“Here we are.” Sunspot announced to her two followers as she stood in front of the gate to Ponyville Cemetery. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy took a moment to admire the vast stretch of land that held rows upon rows of gravestones and monuments of many sizes and shapes. Although they knew about the cemetery, the two ponies had not visited there before now. After all, they had no reason to.

“Wow… it’s a lot bigger than I expected.” Rainbow Dash said in astonishment as she panned her head around to view the extent of the fenced in area. There was a lot of open space between the fence, and even the gravestones, giving the cemetery a vast and open feel to it.

The way the sun cast shadows from the taller statues and gravestones onto the emerald green grass created an almost surreal atmosphere. The two ponies were certainly glad that they weren’t visiting at night to say the least. As they walked into the graveyard, they felt very somber and creeped out while silently walking forward.

“Do you know how many graves were robbed?” Fluttershy asked while looking around to inspect the inscriptions on the graves she passed as well as searching for any open graves.

“Oddly enough, only one grave was dug up.” Sunspot replied with a puzzled expression on her face. She had no idea why anyone would bother stealing just one body, or why anyone would want to steal a body in the first place.

“Do you think it was the hooded ponies that did it?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously while thinking about the incident further.

“I don’t know… but I would like to think that any respectable pony would leave the dead alone… what has this world come to when people start attacking schools and hospitals and digging up graves?” Sunspot shook her head and sighed sadly as she thought about the atrocities that the group of ponies was performing.

“Well I don’t know what the hay is wrong with them, but I sure know that we need to stop them.” Rainbow Dash said with slight anger while thinking about everything the hooded ponies had done to her and her friends.

“We will, but for now we just need to find that grave.” Sunspot shrugged in irritation as she looked around for the open grave. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash shared a look of exasperation as they realized just how difficult it was to locate a single open grave in a cemetery.

The three pegasus’s slowly walked down the middle of the cemetery while keeping their eyes peeled and scanning the areas to the side in search of the grave. The silence between them gave them time to dwell on the eerie atmosphere around them. Even though it was daytime, it was still mildly disturbing to be walking around a cemetery in utter silence, especially given the ponies’ overactive imaginations that had been given a boost from all of the frightening monsters they had encountered over the past few days.

Suddenly, an abnormal color along the ground caught Fluttershy’s eye. She looked closer to discover that the odd color was in fact the dirt that surrounded an open pit in front of a gravestone. Her eyes lit up with excitement as she realized her discovery.

“Hey guys, look over here.” The yellow mare exclaimed while trotting over to the open grave and peering into the gaping hole. The other two ponies quickly rushed over to join their companion in front of the pit.

“Hmm… whoever was buried here must have been dead for a long time… I can barely read this.” Rainbow Dash stated while squinting as she tried to make out the faded etching on the crumbling gravestone. The cyan mare shrugged in frustration as she gave up on making out the words on the stone. Even without knowing the exact date of the pony’s death, it was obvious that this grave had been around for a long time.

“I don’t see anything around here that could tell us anything about what happened.” Fluttershy said while observing the hole for any sign of clues. Sunspot brought a pull cord from her vest up to her face that had her locators on it.

“Hey, could you two back up a little? This thing is really sensitive to anything in front of it.” Sunspot asked and waited for the two ponies to move. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash obeyed her instructions and backed up until they were behind the orange mare.

Sunspot twisted the bottom of the sand filled vial until it clicked twice. The sand flashed red on and off a few times to indicate that the charm was functional. The suited pony scanned the vial around the open grave while Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy watched in amazement.

“What’s that?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously while observing the strangely hypnotic neon red glowing sand as it shifted and pulsed inside the bottle.

“It’s one of the locators I told you about when we met. It uses heat signatures and other methods to scan for living things. I set it to pick up the presence of things that have previously been here rather than directly looking for body heat. It might take a minute to pick it up, so bear with me.” Sunspot explained while holding the vial over the ground near the pit.

“I get it… so you’re looking for the presence of the ponies that dug up the grave.” Fluttershy said as she figured out what the suited mare was doing. The suited mare nodded to the yellow pony, giving her a small sense of accomplishment that made her smile softly.

“That’s the idea… it might not tell us who they were, but it will tell us if it was actually ponies that did this.” Sunspot stated while looking at the vial feverishly for a reading. The sand suddenly flashed red again as she hovered it in the air above the grave. The pegasus smiled before twisting the bottom of the vial once more and letting the pull cord retract.

“Well, I’m picking up a relatively fresh signal here. Someone definitely dug this guy up… probably happened a few hours ago too.” She said with a slightly disheartened expression. The other two ponies shared in her disgust at the people who did this.

“Man… what kind of depraved individual steals a dead body from a cemetery?” Rainbow Dash asked rhetorically with a disappointed expression. Fluttershy and Sunspot shared a gloomy frown with the cyan pegasus as they walked away from the grave. Fluttershy turned to look at the open grave one last time and bowed her head in respect to the pony that was buried there. She then turned back and joined her friends in leaving the cemetery.

“I cannot believe that I’m stealing a dead body from a cemetery…” Cotton Quill huffed in exhaustion as he struggled to carry the burlap sack on his back. He had been walking for about ten minutes after spending the better part of the pre morning hours digging up the skeletal remains of the pony that was now weighing him down.

“Lighten up Cotton… things like this are exactly what you need to build character.” Raincloud said in a jokingly sarcastic tone. She walked just ahead of the struggling unicorn as he carried the body on his back.

The two were a far ways into The Everfree Forest. At this pace, they would reach the mansion in a few minutes. That is, if Cotton Quill didn’t pass out from over exertion before they made it there. Although it was relatively cold from the morning forest air, the white pony was building up a great deal of sweat and body heat.

“Shouldn’t you be the one carrying this thing? I thought this was your mission anyway.” Cotton said in slight annoyance while trying his hardest not to fall flat to the floor. Raincloud chuckled warmly at the white unicorn’s suggestion.

“This is my mission Cotton, but you weren’t busy so I figured that I would give you something to do. Raven Feather did say that we could use you for anything we wanted after all.” The pale blue mare said casually. Cotton was upset that he was being used for cheap labor, but he was also slightly happy to be used as a slave rather than an experiment.

“Can’t you have your shadow carry this thing?” Cotton asked with a slight hint of nervousness while thinking back to Raincloud’s ghastly servant. The white pony shuddered as he remembered the creature’s soulless purple eyes staring at him like he was a plaything. Raincloud scoffed in annoyance at the proposal.

“He probably could, but my shadow is weakened by direct sunlight.” The pegasus explained while glaring angrily at the orange light streaming down through the faint openings in the trees. “I don’t want to waste that much energy projecting him in daylight just to do what you could easily do with your magic.” Raincloud said in a belittling tone that made Cotton feel like a lazy waste of space.

“I can’t use my magic to carry it… it’s actually harder to carry heavy things long distances with magic than it is with my strength.” Cotton explained in an attempt at getting her to lay off of him. The blue mare merely rolled her eyes.

“Excuses excuses…” Raincloud droned in annoyance while contemplating how much it would tire her out to have her shadow murder Cotton and bury him out in the forest. The pegasus’s cold tone made Cotton feel uneasy as she looked straight ahead and avoided looking at him.

“Not to sound annoying or anything, but are we almost there?” The white unicorn said in as gentle a way as possible. He didn’t want to irritate the pegasus any more than she already was, but he was pretty sure that his legs would snap like twigs if he had to walk much further.

“*Sigh*… too late.” Raincloud muttered to herself while glaring her eyes behind her without turning her head. She was about to berate the whining pony, when suddenly the sight of the mansion coming into view in front of her stopped the pale pegasus.

“Looks like you’re in luck Cotton. Home sweet home...” Raincloud said with a relieved expression. It seemed like the pegasus actually found the gloomy estate to be comforting, but how she could find the eerie mansion to be anything close to homey was beyond Cotton Quill.

“Thank Celestia…” The white unicorn breathed a sigh of relief as he picked up the pace with the knowledge that he could rest soon. Raincloud furrowed her forehead in disdain at the pony’s expression.

The two hastily, or rather, as hastily as Cotton could carry the bag on his back, made their way through the yard and up to the entryway to the mansion. Raincloud opened the door and went inside, smirking as she heard the sound of Cotton groaning in pain as the door smacked into his face. After rubbing the red mark on his head, the white unicorn sat the heavy bag down beside him and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“Where does Raven Feather want this thing?” Cotton asked while panting from exhaustion. Raincloud casually pointed her hoof up the staircase to the left and looked at the unicorn with a blank expression.

“Upstairs.” The pale mare said while trying to hide her enjoyment of seeing Cotton’s face shrink into a frustrated expression.

“Screw this…” Cotton huffed in annoyance while lighting up his horn. He would deal with the stress of lifting the body with magic, as long as he didn’t need to carry it upstairs with his physical strength.

Raincloud watched as the unicorn grunted from exertion while lifting the bag into the air with his magic. Cotton levitated the body up the stairs and walked up along with it. He waited for the pale blue mare to follow him upstairs so she could lead him to where they had agreed to meet the rest of the group.

Cotton growled in exhaustion as he pushed his body to the limit just to carry the bag a little ways off the ground. He thought that his head was going to explode from the strain he was putting on his horn. Just as the white unicorn thought he was going to pass out from how tired he was, Raincloud went to the side of the hallway and opened a door.

“Right this way.” Raincloud said while holding the door open and beckoning inside the room like a doorman. Cotton was far too relieved to even care about the snarky pegasus’s act. He quickly made his way inside and looked around.

Inside the room, Cotton could see that Raven Feather, Grimwood, and Dust Kicker were standing around a table with a small group of other ponies clad in the greyish black hoodies that the cult wore on most days. Most of them opted to have their hoods down rather than walk around the mansion all day with obscured vision.

“Raincloud, it’s so good to see that you’re back.” Raven Feather looked past Cotton Quill in order to greet the Pegasus. Raincloud smiled and closed the door behind her before walking around the sluggish white unicorn to get closer to the group.

“I assume that you got a body with the specifics I asked for?” Raven Feather asked without any doubt in her eyes as she smiled at the blue mare walking forward. Raincloud nodded and glanced back to Cotton to point at the bag.

“Yep, one complete pony skeleton as you requested Miss Raven Feather.” The pegasus said with a gleeful smile while pointing at the body as if it were her presenting it to Raven Feather herself.

“Good… let me take that off your hooves Cotton.” Raven Feather suggested while raising her hoof in the air. An aura of pulsating shadows formed around the tip of her hoof. Cotton suddenly felt a powerful tug on the bag that forced it out of his grip. He would have let go courteously, but the earth pony didn’t give him a chance as she brushed aside his magic like taking something out of the hands of a child.

The green eyed pony waved her arm around as she guided the bag over to the table. She opened the bag and slid out the remains of the pony and levitated them in the air while discarding the bag. Raven Feather took a moment to gently set the skeleton down on the table without breaking off any bones.

Everyone gathered around to watch the black mare as she inspected the body to ensure that it met her expectations. A small smirk crept across Raven Feather’s face as she nodded in satisfaction. The skeleton was just as complete as Raincloud claimed it to be. The only flaws to be seen were a few cracks along the surface of the bones and the faded and dusty appearance that came with age.

“What is this for anyway? Didn’t Dust Kicker already make zombies out in the forest?” Cotton asked curiously while glancing over to the brown pegasus. Raven Feather turned to face the unicorn and gave him a condescending expression.

“That was just to see if the spell worked on a small scale… this is to see if it will work on older bodies.” Raven Feather explained before returning her attention to the skeleton in front of her. The black mare channeled energy to her hoof and recited some words from memory. Soon enough, a small wisp of green light appeared from her hoof and started circling into the air.

Cotton watched eagerly as the green wisp slowly descended into the body. Even with his experience with human magic, he had never seen anything like this. The white unicorn leaned a little closer to the table and watched in expectation as the wisp disappeared into the body.

Everyone watched the body with more or less blank expressions as they observed from afar. Meanwhile, Cotton inched closer to the skeleton curiously as nothing appeared to be happening. He hesitated and watched for anything to happen, before scratching his head in confusion as the body remained motionless.

“Did it work…?” Cotton asked while walking right up to the table and observing the skeleton. “I can’t see anything going o-” the unicorn was suddenly interrupted by the alarming sight of the body jolting to life and raising its head up in front of him.

The skeleton’s hollow eye sockets lit up and glowed a bright and eerie green that seemed to pierce the white pony’s very being. The undead pony’s jaw articulated and clattered open as an unearthly screech emanated from the monster.

“AAAAHHH!” Cotton screamed in terror as the jolt of the body shooting upwards sent a shockwave of fear through his body. As if in response to the petrified pony’s scream, the skeleton screamed again as it lifted its head up further, almost like it was enraged at the unicorn.

The white pony could feel his vocal cords straining from how loud he was screaming, yet he felt compelled to continue the frightened outburst as he recoiled from the table in a desperate attempt at getting away. While he pulled away from the table one of Cotton’s arms knocked into the skeleton, causing the undead creature to careen off the table and slam into the floor while the horrified pony crawled backwards to escape.

The skeleton’s many bones dislocated from the impact of the fall. The entire body separated and the skull stopped glowing as it bounced along the floor with the rest of the scattered pile of bones. Cotton didn’t even care about the fact that he just destroyed the skeleton. All he cared about was getting away.

After reaching a safe distance, Cotton turned his head back to see that nearly everyone in the group was laughing at him. Raincloud was leaning on Dust Kicker as she held her side with one arm while laughing uncontrollably. Dust Kicker was also laughing, but not quite as hard as his sister. Grimwood was quietly snickering with a small grin on his face. Even Raven Feather was chuckling to herself as she watched the panicked unicorn.

“What’s so funny? I just broke that thing into pieces…” Cotton couldn’t believe that he was reminding the group of his screw up, but he was so dumbfounded at their lack of anger that he felt it necessary to question them.

“First off Cotton… *Snort*” Raven Feather said while catching her breath from laughing so hard. “We’re laughing because you scream like a little girl…*Chortle*” The black mare got the last of her laughter out into the open before clearing her throat and returning a more serious expression to her face.

“And secondly…” The green eyed pony started to speak, when she was interrupted by the sound of something sliding on the ground. Cotton turned his head forward and widened his eyes in surprise as he saw the numerous bones of the skeleton sliding on the floor towards the already reforming body.

The unicorn watched in amazement as the undead pony’s legs, ribs, and other assorted bones slid to the body as it staggered up on the two legs it already had in place. The bones levitated into the air upon reaching the body, where they flew to their correct anatomical location and clicked into place. Finally, the skull lifted up and reattached itself to its headless body. The eye sockets of the skull flashed green a few times before the eerie glow returned in full.

“We’re not angry with you because for once… we made a plan that is idiot proof.” Raven Feather commented with a smirk as the skeletal pony moaned loudly. The guttural noise sounded like some kind of primordial beast was wailing at its prey. Knowing that the disturbing noise was coming from a dead pony, and actually seeing said pony standing in front of him made Cotton extremely nervous.

The skeletal pony took a step forward and growled at Cotton before Raven Feather stuck her hoof out and channeled shadow energy to it. The undead creature looked at her for a moment before stepping back and waiting obediently while looking at the black mare for further instructions.

“Fascinating… it looks like the spell worked perfectly. It almost tried ripping you to pieces Cotton.” Raven Feather stated with a giddy smile on her face. The green eyed mare almost sounded a little too excited at the prospect of Cotton being used as a skeleton’s chew toy.

“Yes… that’s fine and dandy I suppose…” The white unicorn chuckled nervously while watching the animate skeleton in front of him. “But what do you intend on doing with all of this anyway? I might not be performing spells for you anymore, but I would at least like to know what I just brought this heavy… fellow here for.” Cotton spoke in a gentle tone while addressing the skeleton, as if he would understand the unicorn and become enraged again.

“Cotton’s got a point Raven Feather… you have been rather secretive lately.” Raincloud stated curiously while turning to look at her leader. “Between me digging up dead bodies in a cemetery, and Dust Kicker playing Dr. Frankenstein out in the woods, we know absolutely nothing about what the plan is.” The pale blue pegasus explained while looking over to her brother for support. Dust Kicker nodded in agreement as he too wondered what the black mare had in mind.

Raven Feather giggled sinisterly as she thought of the scope of her plan. She decided that it was about time she filled in her two accomplices as to what her devious intentions were for their labor. She turned to face the group and looked at each of them thoughtfully.

“Well… you know how the princesses will be in town tomorrow to make a public appearance to notify everyone in Ponyville about us?” Raven Feather chuckled as she thought about how much attention they were getting from the two alicorns. Everyone nodded in response while waiting eagerly for the green eyed mare to continue.

“Wait… you don’t mean-” Raincloud started to ask curiously as she figured out the earth pony’s plan until the black mare spoke up to interrupt her.

“Precisely, Raincloud. I intend to show up for the speech and show every pony there just why they should fear us. With the spell I found, we will be able to flood town square with dozens upon dozens of these beauties.” Raven Feather explained while pointing over to the lone skeleton standing idly in front of the group.

“Where are you going to get the bodies?” Dust Kicker asked while thinking about the matter further. “I don’t suppose Cotton is going to be able to dig up that many for you in a day.” The pegasus and earth pony glanced over to Cotton suggestively, causing beads of sweat to roll down his face.

“Relax Cotton… I have thought ahead. The spell I’m going to use will create a thick cloud that will produce that green mist that brought our friend here back to life. The mist will sink into the ground and create an army of skeletons that will attack everything in sight. And if there aren’t any bodies to work with, then it will just make copies of this guy here.” Raven Feather explained her plan in great detail. The black mare took a lot of pride in her scheme as she went over the sections of the plot with a devious grin on her face.

“Wow… that’s pretty impressive.” Raincloud said in an amazed tone.

“And that isn’t the bulk of my plot either. We’re going to kill the elements of harmony while we’re at it.” Raven Feather stated with a sinister tone in her voice. The others were shocked to hear that such a drastic measure was being taken. However, one pony was more shocked than anyone else to hear the black mare’s announcement.

“Kill the elements… but why? I thought we agreed on letting them live until we unlocked the power of the eternal night.” Grimwood asked with dismay clear on his face. Raven Feather was sad to dash the young colt’s hopes, but she had to do what was necessary for the good of their final goal.

“Sorry Grim… I know you were excited to see them suffer, but we need them out of the picture. They are the only ones powerful enough to stop the eternal night once it’s started, so I would much rather get rid of them now rather than risk them interfering later.” The black mare said while walking over and putting a loving hoof on her brother’s shoulder. Grimwood frowned in protest to his older sibling. He finally sighed and returned his usual blank expression.

“Can we at least leave most of them alive? Their power only works as long as none of them are dead after all…” The pale colt argued in a passive tone, with only a slight pout to describe his emotions. Raven Feather smiled warmly and patted the younger pony on the head gingerly.

“Oh all right… but I get to choose which ones we torture first when all of this is over, deal?” The black mare submitted to the childlike wiles of the younger colt. Grimwood nodded in satisfaction while sitting down and returning his indifferent attitude. Cotton wasn’t used to seeing this side of Raven Feather. Watching the green eyed earth pony smile happily and talk in such a lovey-dovey tone was almost disturbing in a way.

“Anyway… Raincloud, you and Dust Kicker will be tasked with eliminating at least one of the elements of harmony, preferably Twilight Sparkle.” Raven Feather cringed in disgust as she thought of how much the princess’s student would interfere if left alive. Raincloud and Dust Kicker looked at the black mare with doubtful expressions. Both of their powers relied on total darkness to be most effective. Before they could think of the plan further, Raven Feather continued.

“While the spell is active, the cloud will blot out the sun for several miles. You two will use this opportunity to head down to the library and see if she is there, while I stay at the square and make a pictogram so we can gather fear from the panicking citizens.” As the black pony explained her plan, Dust Kicker and Raincloud progressively started to enjoy their roles in it.

“So I get to kill that whiny little brat myself? And it’s not even my birthday? Oh Raven Feather, you shouldn’t have.” Raincloud said while giggling deviously in anticipation.

“But won’t the princesses try to stop the spell once they figure out what’s going on? They do still have that team of ponies and the slayer to help them out after all.” Cotton chimed in with a pessimistic tone. Raven Feather rolled her eyes as she listened to the doubtful unicorn voice his concerns.

“I’m well aware of that Cotton, but I have another surprise in mind that should slow them down quite a bit. I just need Raincloud and Dust Kicker to… retrieve it for me.” Raven Feather said while looking over at the two siblings thoughtfully.

“Both of us? Why can’t we just send Cotton to go get it?” Dust Kicker asked with a perplexed expression. Raincloud shared in her brother’s confusion as to why they had to be the ones to retrieve this mysterious surprise.

“Because the surprise is unique in that it will require both of your skills to acquire it.” Raven Feather explained while walking over to a table and looking for a piece of paper and a quill. After finding the two items, she started scribbling away onto the paper.

“Here, take this. Travel to this location after sunset, and get it back here before tomorrow.” Raven Feather instructed while handing the paper off to Dust Kicker. Raincloud peered over the brown pegasus’s shoulder and read the note alongside him. As the two read the words on the note, they raised their eyebrows in shock.

“You want us to… but why?” Dust Kicker asked with a surprised tone. Raincloud gasped in revelation before letting a sinister grin creep across her face.

“I think I get it Dust… I’ll explain on the way. Let’s just make our way down there so we have a head start.” The pale blue pony said with a devious snicker. Raven Feather was pleased to see that the pegasus had figured out the purpose for their trip.

The two siblings walked out of the room with the note in hand for reference. After they had exited the room, everyone else sat in silence while thinking to themselves. Cotton Quill was left staring awkwardly at the eerie eyes of the skeleton pony, which hadn’t moved from its spot since Raven Feather halted it.

*A few hours later.*

Raven Feather and Grimwood were sitting in the mansion’s library idly. Cotton Quill had since parted with the two and gotten as far away as possible from the skeleton pony. Raven Feather was reading over some notes she had drawn on the desk in the middle of the room, while Grimwood was reading over some notes and books of his own off in the corner.

Raven Feather looked over to the young colt thoughtfully. She found it curious that he was reading so intently into his small pile of books and notes. Usually the pale colt was content with just skimming through a few of the summoning books to look at the pictures and details of how to summon the monsters, but he seemed to be diligently studying whatever topic he was reading into.

“What are you reading Grim?” The black mare asked curiously while trying to ascertain the book’s subject matter by the title. It appeared to be a book on old folklore having to do with human legends and prophecies. Grimwood looked up from his book to meet eyes with his sister. He seemed a little bit apprehensive as he thought about how to answer.

“Nothing much… just looking at some old writings about the eternal night… what the humans thought it was, how they thought it could be started and stopped, that sort of stuff.” Grimwood stated with a casual tone before returning to his book. Raven Feather thought it a little odd that he was surrounded by notes that she didn’t recognize, but she figured that he was working on a section of the book that used a language that the group didn’t use in their note writing.

“I’m just concerned that we might have gotten something wrong when we deciphered the prophecy…” Grimwood added with a slightly disheartened expression. Raven Feather could tell that he was worried that they might mess up the spell, or even worse. She was pleased to see that her brother shared her strong desire to succeed in the ritual.

“Don’t worry about that too much Grim, I have everything under control. We will be this world’s new rulers soon enough, I promise you that.” The black mare said in a reassuring tone. Grimwood sighed while staring into his notes blankly.

Before the two could return to their solemn thoughts, they were interrupted by the sound of the library door opening and an exhausted red earth pony bolting through the door. Raven Feather and Grimwood looked over to see Shadow Mist walking into the library while clutching his arm and panting heavily.

“Raven Feather!” The red stallion exclaimed in a wheezy tone while breathing rapidly. The black mare stood up from her seated position and walked over to the exhausted earth pony with a concerned expression.

“Shadow Mist, what happened to you?” Raven Feather asked with slight alarm while examining the red pony’s injury. It appeared as if he had cut himself on something sharp due to the presence of a small gash in his arm that was still bleeding.

“I was keeping an eye on things down at Cotton’s store, when two of those ponies in vests showed up with the element of honesty. They were looking for Cotton and wanted to ask him some questions having something to do with the princess.” Shadow Mist explained his findings as quickly and clearly as he could with his exhaustion.

“They know about Cotton’s involvement with us then?” Raven Feather reasoned with a disconcerted expression.

“I believe so… I tried to jump them with the three workers that were there, but they got captured so I had to… take care of the problem.” Shadow Mist replied with a stern expression of resolve. He didn’t take pride in eliminating his fellow cult members, but he had to in order to prevent them from talking.

“You did well Shadow Mist… how did you get this wound?” Raven Feather frowned sympathetically as she looked at how deep the cut on the pony’s arm was.

“They knocked me down while I had a knife. I must have cut myself on the way down with it.” Shadow Mist cringed in pain as he removed his hoof from cradling the injury. Raven Feather returned a more serious expression to her face while backing up from the red pony.

“Go get Grimwood to heal you… I’m going to go tell Cotton to stay here from now on.” Raven Feather said in an irritated tone while walking towards the door. The black mare exited the room and stormed down the hallway to go berate the white unicorn on his poor conduct in keeping himself anonymous.

After Raven Feather had left the room, Grimwood put his book down and got up while Shadow Mist limped over to him. He examined the injury to determine how much energy it would take to heal it back to normal.

“Raven Feather intends to kill the elements of harmony tomorrow.” The young colt said in a dull monotone while healing the wound with his shadow magic. The red furred pony lifted an eyebrow in surprise at the statement.

“Did you try to talk her out of it?” Shadow Mist asked quizzically. Grimwood sighed in annoyance before looking at the earth pony with a sour expression.

“I couldn’t talk her out of it without making her suspicious…” The pale colt replied in a frustrated tone. Shadow Mist groaned in annoyance while shaking his head.

“For goodness sake Grimwood, just explain it to her.” The red stallion stated in a pleading tone. Grimwood shook his head in denial.

“I already tried explaining it to her… she just thinks I’m paranoid. She’s read that old legend so many times that it’s engrained into her head that she’s right about it.” Grimwood huffed in defeat. Shadow Mist furrowed his brow and closed his eyes in thought. He finally sighed before looking back at the young colt.

“We won’t even have a chance at correcting the ritual unless the elements of harmony are alive.” The red pony said in an annoyed tone.

“I know… which is exactly why you will be supervising the action tomorrow. I want you to keep them alive until you have what we need from each of them.” Grimwood explained in a serious tone. Shadow Mist nodded while admiring his newly healed arm.

“*Sigh* Grim… I’ve done everything I can to help you out here. It was hard enough keeping those idiots alive back in the woods and at the school when the others weren’t trying to kill them. The human made it so I didn’t have to intervene much, but it’s still hard trying to keep this under Raven Feather’s nose. I really think you should just tell her.” Shadow Mist said in a pleading tone.

“Sorry Shadow Mist, but I can’t get her to believe me… you’re going to need to do this if we’re going to succeed.” Grimwood said in a sympathetic tone. “Now… do you think you can handle this?” He asked curiously.

“It shouldn’t be too hard to collect the necessary materials… I suppose I should start with Twilight Sparkle seeing how she is the most likely to die first.” Shadow Mist said while thinking about Raven Feather’s deep hatred of the purple mare. The young colt nodded at his colleague as he explained his plan of action.

“We need to perform the ritual within a few days of collecting all of the supplies from the elements… I think I know of a way to speed up the process…” Grimwood chuckled briefly while thinking about his plan in detail.

Shadow Mist nodded to the young pony before turning and walking away. The red pony had much on his mind. So much to do in so little time, but he had to do it for the sake of the family he had become a part of over the years.