into the second floor. She then looked around her for any signs of a landmark she could use to determine her location.

Deducing that she was near one of the stretches of rooms the group had searched earlier, the purple pony turned down a hallway and marched forward while anxiously staring at the ground to avoid making eye contact with the black void in front of her.

Twilight slowly made her way through the twists and turns of the dark corridors along what she hoped would be the path to her friends. She would give anything just to have some contact with another living creature, as long as it wasn’t one of those strange monsters.

The eerily silent and cold atmosphere was starting to take its toll on the unicorn. She could feel her muscles aching from the combined force of her body tensing up from fear, and shivering intensely from the chilled air. Every ambient noise sent Twilight’s senses into overdrive as she scrutinized every minute groan of the building settling around her to make sure it wasn’t the sound of something trying to kill her.

“I hope the others are alright…” Twilight whispered to herself gloomily to make herself feel slightly less alone. Now that she knew what lurked in the darkness, the unicorn worried for not only the two nurses, but Applebloom and Patches as well. She wondered if the creatures had dragged them away the same way they had Redheart and Daisychain.

A sudden flicker of her light made Twilight look up from her thoughts and widen her eyes in fear. Another instance of her horn flickering off briefly made the unicorn’s heart sink to her feet. She still did not understand why her light had shut off against her will the last time, so to have it happen again when she was alone filled the purple pony with dread.

“Oh no… not here!” The unicorn squeaked in a panic as she tried to channel as much focus and willpower into keeping her light on as possible. Suddenly, a noise behind her made the purple mare jerk her head around fearfully. She scanned her eyes back and forth frantically while simultaneously trying to keep her horn glowing.

More noises of feet shuffling and quiet breaths around her made Twilight seize up in terror. She could already picture what the creatures would do to her once they caught her and pulled her away into the darkness.

The unicorn slid to the floor and covered her eyes in acceptance. She was nowhere near any alternative source of light, and she had no sway over her progressively worsening flickering horn. Twilight sobbed quietly as she started tearing up from fear. She couldn’t even bring herself to shiver anymore as all of her emotions became internalized.

Peeking out through a tiny opening under her arms, the purple pony nervously eyed the area in front of her to prepare herself for when her light went out. As the glow from her horn slowly dimmed each time it flickered back on, Twilight could barely catch a glimpse of shadowy figures approaching her with each flash of darkness.

Suddenly, a brighter source of light fell on the area in front of the unicorn. Twilight looked up curiously as the figures in front of her disappeared with the new solid beam of light illuminating the hallway. She then came to the realization that the light was coming from a flashlight somewhere behind her.

“Twilight!!” The voice of a familiar purple dragon rang out in excitement from down the hallway. The light bounced up and down as the sounds of tiny feet running down the corridor made Twilight perk up with joy. The unicorn got up and turned around to see Spike and Scootaloo running in her direction.

“Spike!” Twilight exclaimed with happy excitement as she caught the running dragon in her arms and held him in a loving embrace. The unicorn and dragon wept into each other’s shoulder as they completely shut out their surroundings to enjoy their reunion.

Scootaloo couldn’t help but smile herself from watching the two hug it out. She was just as excited as Spike was to finally have found someone familiar. The filly cautiously made sure to stay within the confines of the flashlight Spike was holding as he remained clutched against Twilight.

After taking a moment to collect her emotions, Twilight finally let go of Spike and sat him down. She could see that he had tears of joy running down his face as well. After sniffling once more to rid herself of her fearful feelings from before, the unicorn wiped her own tears and smiled warmly at the two children.

“I’m so happy to see you two aren’t hurt!” Twilight stated with elation before slowly taking a minute to process the information being presented to her. The unicorn slowly glanced down to the flashlight the baby dragon was holding and realized that the two were alone.

“Wait… isn’t that Rainbow Dash’s flashlight? Where did she and Tom go?” Twilight asked with a growing sense of dread as she watched the two children’s bright expressions shift to gloomy frowns. Scootaloo looked away and closed her eyes sadly as she remembered the events prior to meeting the unicorn.

“We were trapped in Scootaloo’s room by a monster hiding under the bed when Tom and Rainbow Dash came in to rescue us.” Spike explained gloomily to save Scootaloo the trouble of expressing her sadness into words. “We ran out of there and started making our way back downstairs. Everything was going fine until…” He paused and looked down sadly as he went over the scene in his head. Twilight could only wonder what horrible things might have happened while Tom was around to protect the group.

“Rainbow Dash got grabbed by one of the monsters and dropped her flashlight. Tom ran after her and barely managed to grab onto her… but the thing just dragged both of them away. I grabbed the flashlight and tried to find them… but by the time we made it around the corner they were already gone.” The dragon finished his explanation while still staring at the ground gloomily.

Twilight felt her heart sink into her stomach as the story settled into her mind. If Tom couldn’t prevent himself and Rainbow Dash from getting taken away by those creatures, then what sort of miniscule chance did she have at protecting herself and her two young companions?

“So you two have been wandering around this place all by yourselves?” The unicorn asked with a sympathetic frown on her face. The two offered a slow nod in response as they progressively lost all hope that they would be able to escape the hospital alive.

Twilight sighed sadly as she thought about what to do next. As much as she wanted to search for her friends, she realized that she would have a very slim chance of finding them by herself. Even if the unicorn did manage to fend off the creatures for long enough to search, the missing ponies and the human could be anywhere in the hospital.

Making up her mind to follow the most logical solution, Twilight tested her horn to see if the strange effects had worn off as they did last time. Satisfied to see the familiar purple glow envelop her horn with a strong sphere of light surrounding the group, the purple pony turned around and took a few steps forward.

“Come on… we’re getting out of here.” Twilight announced with determination to the two children as she waited for them to follow her. The pair was shocked to see the unicorn so confident in her decision to leave the second floor without finding the others.

“We can’t just leave everyone to die up here!” Scootaloo exclaimed with surprise as she shook her head defiantly.

“We can’t just charge headlong into the dark to get picked off one by one either!” Twilight raised her voice slightly, more so out of frustration than anger towards the filly. Scootaloo seemed taken aback by the sudden outburst of the usually cool headed unicorn. Twilight looked away for a moment after realizing that she just snapped at a helpless child. Taking a moment to calm herself down, the unicorn spoke in a soft yet confident tone to the two in front of her.

“Look… I know you want to find the others… I do too, but we won’t do them any good by getting ourselves captured. I’m going to take you two down to the lobby where it’s safe, and then I’m going to work on getting help from Princess Luna.” Twilight explained confidently to the two. Spike and Scootaloo felt slightly safer knowing that the unicorn had a plan in place.

Seeing the pair nod compliantly made the unicorn feel even more confident that she could lead them to safety. After giving them a nod in return, Twilight turned her head back in front of her and started making her way back to the stairwell.

The group cautiously walked through the dark corridor while being careful to remain in the confines of the sphere of light provided by Twilight. Spike kept his flashlight handy just in case something happened to make it useful once more.

After a few minutes of walking, the three found themselves in the hallway that led to the stairs. The anticipation of leaving the eerie atmosphere of the second floor weighed heavy on everyone’s minds. Before long, the group saw the familiar shape of the stairway door come into view.

Twilight quickly turned the handle on the door and swung it open. She then made her way inside and waited for the two children to step through before shutting the door behind them. The three instantly noticed a moderate increase in temperature, although it was still freezing cold, the air felt slightly less bone chilling.

“Hard to believe how much the simple absence of light can change the atmosphere of a room.” Spike stated while peering over the railing to observe the flights of stairs below. Scootaloo and Twilight nodded in agreement as they nervously shifted their eyes around the eerie looking stairwell.

The stairs leading up to the third floor seemed to ascend into darkness as the light from the unicorn’s horn failed to travel up the entirety of the steps, leaving a vast wall of darkness. The shadows cast by the railing and other flights of stairs seemed to create areas of foreboding blackness on the far wall. And to top off the frightening atmosphere of the enclosed space, the entire stairwell was dead quiet save for the low sound of breathing coming from the trio.

“Let’s hurry up and get out of here… the faster we get back to the lobby, the better.” Twilight broke away from observing her bleak surroundings long enough to get the group back on track. Spike and Scootaloo nodded eagerly as they tried their hardest to keep their attention focused away from the darkness around them.

Without further delay, the trio cautiously descended the stairs on their way to the first floor. After reaching the landing they quickly opened the door and briskly walked out into the hallway. Once they realized that they were out of the oppressive atmosphere of the second floor, the three breathed a collective sigh of relief as they finally managed to stop their bodies from shivering.

“We managed to set up a safe area in the lobby… once we get there and send a message to the princess, you two can stay with Applejack while I search for the others.” Twilight explained with a false tone of bravery as she pictured where she could go to look for the others. Spike and Scootaloo seemed shocked upon hearing the unicorn’s plan.

“What?! You can’t be serious!” Spike yelled with concern. He couldn’t believe that Twilight was even thinking of going out into the dark alone. The purple pony frowned sympathetically. She felt horrible for having to leave the dragon so soon, but she needed to do something to help her friends.

“I’ll be fine Spike… I’m going to take a flashlight with me just in case my light goes out again.” Twilight spoke softly with a reassuring smile while ruffling the baby dragon’s head. Spike put up his hand and shoved away the unicorn’s hoof. Twilight frowned slightly as he started giving her a sterner look.

“You won’t be fine Twilight. You can’t just tell me that nothing bad is going to happen to you… Tom and Rainbow Dash got taken away right in front of us! Who knows what those monsters are doing to them!” The dragon started breathing rapidly as he worked himself up into a slight panic. Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, Spike looked earnestly at the unicorn and tried to convey a sense of seriousness.

“I know you want to find the others… but you can’t just go out there and put yourself in danger.” Spike placed his hand on her leg lovingly and gave her a concerned frown. Twilight was impressed to see her young assistant had become so mature in his time with her. She wasn’t sure how she could convince him that she would be safe, even if she herself didn’t know if she would be.

“Spike…” The unicorn paused for a moment, unsure of what to say. She then knelt down to be at eye level with the dragon and gave him a tender smile. “I know that you don’t want me to get hurt… but I have to do something. If it were you that had gone missing, I would still go looking for you. I can’t promise you that nothing bad will happen… This is a dangerous situation after all. But I can promise you that I will try my hardest to come back to see you again, no matter what happens.” She spoke softly while trying to sound as confident as possible.

Spike was at a loss for words on the matter. He wanted to speak up in protest of the bold pony, but he also knew that she had made up her mind. The dragon had a myriad of thoughts buzzing around in his head. If he had still been trapped on the second floor, he would have wanted Twilight to rescue him, but that would have been just as dangerous as if she were trying to rescue someone else.

“Let’s… let’s just get to the lobby first.” Spike finally spoke up to get the group moving again. “But I want you to think about this further before you do anything too hasty… alright?” He looked up to her with a sincere expression of loving concern. The unicorn nodded silently while taking his words to heart.

Without any further discussion the trio started their way forward once more, traveling through the quiet corridors of the hospital on their way to the safety of the lobby, each member deep within the confines of their own thoughts.

The eerie quiet of the group’s surroundings made them more uneasy than comforted. They couldn’t help but wonder if the cold chill running down their spines was an actual warning of them being watched, or if they were just paranoid.

After all, they knew next to nothing about the odd monsters besieging the hospital. For all they knew, the beasts could be silently observing them from every passing dark corner, waiting for their chance to pick off a straggler and pull them away into the shadows. Just as the group thought that they would be wandering the dark corridors forever, a small sign on the wall came into view, giving them a much needed landmark to tell them where they were.

“This is great! The lobby should be just down the next hallway.” Twilight exclaimed eagerly. Her two companions shared in her enthusiasm as they were already celebrating escaping the perils of the hospital in one piece.

Before the trio could continue towards safety, a new obstacle in their path filled them with anxiety. Twilight’s horn started flickering once again as it signaled that it was about to die out. The constant blinking of the light made the unicorn’s blood run cold.

“Oh no… not again.” Twilight stated nervously. Scootaloo joined the purple pony in her terror, while Spike seemed less phased by the ominous flickering of their once comforting source of light. He confidently flipped on his flashlight and held it level to cover the group.

“Don’t worry, I got this handled.” Spike remarked assuredly with a smirk on his face. Just as the dragon steadied the beam onto the group, Twilight’s horn puttered out with remarkable timing. The two breathed a sigh of relief at the young dragon’s quick thinking.

“Nice save Spike, I thought we were goners for a second there.” Scootaloo chuckled nervously at the groups close brush with certain disaster. The dragon smiled proudly to see that he could contribute to helping the group survive.

“Let’s just hurry up and get out of here… we don’t want this flashlight to burn out on us too.” Spike said while crossing his fingers hopefully. The others nodded before turning to walk down the hallway that would lead them to freedom.

Just as Twilight and Scootaloo were taking their first step forward, they saw the flashlight beam jerk upwards and away from them, followed by the sound of Spike yelping in surprise. They quickly turned around to see that the dragon had been yanked backwards into the darkness, leaving the flashlight sitting on the ground.

“Spike!” Twilight yelled in shock as her heart sank from hearing the dragon cry out while being dragged along the floor. The unicorn quickly jumped forward to grab the flashlight on the ground. She then quickly pointed it forward down the hallway and hoped that she wasn’t too late.

Much to her relief, the beam of light illuminated the baby dragon a short distance away. Whatever creature had grabbed him immediately disappeared once the light shone on the dragon, leaving him to slide backwards a short ways from the interrupted force of the pull.

“Spike, get up! You have to get over here now!” Twilight yelled fearfully. The unicorn didn’t even try to hide the panic in her voice as her entire body was shaking from terror and dread. She didn’t feel like her mind could process the situation in front of her.

Spike darted his head around for a moment before rolling over to get up easier. Before he could get to his feet however, he looked beside him into the opening of the adjacent hallway. Standing right outside the beam of light a little ways into the next hallway, was a tall shadowy figure that seemed to be somehow staring at him despite its hidden face.

The dragon froze up in fear upon seeing this. His body started shivering uncontrollably, and his pupils shrank to pin points as he stared at the figure, unable to move his head to look away. Twilight and Scootaloo could see that Spike was terrified by something, but couldn’t do much from where they were standing.

“Spike… come on, just get up and walk over here.” Twilight spoke calmly and directly to the dragon in hopes that he would snap out of his trance. He merely kept staring to the side into the hallway obscured from the unicorn’s view by a wall.

“T-T-Tw…Twilight.” Spike stammered fearfully without moving his head. Twilight could see that his body was shaking from sheer fright.

“They can’t get to you in the light Spike… come on.” The unicorn spoke in a calm tone. She started walking forward slowly to avoid shaking the light. Scootaloo followed her closely as she approached the dragon.

“We’re going to walk over there and get you Spike… alright?” Twilight tried her hardest to comfort the petrified dragon. She wanted to rush over and pick him up, but from this distance even the slightest movement of the flashlight could leave a part of his body exposed to the darkness for the creature to grab him.

Despite Twilight’s attempts at encouragement, Spike remained still while staring down his attacker. He seemed to be frozen in place from terror. Finally, the dragon started making slow movements to push himself up. Once he was on his feet again, he turned around and prepared to run towards the others.

Suddenly, as if to toy with the frightened band of ponies, something pulled on Twilight’s back leg slightly. Not enough to knock her off balance, but just enough to make her inadvertently jostle the flashlight upwards for a brief moment. The unicorn’s nerves kicked into action and she quickly pointed the light back onto the dragon, but by that time it was too late.

“AHH!” Spike yelled in terror as he was pulled off of his feet and into the next hallway.

“No!” Twilight yelled defiantly and rushed forward to reach the opening of the corridor. She desperately turned the corner and flashed the light down the hallway. Her heart sank when she failed to catch any glimpse of the purple dragon. The corridor was dead silent. The sound of Spike’s screams had died down and were replaced with a deafening quiet that hung around the purple pony like a rope around her neck.

She darted the light around in a vain attempt at finding the dragon. Tears started welling up in her eyes as she dropped to her knees. The unicorn stared blankly down the hallway as her mind refused to process what had just happened.

“No… no… no, no, no!” Twilight shook her head and let the flashlight drop to the floor, where it rolled slightly to face her and the somber filly beside her. Scootaloo wiped a tear from her own eye as she tried to think of something she could say. Eventually, she just decided to leave the unicorn alone in silence.

“Spike… I’m so sorry…” The purple pony spoke under her sobs as she let the wave of sadness surge through her body. She closed her eyes and wept openly for a few minutes, leaving the orange filly to sit beside her and offer her a consoling hoof on the back.

“Twilight… we need to go.” Scootaloo finally spoke up to break the somber silence that filled the air. She couldn’t imagine what the loss of the young dragon must have been like for her. After all, Twilight had known Spike for his entire life.

Twilight sniffled one last time before wiping her face to rid herself of any tears left on it. She then turned to the filly and gave her a slow nod. Despite her intense feeling of sorrow, she had another child that she had to protect. Even if she had failed to protect Spike, the unicorn was not about to lose Scootaloo.

“We’ll find him…” Twilight spoke in a sad sort of monotone. “We’ll find all of them all safe and sound… But for now… let’s just go.” Scootaloo couldn’t help but feel sympathetic for the grieving unicorn. She seemed to move and walk like she didn’t care about life anymore.

The two quietly made their way through the last few hallways that would lead them back to the lobby. After a short walk, the filly and unicorn noticed that the area up ahead seemed brighter than the rest of the hallway. They quickly realized that they had reached the junction of hallways directly outside of the lobby.

The duo rushed forward eagerly until they came around the corner and stood in the dim light. Sure enough, just in front of them lay the two blue candles on either side of the opening that protected the lobby from intrusion of the creatures.

“Twilight!” The sound of Applejack getting up and rushing over to greet her friends filled the unicorn and filly with elation and relief. The farm pony jogged across the room and came to a stop just in front of the candles to see the two travelers.

“Applejack!” Twilight exclaimed happily while giving the orange mare an enthusiastic hug. She thought that she would never see her again when she was upstairs, so to be right outside the warm and friendly atmosphere of the lobby brought tears of joy to the unicorn’s eyes.

“Ah was starting to get worried for y’all… what have you been doing up there?” Applejack asked with friendly concern as she stepped back to get a better look at the roughed up pair. Their hair was messed up in several places and their faces looked like they had just been through hell.

Twilight shifted her happy expression into a gloomy frown as she remembered how many people she had lost on her rescue mission. She had failed to save Spike, Redheart and Daisychain were now missing, and to top all of that off, she had even lost Tom and Rainbow Dash.

“We have had a bad day… let’s just come in and have a seat for now. We’ll tell you about what happened later.” Scootaloo spoke up to save the unicorn the trouble of describing their hardships. Twilight gave the filly a grateful expression. She felt relieved that she didn’t need to explain everything that happened out loud.

Applejack nodded silently. She could tell that something horrible must have happened for the two to be in such bad shape. She motioned for the pair to come in and join her in the lobby. Just as they were about to step through the barrier however, something caught the farm pony’s eye off to the side.

“What is that thing?” Applejack asked with a hint of fear in her voice as she stared into the hallway to the right of the group. Twilight and Scootaloo turned their heads to see what their friend was talking about. What they saw made their hearts sink to their stomachs.

One of the dark figures that had been plaguing them since the power had gone out was just down the dark hallway. Unlike the figures Twilight had seen up until now however, it was slowly walking towards the group.

“Oh no! It’s another one of those monsters!” Scootaloo squeaked in a slight panic. Twilight was more annoyed and angry than fearful and nervous to see one of the shadowy silhouettes again. She sighed in frustration as she looked around to see the light filtering into the hallway from the far end of the lobby where the door was.

“Don’t worry Scootaloo… It can’t get us with this light coming in from the sun.” Twilight put a hoof on the filly’s shoulder to comfort her.

“What is that thing anyway…? Are you sure it can’t hurt us?” Applejack asked with a hint of doubt in her voice. She had a hard time believing that a monster like that could be stopped by a little bit of light.

“As long as we stay in the light we’ll be fine. They try to grab you and pull you away, but they can’t stand the light.” The unicorn explained to ease the farmer’s fears. She tapped Scootaloo on the shoulder to get her attention and motioned for her to head into the lobby with her.

Just before the two could walk forward, a bright flash of blue light caught them off guard. The barrier made by the candles fully appeared as if something had elicited them to activate. Suddenly, the level of light just outside the barrier seemed to dim to the point where Twilight could barely see.

The unicorn instinctively whipped out her flashlight and turned it on again. A loud pop caused Twilight and her two friends to jump. The presence of a brief flash of white light indicated that the bulb had burst inside of the flashlight.

“Scootaloo get inside!” The purple pony instructed urgently. She had no time to question why this was happening, so she instead sprang into action according to the situation.

The two immediately jumped forward to get their bodies across the barrier as quickly as possible. Just before they could clear their legs from the darkness outside the blue force field however, both the filly and the unicorn were stopped midair as they were pulled backwards.

“AAHH!” Both of the ponies cried out in unison as they desperately tried to find something to grab onto along the floor. Twilight closed her eyes and accepted her fate. She had lost. There was nothing more she could do to save either herself, or the filly next to her.

Just before she was dragged out into the darkness completely, the unicorn felt something grab one of her hooves. She opened her eyes to see Applejack struggling to pull her back into the light. Taking a quick glance beside her, Twilight realized that the farm pony had also grabbed onto Scootaloo, and was pulling both of them using one arm each.

Twilight and Scootaloo tried their best to kick free of their attackers, but quickly realized that both of their back legs had been grabbed by the creatures. They could only watch anxiously as Applejack fought with all of her might to save them.

The orange mare dug into the floor with her back legs and gritted her teeth as she used all of her strength to just contend with the creatures. She was starting to slide forwards as the monsters gradually gained ground.

“Ah can’t hold on much longer!” Applejack exclaimed to the two grimly. Twilight could see that her friend was racking her mind to find a way to save both of them.

“Twilight! Light up your horn!” Scootaloo cried out urgently. The unicorn quickly tried to channel magic to the tip of her horn. Failing every attempt she made at getting her horn to start glowing again, Twilight groaned under the intense strain she was putting on herself. She couldn’t even use different spells if her horn wouldn’t light up at all.

“I can’t! It must still be affected by whatever made it go out before!” Twilight replied frantically. She looked at the frightened filly beside her. Scootaloo was justifiably scared out of her mind. Seeing the orange filly in distress reminded her of her failure at saving Spike.

Mentally resolving that she would not allow another pony to be taken on her watch, the purple pony raced her mind around to find a possible solution. Suddenly, Twilight had an idea. She hadn’t elaborated on this plan before. It was such a stupid idea after all, but due to the lack of other options, it was the only idea she could come up with that could save Scootaloo.

The unicorn glanced behind her nervously. She was so close to the barrier the candles made that she could stick her head through the barrier just by turning. It almost felt like she was being pulled into a deep ocean with nothing but darkness below the surface. The sight of the black void waiting for her made her gulp nervously.

Applejack felt an uneasy knot building in her stomach as she watched the purple mare thinking. She seemed to be contemplating something that she didn’t want to do, as if she were building up courage for something.

“Take care of Scootaloo.” Twilight suddenly spoke up with apprehension evident in her voice. She turned back to face the orange mare with a nervous look in her eyes. Applejack gasped in shock as she realized what her friend was thinking of doing.

“What?! Are you crazy?! Ah’m not letting you go!” The orange mare yelled frantically in defiance while tightening her hold on her purple friend. The unicorn gave her a sad look of defeat before closing her eyes tightly in preparation.

“I wasn’t asking!” Twilight exclaimed with a shaky voice as she used her other arm to push herself out of Applejack’s grip. As much as the farm pony tried to hold on to the unicorn, her already strained grasp was no match for the combined pull of the monsters and her friend trying to weasel out of her grip.

“No!” Applejack and Scootaloo screamed in unison as the purple pony was yanked backwards into the shadows.

“AHHH!” Despite her brave decision, Twilight screamed in a panic as she was quickly pulled down the hallway and out of earshot.

Applejack was mortified that she had just witnessed her friend getting pulled away from her by a monster that could very well kill her whenever it felt like it. She looked away sadly before centering herself for the task ahead of her. She couldn’t let Twilight’s sacrifice be meaningless. She had to save Scootaloo.

The young pegasus felt Applejack grabbing hold of her other hoof, but she was still staring beside her in the direction that Twilight was abducted with a distraught expression. Realizing that she would be getting no help from the filly, the orange mare heaved as hard as she could to pull her into the lobby.

With the decrease in weight for the farm pony to deal with, she started winning the battle against the unseen creatures. Gradually, more and more of Scootaloo’s body was being hoisted free of the blue barrier.

The monsters growled in anger as they realized their prey was getting away. Scootaloo whined fearfully as she felt the creatures tightening their grip on her legs to the point of it being painful. Despite all of this, Applejack wasn’t going to let the filly be taken.

Finally, Scootaloo’s legs breached the barrier. The monsters howled in pain as their hands touched the barrier. Applejack groaned and clutched the filly in her arms as she fell backwards. Once she made sure that the young pegasus was safe, she let her go.

Now that the danger had passed, the pair returned their attention to what they had lost during the struggle. Applejack watched sadly as Scootaloo slowly walked up to the barrier and stared out into the black void in disbelief. The filly started shaking and her breathing became shallow and rapid. Tears started welling up in her eyes and her lip quivered uncontrollably.

“TWILIGHT!” Scootaloo shook her head and cried out in a strong wave of emotion before collapsing to her knees and sobbing openly. Applejack walked alongside the filly and started tearing up as well. She could only wonder if that would be the last time she saw Twilight alive.