Meanwhile, as Twilight and her group were inside worrying about their injured friend, outside there was a more relaxed and impatient atmosphere. Dust Kicker was leaning against the wall of the building as his sister stood around while waiting for her shadow to return with an update.

It had been a solid fifteen minutes since the confrontation with Twilight Sparkle at the front door. Since then, the pair had been standing around idly while waiting for the specter to do its dirty work, and although they could hear the stray scream of fear coming from inside, they didn’t have much to go on in terms of progress.

“Are you sure we can’t just go in there ourselves?” The brown pegasus huffed in annoyance while raising his head up to face his sibling. Raincloud rolled her eyes as she tried to contain her sense of frustration at her brother’s impatience.

“For the last time Dust… we need to stay out here to watch for anyone coming to rescue them. My shadow has specific instructions to let us know when we can come in to finish the rest of them off.” Raincloud explained with growing agitation. The stallion had no concern for his sister’s annoyance, he just cared whether or not he would be sitting outside and doing nothing for much longer.

“I still think it would have gone faster if we rushed in there with darklings like I suggested.” Dust Kicker growled under his breath while laying his head back and closing his eyes. He never understood why his sister wanted her shadow to have all the fun. Even if they were connected, he wondered how much enjoyment she got from just letting her pet do all the work.

Suddenly a ghostly moan followed by a dark blotch rapidly coming out of the library and disappearing under Raincloud alerted the two that the shadow had returned. Raincloud perked up and looked down while the shadow made seemingly unintelligible growls and howls at her.

“What..? They used a spell to seal themselves in a bedroom?” The pale mare spoke while keeping her attention on the blotch. Dust Kicker was slightly concerned to see his sister talking to nothing but the ground.

“You… talk to that thing?” Dust asked with a confused tone. Raincloud sighed in annoyance while shaking her head angrily.

“I don’t tell it about my love life if that’s what you’re wondering Dust. I haven’t actually talked to it since I was a filly, you know that.” Raincloud explained in an irritated manner. The blue pegasus’s statement made Dust Kicker roll his eyes and shrug.

“Yeah, yeah… whatever.” Dust stated while trying to sound indifferent to drop the subject. Raincloud was unimpressed by her brother’s judgmental question.

“I mean hell… do you talk to your minions?” Raincloud asked in an accusing manner. The mare’s question caught the brown pegasus off guard. He briefly thought about what he would talk to his shadow creatures about, and what they might have to say in return if they could speak. The thought made him shiver and shake his head to rid himself of the images that came with it.

“Even the more intelligent monsters I can summon would probably give me a headache if I could talk to them… so no.” Dust Kicker stated with a shudder while shaking the last of the disturbing thoughts from his head. Raincloud was pleased to see that she had annoyed her brother in such a way, but she had to get back to business.

“Anyway… from what he’s telling me, I can gather that they all turned tail and ran upstairs to lock themselves in a room with a warding spell. But before they could get in there, shadow here managed to get a nice hit in on one of them.” Raincloud explained with a grin on her face. The news made Dust Kicker perk up with intrigue.

“Really?” The stallion asked with a devious smile. The pale mare replied with a nod.

“Yes really, apparently it was that dragon that hangs around with Twilight. He was nearly split in two from what my shadow tells me.” Raincloud explained cheerfully. As the pegasus relayed the information to her brother, the specter laughed heartily from its unseen position inside of her shadow.

“Good, I’m sure that they are all broken up about it as we speak.” Dust Kicker said while returning to his laid back position.

“I bet… but for now I’m going to have to fly up there and see if I can’t coax them out of that barrier. Or maybe see if I can’t break it down myself.” Raincloud stated while looking up to see the entrance to the balcony. It would be easy enough to fly up there and see what was going on.

“Shouldn’t I come with you?” Dust Kicker asked with a slight hint of eagerness in his voice as he got up to finally see some action with his sister.

“Sorry bro… someone needs to be the look out. Besides, my shadow overheard them calling for help. Apparently the slayer in on his way… haven’t you been itching for a rematch with him?” The pale mare asked in an encouraging tone. Although he was upset to be left outside on his own while his sister had all the fun, Dust couldn’t deny the desire he had to go one on one with the human.

“Alright I’ll stay… but you leave some of them alive for me alright?” Dust Kicker asked sincerely to his sister, who offered a smile and a nod in return.

“You bet.” Raincloud said while flapping her wings and taking off into the air. She flew up towards the balcony with eager intent.

Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, and the three crusaders helplessly watched as Peppermint and Glitterball made every effort to save Spike’s life. Although they couldn’t cure whatever was causing the purple glow, they were trying their hardest to stop the dragon’s wound from pumping out blood.

The tense atmosphere in the room was so palpable it could be cut with a knife. Everyone watched on in uneasiness as they hoped against all odds that the dragon would survive. Any member of the crowd wished they could trade places with him.

“Oh Spike… I’m so sorry.” Twilight said in a depressed tone while hanging her head sadly. Seeing the pitiful state of their purple friend made Applejack and Rarity frown with sympathy for her. They couldn’t imagine what it must have felt like to have been so close to the dragon when he was attacked.

“He’s going to be fine Twilight.” Rarity stated in an attempt at lifting the unicorn’s spirits. Twilight looked up to face the white mare with tears in her eyes.

“R-really?” Twilight asked with grief stricken doubt in her voice. Rarity looked down to see the unconscious dragon as he was operated on by the two ponies. It pained her to see her normally happy go lucky admirer in such an injured state, but she had to believe that he would pull through. She couldn’t bear to even think about any other possibility.

“Yes… if any of us can bounce back from something like this, it’s him. Spike will be just fine…” Rarity had a slight twinge of sadness in her voice as she tried to cheer up everyone else. The entire experience was wreaking havoc with her emotions.

Peppermint and Glitterball stepped back from the dragon and wiped the sweat from their brows. Everyone perked up with anxious anticipation as they waited for them to explain how their young friend was faring. Peppermint was the first to address the group. He had a slight feeling of dread apparent on his face, which made everyone shift their expressions back to ones of concern.

“We managed to stop the bleeding, but the wound won’t close no matter what we do. I think it has something to do with whatever that purple glow is. We will keep him sedated so he can’t feel as much of the pain until we can get a more permanent solution.” Pepper explained with slight apprehension in his voice.

“*Sigh* Where are you when we need you Tom?” Twilight asked sadly while looking to the floor and closing her eyes. She could hardly prevent herself from breaking down emotionally from the sad situation.

“I don’t know… he isn’t anywhere out there, that’s for sure.” The voice of a disturbingly familiar pegasus made everyone turn their attention to the loft where the balcony was. They could see that the pale blue mare had flown up and landed on the platform just outside the room.

The sight of the pegasus filled Twilight with anger and contempt. She placed the blame of Spike getting hurt firmly on her shoulders, so to see her just a few feet in front of her made the unicorn boil with a variety of emotions.

“What are you doing here?” Twilight asked while getting up and walking a little closer to the pegasus. Raincloud laughed as she saw how upset the princess’s student was at her.

“I just thought I would come in and check up on your friend there… he looks like he could use so- Oof!” The pale mare was cut off as she tried to enter the room. A translucent wall of energy popped up in front of her, causing her to slam into it like a bird hitting a glass window.

As the pegasus rubbed her nose where she had hit the wall abruptly, Twilight smirked slightly as she saw the protection charm also worked against anyone trying to enter the room.

“Don’t talk about Spike like that… you don’t even deserve to be within sight of him after what you did.” The purple unicorn said with an icy stare as she walked up to the doorway to the balcony with confidence.

Raincloud seemed unfazed by the hateful looks she was getting by everyone in the room. She smirked with a smart-alecky sort of expression that only made Twilight and the others more upset.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t do anything to brimstone breath over there… that was all my shadow, and technically he was aiming for you.” The pegasus stated in a snarky tone. The longer she was exposed to the hateful mare, the more agitated Twilight became.

“You know, if I were you, I would be getting as far away from here as possible. Tom is on the way, and I would wager a guess that you already know what he is going to do when he finds out that you’re attacking his friends.” Twilight said with a smirk on her face as she expected the pegasus to become nervous at the revelation. Much to her confusion, the pale mare didn’t even flinch from her words.

“The slayer huh? Well I’m sure that me and my brother can handle him. In the meantime I would be more concerned for your friend there… I’m not even sure if he is going to last until your human guard dog gets here.” Raincloud explained with a level of unwavering focus that unsettled the ponies.

“What are you-” Twilight started to inquire as to what the pegasus meant, but she was interrupted by the sound of Spike screaming in pain again. She quickly turned to see that the dragon was writhing in pain again with his wound aglow with the purple energy from before.

Peppermint and Glitterball quickly administered more sedatives into his bloodstream, causing him to slowly calm down and drift back off to sleep despite his still glowing wound. The ponies were horrified to see the dragon in pain, but they were even more horrified to hear Raincloud laughing at his misfortune.

Twilight scowled at the pegasus with an angry gleam in her eye. She got up as close as she could to the mare without hitting the invisible barrier and shot her an angry expression that made the pale mare stop chuckling as a slight twinge of unease filled her body.

“What did you do to him?!” Twilight asked, or rather, shouted at the pegasus with such sudden ferocity that it made her flinch slightly. Even her friends were surprised to see the unicorn this angry.

“My shadow has the ability to cause pain and suffering in a person to the point that it actually becomes harmful to their body. Judging by how much exposure he got, I would say that your friend there only has half an hour before his body kills itself from the shock. So while the slayer is busy fighting my brother, you are going to be forced to watch your friend slowly and painfully die.” Raincloud explained with a devious smile on her face. Twilight gasped from hearing this.

“We… we’ll get him the help he needs… even if we have to go through you.” Twilight said in a hesitant tone. She tried to appear as confident and brave as she could to intimidate the pale mare. Raincloud laughed heartily upon hearing the ridiculous proposition.

“Hahahhaha…*snort*…. Oh man… I haven’t had a laugh that good in while. Do you really think you can get past me? Or have you already forgotten one crucial detail.” The pegasus explained while waving her hoof to show beside her. Suddenly a black spot on the floor quickly formed and spawned the same ghostly specter that had wounded Spike. The entity cackled in the eerie and echoed voice it had as it stared forward with its unchanging jagged smile.

“*gasp*” Twilight and her friends were taken aback as they watched the shadow menacingly float next to its master. The pale blue pony seemed to take great joy in the troublesome situation she had created for the group.

“My shadow is waiting for you out here. If you drop this barrier for even a second, your ass is mine… or more specifically, his.” Raincloud said while pointing to her minion. She then turned and started walking to the edge of the balcony.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going?!” Applejack said while stepping forward to join her friend. The orange mare had had enough of waiting at the back of the room while the purple unicorn talked with the cold hearted pegasus.

Raincloud paused mid stride as she heard the sound of the farm pony coming forward to confront her. Judging from the sound of her voice, she seemed incredibly angered and eager to give a piece of her mind to the pegasus.

“You think you can just attack an innocent child and then walk away like it’s no big deal? That is the most spineless thing Ah have ever heard of. ” Applejack stated with a disgusted tone of voice. While the farm pony continued her berating of the pegasus, Raincloud was secretly getting more and more angry with every passing word.

“Spike did nothing to you to deserve this… none of us did. You can’t just go around hurting people whenever you just feel like it… life is a valuable thing, and Ah don’t know what you and your hooded friends think, but it’s wrong to hurt others. You are nothing more than a bully with a monster for a pet that lets you pick on whoever y- Ack!” The farm pony was cut off suddenly by Raincloud leaping forwards with her arm stretched out. Much to the group’s surprise, the pegasus’s hoof was aflame with pulsating dark energy. The pale mare punched into the invisible barrier and went clean through, grabbing the orange pony by the neck and squeezing tightly.

“*sputter*…*croak*” Applejack could offer little more than strangled sounds of protest as she was held in place by the surprisingly strong pegasus. The barrier seemed to be bending around her arm, as if she had literally punched a hole through it to get at the farm pony.

“Who the hell do you think you are to talk to me about who deserves what?” Raincloud said through clenched teeth as she watched the farm pony trying to push out of her grip with her arms. Twilight and the others rushed forward to assist their friend, when suddenly the pegasus pulled Applejack into the barrier and let go, causing her to slam her head into the still solid wall.

As she went to the floor, the orange mare gasped for air and clutched at her neck protectively. She could still feel a tight feeling in her throat from having it squeezed so hard.

“Applejack! Are you ok?!” Twilight asked frantically while kneeling down beside the recovering earth pony. Applejack reached and tried to feel around for something solid to help pull herself up, settling on Twilight’s outstretched hoof.

“*Hack*…*cough*… Yeah… Ah think so.” Applejack’s voice was barely audible as she tried to speak through her still sore throat. She looked forward at the pegasus, only to see that she was still standing outside of the barrier. It was almost like the attack never happened.

“You think that just because you haven’t done anything that you don’t deserve to be harmed?” Raincloud continued in a cold tone of voice. “Life isn’t as precious and valuable as you make it out to be. Just because you’re kind or honest to people doesn’t mean that you get to live life scot-free. No matter how hard you work, or how much you care about others, you will always feel pain sooner or later.” The pale mare’s words made everyone listen in shocked silence as she walked away. Just before she reached the edge of the balcony, she turned her head to look at the group out of the corner of her eye.

“I hate people like you… people who go around acting like everything is all sunshine and rainbows. You should be thankful that I’m giving you more time to live. I could just break that barrier right now and watch as my shadow rips you apart, but I have other things I could be doing... like watching my brother kicking the crap out of that damn slayer.” The pegasus stated in a hateful tone before spreading her wings and flying down. The shadow sank into the floor and disappeared, but the ponies knew that it wouldn’t stray far from them.

“Are you ok sis?” Applejack looked beside her to see her sister rushing up to her with a concerned expression. Applebloom jumped up and hugged the orange mare, being careful not to cause further injury. Applejack was still shaken from the sudden attack, but she still felt bad that the yellow filly had to see her in danger.

“Ah’m fine Applebloom… just a little roughed up.” Applejack said while trying to sound as normal as possible despite her still throbbing neck. She shared a concerned glance with Twilight as they took one last look at the outside balcony. The two then returned their attention to the dragon lying on the floor behind them.

The pale mare’s words had struck a chord in the ponies. Was Spike really going to die while they just sat idly by? The mere thought made a sickening feeling of dread settle in everyone’s stomach. Still, the possibility remained that the pegasus was telling the truth.

“Is… is Spike going to be ok?” Scootaloo asked with a shaky voice as she sat down next to the unconscious dragon. Although they wanted to reassure the filly, Twilight and the others were still dealing with that question themselves.

“I don’t know Scootaloo…” Twilight stated somberly while looking at Spike with worry and concern. “We just need to hope that Tom will be able to get to us. He can help him… I’m sure of it.” The unicorn explained in a sincere tone.

Everyone sadly watched the gradual rise and fall of the dragon’s chest as he breathed peacefully. They wondered how long it would be before he woke up again and felt the unbearable suffering caused by his wounds.

Dust Kicker was sitting his head on his hooves while resting against the wall in a fetal position. He was almost wishing for someone to come along so he could take out his bored frustration on them, even if it would be for only a brief moment.

Suddenly, he could hear the flapping of wings above him. He looked up to see Raincloud flying down to the ground. The stallion started to say something, but he noticed that she appeared to be muttering to herself with an agitated expression.

“What’s eating you?” Dust Kicker asked with a cautiously gentle tone. He didn’t want to piss her off any further than she already was. Raincloud turned to look at her brother and sighed in frustration.

“Nothing… I’m just upset that the barrier they have will take too long to bust down. You got any creatures that are strong enough to help me out?” The pale mare asked while hiding her anger internally.

“Well… I’m not sure if darklings would be able to cut it. But I think that I can cook something up… let’s head up there and check it out.” Dust Kicker replied while thinking of what kind of monster to summon from his arsenal.

The two pegasi spread their wings and took off. Although Raincloud didn’t want to confront the group of ponies any further, she would take great pleasure in watching them cower in fear as she broke into their safe haven with an army of monsters.

As the two landed, Raincloud stayed behind her brother to put as much distance between her and the ponies as possible. Not because she felt threatened by them, but rather because she didn’t want to let her temper get the best of her.

Once the two ponies landed on the balcony, the noise they created alerted the group inside to their presence. Twilight and her friends were upset to see the pale mare return, but were surprised to see that she had company.

“What are you doing here?” Twilight asked with a leery expression while getting up to observe the pair. Raincloud scowled at the approaching mare while her brother merely examined the warding spell.

“I decided that I’m done waiting around, so I got my brother here to come up and bust in there for me.” Raincloud explained with an irritated attitude. The ponies looked to the brown stallion and watched him sizing up the barrier. They wondered if he could actually remove the protective charm from the room as his sister had claimed.

“Hey… aren’t you the pegasus that attacked our friends out in the woods?” Twilight asked as she recognized the brown pony from the description that Tom and the others had given her. Dust Kicker smirked as he received recognition for his deeds.

“Nice to hear that I left such an imprint on them… Well I guess if you already know about me, then you must know that I can do this.” The stallion stated while lifting his leg into the air. The tip of his hoof was suddenly enveloped with the same energy the group had seen the pale mare use to punch through the barrier.

Twilight backed up defensively as she watched the pegasus stamp his hoof on the ground. The fiery energy on his hoof traveled into the floor and spread out to three points beside him. The points enlarged into black splotches on the floor that started moving upwards.

Twilight expected to see the blotches form into darklings, but she was mistaken. The creatures being formed were much larger than average darklings. They seemed to have the same appearance as darklings, but they had more defined features than the shadowy forms that the group had previously seen. The feral beasts had the appearance of some kind of wild cat, but their eyes were replaced by four red slits.

As the three monsters growled at the ponies, everyone backed up anxiously. The ponies saw that the beasts had razor sharp fangs to match with the rest of their vicious appearance. Peppermint and Glitterball reached for their strobes to have them on hand if the creatures should attack.

“These guys should be able to work their way through that charm of yours. I wager it should take them about… eh… less than a minute.” Dust Kicker said with a devious smile as he observed his three minions. The shadow creatures crouched low in preparation to charge at the barrier. Their claws appeared as though they could do some serious damage if they were to get through, not to mention their teeth.

“Hey!” Before the pegasus could give the order for the beasts to attack, he was interrupted by the sound of Raincloud calling him over to the edge of the balcony.

“Ughh… what is it?” Dust Kicker asked with an annoyed expression while turning around. He walked over to the edge of the balcony and looked around. The stallion was surprised to see that a blue suited human was swiftly making his way to the front of the library.

“Looks like the slayer just showed up.” Raincloud muttered to her brother, just loud enough for him to hear.

“Great… just what we needed.” Dust Kicker shrugged in frustration. He was just starting to have some fun with the trapped ponies, so the human was the last person he wanted to see right now.

Twilight and the others couldn’t hear the two siblings as they conversed amongst themselves. The purple unicorn contemplated getting closer so she could hear better, but she didn’t want to go anywhere near the three snarling beasts that stood just outside the barrier.

Suddenly the pale mare turned away from the balcony and walked back up to the doorway. The devious smile on her face gave the ponies a bad feeling that she had something horrible in mind.

“Good news… your human friend is here. I guess that gives you a little more time before we kill all of you.” Raincloud explained with an unwavering tone of confidence. Her lack of apprehension at the slayer’s arrival made the ponies nervous for their odds of success.

“Let’s go give him a warm welcome sis.” Dust Kicker stated while cracking his neck and stretching his muscles. Raincloud smirked and walked up to her brother as he spread his wings. The two hopped off the balcony and flew out of sight.

The three shadow creatures offered the ponies one last intimidating growl as they sank into the ground to follow their master. As the monsters disappeared into the floor, the group was left alone once again to sit in their safe haven.

“Tom is here! That means we’re saved right?” Sweetie Belle chimed with excitement at the human’s arrival. Although the others felt the same excitement the filly felt, they were also uneasy because they knew that he would have to fight the two pegasi to rescue them.

“I certainly hope so Darling…” Rarity stated with careful optimism as she smiled along with the others. They knew that the human would stop at nothing to protect them, but they also knew that the two ponies outside would stop at nothing to keep them trapped.

Twilight turned to Spike and returned a concerned expression to her face. She knelt down and lovingly caressed his head while being careful not to wake him. The purple mare was concerned to feel the dragon sweating while his forehead was still cold.

“Hang in there Spike… help is on the way.” Twilight muttered in a hopeful tone. The unicorn prayed that Tom would be able to heal the dragon, and that he could reach them in time.