*Thump* *Thump* *Thump*

A soft knocking at the door made Twilight and the others look up from their research curiously. Glitterball and Peppermint were still relatively sleepy, so the jarring noise made them jump slightly.

“That must be the girls.” Twilight proposed while getting up from her chair. Rarity and Applejack had said that they would be dropping by with the cutie mark crusaders today, and it was around the time that they would be awake, so it was logical to assume that they were the ones at the door.

Wasting no more time on speculation, the unicorn walked over to the front of the room and up to the door. Gripping the handle firmly, she swung the door open and peered outside. As she had guessed, Twilight was greeted by her two friends smiling warmly with a trio of fillies behind them.

“Applejack, Rarity! Come on in and get comfortable.” The purple mare welcomed her two friends inside with a friendly motion. She smiled to the passing group of fillies as they headed in a single file line behind the two mares.

“Morning y’all.” Applejack greeted Peppermint and Glitterball as she gave them a friendly wave. Rarity waved to the two ponies as well, eliciting them to return the gesture while leaning on the back of their chairs to face the newcomers.

“Tom is usually up by now isn’t he? I assume he already left for the speech?” Rarity asked curiously while looking around at the relatively empty room. Not even Spike was out and about, presumably still asleep upstairs.

“Yeah, he left like half an hour ago. But thankfully he translated a lot of the notes in that book for us before he left.” Twilight stated with an optimistic tone while motioning over to the book on the table and the numerous sheets of paper beside it. Rarity and Applejack were impressed by the amount of progress they had made.

“Good! That means that we can read it right?” The two mares were interrupted by a trio of enthusiastic fillies, headed by Scootaloo, stepping forward and speaking up with eager grins on their faces. Twilight looked down at the three young ponies and frowned slightly, although they were here to help, she wasn’t sure if she felt comfortable allowing them to read from such a grim and dark book.

“Umm… well uh…” Twilight stammered awkwardly. Before the purple unicorn could formulate an excuse, Glitterball got up from her chair and walked over to the group. She took a vial off of her vest and twisted the bottom, causing it to shine as the blue liquid inside lit up in a brilliant display.

“Hey girls, you want to help me make some adjustments to these? I could use some free hooves to hand me my equipment.” Glitter suggested while dangling the vial in front of the three fillies like a set of jingling keys to an infant. The crusaders looked absolutely awestruck at the brilliant light. They turned to each other and nodded eagerly, barely able to contain their excitement.

“Of course we do!” Scootaloo said in a gleeful tone.

“We would love to help!” Sweetie Belle added in an enthusiastically friendly manner.

“Can Ah hold it?” Applebloom asked with excitement plain on her face.

Glitterball chuckled warmly at seeing the three sweet fillies. She could tell that even though they were adventurous, childlike curiosity was still a large part of their personalities. The rainbow haired unicorn turned and glanced over to Peppermint. He was fiddling around with the vials on his vest with a bored expression. A devious smile crept across her face as she chuckled warmly at the thought running through her head.

“Why don’t you head over there with my friend Peppermint? I’m sure he can get you started while I talk with the others for a few.” Glitterball said in a casual tone while motioning over to the white stallion. Peppermint paused and looked over to see three fillies simultaneously turn their heads to look at him.

“Wait what?” Pepper asked with a confused expression. Scootaloo turned to her fellow crusaders and put on a serious expression.

“Alright girls, Cutie Mark Crusaders supernatural equipment technicians!” The young pegasus announced in an enthusiastic tone to her friends. The three fillies let out a cheer as they rushed forward, eager to get started on their task.

Peppermint’s eyes widened and his pupils shrank as he watched the trio bolting toward him. The three fillies practically dog piled on the hapless earth pony, sending his body to the floor with a startled cry as they started asking him a thousand questions about what everything on his vest was and how they could help out.

Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity watched the scene unfold in front of them while cringing sympathetically for the red haired pony. At this point, they were mildly concerned that the three fillies would break something as they bounced around energetically. Meanwhile, Glitterball was smiling at her own diversion for the curious crusaders.

“Don’t worry about them. Pepper and I will keep them entertained while you guys read the book.” Glitter said while casually avoiding the distressed stallion trying to keep up with the three fillies.

“Uh… thanks.” Twilight said with a slightly unsure tone. She was grateful for her distracting them from wanting to read the book, but she was also slightly unsure as to whether or not she should be concerned for Peppermint.

“Alright girls, ease off him. Let’s get started on this equipment already.” Glitterball said while walking over to the group on the other side of the room. Scootaloo and the others quickly stopped pestering the white stallion and walked over to the table on the other side of the room where the unicorn was.

“She certainly has a way with kids…” Rarity stated while observing the unicorn explain their equipment to the crusaders. She wasn’t kidding either. Glitterball seemed to be rather good with at least keeping their attention.

“Let’s go ahead and get started. There shouldn’t be much left to do other than read the book, but the faster we’re done the better.” Twilight said while walking over to the table with the book and pulling over two chairs to add to the one already present.

Rarity and Applejack nodded to each other before walking over to join their purple friend. They sat down at the table and quickly joined the unicorn in reading over the cipher that their human friend had made for them.

While the two suited ponies were enjoying teaching the children about their gear, the three mares were finally reading the bizarre contents of the book that had been used to summon the undead creatures out in the woods.

Suddenly, the sound of small feet descending the stairs made everyone avert their attention. The ponies turned to see a drowsy Spike slowly climbing down to join them while still trying to wake up. His face was sleepy, his eyes were droopy, and he had the unmistakable disheveled appearance that goes along with waking up after a long sleep.

“*Yawn*… morning everyone.” Spike droned while taking a quick tally of the number of ponies in the room, most likely to ensure that he wasn’t hallucinating.

“Morning, Darling.” Rarity greeted with a friendly smile.

“Morning.” Applejack did the same with a tip of her hat.

“Good morning, Spike. I assume you slept well?” Twilight insinuated while taking a glance over to the clock on the wall. Even if she did let him sleep in, he usually woke up earlier than this. The young dragon made no attempt to hide the fact that he had slept in for way longer than was necessary, he instead nodded in reply while enjoying the rested feeling he had from his power nap.

“Where’s Tom? Did he already leave or something?” Spike asked, curious as to the whereabouts of the human.

“Of course he left… he’s been gone for like half an hour. See what happens when you sleep in?” Twilight shrugged while trying not to painfully state the obvious. Spike sighed before walking over to the table to see what they were working on.

Much to his surprise, the odd language that the notes were written in appeared to be translated on a sheet of paper beside the book. He read off a few sentences to test the accuracy of the cipher, only to find that it was in fact correct.

“Wow… I can actually read this. How long have you guys been working on this?” The dragon asked in an impressed tone.

“Tom made this for us before he left… apparently he was up a lot earlier than you guys.” Rarity explained while looking down at the notes.

“Well that’s normal for him I suppose… I don’t know how he stays in a quiet house in the early morning hours with everyone asleep for so long. I would be bored out of my mind if that happened.” Spike stated while picturing what it must be like for the human to be up so early each morning.

“We should be thankful that he did, it would probably take us all day to decode this on our own.” Applejack said while shuddering at the thought of putting that much time into such a frustrating task.

“Yikes…” Spike exclaimed in an unsettled tone as he thought about the possibility himself. The last thing the young dragon wanted to do was to have a repeat of last night.

“Alright, let’s get back to work. You can either join us or head over there with Glitterball and Peppermint to check out their equipment.” Twilight said while picking back up the notes she had.

Spike glanced over to watch the two ponies fiddle around with vials and strange ingredients while three excited fillies watched. He felt a little guilty that he wouldn’t be able to help Twilight and the others if he indulged.

“You guys sure you don’t need me?” The young dragon asked courteously with a façade as solid as glass. Twilight smiled as she could tell that he was dying to head over there and fulfill his curiosity.

“Go ahead.” The purple mare said with a warm smile while motioning over to the other side of the room. Spike smiled and nodded before heading over and taking a spot beside the crusaders as they watched the rainbow haired unicorn work.

After they had taken care of all distractions, Twilight and her two partners got back to work. They dug into the pile of papers and notes they had arranged before them as they decoded the grim contents of the book. Although they grew more disturbed with every page, they had to do it for the sake of catching the book’s nefarious owners.

Meanwhile, over at the town square, things were just about to get started as the crowd gathered to listen to the speaker at the town hall podium. Mayor Mare was addressing the silent ponies and preparing to introduce the princess.

As the mayor spoke, Sunspot, Neon Streak, Glimmer Shine, and Derpy Hooves were on opposite sides of the crowd, watching for any odd activity. Brimstoke was beside the podium, watching the crowd and listening to the gray haired pony speaking. Tom was on the other side of the town hall, leaning up against the wall with Luna and Celestia while they waited for the mayor to call for the princess.

“Now then, you have all been brought here to listen to an announcement from Princess Celestia herself. So without further ado, I will hand things off to the princess.” Mayor Mare called the white alicorn over and stepped aside as she walked up. Celestia cleared her throat and observed the silent gathering of ponies in front of her before speaking.

“Thank you all for coming out here on such short notice. I would like to bring to your attention a very serious and important matter.” Everyone listened intently as Celestia spoke, becoming heavily invested in the subject that she was bringing up.

As the speech went on, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy couldn’t help but feel inspired as they watched the white alicorn from the back of the crowd. Even though they were so far away, it was surprisingly easy to comprehend her words over the silent ponies.

“I wonder how everyone will react when she tells them what’s happening.” Rainbow Dash whispered to the yellow mare, so as to not interrupt the speech. Before Fluttershy could respond, Celestia paused and sighed as she came up to the point where she had to explain the two attacks.

“As some or probably most of you have heard, there have been two organized attacks on buildings in this town using dark magic. We now believe these attacks to have been perpetrated by a group of unknown ponies in hoods. There were horrific monsters summoned in the schoolhouse, and the hospital that terrorized and attacked many of the occupants. These attacks took place just a few days ago. Nobody was seriously injured in the school; however… there were two casualties at the hospital.” The princess explained in a dreadful tone. The crowd gasped as they listened to the frightful news. Some ponies looked around and made fearful whispers to their friends as they tried to comprehend the attacks.

“*Sigh*…” Rainbow Dash looked down sadly upon mention of the two ponies that had died in the hospital. She could still feel a twinge of remorse over what happened. She had only met them briefly, but they seemed to be friendly and cheerful. Even if they weren’t, they didn’t deserve the fate given to them.

Fluttershy could only offer a gentle hoof on her friend’s shoulder to comfort her. She had not been at the hospital with them, but she was mortified when she learned about the tragic event. Still, she could only imagine what the cyan pegasus was feeling.

“I’m sorry for what happened Rainbow Dash.” The yellow mare stated in a gentle tone. Rainbow Dash frowned as she saw Fluttershy worrying over her mopey attitude. She definitely was the bearer of kindness after all.

“Fluttershy… it isn’t anything you need to feel sorry for. You had nothing to do with it, and neither did I… what happened, just happened.” The cyan pony tried to sound happier, but could only manage a somber tone. She then felt herself growing angry as she thought about the hooded ponies. The only things she knew about them were based on the pegasus she met out in the woods, and putting all of the tragic events behind such a smug and heartless person made Rainbow Dash even angrier.

“We’ll make them pay for their crimes soon enough…” Rainbow Dash sighed as she released her pent up emotions. Fluttershy nodded slowly in agreement before returning her attention to the speech.

Meanwhile on the other end of the crowd, Sunspot and Pinkie Pie had met up and started listening to the princess together. The alicorn was always able to address her subjects with the same level of care and dignity as her own family, and this impressed the two as they thought about how hard it must have been to relay such terrible news to everyone.

“Wow… she has a way with words doesn’t she?” Sunspot said with a sense of admiration. The pink mare nodded in agreement.

“Yep, you don’t get to be princess unless you can make speeches.” Pinkie stated cheerfully. The earth pony’s statement made the pegasus puzzled as to what she thought a princess needed to do.

“I think there’s a bit more to it… but alright.” Sunspot said while deciding not to question the party pony further. Hearing a more detailed explanation might confuse her even more.

“Do you think those hooded ponies are here watching?” Pinkie asked curiously. The sudden question caught Sunspot off guard.

“Well uh… they could be. I mean, if they wanted to they could just hide in the crowd and listen.” The pegasus reasoned while looking around at the vast rows of ponies. Everyone just sort of blended together into a sea of colors.

“I don’t see any hoods, so they must be somewhere else.” Pinkie said while scanning the crowd for suspiciously dressed ponies.

“Uh… Pinkie, I don’t think they would wear hoods all the time. Especially not while trying to blend into a crowd…” Sunspot said with a puzzled expression. The pink mare seemed to be more confused by this logic than the pegasus was by her own.

“Well why do we call them the hooded ponies then? If they didn’t wear the hoods they would just be the ponies… and that’s not very creative.” Pinkie stated casually. Sunspot could feel her eye twitching slightly in complete shock. Finally, the pegasus sighed while admitting defeat.

“No… I suppose it’s not.” Sunspot droned with a hint of sarcasm. Pinkie chuckled as she felt that the pegasus agreed with her.

Back up at the town hall, Tom and Luna were passively listening to Celestia while keeping an eye on things from their position. Tom was leaned up against the building while Luna stood next to him and chatted idly while observing the many concerned and fearful ponies that dotted the crowd.

“You guys seem to care a lot for your subjects.” Tom observed while listening to the white alicorn speak. Luna nodded as she thought about how much she actually cared for the ponies around them. Even though most of them shunned her after she made her return to the public eye, they warmed up to her after realizing she was no longer Nightmare Moon.

“Indeed… I care for every pony here as if they were my blood relative, and I’m certain that my sister feels the same.” Luna said with a genuine smile and a sincere tone.

“You know… you guys have a pretty good society all things considered. Most princes and princesses from human society were self-entitled brats that cared more about the dirt under their feet than the people in their kingdom.” The boy said with brutal honesty. Luna was appalled that such people existed at all, even if they were from a distant time in the past.

“How awful… a ruler should be fair and just to their subjects… That’s the whole point of governing over them.” The blue alicorn said in abject horror.

“Yeah, well… some people figured that out after a while. A long time after princes and princesses were phased out and new forms of government were created. Don’t get me wrong, there were a lot of unfair idiots that ran a lot of countries in my time, as evidenced by the human race blowing themselves up.” Tom said with surprising acceptance as he talked about the mindset of his time’s governing bodies. “But there were some people that were like you guys… at the end of the day, people will be good, evil, and all sorts of things in between. It just so happens that a lot of bad people crave power, and will do anything they can to get some.” The human’s explanation made Luna think about her own experience with bad people. Between Discord and Queen Chrysalis, she knew for fact that most villains craved power of some sort.

“I’m glad that someone as nice as you was sent here from the human world. I know that you’re a slayer, so you kind of have to be a good person, but I’m not sure how an evil person would fit in here.” The alicorn stated in a friendly tone. Tom smiled from hearing such compliments.

“I guess a world with so much emphasis on friendship and harmony tends to yield a lot of good people… and apparently a few bad ones.” The boy said while thinking back to the hooded ponies. Luna nodded somberly and sighed as she wondered what could have driven them to such extremes.

The two were silent for a while after that, finding nothing else to say on the subject of the hooded ponies. Despite the lack of conversational relevancy for the hooded ponies, neither Tom nor Luna could stop thinking about them.

Unbeknownst to anybody present at the square, there were a few spectators that didn’t belong there with the rest of the ponies. Raven Feather and her two assistants were tucked away behind a building, just within ear shot of the square. Raincloud helped put the finishing touches on a large pictogram on the ground, while the black earth pony giggled sinisterly while hovering near a large object covered in a tarp.

The two looked up to see Dust Kicker walking around the side of the building and trotting up to them. He waited for Raven Feather to finish what she was doing before speaking up to deliver his findings from the square.

“What’s happening out there?” Raven Feather asked curiously.

“She sounds like she’s about to wrap things up in a little bit. If we’re going to do this, we need to do it soon.” Dust Kicker stated with a concerned expression. Raven Feather chuckled at the paranoid stallion before walking over to check on Raincloud’s progress.

“Oh don’t you worry your pretty little head Dust Kicker, we’re just about finished up here… isn’t that right Raincloud?” Raven Feather asked as the pale blue mare quickly finished her last few scribbles. She finally looked up and smirked.

“There you have it… one pictogram ripe and ready for the fear of a hundred terrified ponies.” Raincloud stated with a bit of pride while stepping back to admire her work.

“Splendid!” Raven Feather said while rubbing her hooves together in anticipation. Raincloud shared in the black pony’s enthusiasm as she chuckled impishly.

“Are you sure you will be alright? I mean, both Celestia and Luna are out there… along with that slayer and like three or four of those special ops ponies.” Dust Kicker said with slight concern as he went over the plan in his head. It seemed crazy to him for Raven Feather to want to be here alone to keep an eye on things.

“We’ve been over this Dust… I can handle myself. Besides, I’m only staying here long enough to prepare our surprise.” Raven Feather said while looking over to the large object under the tarp. “I doubt the spell will work with him, so I will need to raise him myself. After that, I could care less about what happens as long as we gather fear… which we will doubtlessly do. And then there’s the delightful possibility that you will succeed in your mission to kill off that pest Twilight and her friends.” She stated with a gleeful smile a she thought about the scenario.

“So we will be able to use our powers? I certainly hope that spell works like you said, or else it’s going to be very hard.” Dust Kicker stated while looking up at the sunlight beaming down on them. The golden orb would doubtlessly interfere with each of their abilities if left the way it was.

“Yes, yes… the spell will block out sunlight. Not enough to make it completely dark as night, but enough to filter out its harmful properties for your pets… You will only have as long as it takes for Celestia to undo the spell, so try to work fast if you don’t want to strain yourself.” The black mare explained with a casual expression.

“Got it.” Dust Kicker stated in reply.

“Hehehe… I am so going to enjoy this. Come on Dust, let’s head over there now so we can be ready when things get dark.” Raincloud suggested while tugging on her brother’s arm eagerly. Dust Kicker didn’t really have much choice in the matter, so he gave in and followed the pale pegasus towards the library.

Raven Feather watched the two walk down the empty street with a gleeful smile. She knew that they would have little resistance from the purple unicorn and her friends. As powerful as they thought friendship was, the power of darkness was so much more rewarding for the green eyed mare.

After taking one last glance in the direction of the square, Raven Feather started preparations for performing the spell she had worked tirelessly on for the last few days. She had no doubt in her mind that this would truly show the white alicorn what she was capable of.