Fluttershy slowly opened her eyes and let them adjust to the morning light streaming into the room. She laid still and observed her surroundings while she slowly woke up. Judging from the feeling of a chair beneath her, and the sight of her living room in front of her, the yellow pony deduced that she fell asleep and spent the whole night in her living room.

Feeling something slide off her body as she sat up, Fluttershy looked down to see a warm blanket enveloping her. She also felt a soft pillow wedged between her head and the chair. Remembering that her two pony friends had fallen asleep on the couch before her, the yellow pegasus figured that Tom must have given her his blanket and pillow while she slept.

Smiling at the kind act, Fluttershy removed the blanket from on top of her and got out of the chair to stretch and take in the day. She looked to her left to see that her two friends were still asleep on the couch, and she looked over to where she had placed Angel to see him curled up in a ball and sleeping peacefully.

“Thank goodness you’re back to normal…” Fluttershy whispered to herself while thinking back to the rabbit’s dazed expression the night before. She was incredibly thankful that Tom had agreed to help her save him.

“He fell asleep once morning rolled around.” Hearing the soft whisper of her human friend to the side made Fluttershy spin her head around to greet him. She smiled softly at the boy while he returned the gesture.

“Morning…” The yellow mare greeted with serene cheerfulness. Tom nodded while getting up off of the floor where he had been sitting.

“Morning… I see you slept well. No nightmares I take it?” The human asked with a playful smirk. Fluttershy thought back to the blurry dreams she had last night. A few feelings of happiness and perhaps a weird dream or two floated through her mind, but she couldn’t recall any nightmares to speak of.

“Nope, slept like a rock.” Fluttershy replied happily. She was glad that her sleep wouldn’t be permanently plagued by horrible visions induced by the new terrors in her life.

“Good to hear.” Tom added while taking a glance out of the window to observe the morning sun streaming down.

“Thanks for giving me the blanket and pillow by the way.” Fluttershy said with a grateful and happy expression. Tom nodded as he remembered placing the blanket and pillow on the sleeping pony.

“No problem… thought you might need it more than me.” The human said while returning the mare’s gesture and smiling cheerfully. Fluttershy was a little off put by the fact that she deprived the boy of his blanket, but he seemed unaffected by it, so she pushed the thoughts from her mind and turned her attention forward.

“What time is it?” The yellow mare asked quizzically while glancing out of the window. The sun was already clearly visible in the sky, bathing the landscape in light. The human thought back to the last time he saw the sun’s position in the sky and shrugged.

“Last time I looked it was almost ten… so I would wager it’s sometime around eleven now.” Tom said casually. Fluttershy was slightly shocked to hear that she slept in so much. She was normally up a long time before eleven.

“Oh my gosh! We must have been more tired than I thought.” The yellow pony exclaimed in surprise while thinking about all of the things she had to do that day. She calmed down when she remembered that most of her weekly concerns had already been dealt with.

A loud yawn made the two divert their attention to the side. They were greeted with the sight of Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie stretching as they woke up. Pinkie Pie got up from the couch immediately while Rainbow Dash opted to lay her head back down and rest for a moment longer.

“Morning guys…” The cyan mare droned in a dull tone without lifting her head to look at the rest of the group. Pinkie giggled as she watched her sleepy friend closing her eyes and trying to drift back off to sleep.

The pink mare walked back over to the couch, grabbed her own pillow, and gently but firmly slapped it onto the peaceful pegasus. Rainbow Dash jumped in surprise and looked around to find out what had hit her. She furrowed her eyebrows into a glare when she found the party pony smirking at her with pillow in hoof.

“Come on Rainbow Dash… the early bird gets the worm.” Pinkie said with a cheerful giggle while grinning at her annoyed friend.

“Yeah, but the well-rested bird gets the fish.” Rainbow Dash remarked sarcastically. She muttered to herself in an annoyed tone while getting off the couch and waking herself up further. Finally she returned her expression to a more content one while walking over to her other two friends.

“So are you coming with us to the library Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash asked with a curious expression. The yellow mare nodded in response. She wanted to do anything she could to help her friends out.

“Of course I’ll go. I want to help put a stop to all of this after all.” Fluttershy replied confidently. Rainbow Dash was pleased to hear that the yellow pegasus wanted to contribute. She smiled with the thought that nothing could keep them from their goal if they worked together.

“I’ll come too, but first I need to head down to the corner to check on things. I’ll meet up with you guys later.” Pinkie said while walking to the door. The others waved to her as she walked out and started her way towards her home.

“Alright then, let’s get going.” Rainbow Dash suggested while hovering near the door in anticipation. Fluttershy and Tom nodded before joining the cyan pegasus outside and walking off to the library.

The journey through town didn’t take very long for the trio to make. The only thing that differentiated the trip for the ponies was the fact that they now had a human following them. As much as they had gotten to know Tom, seeing ponies stop to look at the human as they passed by reminded them of just how strange it was to be traveling with a member of an extinct race.

“Don’t you feel weird with all of these people watching you Tom?” Rainbow Dash asked when she noticed the human ignoring the curious onlookers. The human casually looked behind him to face the concerned pegasus.

“Eh… kind of I guess. I probably find looking at them to be just as strange as them looking at me. Still getting used to not being among my own people you know?” Tom replied with a slight sense of indifference. Rainbow Dash was glad to see that the boy was starting to feel comfortable around other ponies.

“Well at least we seem to share a lot of human customs… that should make it easier for you to settle in.” The cyan pony pointed out with an optimistic smile. Tom raised his eyebrows as he realized just how similar the two societies were.

“Yeah, it’s awfully convenient if you ask me. I mean we even speak the same language… could you imagine how things would go if we couldn’t understand each other?” The human asked with a slight chuckle. The two ponies laughed at the notion of such a thing happening.

After a few more minutes of walking and general conversing, the three finally arrived at their destination. They looked inside the library to see that several lights were on. Apparently Twilight and Spike were already awake and active.

“Looks like they’re already up, let’s head inside.” Rainbow Dash suggested while walking up to the door. She knocked a few times and waited eagerly for someone to come to the door and let them in. After a short wait, the group heard the sound of someone walking up to the door and pausing. The door swung open to reveal Twilight Sparkle standing inside.

“Guys! It’s good to see you!” Twilight greeted the three with a welcoming smile. The purple unicorn grinned happily when she noticed how rested and chipper Fluttershy looked.

“You look a lot better Fluttershy. I assume Tom got rid of whatever it was then?” Twilight asked with a sense of eager curiosity. The yellow mare could tell that she was dying to find out what happened.

“Yeah, we got it sorted out. We should probably talk about it inside though… it’s kind of important.” Tom spoke up while holding out the book he acquired from last night. The purple unicorn looked at the book with a shocked expression, she wasn’t sure what happened last night, but she knew that it was important to the matters at hand.

“Where did you get that…?” Twilight muttered out loud with a confused stare. “Alright, come right in.” She said while backing up and inviting the three to come in. After everyone made it inside, Twilight closed the door and walked with them into the living room while glancing at the book in deep thought. Her curiosity for what had happened last night only intensified as she wondered what secrets the tome held.

Off to the side of the room, the group could see Spike talking with Rarity and Applejack casually. Upon seeing the three entering the room, they walked over with friendly smiles and greeted their friends with genuine cheerfulness.

“Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Tom! It’s good to see you all.” Rarity said happily while looking between the three. “Fluttershy darling, you look much better. Did you sleep well last night?” She asked in a complimentary sort of tone. Fluttershy was flattered to hear that the white unicorn thought she looked healthy.

“I slept much better thanks to Tom.” The yellow mare replied with a quick smile before turning her attention to Applejack, who was looking at her curiously.

“So what was the problem? It must have been bad from what you said yesterday.” Applejack stated with burning curiosity. Everyone else turned their attention to Fluttershy with similar inquisitive expressions. Before the pegasus could elaborate on her experience, a sudden noise to their rear made the group turn their attention away.

Everyone looked over to see that Tom had dropped the book on a table with slight force to get their attention. He looked at the group and sighed before preparing to explain what happened last night out in the forest.

“Turns out the problem was caused by those hooded ponies again.” Tom said in a serious tone. He let his words settle in while the group gasped in surprise. The boy’s words hung in the air stiffly while everyone’s mind raced with various concerns.

“We heard the same noises Fluttershy described sometime after midnight. We went outside and found a few animals that had glowing green eyes and cuts all over their bodies. Apparently the hooded ponies were killing animals out in the forest and using this book to resurrect them as mindless slaves.” Tom explained with a somber expression on his face. Everyone’s reaction ranged from disgust, to horror, to a mixture of the two as they imagined the horrific animals’ appearances.

“Who would do such a terrible thing?” Twilight said in shock as she thought about the motives of the hooded group. Between the school, the hospital, trying to kill her and her friends out in the forest, and now this, the unicorn wasn’t sure of what the sadistic ponies were capable of, and that thought terrified her.

“I don’t know… but I do know that we’re not just dealing with average ponies here.” Tom said with a dreadful tone and a heavily concerned expression on his face. The four people who weren’t with him out in the forest were troubled by the human’s anxiousness.

“What do you mean?” Spike hesitantly voiced the group’s curiosity. He wasn’t sure if he would like the boy’s answer, but he needed to at least hear it.

“We found all of this out because we had to chase Angel out into the woods. They must have used some sort of charm to gather animals to their camp… Anyway, after fighting through a few more undead animals, we found them out in a clearing in the forest. They had a camp set up and everything, so they were probably there for a while.” Tom continued explaining in a low tone as he filled the group in on the four’s experience last night.

“Two ponies in hoods were taking animals from a pen and slaughtering them, only to bring them back to life as walking corpses moments later. They were about to do it to Angel, so naturally I stepped in. They were probably just underlings tasked with doing the job, because they flipped when they recognized me… yeah, apparently they know that I’m the one that’s been screwing with their plans.” The human smirked and chuckled slightly as he thought back to the look on the two ponies’ faces.

“Makes sense that they would use workers to get things done. Ah would imagine that a set up like that would take a lot of labor.” Applejack commented while trying to make sense of the situation. Tom nodded before continuing.

“After I backed them into a corner, they got nervous and called for their boss... a brown pegasus named Dust Kicker.” The human said with an apprehensive tone.

“That’s great Tom, you know one of their names! Maybe we can have the princess see what she can find in the royal guards database on him?” Twilight suggested with an optimistic smile. Tom’s disconcerting expression made the unicorn confused and nervous.

“What’s wrong…?” The purple mare asked while thinking back to the boy’s earlier statement. She wondered what he could have possibly meant when he said that they weren’t dealing with regular ponies.

“This guy was one tough cookie. He didn’t even flinch when he saw me, not even when I threatened him. And to top that off, he knows how to use some kind of shadow magic. He summoned a darkling that shrugged off my holy light like it was nothing, and then he summoned a group of three of them that almost killed Fluttershy and the others… all of this with his bare hands… err, hooves.” The human corrected himself while maintaining his serious exterior. The description of the strange pony’s powers sent a collective chill down everyone’s spine.

“This pegasus could summon those things from the woods? And they were stronger than the ones that attacked us?” Spike relayed the information that was given to him in a slight panic. He could practically see all of the damage that could be caused if that pony were to suddenly decide that he wanted everyone in town dead.

Twilight put a hoof on the wide-eyed dragon’s shoulder to calm him down. After seeing the unicorn’s reassuring face, Spike made an effort to get his nerves under control long enough to breathe in a few deep breaths.

“Don’t worry, Spike. We can beat these guys no problem.” Twilight said with a confident smile. The young drake was unsure of how the unicorn could be so calm and sure of their ability to prevail.

“Really?” Spike asked timidly. The purple unicorn nodded with a sense of confidence and resolve that inspired the baby dragon into letting go of some of his fears.

“Of course. Between Tom, the princesses, and Brimstoke and the others, those hooded ponies stand no chance against us.” Twilight said with an enthusiastic smile to instill confidence and bravery into the dragon and anyone else among the group that had fears or doubts. Spike looked over to see how the others were reacting. Nearly everyone was smiling as they thought about the strong desire they all had to protect their friends and family.

Seeing his friends so confident pushed the last of Spike’s fears out of his head. He knew in his heart that the power of friendship and love would be able to overcome any evil. After all, Equestria had come under threat from many foes before that seemed far too powerful to defeat, and the power of the elements of harmony and their friendship had prevailed each time.

Suddenly, a rapid succession of knocks at the front door interrupted everyone’s thoughts. The ponies wondered who the new arrival could have been. The only ones they were expecting were either Pinkie Pie or Brimstoke and the other members of Spirit.

“I’ll get it.” Twilight spoke up while walking over to the door. Everyone walked forward slightly to see who was waiting outside. The unicorn opened the door and was surprised to be met with so many people at once.

Brimstoke and his entire team of ponies were standing outside of the library. They were all looking at Twilight with a range of friendly expressions and courteous blank acknowledgements. The sight of two alicorns standing beside the group surprised the purple mare.

“Princess Celestia, what are you doing here?” Twilight asked curiously as she observed the white princess hover close to her sister. She smiled upon seeing her student once more.

“Hello, Twilight. I’m giving a speech in the town square to let everyone know what’s going on. I figured I would come see how things are going with you and the others.” The alicorn explained with a cheerful expression. Twilight was glad to see Celestia was so animated in her movements and expressions. The last time the unicorn had seen her mentor, she was barely recovering from the attack in the caves.

“How are you feeling princess? You look a lot less pale than you did…” Twilight pointed out with happiness and relief. Celestia chuckled as she took note of her recovery to health.

“Thank you, I feel much better now. Although I still feel a little odd, but I’m sure that will pass.” Celestia stated cheerfully. The white alicorn’s usual regal, cheerful, and peaceful demeanor had returned with her health. Twilight was grateful that the attack hadn’t permanently harmed her mentor.

“Good to hear. Please, come in and make yourselves at home.” The purple mare stepped aside and welcomed the large group into her home. Everyone piled into the living room and settled in. Brimstoke and the two alicorns stepped forward while the other members of Spirit stood in a line and waited to be useful.

Upon noticing the large gathering of ponies, Rainbow Dash and the others got up and walked over to greet the team of ponies and the princesses. Celestia and Luna gave Spike and the element bearers a friendly greeting before settling their attention on Twilight and Tom.

“I assume you know why we’re here?” Luna asked while looking back at the row of ponies waiting for a task. Twilight quickly scanned the group and found that Glitterball was levitating the books from last night in a neat pile beside her.

“Find anything useful?” The purple mare asked the group with hopeful curiosity in her voice. Before any of them could answer, Brimstoke spoke up.

“Well, we did manage to find out who the books belonged to.” The white stallion explained while looking around at the others. He could tell that they were watching him with baited breath to find out anything they could about the hooded ponies.

“We found a rather prominent magic signature belonging to a unicorn by the name of Cotton Quill on all three books.” As Brimstoke relayed his information to the group, everyone seemed intrigued by the news, everyone except for Twilight that is.

“Cotton Quill…? No way…” Twilight said with a shocked expression as she processed the name in her head. The name was familiar to the unicorn, but she never expected to hear it in such a context. Everyone seemed confused by the purple mare’s sudden surprise.

“You know the guy?” Brimstoke asked curiously. The unicorn could feel everyone’s prying eyes on her as they waited to hear what she had to say.

“Yes… well, kind of.” Twilight rolled her eyes as she tried to recall what she remembered about the unicorn. “He owns a book store in town… I’ve met him once or twice while browsing down there, but I would never think that he could be involved in something like this. He seemed like a nice enough guy from what I remember.” The purple pony sighed sadly as she thought of how easy it was for a person to hide their true intentions. She wondered who else could be in on the sinister group of ponies.

Twilight noticed Glitterball stepping forward from the group. She slowly walked over to the table next to her and sat the books down before turning to face her. The white unicorn had a sympathetic frown on her face as she spoke up.

“We also traced one of the books to a book store in town. Two of them weren’t in circulation at all, but the one about various exotic types of magic was definitely from around here. I think that this Cotton guy must be helping out the hooded ponies in some way.” Glitter shrugged and shook her head as she thought about the poor state of the ponies in Equestria. If a large group of ponies could become so corrupt, then what did that say for the rest of them?

Suddenly, Glitterball drew her attention over to the other side of the table she was next to. She noticed another book similar to the ones found at the hospital. Walking over and examining the leather bound tome, she discovered that it held the same odd system of notes and symbols as the other three.

“Where did you find this?” Glitter asked to nobody in particular. The white mare’s curious question drew everyone else’s gaze over to her and the book. As the others walked over to view the strange book, Tom remembered that he hadn’t explained it to them just yet.

“Found that last night out in the Everfree Forest. Three of those hooded ponies were killing animals and resurrecting them as zombies with that book. And one of them had the ability to use shadow magic to summon darklings apparently at will. I caught his name too… it was Dust Kicker.” The human’s explanation surprised the hardened group of ponies. Even the two princesses gasped in shock as they imagined how horrible the vague story must have actually been.

“Shadow Magic…? What is that?” Peppermint spoke up from the group to voice his curiosity. He had a hint of nervousness in his voice that told Tom and the others that the members of Spirit had never come across such a term.

“It is what it sounds like… people using the power of shadows for their own devices. Some people can use it better than others, and some can only use it for one specific thing… like summoning shadow creatures out of the ground for instance.” The human explained with a dreadful tone of voice. Everyone could tell by the slayer’s nervousness that this was a serious matter.

“That sounds horrible!” Rarity said with a horrified expression. “If one pony could do that… then what on earth are the others capable of?” She asked in a fearful tone. The white unicorn’s fear was making her break out into a cold sweat as she thought about what sort of danger they could be in by going up against such a group of ponies.

The others shared in the unicorn’s fear and apprehension. Spike seemed like he was on the verge of a panic attack as he worried that his friends would be eaten alive by monsters that could be summoned by a single pony. Fluttershy already knew about the strange pegasus’s ability, but just thinking about it further made her nervously shiver. Even Twilight felt a knot forming in her stomach from thinking about the logical deduction that more than one of them had this terrifying ability.

“Everyone calm down…” Celestia spoke up in a gentle yet firm tone to get everyone’s attention. The nervous ponies all turned to the white alicorn and grew completely silent as they waited for her to speak up again.

“I know that you must be nervous about these… hooded ponies, but you need to remain calm. I have full confidence that Brimstoke and his team will be able to stop them, and that Tom will be able to help wherever needed.” Celestia said in a reassuring tone. She looked over to Brimstoke and Tom, who each nodded confidently in return.

“You each have been in horrible situations that no pony should ever have to bear, and I am grateful that you all have come out of these situations unharmed.” The white alicorn said in a more somber manner. Celestia’s words made everyone think about their hardships in a different light. They had all survived insurmountable odds and come out on top, and that was something to be proud of.

“Just remember… I’m asking you to help out with the investigation, not to help out with fighting these ponies. You all should be safe and sound from now on, and I intend on keeping it that way.” Celestia finished with a determined smile. Everyone felt better now that they had put everything into perspective for themselves.

“Thank you princess… we won’t let you down.” Twilight said while looking between her friends. Everyone gave a confident nod to the unicorn, who smiled as she saw her band of troops feeling more inspired.

“Now that we all know where things stand… we should get on to business.” Brimstoke spoke up while moving to the side so he could see everyone. “I think it goes without saying that we should check out the book store in town for Cotton Quill… any volunteers?” He asked while looking between the group.

“I’ll go.” Tom raised his hand while stepping forward for the task. Luna stepped forward and interrupted the human.

“Actually Tom, the mayor of Ponyville wants to see you today.” The blue alicorn said with an expression that told she was being serious.

“Wow… really?” Tom asked to clarify, Luna simply nodded. Everyone was intrigued that the mayor would want to meet the human.

“We told her about everything in advance so we could set up the speech in the square, and she asked to meet you and the leader of Spirit, so Brimstoke, Celestia and I will head down to town hall with you to meet her.” Luna explained while glancing over to the stallion. Tom was a little bit disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to help with the investigation, but he was honored to be able to meet so many influential figures in Equestria.

“Alright then, I would be happy to oblige.” The human said with a pleased expression. Luna was happy to see that the boy agreed to the meeting.

“Then it’s settled. Tom and I are not going to be available for any tasks until we get back, so are there any other volunteers?” Brimstoke asked again while looking to the group.

“I’ll go.” Glimmer Shine stepped forward confidently. He was followed by Neon Streak, who had a cheerful smirk on her face that told she was eager to volunteer.

“I’ll come too.” The green mare said happily while looking beside her to her partner. Much to the group’s surprise, Applejack stepped forward with a pleading expression on her face.

“Can Ah come too? Ah want to help out with something.” The orange pony seemed sincere in her desire to assist the group. Brimstoke couldn’t fault the farm pony for wanting to help.

“Alright Applejack, you and the others will go check out the book store. We also need someone to go check out the Ponyville cemetery. Earlier this morning we got reports of couple of ponies digging up a grave, and considering what happened out in the woods last night, I think someone should go take a look out there.” Brimstoke explained in a serious tone. Everyone was surprised to hear that some people were possibly steeling bodies. They wondered what else they could possibly be doing.

“I’ll go, but I would like someone to come with me… any takers?” Sunspot asked while looking around at the others.

“Sure, I’ll come…” Rainbow Dash volunteered eagerly. “Why don’t you come with us Fluttershy? It would give you something safe to do that doesn’t involve tons of research.” The cyan mare suggested while looking over to her friend. Fluttershy contemplated the offer for a moment. While she was a little nervous to head into a cemetery considering recent events, she was eager to help her friends out.

“Alright… I’ll go with you.” The yellow pegasus said with a hesitant smile. Rainbow Dash was excited to hear that her friend would join her.

“Hey, leave room for me.” Peppermint stepped forward to volunteer, when he was suddenly interrupted by Glitterball speaking up.

“Not so fast Pepper, I need your help here. I’m going to try and tweak the strobes a little bit to improve their performance, so I could use you and Twilight to help me out.” The white unicorn explained while holding up her strobe for reference.

“Really, you want my help?” Twilight asked in slight disbelief. She was flattered that the unicorn would ask for her assistance in something having to do with magic. Although she had learned magic under the princess, Twilight was still humbled when people thought she was an expert.

“Yeah… you seemed to be able to handle yourself pretty well around advanced magic, so I figured that you could give me a hoof with this. Besides, tinkering with this kind of equipment will be a good experience for you… Rarity can help too if she wants.” Glitterball said while looking over to the purple haired unicorn. The white mare perked up when she heard the invitation to help. Although she was less experienced in magic, she was still eager to assist.

“I would love to help darling.” Rarity graciously accepted the offer with a cheerful smile. Twilight nodded her head as she gladly accepted the offer as well.

“Me too, I would be glad to help out.” The purple pony said with an eager expression. Glitterball was happy to see the two so willing to volunteer.

“Why do you need me here though?” Peppermint asked curiously. The red haired pony seemed more confused than disappointed as to why he needed to stay at the library. Glitterball chuckled before turning to the white earth pony.

“Because if we blow ourselves up, you’re the only one here that knows how to treat third degree burns.” Glitter said with a playful smile. Twilight and Rarity laughed with a slight hint of nervousness at the joke. They were unsure of whether or not the unicorn was serious.

“Well… I suppose I’ll stick around. But if you’re going to be blowing things up, I’m staying way back.” Peppermint stated while chuckling happily.

“Ditto…” Spike added while looking to the stallion understandingly. The dragon was fully prepared to run for his life if things started smoking.

“Ok everyone, let’s get going. We have a lot to do today and tomorrow, so let’s try to get all of this out of the way as quick as possible.” Brimstoke spoke up to round off the conversation so everyone could leave for their tasks. Twilight and the others who were staying said their goodbyes to their friends as they all paired off into groups and left the library.