It was very tense and nerve racking for the better part of the morning down at the Ponyville town square. Although there were considerably fewer undead monsters roaming around, there were still enough to warrant concern for the ponies dotted around the square.

Brimstoke and Tom were doing their best to keep the princess safe while she figured out a way to stop the spell that was making the skeletons appear. Princess Luna had since left the town hall and decided to assist Sunspot and the others with rescuing all of the injured or trapped ponies around the square.

“What’s your progress, Princess?” Brimstoke asked anxiously while eyeing the three skeletons attempting to shuffle over to him. Most of the ponies from the square had fled to the rest of the town, but a great many of them had taken shelter in the town hall. And as troubling as the notion seemed, the undead creatures seemed to know this and were steadily trying to get past the white stallion and break through the door.

Celestia looked up from the floor to observe the two in front of her. While Tom seemed to be having little problems in dispatching whatever came his way, the alicorn was concerned for Brimstoke and his team.

“I’m trying as fast as I can. This cloud is unlike anything I have ever seen, and I can barely produce enough energy to even affect it.” The princess responded with a troubled tone.

“Well I hope you can get rid of it soon… more and more of those things just keep popping up, almost faster than we can put them down.” Brimstoke stated while looking out into the square to check on his teammates.

Suddenly, the three were interrupted by Neon Streak trotting up to them from the side. She appeared exhausted from her efforts at keeping the ponies in the square safe from the undead horde around them.

“Neon, what’s the situation out there?” Brimstoke asked with a serious expression. He waited for the green mare to catch her breath before she responded.

“*Pant*… we… *wheeze*... we have managed to get all of the civilians away from the creatures. Glimmer, Sunspot, and Princess Luna are guarding them until we can move them up here.” Neon explained while looking behind her at the square bustling with undead life. It was a sorrowful sight to see this much destruction and chaos in the once lively town center.

“How many casualties we count?” Brimstoke grew more somber as he brought up the subject of lost lives. Neon Streak looked down sadly before answering.

“*Sigh*… non to report so far, but a few ponies are in critical condition. Even if Pepper were here I don’t think he could help all of them… we need external help if we don’t want to lose anyone.” Neon said with a grim tone in her voice.

“We have royal guard on the way. I’m sure they have made arrangements to bring in field medics as well.” Brimstoke replied while trying to brighten the situation. “Neon, I need you to head back out there to help them move those civvies to safety. Understood?” He instructed to the mare in a clear voice.

“Yes sir.” Neon nodded while putting a little bit more energy into her response. The green mare turned around and quickly darted through the square while avoiding any skeletons that blocked her path.

Before Brimstoke could return to his post, his ear started glowing as Glitterball’s communication spell worked its magic. He heard a slightly nervous pony on the other end that he recognized to be Peppermint.

“Hello…? Can anyone hear me?” Pepper asked nervously. The way the medical pony sounded conveyed that he was in a stressful situation. Brimstoke was surprised to see that the spell worked over such a long distance.

“Peppermint? This is Brimstoke speaking.” The white stallion said to alert the pony to his presence. He put a hoof up to his ear to better focus the sound and waited for the red haired stallion to respond.

“Brimstoke…? Oh thank goodness. We’re in serious trouble back at the library and we need help immediately. Is Tom there?” Peppermint asked in a stressed tone of voice.

“Yes Tom is here. What’s going on over there?” Brimstoke replied with growing concern. He never figured that the group back at the library would be in any danger from the attack.

“One of the hooded ponies showed up… they apparently summoned some kind of shadow creature here. It managed to attack Glitterball before we could fend it off long enough to find a safe place.” The red haired stallion explained his grim situation with a palpable sense of urgency.

“What?!” Brimstoke exclaimed in shock upon hearing that one of the hooded ponies had attacked in such a direct way.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Tom asked curiously while walking up to the surprised stallion. Although he couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation, he could hear himself being mentioned, and the shocked reaction of the white pony.

“Twilight and the others are being attacked back at the library by some kind of shadow creature.” Brimstoke relayed the information to the listening human and alicorn while dropping his hoof from his ear to speak outside of the two-way link.

“What?!” Tom and Celestia both were shocked and alarmed to hear that their friends were being attacked under their very noses.

“Ask them where they are now, and if they’re safe.” Tom practically instructed the stallion on what to say. Although he had a small sense of authority from his days at the academy, Brimstoke figured that the human knew more about what to do in these situations.

“Pepper, what are you guys doing right now? Are you safe?” The white pony repeated the human’s request while returning his hoof to his ear.

“We’re using one of Tom’s blessed candles to keep it out currently… it seems to have left us alone for the moment, but we have a slight problem here.” Peppermint explained with a growing sense of apprehension in his voice.

“What’s wrong?” Brimstoke asked with a growing sense of dread. The mere fact that the others were in such a situation made him nervous already, so to hear that more complications were present only made the white stallion more on edge.

“The candle looks like its flickering out… we don’t know how much longer it will last.” Peppermint stated uneasily. His voice was getting more and more unsettled the longer he thought about how much trouble they were in.

As Tom noticed the growing sense of unease evident on Brimstoke’s face, he couldn’t help but to worry about the group trapped at the library. He felt a sense of urgency to find out as much about the situation as possible.

“What’s happening over there? Talk to me Brimstoke…” The human’s voice broke the white stallion out of his nervous thoughts and made him look forward.

“They are using one of your candles to protect themselves, but they think it’s about to burn out.” Brimstoke explained in a dreadful tone. Tom was shocked to hear the news that his friends were in so much danger.

“Listen to me… Tell them that they need to get another means of staying safe. If only one candle is used, then it doesn’t last nearly as long as multiple candles linked together.” Tom explained with a sense of urgency while turning to walk away. “I’m going over there to help them. Will you guys be ok here on your own?” He asked while observing the remnants of the skeleton army.

“Yeah, we’ll be fine. Just go!” Brimstoke replied while motioning for the human to leave. Tom nodded before sprinting off in the direction that he remembered leading to the library. As the human ran off towards the edge of the square, the white stallion noticed a group of ponies approaching the town hall from the side. It was Neon Streak and the others escorting a group of injured ponies.

Princess Luna was levitating a bloodied earth pony mare alongside her. Glimmer Shine and Sunspot were each helping two ponies walk. There was another unicorn mare limping slowly in the middle of the group. And Neon Streak was covering the small troop from the few skeletons that remained in the square as they walked.

“Are these the last ponies that were out there?” Brimstoke asked while rushing forward to help the injured unicorn walk up the steps to the main building.

“Yeah, everyone else either ran off or they are accounted for.” Glimmer explained before opening the door to the town hall and helping the pony beside him inside. Sunspot and Luna did the same, leaving Neon Streak outside with Princess Celestia and Brimstoke.

“Where’d Tom go?” Neon asked curiously while looking around for the absent human.

“He ran off to help Twilight and the others back at the library. They are being attacked by one of the hooded ponies as we speak.” Brimstoke explained uneasily.

“What?! Are they ok?!” Neon asked in a more concerned tone.

“Don’t worry. They found a way to keep themselves safe until Tom gets there.” Brimstoke said in order to ease the green mare’s concerns. Suddenly the moans and groans of the remaining skeletons drew their attention away.

“I guess that leaves us to mop things up around here… shouldn’t be too hard with how few of these things are remaining.” Neon stated with a chuckle while looking around at the many bones strewn around. It was a veritable graveyard of scattered skulls and heaps of bones from where each undead creature had collapsed after dismemberment.

“Yeah, let’s hurry up and finish these things off so we can go help Tom and the others.” Brimstoke said with a confident nod to his teammate.

Suddenly, a loud rattling noise made them dart their heads around nervously. It sounded like all of the bones around the square were vibrating, and sure enough, they were. Every bone left by one of the fallen monsters was shaking violently on the ground. Much to the ponies’ astonishment, a green mist erupted from the skulls and rib cages scattered around.

The mist flew out into the area around each skeleton and went inside each of the bones that formally comprised their bodies. The body parts started floating into the air and assembling back into their original composition.

As the skeletons were reforming all around the square, the newly formed beasts and the creatures that were left over from before all turned their attention forward. Brimstoke and Neon Streak backed up defensively as they watched the forming horde.

“I thought if we knocked their heads off it would kill them?!” Neon asked with an alarmed tone.

“I guess not… maybe we should try breaking their bones?” Brimstoke suggested nervously. He then turned behind him and looked at the white alicorn still trying to break the spell.

“Uh, Princess? We could really use some sunlight right about now.” Brimstoke said with an anxious tone.

Celestia looked up from her work and gasped in shock as she noticed how many of the creatures there were around them. She never imagined that there were this many that had formed since the fighting had begun.

“I’m trying Brimstoke… Just be careful alright?” The alicorn said in a concerned tone. Brimstoke nodded confidently.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be fine. Neon, go inside and get the others… we need to fight these things off until the princess can get rid of them for good.” The stallion instructed to his partner. Neon Streak took one more cursory glance at the crowd of approaching skeletons before returning her attention to her leader and nodding.

Meanwhile back at the library, the atmosphere was very tense and nerve racking for decidedly different reasons. Ever since the shadow had ceased its assault on the magical barrier, the frightened group of ponies had been left in utter silence. The usually warm and comfortable environment of the library had been shifted into a dark and foreboding one. Every stray noise of the wind rustling the foliage of the library or even the creak of a piece of wood settling made the group jumpy.

Twilight and her small band of companions eyed at the red haired stallion anxiously as he tried to summon the aid they so desperately needed. Although they couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation, they could put together that Peppermint was explaining their situation to Brimstoke.

“W-what..?” The stallion stammered nervously in a frightened voice. Judging from his pale expression, the others figured that something Brimstoke said had given him a dreadful feeling.

“What is it Pepper?” Glitterball asked curiously, brimming with just as much anxiety as the others were to know about what was happening.

“Oh… ok, we’ll have to make due then I guess… *gulp*” Peppermint continued his conversation while giving the curious ponies around him a signal to be patient while he finished. After another brief moment, the white stallion put his hoof back down from his ear and looked around with a pale expression.

“Well? What did they say…? Are they coming to help us?” Rarity asked while trying to quiet her nerves for the sake of the filly beside her. All of the adults were trying to appear as brave as possible for the four children, but everyone could tell that they were just internalizing their fear.

“Yes, Tom is on his way as we speak… but we have a slight problem.” Peppermint replied while nervously staring at the diminished flame on the candle that sat in the center of their protective bubble.

“What is it Pepper? Is the candle weakening or something?” Twilight speculated while watching the flickering of the blue flame.

“Worse… according to Tom, this candle isn’t going to last much longer, especially if that shadow tries breaking in again. We need to get somewhere safe, and fast.” Pepper replied in an anxious tone. The confirmation that the candle was indeed going out filled everyone with a new sense of fear and dread.

“What are we going to do? This candle is the only thing keeping that thing from getting us.” Applebloom stated gloomily. Although she was stating the obvious, Applejack still tried her best to reassure her sister that everything would be alright. But the best she could offer the filly was holding her close with one arm.

“I think I might have a solution… but it does have a few drawbacks.” Glitterball suggested while getting up from her seated position. Everyone looked to the rainbow haired unicorn with pleading eyes in the hopes that she could deliver them to safety.

“Ah think that anything would be better than waiting for that thing to get us. What’s your plan Glitter?” Applejack asked eager to learn about the unicorn’s suggestion. Glitterball was happy to see that someone placed their faith in her, but she hoped that she could deliver on her promise.

“I have a warding charm in my repertoire of spells that would keep that shadow out for a while… but it might have a few undesired side effects. For one we need to get into an interior room that has a door.” Glitterball explained while looking around nervously. The only door in sight was the front door.

“Will my bedroom work? I know it has a balcony… but it should count as interior right?” Twilight suggested while thinking of a room that would work. Her kitchen and the other section of the library each lacked doors, and her bathroom would be too small for everyone to fit into, so her bedroom was their only option.

“Right… that should work. As long as it isn’t the front door the charm will work. But that brings us to the next problem… I’m not sure if the charm will be strong enough to keep that monster out permanently. It should hold us out until help gets here though.” Glitterball stated with doubtful optimism. Even if she did want to view the situation with as much hope as possible, she couldn’t get the negative outcomes out of her head.

Even if the unicorn’s plan didn’t work out, the ponies had to do something fast. The flame on the candle was gradually sinking further into the wax. At this rate, the candle would go out on its own in a few minutes.

“Well if we want to move without being open to attack then we need to move now. Glitterball, get your charm ready and let’s head upstairs.” Twilight said while lighting up her horn and grabbing the candle with her magic, everyone got ready to follow the unicorn as she carefully inched forward to keep her friends in the circle of protection.

With jittery nerves and strong feelings of apprehension and anxiety, the group walked forward through the darkened room. With the thick veil of clouds covering the sky outside, the sun did little to light the room as dim rays of faint light streamed in through the window.

Everyone was secretly dreading every step they took. They knew for certain that their ghostly assailant would return for them, it was only a matter of time. Scootaloo and her band of crusaders huddled near Twilight to keep as close to the protective rays of the candle flame as possible. The purple unicorn practically tripped over the three fillies every time she stepped forward.

After what seemed like an eternity of walking just a few inches, the group finally reached the stairs. Twilight motioned for Glitterball and Peppermint to step up before her. It only made sense for the lavender mare to remain in the middle of the group. If she went in front, then the entire group would have to keep inside of the small space provided by one half of the circle.

“Let’s hurry up guys… this candle is almost used up.” Twilight stated grimly while nervously eyeing the progressively shrinking flame. The group took this as a cue to speed up their progress as much as possible while still being cautious.

The purple unicorn could almost swear she could hear the faint sound of the shadow’s maniacal laughter from within the walls. She was almost on the verge of an anxiety attack by the time the group reached her bedroom door. Much to the surprise and dismay of everyone, the two vested ponies paused in front of the door and sighed before turning to the others with troubled expressions.

“We need to prepare the charm on both sides of the door for this to work… maybe you guys should head inside and wait for us?” Glitterball suggested in an uneasy voice. Although the ponies appreciated the bold gesture, they could tell that she didn’t exactly want to be left outside to fend for herself.

“No way, you guys would be sitting ducks out here without this candle. We can wait a little longer while you get the spell ready… just hurry up ok?” Twilight said with a kind tone. She knew that the two would be at risk if they were to remain outside, and if they were attacked, the rest of the group would be put in danger without the protective charm completed.

“Ok… thanks I guess.” Glitterball stated in a grateful tone. She hadn’t thought about the possible outcomes of her plan beforehand, so to hear that someone else was thinking logically made her feel better about their chances.

Without wasting any time, Glitterball and her partner reached into their vests to grab the necessary ingredients to complete the charm. Among the items the two produced from their inventory were two pieces of paper in small strips that only seemed big enough to write vertically on. After affixing one of the pieces of paper onto the door, the rainbow haired mare grabbed a feather quill and dabbed it into what appeared to be red ink.

The sight of the small piece of paper filled many of the ponies with varying feelings of doubt and curiosity. They wondered how potent a magical spell involving paper could actually be, especially when held against the frightening capabilities of the shadow monster.

“How is that going to work? I don’t think a piece of paper is going to do much against that thing.” Scootaloo fretted with worry as she eyed their supposed salvation. Glitterball merely smirked at the narrow minded filly while writing odd symbols on the paper.

“And I didn’t think that candles could do much against that thing either… Magic takes many strange and sometimes unlikely forms.” Glitter replied with an understanding tone of voice. As the young pegasus thought back to how the blessed candles had fended off the creatures from the hospital, she resolved that not everything is as it seems when it comes to magic, especially human magic.

“Ok, this side is done. Everyone head inside so we can complete the charm.” The white unicorn instructed while opening the door and ushering everyone inside, the group was eager to finally get somewhere safe where they could relax for five seconds without fear of being attacked.

As she was heading inside, Twilight paused to view the piece of paper stuck to the door. The symbols on the paper vaguely resembled some of the symbols she had seen in the books procured from the hooded ponies, but only slightly. In truth, the purple unicorn had no idea what any of the seemingly jumbled up mess of shapes even meant.

“Are you sure this is going to work, Twilight?” Spike asked from beside the lavender mare. Twilight looked down to see the young dragon admiring the paper himself with a curious expression.

“I’m sure that Glitter and Pepper know what they’re doing Spike. They wouldn’t have suggested this if it didn’t even work.” The unicorn replied in a reassuring tone. She could tell that her assistant was trying to rationalize the situation to make himself feel safer. It reminded her a little bit of how she coped with frightful situations.

“Hurry up and get inside guys… Ah don’t think that candle is going to last much longer.” The sound of Applejack beckoning them inside made the two turn their attention to the candle flame as it shifted in the air. They nodded in agreement while stepping forward.

Suddenly, an eerie noise behind the pair made them turn around. It was hard to tell the source of the noise, but it sounded like the discomforting whoosh that the shadow made when it phased out of an object.

Just past the bubble of light provided by Twilight’s horn, and the thin blue line on the floor that indicated the reach of the fading candle, something appeared to be moving in the darkness. Just before Spike and Twilight could react to the black shape, it moved upwards, revealing the neon purple glow of the shadow’s face.

The creature’s body seemed to be masked by the darkness in the hallway, leaving only the floating eyes and mouth of the specter to be seen. As it cackled sinisterly, it rushed forward and slammed into the barrier of the candle. Instead of being repelled by the barrier however, the specter crashed through it. The candle flame sputtered out into a puff of blue smoke, and the force field appeared and disappeared as if it had been shattered.

“*Gasp*” Twilight was shocked into silence by the ghostly figure in front of her. As it came into the light, it brandished its claws out in front of itself as if to show them off. The claws glowed a deep purple that gave the unicorn flashbacks of how it had attacked Glitterball.

The shadow reeled its arm back in preparation to strike while gliding forward, the sight of the monster about to attack her made Twilight recoil backwards, only to hit the frame of the door as she scuttled back.

Meanwhile, as the shadow was approaching the frightened unicorn, Spike was watching the scene unfold with abject horror. A part of him wanted to flee into the room and leave the purple mare to fend for herself, but he couldn’t just abandon her. The dragon felt an urge to protect his lifelong friend welling up inside of him, one that was slowly overriding his feeling of terror.

“Twilight!” Spike cried out in a fearful tone while stepping in front of the unicorn. As the shadow noticed the dragon getting between him and his original target, he shifted his icy glare downwards and adjusted his trajectory.

Twilight was horrified to see her young assistant jump in front of her. She tried to reach forward to get him out of the way of danger, but by the time she reacted it was too late. The unicorn watched in shock and dreadful terror as the shadow slashed its deadly weapons across sideways. A liberal amount of blood sprayed out of the dragon like a bursting water balloon as the claws made contact with his midsection.

“AGH!” Spike screamed painfully as the creature’s claws raked across his body.

Time seemingly slowed down as Twilight watched the dragon she had lived with for years getting lifted sideways from the force of the strike. The dragon’s blood splashed into the wall, being followed shortly by his body, which let out a sickening thud that mixed in with Spike’s cry of pain.

As Spike fell to the floor and clutched his injury, Twilight could see streams of crimson pouring out through his fingers as his wound bled out. The dragon’s initial scream of pain had died out once he hit the wall, and now he seemed to be struggling with breathing as he made rapid shallow breaths.

“SPIKE!” Twilight screamed in disbelief while rushing to Spike’s side. As she slid to her knees to cradle the wounded dragon, she turned once she heard the sinister cackle of the shadow.

Although she felt a burning anger for what the shadow had just done, the unicorn was still frightened of the ghostly monster. The specter reeled its arm back once more to strike at the helpless pair. Twilight flinched her eyes shut and held Spike against her body so that he would get as little of the attack as possible.

Suddenly, a burst of energy followed by a flash of light exploded into the creature, causing it to recoil in pain. Twilight looked up to see Glitterball stepping in front of her while holding out her strobe to fend off the monster.

“Twilight! Get up!” The sound of Applejack’s frantic yells made the unicorn turn her head to the side. She was greeted by the sight of the orange mare rushing to her side to assist her with getting Spike to safety. Although she was horrified by the dragon’s bloody wounds, the farm pony wasted no time in picking him up and pulling him inside. Twilight felt that the orange mare would have taken Spike right out of her arms if she hadn’t got up along with her, and she was slightly thankful of that.

While the pair rushed the injured dragon inside, Glitterball rushed in and closed the door behind her. She raced to prepare the rest of the charm so that they could be safe. Peppermint attempted to help the unicorn with finishing the spell, but he was rejected when she pushed him away gently.

“Go help him! I got this!” Glitter instructed in a panicked tone. Pepper nodded before rushing over to the injured dragon as Twilight and Applejack placed him on the floor gently.

“Oh my gosh… Spike! No, no, no…” Twilight was on the verge of tears as she watched her assistant writhing in pain on the floor. The dragon didn’t even open his eyes as he clutched the doubtlessly painful gash on his stomach.

“Make some room.” Pepper instructed while pushing his way through the crowd of concerned bystanders to get to the pair tending to the dragon. Twilight quickly scooted over and let the red haired stallion do his job.

Peppermint gently moved Spike’s bloody hands away from his wound. The gash was very deep and gory looking. The sight of this much blood would normally make the ponies sick, but instead it only made them more worried.

“Is he ok? Is he going to make it?” Twilight’s voice shook as she stared helplessly at her injured companion. Peppermint turned to give the unicorn a statement, when suddenly the dragon cried out in pain again. The group watched with horrified expressions as the lengthy gash on Spike’s midsection pulsed with a purple glow. The already painful injury seemed to be amplified tenfold by the strange glow as the dragon could barely remain still from the agony he was feeling.

“I need him to stay still so I can work on him… Glitter?!” Peppermint called out while turning his head to see the unicorn’s progress on the door. She was still scribbling on the paper and treating it with various bottles of strange liquids.

“I’m almost done!” Glitterball replied nervously while rushing at every opportunity. The tense atmosphere was wreaking havoc on the unicorn’s nerves, as it was everyone else’s.

“Almost isn’t going to cut it…” Pepper huffed in frustration before returning his attention to the dragon in front of him. Suddenly Spike was enveloped by a purple aura that made him remain still against the floor. Everyone looked over to see Twilight with her horn lit up.

“I’ll hold him… just save him please!” The purple mare stated anxiously. She wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball and cry, but she had to remain strong if she was going to help her friend.

With a solemn nod, Peppermint reached into a pouch on his vest and pulled out more of the powder he had used on Glitterball. Without hesitation he sprinkled the powder over the length of the wound in liberal amounts.

Everyone watched anxiously as they waited for the powder to take effect. Before long, the same white glow from earlier enveloped the powder and started reacting with the harmful effects of the purple glow. But as the powder disappeared bit by bit, the ponies made a frightful discovery. The purple glow still remained, even though all of the powder had vanished.

“What the…?” Peppermint seemed perplexed by the lack of progress being made by the powder. He sprinkled another hoof full of the substance over the wound with a growing sense of unease that was apparent on his face.

“What’s wrong? Is it working?” Rarity asked anxiously. Everyone felt the same sense of fear and dread for the dragon, they were all wracked with worry that he wouldn’t survive his injuries.

Peppermint trailed his eyes off to look away from the concerned group. It was hard enough for him to deal with an injured child, but he knew that everyone was looking up to him to save their friend’s life, and that made the stallion all the more nervous.

“I think that he caught a larger amount of the negative energy than Glitterball did… I don’t think that I can cure his pain right now.” Pepper explained with a sad tone of voice. Everyone felt their hearts sink upon hearing that Spike would have to suffer for a longer period of time.

Suddenly a loud whir followed by a flash of light coming from behind them made everyone turn their attention to the front of the room.

“Yes!” Glitterball exclaimed triumphantly. The symbols on the piece of paper were glowing bright red, signifying that whatever spell was in place had been activated.

“The spell worked! We should be safe now.” The unicorn explained while trotting over to join the group tending to the young dragon. She lit up her horn and wrapped her aura around Spike, prompting Twilight to release her hold on him.

“I got it Twilight… you just rest for a while.” Glitter said in a friendly tone. Twilight was grateful that she no longer had to do anything other than process her emotions. She gave the rainbow haired mare a passing expression of gratitude before scooting backwards and falling to a seated position.

Applejack and Rarity sat near the distraught pony to offer her a small sense of comfort. They could tell that she was destroying herself on the inside over what happened, and although they didn’t outright know what had transpired in the hallway, they felt that asking about it would only cause her more pain.

“We need to stop the bleeding. We can worry about that purple stuff later.” Peppermint said while reaching onto his vest to grab his cauterizing charm.

“Shouldn’t we put him under before we do that? He’s in enough pain as is.” Twilight stated while watching Spike grimace painfully in an attempt at coping with the agony he was experiencing. Even though he was probably dazed from the pain he was feeling, he would doubtlessly notice if someone tried to singe his wounds closed.

“We don’t have anything stronger than local anesthetics on hand… it will have to do for now.” Glitterball explained while Peppermint pulled out the syringes necessary to numb the dragon.

Before the two could inject the numbing agent, the wound lit up a bright shade of purple that seemed more intense than usual. Glitterball felt Spike push harder against her magical hold as he tried to sit up instinctively from the pain. Along with tightening his muscles in a failed attempt to move, the dragon started screaming in pain again.

Judging from how much louder the dragon was crying, the group knew that he must have been feeling some kind of horrific suffering that they could only imagine. Scootaloo and her two fellow crusaders looked away sadly as they couldn’t bear to see their friend like this. Everyone else looked on with their mouths agape in horrified expressions as they silently prayed for whatever pain that Spike was feeling to subside.

Suddenly, Spike ceased his cries of agony and relaxed his muscles. It appeared as if he had awakened from a night terror only to pass out again. The sight of the motionless dragon filled Twilight and her friends with dread and panic.

“Oh my gosh… is he…?!” Twilight’s voice cracked from how terrified she was. She could feel fresh tears streaming from her eyes uncontrollably as she stared at her number one assistant lying on the floor with a magically glowing bloody gash on his stomach.

Peppermint quickly put a hoof to the dragon’s neck to check for a pulse. Although he was calmer than everyone else due to experience, the tense situation was even getting to him, causing his hooves to tremble slightly from his shocked nerves.

“He’s alive… he must have just passed out from the shock.” Pepper stated with relief evident in his voice. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that their friend was alive. Although it was horrible that he experienced so much pain that he passed out, they were extremely happy that the dragon wasn’t dead.

*BANG*

A sudden thump on the door to the bedroom made everyone jump in fright. They turned their heads to the door only to see it shaking slightly from the repeated impacts of something banging on it from the other side. A low and frustrated growl that perfectly fit the eerie voice that the shadow had rang out as it figured out that it couldn’t get at its prey.

Although the knowledge that the shadow was just outside made them nervous, the ponies were relieved to find out that the spell on the door was working in keeping out the ghostly monster.

“Phew… guess you finished the charm just in time Glitter.” Rarity said in a congratulatory tone while smiling at the unicorn and her quick thinking. Glitterball seemed flattered by the praise being sent her way by the white mare and her friends.

“Just doing my job I guess… now let’s get Spike here patched up.” Glitter said while turning to Peppermint, who nodded confidently while pulling out a vial from his vest.