Rainbow Dash sighed in frustration as she paced around the room anxiously. She had been holed up in a small waiting room ever since she was told to go inside by the others. Although she had only been there for around half an hour, it felt like an eternity to the cyan mare.

She wanted to do something, anything to help Brimstoke and the others with defeating the skeletons, but all she could do was sit in this room filled with her two friends and four other ponies and watch outside through one of the two windows set into the wall.

“This is stupid… we should be out there doing something!” the pegasus huffed in annoyance while throwing her hooves up angrily. She looked over to Fluttershy, who was sitting on a leather couch tucked away on the far side of the room.

“You heard Neon Streak… we should stay in here. It’s probably for the best anyway…” The yellow mare shuddered as she thought back to her previous encounters with the skeletons outside. Rainbow Dash felt sorry for the timid pegasus, but she also felt a strong need to take action.

“Well, yeah… but…” The cyan pony tried to voice her opinion while also trying to not pressure Fluttershy into joining her. She knew that the yellow pegasus would feel horrible if she stayed behind while her friend endangered herself.

“But what?” Pinkie Pie chimed in excitedly from across the room. She had been occupying herself with cheering up the other ponies in the room.

“It’s safe in here… besides, I’m trying to play a game of checkers here.” The energetic mare stated while pointing to the ground in front of her. She had apparently created a makeshift checkerboard complete with pieces using whatever odds and ends she could find. The pony across from her appeared to be confused about the basic rules of the game. He kept examining his own pieces, as if he were unsure of which item was even a piece or not.

Rainbow Dash sighed as her friends shot down whatever argument she had made. The pegasus sat down against the wall and threw her head back in defeat as she gave up all hope of making herself useful in the battle.

Suddenly, she heard a slight commotion outside of the door to the room. Curious as to what could be happening outside, the pegasus got up and walked over to the door. Outside of the small window in the top of the door, she could see that Sunspot was discussing something with Glimmer Shine and Neon Streak. After a brief moment, Glimmer and Neon ran off in a hurry, while Sunspot shrugged and lingered in the hallway for a while.

Spotting a chance to possibly do something, Rainbow Dash decided that it would be a good idea to try and talk the suited mare into letting her help.

“Hey, I’m going to go talk to Sunspot about heading back out there.” The cyan mare announced while looking around at her friends. Fluttershy immediately hopped up from her seat and looked at the pegasus with a shocked expression.

“What…? But why would you want to go back out?” Fluttershy asked with a concerned tone of voice. It was beyond the yellow pony as to why anyone would want to willingly put themselves in danger without good cause.

Rainbow Dash sighed as she looked at her friend with an understanding expression. She knew that the yellow mare was scared to go outside, she was probably even scared in the relative safety of this boring room, and Rainbow understood that. But the cyan mare needed to be more active with determining the outcome of the fight, with or without her friends.

“Look Fluttershy… you can stay in here if you want, but I’m going back out there. I want to help them, not stay in here while others endanger themselves on my behalf.” The pegasus explained in a lighthearted tone while going to open the door. She was interrupted by Fluttershy quickly walking over to her, but instead of giving her another reason to stay inside, she simply gave her a determined expression.

“I’m going with you… If you’re going to charge headlong into danger, I at least want to be there to have your back.” The yellow pony explained with slight apprehension. Rainbow Dash was flattered by her friend’s bravery and concern for her.

“Thanks... but neither of us are going out there unless we have someone vouching for us.” The cyan mare stated while returning her attention to the suited pegasus outside. Sunspot shrugged once more before starting to walk away, giving Rainbow Dash a new sense of urgency to carry out her plan.

The two ponies waved to the pink mare on the other side of the room before opening the door and stepping outside. Pinkie Pie sighed while shaking her head in concern. She hoped that her friends would keep themselves out of harm’s way while they were gone.

“Those two…” Pinkie shrugged understandingly before returning her attention to the game behind her. She looked at the board for a moment before placing a hoof on one of the pieces. Much to the surprise and dismay of the unlucky pony that was playing with her, the pink mare hopped the piece over half of his pieces, making it all the way to his side of the board.

“Yay! King me!” The excited mare cheered eagerly at her triumph. Meanwhile the dejected pony across from her sighed and shook his head while begrudgingly grabbing another piece to place on top of Pinkie’s.

Once out in the hallway, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy immediately rushed in the direction they last saw Sunspot moving. After a short walk, they found the suited mare trotting down a hallway with a troubled expression on her face.

“Hey Sunspot!” Rainbow Dash yelled down the hallway to get her attention. Sunspot turned around and watched the two ponies approach her with a curious expression.

“What’s up?” The suited mare asked with a raised eyebrow. Rainbow Dash stammered nervously as she tried to think of a valid argument for her cause.

“Umm…well uh… you see…” The cyan pegasus was wracking her mind in an attempt at finding something to say that wouldn't immediately get her tossed back into the other room.

“Rainbow Dash and I want to help you guys.” Fluttershy spoke up to save her friend the trouble.

“Yeah… what she said… heh.” Rainbow Dash chuckled nervously while observing the suited pony for any expressions that would give an insight to her response.

“I don’t know girls… it’s pretty dangerous out there right now… especially now actually.” Sunspot replied with an uneasy tone. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were confused by her odd response.

“Especially now…? What does that mean?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously. The orange mare shrugged uncomfortably as she thought about the declining situation outside.

“Neon just came in to call all of us outside again… apparently the skeletons have all reformed themselves.” Sunspot explained with a concerned frown on her face.

“What?!” Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash exclaimed in unison. They couldn’t believe that such a thing could have happened.

“You heard me… Brimstoke wants us to keep them away while the princess works on a more permanent solution… she’s apparently close, but she needs time.” Sunspot explained while looking towards the rest of the hallway with a sense of urgency. “Look girls… I would love to stay and chat, but I need to go help the others.” The suited mare stated in an apologetic tone while turning to walk away.

“Wait!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed to get her attention one last time. Sunspot turned back around with a troubled expression.

“I know you need to go, but please take us with you. If there’s anything we can do… anything at all, we want to help.” The cyan mare pleaded with the biggest smile she could muster. “Pleeeeaaaase?”

“*sigh*” Sunspot shook her head and shrugged in defeat. She could tell that the cyan mare was dying to do something to help. She could see a little bit of herself in the eager pegasus.

“Alright… I’ll let you at least come with me. But you stay with the princesses and use these from a distance… ok?” The suited mare instructed while handing the pair two extra strobes. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy accepted the vials and offered an enthusiastic nod.

“Ok then… let’s hurry up and get out there!” Sunspot stated while taking off into a sprint down the hallway. The two ponies eagerly followed the suited mare as she urgently rushed through the town hall towards the entrance.

After a short run, the three burst through the double doors at the entryway and came out in the circular courtyard area that surrounded the building. They immediately noticed a frightfully large crowd of skeletons in the square in front of them.

The only things keeping the skeletons from getting closer were the combined efforts of Brimstoke, Glimmer Shine, Neon Streak, and Princess Luna. The four were either using their strobes to fend off the creatures, bashing the few that got close, or using magic to keep them away.

“Where’s Tom?” Rainbow Dash asked as she looked around for the human. Sunspot turned to her to answer her question.

“He left a few minutes ago to go help Twilight and the others back at the library… they were attacked by one of the hooded ponies.” The suited mare explained. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy gasped as they learned that their friends were in danger.

“Oh my gosh! Are they alright?!” The cyan pegasus asked frantically. Sunspot gave her an unsure expression, which didn’t exactly ease her concerns.

“We don’t know, but they were finding a way to stay safe when we last talked with them, so they should be fine until Tom gets there.” Sunspot explained with a hopeful tone of voice. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy shared a concerned glance with each other as they hoped that their friends would be safe.

Sunspot then turned her attention to the group in front of her. She was about to run up to the four to assist them, when she suddenly heard the sound of Celestia calling her name from the side. She looked over to see the alicorn beckoning her over urgently.

“Sunspot, come over here and bring Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.” The princess instructed while glancing over to the two ponies behind the suited mare.

Although they were confused as to why the princess would want their help, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy walked over along with Sunspot as requested. Once they reached the alicorn, they were half expecting her to send them back inside due to how dangerous it was.

“Girls… I found a way to get rid of this cloud, but I need your help.” Celestia explained while looking at all three of the pegasus’s with purpose.

“You mean… even us?” Rainbow Dash asked with uncertainty while looking at her friend with a confused expression.

“Yes Rainbow Dash… I’m not exactly sure why you would come back out here, but now that you have, I need your assistance.” The princess explained with a sincere tone of voice. Rainbow Dash tried to remain professional and keep her excitement internalized, but she couldn’t prevent herself from smiling giddily.

“Happy to help Princess.” The cyan mare stated before waiting eagerly for the alicorn to dispense her orders.

“I have found a spell that will allow us to disrupt the clouds enough for them to vanish, but I need someone to fly up there and touch them for it to work… hence why I need you three.” Celestia explained while glancing between the three. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were understandably concerned with touching the clouds again after what happened when they tried before.

“But how are we going to touch them? Me and Rainbow Dash tried that before… and I almost got electrocuted.” Fluttershy explained with a nervous shiver upon thinking back to everything she could remember about the experience.

“Don’t worry about that happening again. The spell I found will prevent you from getting shocked when you touch the clouds.” Celestia stated while lighting up her horn. Suddenly the three ponies’ hooves started glowing with the same color as the alicorn’s horn. The three mares lifted up their hooves and examined them curiously. Sunspot shook one of her legs to see if the glow was firmly attached, which it was.

“Just fly up there and touch the clouds until you see them stop reacting to the spell. Keep doing this in several areas and it should destroy the cloud completely.” The Princess explained while pointing upwards. The ominously shifting clouds above still filled the ponies with dread whenever they looked at them.

“Aren’t you coming with us?” Fluttershy asked curiously as she noted that Celestia hadn’t cast the spell on herself.

“Sorry Fluttershy, but I will be staying down here. I need to help the others with keeping those creatures at bay until you can let the light from the sun in to destroy them completely.” The alicorn explained sadly. She didn’t want to endanger the three ponies without going with them herself, but she also had to help her sister and the others with their task. There were dozens of innocent ponies in the building behind them that needed to be protected at all costs.

“Don’t worry, Princess. I’ll make sure they stay out of trouble.” Sunspot said in a confident tone while glancing back at the two. Celestia smiled and nodded as she watched the three taking off into the air. She felt a little better knowing that the two ponies had someone looking out for them.

As Sunspot and her two companions ascended through the air, they glanced down to see the dismal state of the once glorious town square. Several tents had been knocked over or destroyed, there were several toppled over statues and other notable decorations strewn along the ground, not to mention the veritable army of skeletons roaming around.

“I hope everyone is doing ok down there.” Fluttershy stated in a concerned tone while observing the many undead ponies occupying the square.

“Don’t worry about them. If I know Brimstoke, he won’t let anybody get hurt on his watch.” Sunspot explained to reassure the yellow pegasus. Fluttershy smiled a little as she felt a bit more confident in their chances.

Now that their concerns for their friends on the ground were mostly dealt with, the three ponies quickly flew up to the bank of clouds to complete their mission. As they got closer, a chilled wind hit their faces, causing their hair to be blown back more so than it already was from the force of gravity.

Once they pushed past the threshold of grayness from low hanging wisps of cloud, the three mares finally found themselves just below the main body of clouds. The dark puffs were rolling by at a steady rate as the low rush of wind drowned out any other noises. The only light coming from the area was the soft green flashes of light coming from within the clouds.

“Here we are…” Rainbow Dash stated uneasily. She glanced down at her still glowing hooves and glanced back up with an apprehensive expression. She wasn’t too thrilled to be touching the clouds, but she decided to be the first one to test out the spell.

The cyan pegasus cautiously hovered up to the cloud and stuck her arms out to touch it. She cringed instinctively as she neared the softly glowing haze of blackness. As she felt the familiar soft and puffy texture that came from touching any cloud, she heard the sparking of electricity and tensed up with fright.

Mysteriously however, the pegasus felt no indication of pain, or even anything that indicated the presence of electricity. She opened her eyes and looked up, only to freeze in astonishment at what she saw. There were arcs of the same green electricity from earlier flowing into her hooves, but they didn’t seem to be affecting her in any meaningful way.

“Cool… hey, check it out!” Rainbow Dash announced excitedly. Her two companions watched the cyan pegasus as she successfully touched the clouds without injury. Suddenly, the cloud stopped emitting electricity. A loud hum sounded out as a small pulse of light surged through the cloud around her hooves before disappearing.

“I guess that means that this spot is done…” Sunspot theorized while observing her own glowing hooves. She then smiled as she realized that they were close to ending this nightmare.

“Come on! Let’s get to work girls.” The suited mare announced while flying up to another spot and placing her hooves firmly on a cloud. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash followed her example and flew up to other areas and touching the clouds wherever they could.

Meanwhile on the ground, Brimstoke and his two teammates were working with Celestia and Luna to keep the approaching skeletons away from the town hall. The undead horde seemed to be very intent on remaining in the square. The group figured that whatever spell was at play was localized to the square.

Brimstoke yelled fiercely as he bashed one of the skeletons away with a baton he produced from his vest. The undead creature’s skull cracked open with a sickening snap as the head was separated from its shoulders. Despite this, the body of the skeleton kept walking forward without its head, doubtlessly waiting for it to reattach itself so it could continue attacking.

“These things just don’t give up do they?” The stallion shrugged while rearing up and bucking the rest of the skeleton away.

“No… I guess they don’t.” Glimmer Shine replied while blasting away at anything that got close. He was starting to get exhausted from holding his strobe out in front of him for so long. Thankfully he had the aid of Neon Streak to pick up the slack.

“Don’t worry… Sunspot, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy are working on giving us sunlight.” Celestia stated to lift the group’s spirits.

“Well I hope they do it soon, at this rate we will be up to our eyes in these freaks in a few minutes.” Neon added in a troubled tone while desperately trying to keep up with the constant inflow of skeletons.

“Hey… look at it this way Neon. At least it can’t get any worse.” Glimmer Shine chuckled lightheartedly to brighten the green mare’s spirits.

Suddenly a loud buzz emanated from Brimstoke and his team’s vests. Neon glanced down from her defensive firing and shifted her eyes over to her locators. Just before she glanced back up and dismissed the reading, she gasped when she noticed what was wrong.

“What the hay?!” The green pony exclaimed in shock as she lifted up the negative energy locator. The entire vial was pulsing off and on with blue light like an alarm. As Brimstoke and the others glanced down to their own locators, they widened their eyes in surprise.

“What is that?!” Brimstoke asked in a panic as he tried to think of what could possibly elicit such a response from the locator. The skeletons around him weren’t giving off that much of a reading, even with so many of them being present.

Celestia and Luna suddenly paled as they felt an immense surge of energy coming from just outside the square. They had never felt such a negative source of energy before, not even from Discord. The size and scope of the energy was a blur to them due to their vague senses, but they could definitely feel how evil and horrific the magic being used was.

“Sister… do you feel that?” Luna asked while recollecting herself from the sudden detection of energy. Celestia nodded while looking off in the rough direction of the energy.

“Yes… something or someone must be using powerful magic close by.” The white alicorn replied in a grim tone of voice. Brimstoke and his teammates turned to the two princesses with surprised expressions. They never figured that the surge of energy would be so massive that the pair could detect it.

“You can feel it…? What is it?” Glimmer Shine asked nervously while glancing around for any signs of foul play. Celestia tried to refine the overwhelming sensation into some sort of useful bearing for the others, but she couldn’t determine anything other than a vague direction and the magnitude of the energy.

Before the alicorn could even try to answer any of the stallion’s questions, a loud rumble suddenly shook the square. The small quake wasn’t large enough to make the ground tremble, but it was enough to create a palpable sense of how large the source must have been. The ponies on the ground could feel it in their feet, and the three pegasus’s in the sky could hear it as it seemingly clattered around randomly.

Rainbow Dash and her two companions paused their task of disabling the magical clouds to stop and listen to the loud noise. They watched in shocked silence as the sound seemingly got closer from off in the distance.

“W-w-what is that?” Fluttershy stammered nervously as she listened to each successive thud. Rainbow Dash tried to offer a sensible answer, but she couldn’t even determine the source of the frightening noise.

Suddenly, Sunspot looked down to her suit as she heard the buzz of her locator. The vial was pulsing with blue light rapidly as whatever was causing it to go off got closer. The knowledge that something evil with that much negative energy was coming towards them made her understandably nervous.

“Hey… I think it’s coming from over-” The suited mare tried to pinpoint the source of the noise to behind a set of buildings, when she was suddenly silenced by a bewildering and horrific sight.

As the thundering noises got closer, the group of shocked ponies noticed movement coming from behind one of the buildings on the edge of the square. Suddenly, a large skeletal hand with four boney claws came up from behind the building and slammed down on top of it with a deafening crunch. Another large hand came up next to the first one, combined with a loud unearthly growl that sounded like a deeper version of the skeletons in the square. Slowly, as if to further cement the feeling of horror in the ponies’ hearts, a large dragon skull with glowing green eyes lifted itself up from behind the building.

The battle with the skeletons had all but ceased as every creature in the square turned to stare at the loud racket. While all of the living ponies were staring with their mouths agape in horror at the giant creature climbing on top of the building, all of the skeletons were simply examining the strange noise coming from the other side of the area.

With a flap of its seemingly useless skeletal wings, the undead beast lifted into the air briefly and brought the rest of its titanic form onto the building. The roof of the fragile structure cracked and crumbled as the large creature dug its sharp claws into it while perching up on its hind legs.

The colossal beast extended its wings and lifted its head into the air. A deafening roar that shook the very ground and made the ponies flinch in fright erupted from the boney dragon. Midway through its frightening outburst, the dragon’s mouth lit up with green light as an eerily tinted spout of green fire shot out like a flamethrower into the sky.

“Brimstoke…” Neon Streak’s voice was quiet and unfocused as she stared at the monster in shock. “Is that what I think that is?” She asked while blinking several times, as if she expected the large beast to go away if she closed her eyes often enough.

“A seventy foot tall animate dragon skeleton that can somehow breathe fire despite not having any lungs…” Brimstoke replied in a nervous tone while keeping his gaze firmly fixed on the giant beast. “If that’s what you’re seeing… then yes Neon… that is exactly what you think it is.” The stallion stated while never breaking his stunned tone of voice.

As the giant dragon looked around the square in silence, the ponies were all trying to think of a way they could combat the monster. They were also silently hoping that it wouldn’t actually be able to see them amid the hundreds of other pony shaped creatures in the square.

“How are we going to fight that thing?! We can barely keep the regular sized skeletons at bay… that is a freaking undead dragon!” Glimmer Shine stated in a slight panic while keeping his voice down for fear of the dragon hearing any loud yelling.

“Don’t worry Glimmer… all we have to do is wait until the girls can let the sunlight in. That thing will be destroyed along with the rest of them.” Luna said in an attempt at calming down her frightened companions, although she was slightly terrified herself.

Suddenly the dragon snapped its head to look upwards. The confused ponies followed its gaze until they realized what it was looking at. The undead beast was staring at the three sky borne ponies with a frightening transfixion.

“Oh no…” Celestia gasped as she watched the creature target the three pegasus’s. The dragon growled fiercely and flapped its skeletal wings. Much to the ponies’ surprise, the monster took off into the air as if its wings were fully functional. Obviously the same magic that had revived the dragon had restored its ability to fly and breathe fire.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Sunspot were having a miniature panic attack as they watched the beast rapidly approaching them. Fluttershy and her cyan friend were barely able to think as they fearfully stared at the monster.

“That thing is coming right for us! What do we do?!” Rainbow Dash asked frantically while looking at her two friends. The cyan pegasus took pride in her flying abilities, so she could doubtlessly evade the monster, but the other two mares might not be so lucky.

“Umm… uh.” Sunspot rapidly glanced between the two frightened ponies beside her and the approaching monster. “Uhh… I have an idea!” She exclaimed suddenly in revelation. Rainbow Dash was eager to hear what life saving plan the suited pony had in mind.

“That’s great! What’s your idea?” The cyan mare asked with a hopeful expression. Sunspot gulped quietly before trying to put on her best confident expression.

“I’ll distract it… you two hurry up and finish getting rid of these clouds!” The orange pegasus stated nervously. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were shocked to hear the bold and perhaps careless plan their friend had made.

“Are you serious?! You’ll be eaten alive by that thing!” Rainbow Dash stated frantically. Before the cyan mare could protest however, Sunspot took off to head the skeleton off before it reached them.

“No!” Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy yelled in unison as they watched the pegasus flying towards the dragon bravely. They shared a concerned glance with each other as they thought of a way to help the suited pony.

“Quick! We need to get these clouds out of the way before she gets herself killed!” Fluttershy instructed to the cyan mare while flying up to another cloud and grabbing hold of it with her still glowing hooves.

“But… but… grr!” Rainbow Dash growled in frustration as she was conflicted with rushing off to save the pegasus and staying up at the clouds to break the spell. She finally shrugged anxiously and followed her friend’s example by flying up to a cloud and touching it so the princess’s spell could work.

Meanwhile, Sunspot was rapidly charging towards the undead beast. She wasn’t exactly sure what she would do once she got up to it, but she figured, or rather hoped, that she would find that out once she reached the dragon.

The dragon growled and opened its boney jaw as it watched the pegasus approach. Sunspot watched as a ball of green flame slowly formed in the beast’s mouth. She widened her eyes in shock as she realized what the monster was trying to do.

“Yikes!” The suited mare exclaimed nervously as she dodged to the side to avoid the column of flame heading her way. She could feel the blast of heat hit her face as the fiery beam whizzed past her body. Once she realized that she had successfully dodged the attack, the orange pony returned a confident smirk to her face.

“Heh… it’s going to take a lot more than that to put me down bonehead!” She yelled in a mocking tone to antagonize the monster. Perhaps in response to the pegasus’s remark, the dragon growled once it realized that its attack failed.

The undead beast flipped around in the air once it was about to pass the approaching pony. Sunspot intended to fly right past it so she could get it as far away from her two companions as possible. The suited mare gasped once she saw that the monster’s skeletal tail was heading straight for her.

“Ooof!” The orange pony grunted as the colossal tail slammed into her. She was sent hurdling through the sky for a short distance before righting herself in midair. She looked up to see the dragon charging for her with its jaw open, revealing its numerous jagged teeth.

“Oh boy!” The shocked pegasus squeaked out in a panic while turning herself and bolting downwards to evade the approaching predator. She felt a slight draft on her tail and heard the loud clatter of bones as the dragon snapped its jaws closed behind her. The monster kept stretching its neck out and snapping its jaws shut in an attempt at clipping the escaping pony.

While Sunspot zipped around the sky with her pursuer quickly in tow, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy anxiously kept an eye on the pegasus as she evaded the undead monster. The pair of ponies were frantically rushing from cloud to cloud, hoping that each one they paused at would be the last.

Rainbow Dash was dealing with an inner conflict of emotions. She was unsure of whether she should continue what she was doing and hope that she could destroy the cloud before Sunspot was killed, or if she should go help her. Although she didn’t want to discredit the suited mare and her skills, the cyan pegasus was incredibly nervous that her evasive skills wouldn’t be enough to outmatch the deadly predator chasing her.

“This is taking way too long…” Rainbow Dash muttered uneasily while glancing over to Fluttershy. The yellow mare shared in her concerns, but she was at just as much of a loss as to what they should do.

“We need to trust that the princess knows what she’s doing.” Fluttershy stated while trying to ease her friend’s concerns. The timid pony couldn’t help but anxiously stare at the fleeing pegasus as the dragon tried everything in its power to cut her off or strike her.

“I just hope that Sunspot can hold out until we’re finished.” Fluttershy stated in a disheartened tone while trying to suppress the feeling of dread building up inside her. The yellow mare felt like something horrible was going to happen before they could remove the thick bank of clouds, but she hoped that she was wrong.

“Ugh… I can’t just sit here and watch her risk her life like this. I need to help her!” Rainbow Dash said through gritted teeth. It was killing her on the inside to just stand idly by while the suited mare could very well die in front of her very eyes. Every burst of flame, every snap of the beast’s jaws, every attack that Sunspot narrowly avoided only made the cyan mare more anxious.

“I know how you feel Rainbow Dash, but we’re no good to her if we endanger ourselves.” Fluttershy stated as she tried to make her friend listen to reason. “If you go down there… you might inadvertently get her or even yourself hurt or worse. We can help her, but we need to do it from up here. The faster we end the spell, the faster she can be safe.” The yellow mare explained in a soft tone to try and console the anxious pegasus. Rainbow Dash huffed in frustration as she thought about it more logically. She then finally sighed in defeat before nodding slowly.

“You’re right Fluttershy… we need to end this sooner rather than later.” The cyan pony replied somberly. Fluttershy nodded in agreement, the two ponies then rushed to continue their task of removing the clouds.

Before they could come into contact with their next set of clouds, the pair heard a sharp cry of pain emanate from below them. They quickly glanced down and gasped in shock as they saw what the issue was. Sunspot was flying crookedly in the air with what seemed like a painful grimace on her face. There was a brief spray of crimson fluid coming from her side as she clutched it with her hoof. The dragon was moving its front leg back into place from what the two could only imagine to be a strike. It didn’t take much deduction to realize that the undead monster had hit the suited pegasus on or close to her wing.

“Oh no… she’s hurt!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed nervously as she watched the injured mare trying desperately to fly with her wounded wing. Although she was making a valiant effort, the dragon was slowly gaining ground on her as she tried evading it.

“I can’t watch this anymore… Fluttershy stay here!” The cyan pony instructed while zipping downwards fast enough to create a small rush of air. Fluttershy was shocked to see her friend flying into danger. She tried to reach out towards the flying pony, but she suddenly realized that she couldn’t move her hooves.

“What the…?” The yellow mare looked up to see that her hooves were firmly attached to the cloud she was touching. In all of the commotion, she must have reached up and touched the cloud without realizing it. It never occurred to the pegasus that Celestia’s spell had cemented her hooves to whatever cloud she was touching until the spell was done. She had been too concerned with the events below her to even notice until now.

All Fluttershy could do at that point was watch the scene beneath her unfold. She watched anxiously as Rainbow Dash rapidly sped up in the air while flying towards Sunspot. All the while, the dragon was chasing the injured pony closer to the ground. The suspense was making her feel so tense that she thought she was going to pass out.

Sunspot noticed that she was rapidly approaching the ground as she fled from her pursuer. She could practically make out how many strands of hay were on the rooftops of the nearby buildings. The nervous pegasus glanced behind her, only to be met with the frightening image of the dauntless dragon as it chased her.

Suddenly the monster’s mouth started glowing with green flame. Sunspot could hear the roar of the fire as the dragon prepared its flame breath. The suited mare glanced back at her own wing uneasily. The point where her wing met her body was bleeding badly from where the dragon had clawed it. Sunspot could barely remain airborne, let alone dodge to the side fast enough to evade the fire about to roast her alive.

The nervous pegasus looked forward to the rapidly approaching ground for a way out of her situation. She might be able to duck around the side of the building, but there might be innocent ponies inside that would be harmed from the fire, not to mention that she might not even make it in time.

Sunspot quickly turned to look behind her when she heard the sound of flame shooting through the air. She was greeted by the sight of a wall of fire rapidly heading her way. There was no chance that she would be able to dodge this attack, all she could do was hope that it would be over quickly.

“AHHH!” The suited pegasus screamed in horror and closed her eyes. She could already feel the heat of the approaching fire as it came within inches of her body.

“Look out!” Sunspot heard the sound of Rainbow Dash calling out beside her. Before she had a chance to open her eyes to look for the cyan mare, she felt something collide with her from the side. The orange mare heard a cry of pain and felt the slight burn of fire as she was violently shoved from the fire and carried downwards by whatever had crashed into her.

Sunspot and her savior crashed into the roof of a nearby building and came to a painful and sudden stop. The orange mare opened her eyes to see Rainbow Dash lying beside her with her eyes closed. The cyan mare appeared to have taken a little more of the fire than Sunspot had, having part of her fur blackened slightly from the flames.

“Rainbow Dash…! Are you ok?!” Sunspot asked frantically as she rapidly got up to examine her friend’s injuries. Thankfully the cyan pegasus was still breathing, but she seemed dazed from the impact with the roof. Rainbow Dash slowly lifted her head up and squinted an eye open. She cringed in pain as she tried moving her doubtlessly sore body.

“Yeah… I think so… maybe a little crispy, but otherwise I’m good.” The cyan mare chuckled slightly before realizing that her sore ribs throbbed whenever she laughed. Perhaps the fall into the roof had done more damage than she originally thought.

Upon hearing a loud growl, the pair looked up and widened their eyes in shock. The skeletal dragon was looming over them while hovering in place. It still had its mouth aglow with green fire as it prepared another strike.

Fluttershy gasped in horror as she watched her friends getting cornered by the dragon. There was no way they would be able to dodge an attack from that close in their injured state. She wanted to look away, but she found herself unable to avert her teary eyes as she prepared to watch her friends die.

Suddenly the yellow mare felt her hooves coming free. She was surprised by the sudden completion of the spell, but she was even more surprised to see a beam of sunlight hitting her face. Fluttershy squinted her eyes shut from the sudden brightness. She peeked out slowly to see the clouds around her rapidly disappearing.

A loud roar sounded out across the area as the dragon cried out in pain. Sunspot and Rainbow Dash looked up to see smoke pouring off the undead monster as it writhed in the sunlight. Soon enough, the light had enveloped the creature, causing it to burst into flames and vanish into a large puff of smoke.

All across the square, each and every one of the skeletons were vanishing into the returning daylight as the overhead sun beamed down with brilliant intensity. The ponies had to avert their eyes to adjust to the new light, having been submerged in relative darkness for so long. When they opened their eyes and looked around, there was no trace of the undead horde other than the destruction they had left behind. All that remained in the now well-lit square was a band of surprised ponies.

Rainbow Dash and Sunspot blinked their eyes rapidly in shock. Not moments before they were about to be made into deep fried ponies, but now they were safe with only their injuries to remind them of the hardship they had just endured.

“We did it!” Rainbow Dash cheered while raising her arms into the air triumphantly. She suddenly yelped in pain as she hastily moved her practically broken body. Sunspot looked to the cyan mare beside her with concern and empathy. She had risked her life to push her out of the way of the dragon’s flame, and she looked like it had clipped her bad enough to warrant a lot of pain.

“Thanks for saving my tail back there… are you alright?” the suited pegasus asked with sincere worry evident in her voice.

“I think I have a few sore ribs… and I kind of feel like I just got the worst sunburn ever… oww.” Rainbow Dash winced as she gently poked a spot on her fur that was singed. She then looked over to her orange companion to examine her wounds.

“How about you…? How’s your wing?” The cyan mare asked while observing the bloodied appendage with a sad expression.

“I think it looks worse than it is… I’m sure we can get this patched up whenever backup arrives… speaking of which.” Sunspot stated while looking off in the distance. Rainbow Dash followed her gaze until she saw what the suited pony was looking at.

A large group of ponies clad in royal guard outfits were flying towards the square as quickly as they could. The troop landed and surveyed the area for any signs of ponies in need before settling their eyes on the two princesses and their group.

“Princess Celestia! We got here as fast as we could once we got your message. Where are those creatures?!” One of the pegasus’s at the head of the group asked as he walked up to the white alicorn. Celestia sighed and smirked at the late arrival of the royal guard.

“Sorry lieutenant… you got here a little late. We just got done dealing with those creatures.” The alicorn explained in as gentle a manner as possible. The stallion seemed embarrassed by the fact that he and his troop had missed their opportunity to assist in the fight.

“Oh… sorry princess... what are your orders for us ma’am?” He asked while returning his stoic appearance and turning to his comrades. The band of guards was eager to offer any assistance they could.

“We have injured ponies in the town hall, and I think some of our people got hurt during the battle. Have some of your men tend to them for us. I also need you to send some people over to the library… we think that part of this attack was to get at Twilight Sparkle and her friends. Lastly, I need you to round up some of your men and search the area for anything suspicious… understood?” Celestia clarified to see if the pegasus had heard all of her instructions. The white stallion saluted while giving a confident nod.

“Yes princess, right away.” He replied before turning to his troop and relaying the princess’s orders to them. The group of stallions quickly trotted away to their various assignments.