It was a little bit after sunset as Twilight and her small troop studied the fourth book. They had spent several hours on studying the contents of the tome and cross referencing it with the other books in their possession. Everyone felt a thick sense of tediousness and boredom that made it all the more harder for them to fight the growing feeling of tiredness between them. And to punctuate all of the effort given by the ponies, baby dragon, and human, the group hadn’t even deciphered much of the tome.

“Ughh… why is this so hard? I would compliment them on their thorough encoding skills if I didn’t want to beat them over the head with this stupid thing!” Twilight fumed with frustration as she slapped the open book with her hoof to punish it for causing her so much distress. The lack of progress was clearly starting to eat away at the unicorn’s spirit. Spike was surprised to see the usually cool headed pony so frustrated.

“Calm down Twilight… we’ve been at this for a while now. Maybe we should give it a rest for the night?” The dragon suggested in a gentle tone. Hearing Spike voice his concerns made the lavender pony shrug. She didn’t want to let her emotions get the best of her.

“*Sigh*… I guess you’re right Spike.” Twilight said in a defeated tone while sinking back into her chair. “If we leave this for tomorrow, then maybe we can make better sense of this stuff with fresh eyes.” She said in a more relaxed manner. Hearing the unicorn accept his proposal made Spike smile. He stretched his arms and yawned tiredly before hopping off of his chair.

“I’m heading up to bed… see you whenever you decide to join me.” The dragon stated while walking over to the stairs.

“Night Spike…” Tom glanced over from his section of notes to see the dragon off before he went upstairs to turn in. Everyone else gave Spike a quick smile and a gesture to say goodnight to him as well.

“You heading to bed? We can handle this for a while longer if you want to get some sleep.” Glitterball asked the purple mare curiously. Peppermint nodded in agreement while looking past the white unicorn sitting beside him. Twilight smiled at the thought of going to bed. She could already feel the welcoming embrace of her soft mattress and pillows as she envisioned herself snuggling under the covers.

“You know what… I think I will. Are you guys sure you will be alright down here?” Twilight asked curiously. Although she had provided the two ponies with blankets and pillows, she was still unsure of leaving them to sleep on the floor.

“Of course… believe me, this floor is a lot more comfortable than my bunk back at the academy.” Peppermint suggested in a jovial tone. Twilight chuckled at the stallion’s upbeat attitude. Even in the aftermath of hours of tedious research he seemed happy go lucky.

“Alright then. Come upstairs whenever you’re ready for bed, Tom. Goodnight.” Twilight said while walking up the stairs. She gave one last glance at the three as they returned to their studies. Satisfied that they would get along just fine, the unicorn smiled before heading up the stairs.

As she opened the door to her bedroom and quietly walked in, Twilight noticed that Spike was still getting settled into his own bed. The dragon smiled as he saw the unicorn entering the room and walking up to her loft. Twilight sat on her bed and looked over to her number one assistant lovingly.

“So… decided to call it a night?” Spike asked rhetorically with a smirk on his face. Twilight sighed as she knew that the dragon was right after all in his decision to rest.

“I guess so.” The purple mare replied with a warm smile as she watched Spike rustle under his blanket to settle in. After positioning himself for a short while, the dragon turned over on his side and looked up at the unicorn.

“Hey, Twilight?” Spike asked curiously. The sudden question made the unicorn tilt her head in intrigue before replying.

“Yeah?” Twilight asked in a curious tone and waited for the sleepy dragon to continue.

“Are you sure you’re alright…? From the hospital I mean.” Spike said while trying to sound as gentle as possible on the touchy subject. Despite the dragon’s friendly and concerned tone, the mere mention of the hospital sent a cold chill down Twilight’s spine. The sight of the unicorn’s pale expression made Spike frown slightly.

“Yeah… I guess I am Spike. I’m done blaming myself for what happened… the only thing that really bothers me about the experience now is how you got taken away from me and Scootaloo like that.” Twilight looked down sadly as she remembered the experience. Spike felt a twinge of fear from remembering the ordeal himself. Just before the dragon could speak up, he was interrupted by the unicorn continuing.

“I… I thought I lost you for a while there. Seeing those things drag you away like that was the most dreadful experience I have ever had… and as much as I had to keep my emotions in check for Scootaloo’s sake… I thought you were dead.” Twilight’s lip quivered slightly as she thought back to the events at the hospital. This was the first time she had openly thought about what happened to Spike since that day.

“Twilight…” Spike said in a caring voice as he watched the unicorn looking down somberly. He noticed a single tear fall down her cheek as she vented her emotions of the horrible memory.

“It’s ok now Twilight… all of that is behind us. I’m still here with you, and nothing will ever change th-” The dragon was suddenly interrupted by Twilight looking over and talking a little bit louder than before.

“But what if you got hurt? What if… what if those things didn’t just want to feed off of your fear… w-what if they did to you what they did to Diasychain?” Twilight’s voice shook with the last part of her sentence. The sudden thought of what might have happened if the creatures had more sinister intentions for the children sent a wave of sadness through her.

The unicorn remained silent as she waited for Spike to speak up for her. She tried calming her nerves down as she fought against the urge to burst into tears. A quiet sobbing noise made Twilight look up in surprise. She noticed that Spike was softly weeping with a fearful expression on his face. Twilight suddenly realized that her painful memory was also painful to the young dragon.

“I’m sorry Spike… come here.” The purple pony said in a gentle tone while hopping off of the bed and walking over to the weeping dragon, she then knelt down and wrapped her arms around Spike lovingly to hold him close.

“I didn’t mean to upset you…” Twilight placed her head on top of Spike’s and let him bury his face into her chest. She let him vent his short sobs for a while before letting him go and watching him wipe the tears from his eyes.

“It’s ok… I just…” Spike took a moment to compose himself before continuing. “I thought I would never see you again too… and that terrified me. I didn’t know what they would do to me, but I somehow knew that I wouldn’t ever see you again.” He explained in a sad and shaky voice. The purple mare felt horrible knowing that she evoked such negative feelings in the dragon.

“It’s ok Spike… I’m here now. It’s just like you said… all of that is behind us. We just have to keep each other close and in each other’s hearts. As long as we do that, nobody will be able to separate us.” Twilight said in a confident voice. The unicorn’s speech made Spike feel a lot happier inside. He felt more confident in knowing that the power of friendship would keep them together.

“Now let’s get to sleep and not think about anything scary like that… ok?” Twilight suggested with a warm smile. Spike nodded slowly while lowering himself back onto his pillow. Twilight walked back up to her bed and pulled back the covers so she could climb in.

After settling in and nestling her head onto her pillow, the unicorn took a moment to stare at her ceiling and reflect on everything that happened in the day. She quietly resolved to try her hardest to protect her friends and her way of life from anyone willing to oppose it.

“Twilight?” Spike spoke up while looking up in the general direction of the unicorn’s bed. Twilight trailed her eyes downward while keeping her head still.

“Yeah?” The purple mare asked, curious as to what the dragon wanted. A few seconds went by as Spike thought for a moment.

“I love you…” Spike said with genuine compassion in his voice. Twilight smiled as she felt a warm tingle of kindheartedness fill her body.

“I love you too Spike…” The unicorn replied before closing her eyes and drifting off into an unfocused daze. The two remained silent as they each fell asleep in their warm and cozy beds.

The morning light filtered in through the balcony and into the quiet room as it had so many times before. Twilight squinted her eyes tightly as she woke up from her peaceful slumber. Taking a quick peek out of one eye, the unicorn quickly discovered that her drowsiness had not left her as of yet. The room was nothing more than a blurry bright mess as she tried to focus her vision.

“*Yawn*” Twilight let out a long groan as she yawned and stretched her stiff body. She had a dopey smile on her face as her drowsy state left her in a content stupor. After rubbing her eyes to remove any crust that had accumulated during the night, the purple pony climbed out of bed and turned to the rest of her room.

She immediately spotted Spike a short distance away, still asleep in his bed. He had apparently shrugged his blanket off of his upper half in his sleep. Seeing the peaceful rise and fall of the sleeping dragon’s chest made the unicorn feel a sense of compassion for him. She decided that it was best to let him sleep for a while longer.

After gingerly lifting the blanket back up to cover Spike’s body, Twilight walked over to the door and quietly opened it. She then stepped out into the upstairs hallway and closed the door as silently as she had opened it.

I wonder if Tom is already up? She thought to herself while descending the stairs. The unicorn looked over to the main room to see that Glitterball and Peppermint were asleep. Glitterball had apparently fallen asleep at the table she was studying at, with a blanket draped over her body from either the stallion or the human placing it there. While Peppermint on the other hand had actually opted to sleep on the floor with his blanket and pillow.

Twilight then noticed that Tom was still sitting at a table and working on the book and its notes. If she didn’t know any better, she would say that he had been there all night, refusing to sleep until he found some answers from the encoded tome.

“Well I guess that answers my question.” Twilight said to herself while smiling and shaking her head at the sight of the seemingly tireless human. The unicorn quickly but quietly walked down the rest of the stairs and over to the human. Tom seemed to notice her a little bit later than she would have expected, having been absorbed in his work in total silence for so long.

“Morning…” Tom said in a dull tone. Even though he wasn’t sleepy, Twilight could tell that he hated doing stuff like this for so long. Despite her love of reading and studying, the unicorn had to agree with the human.

“Morning.” The purple pony said with a smile while taking a quick glance at the boy’s work to see what he had done. Much to her surprise, she saw that he had made some serious headway into decoding the notes from the book.

“Wow, you did all of this by yourself?” Twilight asked with surprise as she analyzed the extent of the decoding. It seemed like he was making a cipher sheet so the ponies could easier decode the book when he was gone.

“Not entirely…” Tom replied while glancing over to the unconscious unicorn slumped over a table on the other side of the room. “Glitterball helped out a lot with teaching me the magical portions of the notes. She and I were working on decoding this thing together until she conked out… I took over from there.” He explained with a healthy respect for the intelligence of the white mare. He had to remind himself constantly that these ponies were as smart as humans were.

Twilight looked at the sleeping pony with admiration. Glitterball reminded her of herself in a lot of ways, from her love of studying, to her strong desire to solve problems to help friends. She smiled in knowing that she wasn’t the only one obsessing over the investigation.

“So what time do you think you’ll be back from the speech?” The purple unicorn asked with a hint of aspiration. Tom wondered why she was so interested in when he would return.

“I don’t know… I was never one for politics in the first place, so I don’t know how long the speech will be. Why do you ask?” The human asked suspiciously. Twilight chuckled nervously as she realized how obvious she had been. She wrapped her arm around her other arm and rubbed it as she awkwardly tried to rationalize a response.

“Umm… well uh… I was going to see if the girls wanted to hang out somewhere later on today and uhh… I was wondering if maybe you wanted to join us?” Twilight smiled awkwardly as she made her suggestion. If it wasn’t for the overly friendly nature of this society, and the fact that they were completely different species, Tom would have thought the unicorn was hitting on him. Such a request would definitely have been a hint at affection for a human girl, but the boy knew that she just wanted to hang out with friends, and she considered him a friend.

“I think that would be nice… you could use a break from the investigation after all.” Tom said with a sincere tone. The human’s response made the unicorn smile with joy. She was happy to see that he was accepting of her proposal.

“Speaking of which, how are the notes coming?” Twilight asked as she returned her attention to the book on the table. Tom glanced down to his own sheets of paper that he was working on as he tallied up his progress in his head.

“I haven’t worked on decoding many of the pages… I have been focusing on making a cipher so you guys can understand this thing when I leave, and it’s to the point where you could finish it if you had to… so yeah.” Tom explained while handing the unicorn a page from his notes. Much to her excitement, she could actually comprehend much of it at first glance.

“This is great Tom! We can actually read this thing now… and maybe we can decipher the rest of the other books with this too!” Twilight could hardly contain her elation as she smiled from ear to ear. Tom chuckled as the unicorn praised his work. It was always a surprise to him how much he had learned since he gained his status as slayer.

Before the human could speak up in reply, a short knocking sound came from the door. The pair turned their attention to the door with a burning sense of curiosity as to who would be here so early in the morning.

Twilight glanced to Tom briefly before walking over to the door to let whoever it was inside. She gripped the handle and swung the door open, only to be surprised by the sight of the visitor. Standing outside, was a gray pegasus mare that Twilight knew to be Derpy Hooves. The mare’s eyes were skewed in different directions, a clear indicator as to her unique mentality. Her hair was long and yellow, and she had several bubbles as a cutie mark.

“Ditzy Doo?” Twilight addressed the pegasus with her real name. Derpy Hooves was just a moniker that she adopted later on, but the unicorn felt it more formal to call her by actual name. The pegasus offered a stoic salute while looking at the unicorn through her left eye.

“Derpy Hooves reporting for duty!” Derpy exclaimed with a smile while returning to a casual stance. Twilight wondered why the gray mare was here, as she normally delivered mail around Ponyville unless otherwise tasked.

“What are you doing here… Derpy?” The purple mare asked quizzically while she watched the bubbly pegasus bounce her head around enthusiastically.

“The princess gave me an important mission to escort Thomas Greene down to town hall. She said that he was staying here at the library… is he awake?” Ditzy lowered her voice as she realized that someone may still be asleep inside. Twilight turned to fetch the boy, when she noticed that he was walking up to see what was going on.

“He is… Thomas Greene at your service milady.” The human said while observing the eccentric pony outside. She seemed to be watching him with one eye while she kept the other focused on Twilight. She also didn’t seem fazed by the fact that he looked nothing like a pony.

“Pleased to meet you Thomas… I’m Derpy Hooves.” Ditzy introduced herself while giving a courteous bow. Tom was mystified by the strange pegasus, he looked over to Twilight for some clarification.

“Uh… Tom this is Ditzy Doo, or rather, Derpy Hooves. She delivers mail around town… but apparently she’s here to take you down to town hall.” The unicorn explained with a slightly confused tone. She wasn’t used to seeing the pegasus take orders from the princess like this, but apparently Celestia thought she would be handy for the job.

“Right… well I’m ready to go if you’re ready to lead Ms’ Hooves.” Tom stated while stepping outside with the pegasus. The gray mare seemed flattered by the kindhearted attitude of the human.

“See you later Tom.” Twilight said while waving with her hoof to bid farewell to the boy. Tom returned the gesture while nodding his head.

“See ya… try not to have too much fun without me.” Tom stated in a sarcastic tone. Twilight chuckled ironically as she thought of the work ahead of her. Little did the human know that she would actually have fun with reading the magical tome now that she could decipher it. The unicorn waved to the two as they walked off and chatted idly. Twilight could just barely hear the subject of their conversation as she stepped inside.

“So why do they call you Derpy Hooves anyway?” Tom asked curiously while looking at the curious pegasus. The gray mare pondered the matter for a moment before responding.

“I don’t know… but everyone calls me that, so I just kind of went with it.” Ditzy stated while shrugging her shoulders. Tom chuckled and shook his head as he thought about the odd nickname.

“Hey… why do they call you Greene if you’re dressed in blue?” Ditzy asked innocently with genuine curiosity. Tom was about to discredit the statement as another estranged thought by the bubbly mare, until he put more thought into it. As much as he tried, he couldn’t think of a reason why his last name was so unrelated to him, he didn’t even really like the color green.

“You know… I don’t really know.” Tom replied while shrugging in defeat.

Twilight giggled as she listened to the two conversing as they walked away. She then closed the door and walked inside before heading over to the book on the table. She knew that it would be easier now that she had Tom’s cipher, but it would still take some work to unravel the contents of the book and its notes.

Meanwhile over in the town hall, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie were in a room with a couch and two windows conversing with the princess and Brimstoke before the speech took place. Luna, Sunspot, Glimmer Shine, and Neon Streak were somewhere out in the square still making preparations and ensuring that everyone was in their proper place. Rainbow Dash peered out of the window out into the square, only to be greeted with the sight of a crowd of ponies walking around as they waited for the announcement to be made.

“Wow… It never ceases to amaze me how many ponies actually live in this town.” The cyan mare stated in astonishment as she watched the ponies move around on their daily business.

“It seems a lot smaller when you’re just walking through back streets and between houses.” Pinkie Pie said while admiring the colorful square and its lively inhabitants.

“You got that right…” Rainbow Dash added while returning her attention to the inside of the room. She noticed that Princess Celestia was looking down with a troubled expression. The alicorn seemed to be lost in her thoughts as she stared at the floor blankly.

“You ok Princess?” The cyan pony asked with concern. The pegasus’s sudden question made Celestia look up abruptly as she realized that she had been dwelling in her own mind. She sighed before putting on a less distressed expression for the sake of the concerned ponies.

“Yes… I’m fine Rainbow Dash. I was just thinking about everything that’s been happening recently.” The alicorn stated with a somber tone. The ponies could tell that she was incredibly worried about what the hooded ponies would do next.

“I’m sure that everything will be fine. I know that Tom and the others will be able to catch them… right girls?” Rainbow Dash stated confidently while looking to her two friends for support. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie nodded immediately in response.

“Absolutely.” Fluttershy said with a confident smile. The yellow pegasus had no doubt in her mind that everything would turn out for the best in the end.

“You bet! I’m sure that you guys will beat their sorry butts until they feel bad for everything they’ve done!” Pinkie added in an excited tone while playfully hitting Brimstoke on the shoulder for emphasis. The stallion was unsure of how to react to the pink mare’s energetic outburst.

Celestia was pleased to see that the element bearers had so much faith and hope. They knew for certain that if it came down to it, that the white alicorn would handle things herself. The princess was unsure of how that made her feel, or even if they were right to trust her in such a crisis.

“I’m glad to hear that you all have so much confidence… hold on to that, it’s a good thing to have in times of need.” Celestia said in a stoic tone. The ponies smiled and nodded while taking the alicorn’s words to heart.

“As far as those hooded ponies are concerned, I can only hope that we find them before they strike again…” The white alicorn stated with a worried expression. Everyone’s smiles faded to somber expressions as they merely gave a nod in return. It was hard to believe that such a serious threat to Equestria had popped up so suddenly.

The sound of the door opening drew the group’s attention over to the back of the room. The sight of a gray pegasus mare being followed by a blue suited human made them perk up with joy. They were beginning to wonder if the human would ever arrive.

“Derpy Hooves reporting for duty!” Derpy stated with an accomplished tone and offered a salute to the gathering of ponies. She stepped aside and let Tom walk in to be greeted by Rainbow Dash and the others.

“Well done Ditzy, now I need you to do one more thing before I dismiss you.” Celestia said with a friendly tone to the bubbly mare. Derpy Hooves stood at attention and listened eagerly for her next task.

“I need you to head outside and help Brimstoke and the others oversee the crowd while I make the speech. Keep an eye out for anything suspicious, and report it to one of them.” The alicorn instructed in a clear manner. Ditzy saluted once more while nodding in response.

“Right away ma’am.” The grey mare said with an enthusiastic smile as she walked back out of the room. Celestia then turned her attention back to the human as he talked with the three cheerful ponies in front of him.

“It’s good to see you Tom.” Celestia said while walking forward to greet the slayer. Tom turned around and smiled as he looked up at the regal alicorn. It was an odd experience being surrounded by creatures that only come up to his mid-section, only to meet a princess that was practically taller than him.

“Likewise Princess… so I assume you will be starting soon?” Tom asked curiously. Celestia nodded in response as she glanced at the clock on the wall.

“Yes… I suppose I will. But before I leave you all to go make preparations, I want you to do one thing for me Tom.” The alicorn adopted a more serious expression as she spoke. The sudden change in tone made Tom and the ponies slightly concerned as to what was bugging the princess.

“Sure thing… what do you need?” The human asked with an eager attitude. Celestia smiled as she admired the boy’s seemingly endless spirit.

“I didn’t ask you to come here to speak with me or anything… no, I asked you here for a more important reason. I want you to keep an eye on things with your senses while I make the speech.” The princess’s statement made the ponies slightly uneasy as her tone shifted to a very somber one.

“I have a really bad feeling that whatever those hooded ponies are planning, they will attack while the speech is happening. I can’t imagine what they could do in such an open space like this with so many ponies in broad daylight, but it worries me all the same.” The alicorn sighed before continuing. “Just keep on your toes, and if you sense anything, just let me or Luna know.” She asked in a sincere tone. Tom nodded as she finished her request.

“Alright… I was going to do that anyway, but since you asked I suppose I could try extra hard.” The boy stated in a jesting tone in an attempt at brightening the princess’s mood. Celestia couldn’t help but to smile from the lighthearted statement.

“Thank you… now, let’s get out of this cramped room and head outside. I’m sure that everyone here could use some fresh air.” Celestia said while looking around at the ponies for confirmation. Rainbow Dash and her two friends nodded eagerly. There was only so much time they could spend in a tiny room with so much going on outside.

The group quickly filtered out of the room and headed through town hall on their way out into the square. Rainbow Dash decided to take a walk around the square before the speech started. She asked Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy to join her, who eagerly accepted the offer. While Tom and Brimstoke merely followed the princess as she went to converse with her sister.