Everyone was anxious as ever as Celestia continued her speech. She had given the names of all the ponies known to be affiliated with the hooded ponies, and informed everyone about the sudden appearance of Tom. On top of this, she explained why Brimstoke and his team were here, and that they would be capable of handling the situation. The crowd of ponies felt a little more confident knowing that a plan was in place for their protection.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were still listening intently from the back of the crowd, enjoying the relatively free space they had behind the gathering of ponies. It was peaceful to sit in the sun and listen to the princess addressing them while relaxing.

“I guess she’s almost done… want to grab Pinkie and head down to Sugar Cube Corner before we check on Twilight and the others?” Rainbow Dash asked while looking at her yellow friend for a response. Fluttershy smiled as she thought of unwinding with a sugary treat. She had been feeling a little stressed from listening to the speech and all of the bad memories it brought up, so she was glad to hear the offer.

“Sure… I think she was over there somewhere.” The yellow mare said while pointing over to one side of the crowd. Rainbow Dash sighed as she saw how many ponies were in the crowd.

“Well that’s helpful…” The cyan mare stated sarcastically while walking forward to sift through the many ponies to find her friend. Suddenly, something caught the pegasus’s attention that seemed very off to her.

A sizable breeze blew through the square. It was cold and refreshing when compared to the warmth of the sun. What confused Rainbow Dash however, was the fact that the wind was a complete surprise to her.

“What’s wrong?” Fluttershy asked with mild concern as she noticed her friend pausing to look around. Rainbow Dash tried her best to remember the weather forecast for today, only to find that she had no memory of it being windy today.

“Odd… it’s not supposed to be this breezy.” Rainbow Dash stated while looking off into the sky to observe the weather. Oddly enough, the cyan mare caught glimpse of something that caught her off guard. She noticed a thin line of dark clouds rolling in from the distance.

“It’s not supposed to be cloudy today either…” The cyan mare stated in an uneasy tone. Fluttershy could hear the growing worry in her friend’s voice as she watched the ominous clouds. The dark blanket made the two ponies feel a sense of foreboding paranoia as it slowly approached the airspace over the square.

Over at the town hall building, Celestia looked up curiously as she noticed the approaching clouds. As they noticed the alicorn pause and stare upwards, the crowd turned their heads to view the strange phenomena.

“What the…? I thought it was supposed to be sunny today.” Luna stated in confusion as she watched the clouds form. Suddenly, the harsh sound of Tom gasping behind her made the blue alicorn turn around. She saw the boy lurch forward slightly as all of the air was forced out of his lungs. An eerie high pitched rasp erupted from Tom’s mouth as his senses went off unexpectedly. The sight of the blue mist made Luna’s eyes widen in slight panic.

“What is it Tom? What do you f- Ah!” Luna cringed in fright as she suddenly felt whatever power was causing the slayer’s senses to go off. Although not as fine-tuned as Tom’s senses, Luna and her sister could feel powerful energies through their bodies.

While Luna was still recovering from feeling such a startling sensation, Tom rushed forward and walked over to Celestia with an alarmed expression. The white alicorn was concerned to see the human so unsettled.

“What’s wrong Tom?” Celestia asked with a growing sense of unease.

“We need to get everyone out of here! I just felt something big coming our way… and I’m pretty sure it has something to do with that.” The human explained with a sense of urgency while pointing at the approaching clouds. As everyone fixed their attention on the dark masses in the sky, they grew rapidly more nervous and started moving backward at an accelerated rate.

Everyone in the crowd grew incredibly frightened as a loud burst of wind ripped through the square. The overhead clouds cast a shadow that moved over the entire area in one fell swoop as it continued along its path. Once the sky had been sufficiently covered in the ominous clouds, they started moving around in a pattern unlike any natural weather occurrence.

Before anyone could react, they were entranced by the frightful sight of the clouds receding upwards into a cyclone in the sky. The dark masses swirled around in a circle just above the square as the wind picked up. The large gusts blew the various decorations around the square into the air and sent them flying off into the distance, some of which harmlessly hit a few ponies on their path. Not even the trees appeared to be able to weather the storm as they shifted back from the force, their leaves struggling to remain in place as the looser ones were whipped through the air.

Suddenly, a loud noise echoed through the square as a flash of green light appeared out of the center of the cyclone. The noise sounded like a rapid whoosh of energy was coming to life around them. The glowing light in the sky slowly formed into a wispy spiral of green energy. It looked as if someone had found a way to color the wind green as it spiraled down in a wavy trail.

As the transparent mist formed into a spiral on its way down, the noise changed to something that made everyone’s spines tingle from terror. The noise sounded like a distorted bunch of high pitched screams were echoing through the air as the green arm twisted and jolted on its descent. It was like the souls of the dead had found a way to make their anguish known by blending their cries into the sound of whistling wind.

The horrified ponies backed up as fast as they possibly could as the green wisp got closer to the ground. It seemed to be homing in on a singular spot beneath it as it drew closer to the earth. As the spiral of neon green contacted the ground, a soft buzzing sound resonated through the area as it disappeared into the floor. The ground around the impact site glowed green in a spreading circle, as if the light had spread itself through the earth. As suddenly as it had appeared, the light disappeared as the circle faded away along with all noises other than the soft blowing of the wind.

Everyone watched the spot where the light had contacted with dead silence and absolute fright. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy found themselves standing on the edge of the crowd as they stood where they had moved to evade the light. The ponies stood in a large half circle around the empty street where the light had disappeared, watching closely, unable to look away from sheer terror.

“W-w-what was that?” Fluttershy asked through chattering teeth as she looked on in a frozen panic. None of the ponies around her, least of all her cyan friend, could have possibly answered her question.

Suddenly, a barely audible noise came from the spot where the light was. It sounded like something was shifting the dirt around under the cobblestone of the square. The noise grew louder and louder as the crowd noticed small cracks appearing in the stone in several places.

Nobody dared get closer to the odd occurrence, and many of the ponies actual walked further backwards into the crowd in fearful anticipation. When in an instant, the loud crack of stone breaking rang out into the eerie silence, jarring the already fearful ponies. When they looked to see what the cause of the noise was, their jaws collectively dropped, and their eyes collectively widened in fright. Sticking out of a newly created hole in the ground was a skeletal hoof.

The ponies started shaking in fright as they heard an unearthly groan coming from the spot where the hoof was sticking out. The boney limb planted itself on the street, as if to get leverage to lift itself out. More pieces of the street broke up as the rest of the skeletal body came out. Judging from the size and shape of the skeleton, it looked like it belonged to a pony long ago. When the crowd could see the head of the undead pony, they noticed that its eye sockets were glowing the same shade of green the light from the sky had been.

While the ponies were staring in a frozen panic as the skeleton got to its feet, they heard more horrifying groans and moans erupt from under the street. Several more skeletons started breaking their way up through the ground, adding to the ambient choir of terrifying noises.

Several of the ponies at the front of the crowd screamed in absolute horror as they turned to escape the undead ponies. The crowd practically ran over itself as everyone tried to back away from the animate skeletons.

The undead monsters howled a noise so unsettling that it made all who heard it fear for their lives. The numerous creatures all lurched forward and started to pick up speed as they charged after the hapless ponies.

Fluttershy groaned in pain as she was shoved to the ground by the many ponies around her as they ran in blind terror. She looked around her in a frightful panic, only to discover that she had lost sight of Rainbow Dash. The only thing she could hear was a mixture of screams and the unearthly cries of the skeletons, creating a nearly deafening noise that shut out any other sounds.

“W-wh...” The yellow mare stammered as she tried to make sense of her surroundings. She was already in a panicked state from seeing the monsters rise out of the ground in front of her, and the sights and sounds of innocent ponies being pounced on and attacked by those things only frightened her more. She wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball and wish that this wasn’t real.

“…!” Fluttershy froze as she looked in front of her to see one of the creatures was staring at her with vicious intent. The boney creature clattered around as it slowly stalked forward towards the helpless pegasus. None of the ponies around her seemed to notice or care that she was in danger, they were only focused on running away themselves.

“Ah…uhh….” Fluttershy scooted backwards in a desperate attempt at getting distance between her and the approaching monster. Despite her efforts at escaping, the beast marched forward with relentless resolve.

The skeleton let out a deep and gravely growl as it reared back to pounce. The yellow pony could only let out a startled shriek as the monster jumped right for her. Fluttershy instinctively closed her eyes and shielded her face with her arms to protect herself from the incoming attack.

“Get away from her!” Rainbow Dash let out a fierce yell as she collided with the monster attacking her friend. The sound of bones clattering as something impacted them rang out, followed by the sound of the skeleton smacking into the ground and scattering its bones along the floor. Fluttershy looked up to see the cyan mare landing from where she had kicked the pouncing monster. She turned to the shocked pegasus and flashed a smile.

“Come on! Let’s get out of here!” Rainbow Dash instructed while motioning for the yellow pony to get to her feet. Fluttershy nodded and quickly complied. Just as she got upright and prepared to follow her friend, Fluttershy gasped in shock as she saw one of the skeletons ready to pounce behind Rainbow Dash.

“Look out!” The yellow mare cried frantically while pointing behind the cyan pony. Rainbow Dash turned around and widened her eyes in shock as she saw the monster about to strike at her.

“AAH!” The cyan pegasus yelped in fright as she watched the skeleton jump for her. By the time she could react, the creature would already be on top of her.

Suddenly, a zapping noise cut into the screams of the skeleton and the frightened pony. A bright pulse of light rapidly shot into the skeleton from the side, knocking it out of the air from the impact. The creature screeched in pain as it was seemingly offended by the blast. Several more blasts subsequently hit the monster, pushing it back until it fled in the other direction to get away from the burning.

The two ponies turned to see Glimmer Shine holding his strobe out in front of him. Judging from the smoking tip of the vial, the pair put together that he was the source of their rescue. The yellow stallion looked at the two mares with a friendly smirk.

“Thanks for the save…” Rainbow Dash stated with a relieved sigh. Glimmer nodded in response before looking around to observe the scene around him. Most of the crowd had dispersed as they fled, leaving only the ponies trapped by the skeletons in the square. Unfortunately, there were dozens of the undead monsters. Several of them were either cornering innocents or struggling with them on the ground as they pushed to get them off. Much to the shock and horror of Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, they saw several ponies getting bitten and mauled by the vicious monsters.

“Oh my gosh…” Rainbow Dash stated in alarm as she surveyed the chaotic scene. “We need to help them!” She exclaimed desperately. The cyan mare felt a burning urge to do something to assist her fellow ponies.

“I know. Brimstoke and the others are working on it. You two need to get to the town hall, now!” Glimmer Shine instructed to the two in an urgent tone. Rainbow Dash shook her head defiantly.

“No way! We need to work together to stop these things from hurting anyone!” Rainbow Dash said while turning to the yellow mare beside her and giving her a pleading expression. “Fluttershy, you with me?” The cyan pony asked while motioning away with her head. Fluttershy seemed very hesitant about confronting any of the monsters, but she didn’t want to leave her friend to face them alone.

“Y-yes…” the yellow pegasus stated while putting on the bravest face she could muster. The two flyers spread their wings and prepared to take off, when Glimmer Shine shrugged in frustration before stepping forward to stop them.

“Wait! If you’re going to go, at least take these.” Glimmer said while reaching into a pouch on his vest. The yellow stallion rummaged through the pocket until he found what he was looking for. He then brought out two vials and handed them to the two ponies. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy looked at the items curiously.

“What are these?” Fluttershy asked with a puzzled expression while turning the bottle over in her hooves. The strange container looked like the many other charms and trinkets that the team used, so it was hard to identify what purpose it held at first glance.

“They’re strobes… just point at something and press the button on the top there. I’m clearly not going to change your mind about going, but please just be careful.” Glimmer Shine instructed with a concerned expression. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy gave the stallion a nod of confirmation. They then turned to each other and gave a nod of agreement.

Glimmer Shine watched as the two mares flew into the air above the square. After making sure that they were well enough equipped, he turned his attention back to the scene in front of him. Due to him being so close to the origin point of the skeletons, there were far more of the undead creatures around the area than ponies.

“Guess it’s time to earn my paycheck…” Glimmer shrugged while steeling himself for the battle ahead. The yellow stallion stepped forward and took aim at a skeleton that was pinning a bleeding pony to the ground. He shot the beast off of the pony before charging forward to assist as many civilians as he could.

Meanwhile in the sky, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were surveying the area beneath them to see where to head next. Most of the ponies were still fleeing the square and running between buildings to escape, but many were either trapped or being chased by the undead creatures as more of them were popping up everywhere.

Over by town hall, the two could see that Brimstoke was watching over the entrance to the building while several frightened ponies rushed inside. A little ways to the side, Celestia and Luna looked like they were trying to stop whatever was causing the monsters to appear. Their horns were glowing and they had very stressed expressions as they tried to feel out what to do.

“Looks like the princesses are trying to stop this.” Rainbow Dash said to her companion, who was hovering just beside her. Fluttershy looked over to the town hall, only to see several of the creatures heading right for the two alicorns.

“Oh no… I think they need our help!” The yellow mare said while pointing at the approaching monsters. Rainbow Dash gasped as she watched the skeletons march forward, the two princesses seemed unconcerned about the approaching threat.

Suddenly, Tom leapt out of nowhere and cut the offending beasts into a pile of scattered bones. The skeletons offered little more resistance than a growl as the slayer skillfully evaded their lunges, only to knock their bodies apart in retaliation. The two mares smiled as they saw that the princesses were safe.

As they looked around for ponies to assist, they suddenly heard a familiar scream through the blend of noises in the square. They both gasped as they realized that their friend Pinkie Pie was the source of the noise. After a quick scan below them to find the origin of the noise, the two ponies’ eyes widened as they spotted their pink friend.

The party pony was with Derpy Hooves, who was desperately trying to hold her ground against four approaching skeletons. The gray mare seemed to be mildly intimidated by the monsters, but stood above the quivering pink mare in an attempt at protecting her.

“Come on, let’s go!” Rainbow Dash stated while flying downwards. Fluttershy followed the cyan mare’s lead as she darted through the air in a race to reach her friends before they were harmed. Just as the skeletons were about to pounce on the helpless pair, the two pegasus’s aimed their strobes downwards and opened fire.

The skeletons screeched in pain and writhed around as the bolts of light struck them. They held their ground until the two ponies landed in front of them and continued shooting to protect their friends. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy anxiously watched as the beasts tried to ignore the blasts to get at them, only to be driven back by the pain. As the monsters ran away, they smiled to each other and turned to their now relieved friends.

“You did it!” Derpy Hooves cheered while turning to the shivering pink mare on the ground. Pinkie was still shielding her face with her arms, only peeking out slightly to see that she was still intact.

“We’re… alive?” Pinkie asked nervously while looking out to see the two cheerful pegasus’s that rescued her. Suddenly the pink mare returned her happy nature and let out a celebratory cheer. Rainbow Dash was relieved to see the two unharmed, but she had to unfortunately cut their celebration short.

“You two head to the town hall, Tom and Brimstoke should keep you safe there.” The cyan pony instructed with a serious expression. Pinkie Pie nodded while the gray mare beside her offered a confident salute. The two quickly turned around and rushed through the square on their way to safety.

“Whew…. That was a close one. Nice shooting there, Tex.” Rainbow Dash said with a smile while patting the brave pegasus beside her on the back. Fluttershy giggled as she looked down to the vial she held in her hooves. The tip was still smoking, offering a reminder of how confidently she had attacked the monsters.

“Thanks… you did pretty good yourself.” Fluttershy returned the compliment to her friend. Rainbow Dash nodded before shifting her expression to a more serious one as she thought of something grim.

“We shot those things up and they just ran away… we need to do something else to put them down for good.” Rainbow Dash stated while looking slightly less confident than she had originally been. Fluttershy was just as disheartened as the cyan pony at their new problem.

“Hold on… what if we move those clouds out of the way?” The shy mare suggested while looking up. Rainbow Dash trailed her eyes upwards and gasped in revelation. The light from the sun would surely destroy the creatures, which must have been why the clouds were there in the first place.

“Fluttershy you’re a genius!” Rainbow Dash said with excitement while patting the yellow pony on the shoulder as a compliment. “Come on! Let’s hurry and get up there!” She exclaimed eagerly. Fluttershy nodded to the cyan mare as she spread her wings again. The two swiftly leapt into the air and flew up towards the cloud line.

The wind blew fiercely in the two ponies’ faces as they neared the dark clouds. The ominous way that they shifted and moved made the two incredibly nervous as they approached. Once they were just beneath the clouds, the pair got into position and prepared to grab onto them.

“Here, this looks like a good spot to start.” Fluttershy stated while reaching up to touch the clouds. Suddenly, as the yellow mare made contact with the black shapes, a few bolts of green electricity sparked to life. The miniature light show flowed over the entirety of the cloud that Fluttershy was touching. It grew in intensity, before suddenly jumping to strike the pegasus.

“AGH!” Fluttershy screamed in pain and surprise as the sensation of electricity flowed through her. The shock of the event threw the pegasus downward, causing her to free fall as she went unconscious from the jolt.

“FLUTTERSHY!” Rainbow Dash yelled in horror as she witnessed her friend being struck out of the air from the sudden spark in the cloud. She watched in abject terror as the pegasus plummeted towards the ground.

Rainbow Dash flew downwards as fast as she could to catch the falling pony. Just before they reached the ground, she managed to get a hold of her unconscious friend and pull upwards enough to break her fall. As she landed and cradled the yellow mare in her arms, she checked to see if she was severely injured. She appeared to be slightly burned where the electricity had hit her, and her body felt cold to the touch, but that might have just been from the chilly wind. Either way, the cyan mare was extremely worried for the unconscious pony.

“Come on Fluttershy… wake up!” Rainbow Dash shook the pegasus gently to jolt her awake. She feverishly watched with growing concern while her attempts at stirring the yellow pony failed. Fluttershy’s head simply lolled backwards as gravity settled her motionless body.

“Wake up Fluttershy… please don’t do this to me!” Rainbow Dash hugged the pegasus close to her and squeezed tightly. She was about to give up hope, when suddenly she heard a soft murmur from the yellow mare and felt her move slightly.

Fluttershy groggily opened her eyes and looked around in a daze. She tried to get up, but Rainbow Dash pushed her gently to keep her in a resting position. The yellow mare was slightly confused, but relieved to see the cyan mare holding her.

“R…Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy muttered in a sleepy tone. Rainbow Dash was practically crying from joy at seeing her friend unharmed.

“Thank Celestia you’re alive! I thought you left me for a second there… don’t scare me like that.” Rainbow playfully chided the pegasus while smiling warmly. Fluttershy smiled in return before looking at the cyan pony with confusion.

“Ughh… what happened up there? I was just touching the cloud when... I saw a bright flash of light and felt a shock go through me.” The yellow mare asked in a puzzled tone while looking up.

“You got struck by some kind of green lightning… those clouds must have some kind of protection on them to prevent pegasi from touching them.” Rainbow Dash explained while looking up at the sky thoughtfully. Suddenly a large gust of wind broke through the area again as a flash of green light filled the sky. The two ponies watched fearfully while the strange green mist appeared again and rapidly descended from the area they touched. The twisted stream headed for the spot right beside the two shocked mares. They sparsely had time to react before it flowed into the ground, creating another shockwave of faded green light that tinted the ground before vanishing.

“Wait… does that mean…?!” Rainbow Dash looked around in a panic as she realized what was going on. The two felt a soft rumble beneath them and looked around as they saw the street cracking up around them. Soon enough, the pair was surrounded as more skeletons rose up around them, blocking any exit route they had.

Fluttershy immediately started hyperventilating and shaking in fright. She clung to the cyan mare next to her, who wasn’t faring much better as she tried to offer what little comfort she could to the scared pony. The two could only watch in terror as the undead creatures approached them from all sides. They could hear the deafening groans and moans coming from the former ponies as they eyed their prey with their hollow and glowing eye sockets. Rainbow Dash glanced down to her strobe in a panic before realizing that it was useless against this many enemies. The two mares couldn’t fight off the horde before they reached them, so they decided to just duck their heads down together and wait for their doom.

Suddenly the two heard the sound of a pony yelling out a battle cry, followed by the sound of a skeleton exploding into a pile of bones. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy looked up to see that Sunspot was battling the creatures around them, spinning around and kicking whatever tried to get at her with relative ease.

The sound of a strobe firing behind them rang out, followed by the skeletons behind them crying out in pain as they were assaulted by the burning light. Neon Streak stepped forward and assisted the suited pegasus with dispatching the crowd around the two mares. Once the area was clear, Sunspot checked the pair to see if they were injured.

“Are you guys ok?” The orange mare asked with sincere concern.

“Yeah… yeah we’re fine.” Rainbow Dash stated while looking to Fluttershy sympathetically. The yellow mare offered a reassuring nod to indicate that she was in good health as well.

“Are you two crazy?! You shouldn’t be out here, it’s too dangerous.” Neon Streak shook her head in disappointment while chiding the two reckless ponies. Rainbow Dash shrugged and looked down sadly, the green mare was sorry to see that she had upset the two so much.

“Look, it’s alright… neither of you were hurt thankfully. Just head to the town hall and stay close to Brimstoke.” Neon instructed in a softer tone while pointing off to the side. The two ponies nodded in defeat before getting up and walking away towards the center of the square.

Sunspot and Neon Streak looked at each other and put on their most confident expression before returning their attention to the many creatures roaming around the square. They would have to do their best if they were going to rescue the injured ponies that were being attacked mercilessly by the strange monsters.