Tom ran inside the library as fast as his feet would carry him. After Raincloud had told him about what she had done to Spike, the human was very concerned for the wellbeing of the group of ponies upstairs. He made his way up the stairs while simultaneously trying to recover from the fight. Having been knocked around so much must have done a number on his stamina.

Tom quickly rushed to the bedroom door and threw it open. Once inside, he noticed Twilight and the others turning to look at him. As they recognized the new arrival, the ponies smiled excitedly at the return of their friend.

“Tom!” Twilight exclaimed while rushing forward and wrapping her arms around the boy’s waist. Tom was almost knocked down from the eager pony trying to hug him. He smiled as he watched Applejack and Rarity walking forward to join the purple unicorn in greeting him.

“Sorry I’m late guys… there were a couple of real jerkwads outside, so I had to deal with them first.” Tom explained while still catching his breath. Twilight chuckled happily as she stared at the boy with a wide smile. She almost couldn’t believe that he was here, as if she were imagining things.

“I’m so glad to see you… we thought… well, we thought…” the purple mare trailed her eyes off sadly as she thought back to her near death experience. She honestly thought that she was going to die, and she was still uncertain as to why she didn’t. Whatever the cause, Twilight was simply glad to be alive.

“It’s ok, I’m here now. Is anyone hurt?” Tom asked while looking around at the group. Everyone frowned as they suddenly remembered the injured dragon behind them. The human was shocked when he finally noticed Spike lying on the floor.

“Oh my gosh…” The boy exclaimed as he examined the extensive wound on the dragon’s chest. Although it was no longer bleeding, it still looked horrific enough to warrant a cringe from anyone looking at it.

“He got attacked by that shadow thing you fought.” Twilight explained in a sad tone. Tom thought back to how the shadow had inflicted so much pain on him from just a small wound.

“I assume he is being affected by that purple glow as well?” The human asked uneasily while mentally sizing up how much energy it would take to heal the dragon. Twilight and the others nodded sadly in response.

“You can heal him can’t you…? Like you did with my leg?” Applebloom asked in a concerned tone while watching Spike breathing peacefully. Tom sighed quietly. He could probably heal the dragon’s wounds, but it would be a grueling task.

“It’s a little more complicated than that Applebloom… but I should be able to pull it off.” Tom shrugged while walking over to Spike and kneeling down beside him. Everyone watched anxiously as the boy breathed in and out a few times to prepare himself.

“Are you sure you’re feeling well enough to be doing this Tom?” Rarity asked as she observed the sickly look on Tom’s face.

“I’m fine… I just need to catch my breath before I start. And besides, we don’t really have too many options if I didn’t.” The human replied while cracking his knuckles and stretching his arms in preparation for the physical toll about to be put on him.

Tom steadied himself into a less taxing stance as he placed his hand in the air over the dragon’s wound. If he was going to fall over, he didn’t want to add to the already bad day Spike was having by landing on top of him.

Twilight and the others waited in silence as Tom projected his healing light from his hand. The soft blue glow traveled into the unconscious dragon and started reacting with his injury. The purple glow from earlier appeared again, as if it were trying to dispel the boy’s efforts at curing Spike.

Tom grunted uncomfortably as he had to put more effort into his healing beam to overcome the magical infliction. He had to physically prevent his hand from wavering too much so that the blue light would come into full contact with the dragon.

Just when the ponies thought the human was going to pass out from exhaustion, the wound on Spike’s chest started closing up. The purple glow disappeared completely, leaving the grisly injury free to heal up. Once the gash was completely closed up, Tom scooted himself away and rolled over on his back as his arms gave out from underneath him.

Twilight frowned as she watched the human recovering on the floor. She felt like it was unfair for him to have to be the one to hurt himself to save everyone else. The unicorn was glad that he had healed Spike, but she still felt bad for him.

“Are you ok Tom?” The unicorn asked in a concerned tone while sitting next to the exhausted human. Tom nodded slowly, but his whole body was shaking from how weak he felt. Needless to say, the ponies didn’t believe that he felt as healthy as he wanted them to think.

Suddenly, Spike groaned as he started moving slightly. The sight of the dragon stirring made everyone stunned into silence by their joyous surprise. Twilight rushed over to Spike’s side and watched eagerly as he sat up and slowly opened his eyes.

“What happened…?” He asked in a groggy daze while looking around in confusion. Twilight suddenly pulled the dragon close and held him in a tight hug. Spike was still confused and felt like a thick fog was filling his mind, but he still gathered that the unicorn was excited to see him.

“Spike! You’re alive!” The purple mare was on the verge of tears as she held her number one assistant tightly. Spike was about to ask what was wrong, when he suddenly remembered what had happened before he blacked out. The dragon suddenly understood why Twilight was so elated to see him.

“I… I’m ok?” Spike asked in uncertainty while observing his miraculous recovery. He figured that he wasn’t going to wake up again from how severe his injuries were.

“You are now darling… we thought we were going to lose you for a minute there.” Rarity stated with a cheerful smile.

“Don’t scare us like that again ok?” Scootaloo chimed in happily along with her two fellow crusaders.

Spike was happy to be able to see all of his friends in such high spirits, but the presence of a pale human recuperating on the floor next to him troubled the young dragon. He obviously must have been out for a while if Tom had the chance to get to the library and beat the two malicious ponies.

“Tom! Are you ok?!” Spike asked in an alarmed tone when he noticed how much trouble the boy was having with catching his breath.

“Aww come on, don’t let me rain on your parade… you should be happy to be alive, not concerned for me.” Tom stated while sitting up and trying to appear a little more recovered than he felt. The others were slightly unnerved by the boy’s desire to put their own happiness over his health. Perhaps being a slayer for so long had removed his sense of self preservation.

“I for one am just glad that I can take a break before heading back to the square. Although I think I liked fighting the monsters over there more than I did the ones over here.” The human stated lightheartedly while glancing out the window. Although he was obviously trying to get the subject of conversation off of himself, the ponies did feel curious about the situation at the square.

“What are things like over there? Brimstoke didn’t really fill us in all that much…” Glitterball asked while nervously observing the darkened clouds outside.

“Whatever spell these guys used raised a bunch of pony skeletons from under the ground. A lot of people got hurt in the initial chaos, but nothing too serious from what I saw.” Tom explained while thinking back to the hectic battle he left behind.

Everyone seemed mildly alarmed to hear that the square had been attacked. Many of their acquaintances and neighbors had been in attendance, along with the majority of Ponyville’s inhabitants. A more urgent feeling of alarm washed over Twilight and the others as they suddenly remembered that three of their friends were at the speech.

“What about Fluttershy and the others?! Are they ok?!” Rarity asked in a concerned panic. She couldn’t take any more of knowing that her friends were in danger. The white mare could practically feel her nerves exploding from stress.

“Relax… they are fine. Last I checked they were in town hall along with many of the other civilians that didn’t bolt when everything started… I’m sure that they are safer than you guys were before I got here.” Tom stated to ease the jittery unicorn’s concerns. Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief once they learned that Fluttershy and her two companions were safe.

“But how is town hall still safe? I would have figured that it would have been broken into a long time ago from how many skeletons you say were there. Brimstoke and the others are good, but they aren’t Daring Doo or anything…” Peppermint wondered out loud. Surely if a horde of monsters had attacked the square they would have broken into the town hall at every window to get at the ponies inside.

“Well they didn’t seem very bright… whatever spell was used to bring them here probably gave them a basic command. They might have been trying to get at the princess for all I know… either way they all just kind of came at us from the front, so it was relatively easy to fend them off… Daring Doo or no.” Tom explained as he thought more about the issue himself.

“Wait… you know about Daring Doo?” Applejack questioned with a curious expression. Tom smirked and nodded his head in response.

“See? I get references.” The human chimed lightheartedly. Everyone chuckled briefly at the display. It felt good to the ponies to be able to laugh again after their ordeal.

Once the laughter died down a little bit, Twilight glanced back outside at the ominous clouds overhead. She had been too occupied with her own situation to even think about what spell had caused the clouds. As she put two and two together, she realized that attacking the library was probably a part of the plan as well. While the princess and the others were distracted at the speech, the purple mare and her friends were wide open for attack.

Before Twilight could elaborate on any more of her thoughts or feelings towards the malevolent plot, she noticed that the sky seemed to be clearing up. Thin rays of sunlight were bursting through the thick blanket of grayness that had blocked the sky for so long.

“Hey guys, lo-” The unicorn started to alert her friends to this odd occurrence, when a sudden flash of sunlight made them all shield their eyes. The ponies had been in relative darkness for so long that the mere presence of normal lighting made their eyes burn.

Once the group managed to slowly flutter open their eyes and peek out from under their arms they discovered that the sky was as clear and blue as it had been before the incident. The sight of the bright and sunny landscape outside mixed in with the endless blue sky above was a surprisingly beautiful thing that felt fresh and new to the ponies.

“Look at that…” Twilight muttered to finish her previous sentence as she looked around at the quiet buildings outside. If one were to look at the scene objectively, they might not realize that horrible monsters had been roaming around freely not moments ago.

“I guess the others have sorted things out over at the square.” Rarity suggested in an optimistic tone. It only made sense that the sudden return of daylight was a direct cause of the efforts of Brimstoke and the others.

“Glitter, can you call down there to see if everyone is alright?” Twilight asked in a slightly concerned tone.

“Uh… sure, let me see if anyone is free to listen.” Glitterball stated while putting a hoof up to her ear. The communication spell kicked in, enveloping her ear in a magical glow that matched her aura color.

“Hello? Is anypony listening down there?” The rainbow haired mare spoke aloud and waited for anyone to respond. After a short wait, she heard the sound of Brimstoke picking up the line.

“Glitterball? Is everything ok over there?” The stallion asked with slight concern and curiosity.

“Yeah, we’re all safe now… I noticed that you guys must have done something right. I can finally see the sun in the sky… that’s good I suppose.” Glitterball replied while glancing back outside.

“Yeah… we managed to take care of things. Hey listen, why don’t you guys take a minute to relax. The princess is going to be there soon to check on you, and from the sound of it she wants to talk about something important... She wants us all to be there once we're done cleaning up here.” Brimstoke explained with a perplexed tone.

“What…? Umm… ok, we’ll sit tight and wait for her then. Before I let you go, is everyone ok down there?” The unicorn asked in a sincere manner. Brimstoke paused for a moment before answering, presumably to tally everyone’s health in his head.

“Uh… yeah… Sunspot and Rainbow Dash got a little roughed up, but they will be fine.” Brimstoke finally spoke up in a relieved tone.

“Phew… that’s good to hear. Alright, see you when you get done over there.” Glitterball stated in a happy tone while bringing her hoof down to end the call. She then turned to her friends with a relieved smile on her face.

“Everyone is fine, give or take a few minor injuries.” Glitter explained cheerfully. Everyone was happy to hear that their friends had survived the attack, and in good shape to boot.

“Brimstoke said that the princess is on her way over… she wants to talk with us about something important once everyone is present.” The rainbow haired unicorn shifted into a more confused and curious tone as she dispensed the information she received. The others were intrigued and confused about what Celestia would want to discuss.

“Hmm… I wonder if it has something to do with the attack?” Twilight pondered out loud. Everyone shrugged their shoulders as the unicorn looked to them for thoughtful input. Her guess was as good as anything anybody else could come up with.

“Well… I suppose we have some time to kill before the princess gets here. Why don’t we all head downstairs and relax for a while?” The purple mare suggested with a cheerful smile. Everyone nodded eagerly at the prospect of unwinding their bundled up nerves.

The group made their way out of the bedroom and casually walked down the stairs. With the absence of the gray clouds outside, the main room was comfortably lit in warm and inviting sunlight. Despite this abundance of light, Twilight walked over to each of the lanterns around the room and lit them up to completely fill the room with light.

Once the room was sufficiently lit, everyone took a look around to assess the damage caused during the fight. Surprisingly enough, very few of the items around the room were disturbed during the struggle with the shadow. Only a few stray books and a few empty vials had been knocked from their respective bookshelves and tables.

“At least there isn’t much to pick up.” Twilight stated while levitating a book back into its proper place. Glitterball and Peppermint walked over to the table and gathered up their scattered equipment. They quickly placed all the vials and ingredients back into a small carrying case, which they then placed in their vests.

“I guess he wasn’t too occupied with messing the place up while he was throttling me.” Glitterball chimed in sarcastically. The ponies were amazed that the unicorn could be so lighthearted about such a frightful experience.

“I’m just glad that we managed to fight that thing off… I thought I was going to mess something up back there… heh.” Peppermint chuckled nervously as he thought back to the initial fight with the shadow.

“You did fine Pepper… not bad for your first official run in with a substantial baddy.” Glitterball stated while giving the red haired stallion a pat on the back.

“If you say so… I thought Applejack did most of the work though… at this rate we might want to recruit her into the team.” Peppermint said with a chuckle. Applejack smiled at the praise coming from the medical pony.

“Aww come on, don’t be so hard on yourself sugar cube… if you didn’t blind that thing, Ah wouldn’t have been able to do anything.” The orange mare replied in a friendly manner. She was surprised to see someone so unconfident about their own acts of bravery.

“Thanks…” The stallion replied while rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

The group decided to wait around and get comfortable while waiting for the princess to arrive. Twilight and Spike went into the kitchen to fetch drinks while everyone else chatted idly in the other room. After delivering the various drinks to whoever asked, the two went back into the other room to fix themselves something.

“What do you feel like?” Twilight asked while browsing what selection they had in the refrigerator. Spike hummed curiously as he thought about the choice further.

“Well… we don’t exactly have a full stock… milk and orange juice seems to be the only options I have.” The dragon stated while eyeing between the two.

“I’ll be sure to head down to the store and pick up some groceries in a few days.” Twilight replied with a smile.

“Heh… I’ll take orange juice for now thanks.” Spike said while grabbing the pitcher of juice and pouring himself a glass. He offered the unicorn a glass, but she politely declined.

While Spike was leaning back and enjoying his drink, Twilight watched him with a loving smile. She couldn’t believe that she almost lost him twice in the span of a few days. She also couldn’t believe that he was so well adjusted all things considered.

Thoughts of every moment she had shared with the young dragon flooded into her mind. Twilight could still remember back to his birth like it was just yesterday. So many good things happened to her on that day. She discovered her extraordinary talent for magic, she received her cutie mark, and she became Princess Celestia’s student. But perhaps the most important thing that happened was her receiving custody of the baby dragon she hatched from a mere egg.

“Hey… what’s on your mind?” Spike spoke up, interrupting the unicorn’s thoughts.

“Uh… just reminiscing.” Twilight replied while smiling warmly. Spike was a little confused by the cheerful nature of the purple mare.

“I’m the one who just had a near death experience… shouldn’t I be the one giddy with happiness?” The dragon stated lightheartedly. Although he had tried to say it as gently as possible, the unicorn frowned slightly at the mention of the incident.

“Hey… lighten up. Everything turned out alright in the end.” Spike said to brighten up the purple mare’s mood. Twilight couldn’t help but smile at the dragon’s lighthearted nature.

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right.” Twilight stated in a more cheerful tone. She was still concerned, but she couldn’t get over her feeling of happiness from learning that Spike would live. Besides, she could worry more about the hooded ponies when the princess arrived.

After spending the next ten minutes waiting around, the group finally heard a knock on the door. Twilight got up to answer it, and discovered Princess Celestia waiting outside with two royal guards beside her.

“Princess, I’m glad to see you made it.” The unicorn greeted her mentor while stepping outside. Celestia smiled briefly before glancing over to her two companions.

“You two can head back to the square to help out with the search… everything seems to be fine here.” The alicorn instructed to the two ponies. The guards nodded before turning around and walking off. Celestia then turned to greet her student.

“Twilight, I’m glad to see you’re unharmed… I hope everyone else is the same?” The alicorn asked with a slightly apprehensive tone.

“Spike got hurt during the attack… but Tom healed him. Other than that we’re all just a little shaken up.” Twilight replied while shuddering slightly. Celestia nodded understandingly.

“*Sigh* this whole ordeal is so horrible… I hope we can rope this in before something really bad happens.” Celestia shook her head sadly as she thought about the situation.

“Did you guys find anything over at the square? Was there a pictogram nearby?” The purple mare asked curiously.

“Luna is searching the area with Brimstoke and the others… she should be over here later on. In the meantime, I want you to tell me everything you can about what happened here.” Celestia replied in a gentle tone.

“Right… maybe we should head inside then?” Twilight suggested while motioning towards the door. Celestia nodded before following the unicorn inside.

Once inside, the alicorn greeted the other ponies before settling down next to Twilight. She asked the unicorn and her friends about every detail they could think about. What the two ponies looked like, their names, what abilities they possessed, and the details of the attack. It was a slightly painful experience to think about the stressful event, but the ponies managed to retell what they knew as clearly as possible.

Celestia cringed sympathetically as she learned more and more about what happened to her student. The shadow creature that the pale mare summoned, the frightful shadow magic that she and her brother used, all of these things troubled the alicorn deeply.

“And this… Raincloud was it? She said that… whoever her leader is has a plan in place?” The princess asked with a dreadful sense of curiosity.

“Yeah… she sounded a little too cocky for my liking.” Twilight huffed in an uneasy tone. She wasn’t even sure what the pale mare meant by what she said, and that made her feel nervous.

“*Sigh*… I guess we will just have to stop them before they finish their plan.” Celestia tried to sound optimistic, but her attempt at lightening the mood was lost amid her frustrated exterior. Twilight and the others felt bad for the alicorn. They could tell that she was really stressed out over this issue. Even if it was for good reason, it couldn’t be healthy for her.

Twilight started to speak up to try and cheer up her mentor, when she was suddenly interrupted by the sound of someone knocking at the door. Deciding that it would be best to get a brief moment of fresh air, Celestia got up to answer the door.

As she walked over to the door and swung it open, the alicorn was met with the sight of a group of familiar ponies outside. Luna was standing outside along with Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Brimstoke and the remaining members of Spirit.

“Luna, you’re already done with the search?” Celestia asked curiously. She wasn’t expecting the search to be done for at least half an hour.

“Yes… we found another pictogram near the square in a back alley, along with the remnants of some kind of spell.” Luna replied with a puzzled expression. Judging from her attitude, Celestia gathered that her sister hadn’t found anything incriminating on the identity of the caster.

“Hmm…” Celestia hummed curiously before settling her eyes on Rainbow Dash and Sunspot. She hadn’t noticed before, but the two ponies had several bandages from where they had been injured during the fight. Sunspot’s wing and the surrounding area was patched up, while the cyan mare only had bandages around her midsection to accommodate some of her sore ribs and burns.

“How do you two feel?” The princess asked in a concerned tone. Rainbow Dash smiled and chuckled to make the alicorn feel better about her health.

“We’re fine princess… the medics say that I should be able to take these off later on today.” The cyan mare stated cheerfully.

“And I should be clear to fly again in a few days.” Sunspot said in a slightly disheartened tone before returning to a more cheerful disposition.

“That’s good to hear… I’m sorry that you got hurt like that. I thought you would be safer than us while in the air… I guess I was wrong.” Celestia looked down sadly while speaking. Not wanting the alicorn to worry about her too much, Rainbow Dash walked forward to get inside.

“Let’s head inside and get down to business… I want to catch the creeps who did this as soon as possible.” The cyan mare said in a passionate tone. The others nodded while following the pegasus inside.

Once inside, Rainbow Dash and her two friends were incredibly happy and relieved to see their friends unharmed. They had figured that nothing bad had happened due to them not being informed of anything, but it was much more exciting to actually see their friends safe in front of them.

“Girls!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed while rushing forward towards the three ponies. Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack were slightly surprised to be gripped into a tight group hug. The pink mare quickly reached out and pulled Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy into her bundle of a hug.

Although it was slightly constricting, the ponies were happy to accept the hug from the excited mare. Before anyone lost the ability to breath, Pinkie let go and stepped back with an ear to ear grin on her face.

“It’s so good to see all of you! I thought something terrible had happened when I heard you were attacked!” The party pony stated in an anxiously excited tone. Twilight and the others were flattered to see someone so concerned for them, but they didn’t want the pink mare to worry too much.

“We’re alright now Pinkie… Tom managed to fix anything those two ponies did.” Twilight said in a friendly tone while glancing over to the human. Pinkie was glad to see her friends unharmed, but she was also upset that they were in danger in the first place.

“Grr… I’m so mad at those stupid hooded ponies! They are SO not invited to my next party.” The pink mare huffed angrily while crossing her arms. Although they were a little weirded out by her delivery, her friends shared her opinion.

“Yeah! We need to find out who those guys are so we can knock some sense into them!” Rainbow Dash stated in an enthusiastic tone.

“They need to answer for everything they have done to us and all of the other ponies they hurt.” Fluttershy voiced her opinion with a determined expression.

The more people spoke up, the more everyone else was getting riled up. Every hardship the group had gone through was bubbling to the surface as they resolved to bring the malevolent ponies to justice. While the ponies were cheering in excitement, Celestia felt that she needed to let them know about her plan.

“Alright girls, settle down and listen up.” The princess spoke up to get everyone’s attention. The group fell silent as they all shifted their eyes to the white alicorn with curiosity evident in their faces.

“In light of recent events… I have made the decision to fully retaliate against these hooded ponies. They have openly attacked us on numerous occasions, but this latest attack was the most directed of all of them. Luna and I will investigate who these ponies are using the names we have. After we have enough information, we will launch a task force against them to bring them in.” Celestia shifted her attention to Twilight and her friends as she continued. “In the meantime… I think it would be for the best if all of you laid low.” She explained with an understanding tone.

“Ok… we’re going to be there when you take these guys down right?” Rainbow Dash asked with an unsure leer. Celestia frowned and looked away briefly.

“I… think that you all should just sit tight until after all of this blows over. I know you’re probably upset, but-” The alicorn tried to explain her decision, when she was suddenly interrupted by the cyan mare speaking up.

“What?! Are you kidding me?!” Rainbow Dash stated in an upset tone while getting up from her seat. “There’s no way we’re just going to sit back while you guys deal with these jerks! We are just as involved in this fight as you are! Right girls?” She asked while looking over to her friends for support.

Most of the others shared the cyan mare’s opinion, but they also had mixed feelings about being left out of the action. Fluttershy and Rarity thought that it might be for the best if they didn’t pursue the matter any further. Pinkie Pie wanted to help, but she was also a little scared of the capabilities of the mysterious group. Applejack and Twilight understood the pegasus’s outrage, but they also understood where the princess was coming from.

“Rainbow Dash… we uh…” Twilight paused as she tried to think of how to say something without upsetting her friend. “Maybe we should listen to the princess on this one.” The unicorn mumbled while looking away and nervously glancing her eyes back at the cyan mare. Rainbow Dash was more surprised than anything.

“Come on Twilight, you want to give these guys a piece of your mind just as bad as I do right?” The cyan mare asked in a disheartened tone. Twilight sighed while glancing over to Spike. She wanted to take action against the ponies, but she also had to think about her own safety as well as her friends’.

“I do… but I don’t want anyone else to get hurt. Think about it Rainbow Dash… if Tom weren’t here, half of us would either be hospitalized or dead by this point. We shouldn’t be careless enough to rely on his healing abilities to save us… what if he gets to us too late next time?” Twilight said in a sad tone while glancing around at the others. Everyone looked around at their loved ones and frowned as they thought of the worst case scenario.

“But… but I thought… they… we…” Rainbow Dash slowly lost her enthusiasm as she looked around at the sad faces of her friends. “*sigh* Ok…” She finally lowered her head in defeat as she decided to comply with her friends’ opinions.

“Until it’s time to attack the hooded ponies directly, I’m assigning each of you a protective detail of sorts. I want Brimstoke and his team to stay with each of you to keep an eye on things. You can decide who goes where yourselves.” Celestia explained while glancing over to the white stallion and his team.

Twilight and the others looked to the team of ponies with uncertainty. They were unsure of which member of the team they would want to come live with them. All of the suited ponies seemed to be friendly enough, but they hadn’t really met them for more than a couple days.

Brimstoke and the others walked over to the group with indifferent expressions. The white stallion stood in front and looked to the six mares with a pensive expression.

“Ok… I guess we’re going to have to bunk up with each other for a while. Who do you girls want to go with you?” Brimstoke asked while glancing between the six ponies and his own teammates.

Twilight figured that she should pick first, but she was unsure of who to choose. She settled her eyes on Peppermint and smiled, he seemed kind enough for her liking.

“I guess Peppermint can stay with us… if that’s ok.” The unicorn stated in a friendly manner. The shy stallion nodded in response.

“I’m cool with that.” Pepper added with a smirk.

“I want to hang out with you some more!” Pinkie Pie said in a cheerful tone while pointing to Brimstoke. “You look like you could use some fun in your life.” She added with a giggle. The stallion seemed to be a little unsure of whether or not he would enjoy being so close to the energetic mare for so long.

“Uh… ok.” Brimstoke rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly as the pink pony eagerly bounced beside him.

“I guess I kind of have to take Sunspot. She’s the only one who can actually sit in my house without falling out of the sky.” Rainbow Dash reasoned while glancing over to the suited pegasus and smirking. After their brief battle with the dragon, the cyan mare figured that they made a good team.

“Sweet, I have no objections to that.” Sunspot stated with a chuckle. She was starting to like the adventurous pegasus.

“I would love it if you would come stay with us Glitterball.” Rarity asked in a courteous tone while looking over at the rainbow haired unicorn.

“Of course.” Glitterball nodded in response with a friendly smile.

“Umm…” Fluttershy eyed between Neon Streak and Glimmer Shine thoughtfully. She wasn’t sure which one she should pick.

“Do you want to come with me Glimmer?” The yellow mare asked in an unimposing tone. Glimmer Shine smiled and walked over to the timid pegasus.

“Sure thing Fluttershy.” Glimmer stated in a friendly tone. Fluttershy smiled slightly at the lighthearted display.

“Guess that leaves you stuck with me Applejack.” Neon stated with a chuckle while looking at the only pony without a pair. Applejack looked around at the others as they stayed near their respective companion.

“Ah guess so. You’ve saved my life a few times now, so Ah suppose the neighborly thing to do would be to offer you a place to stay.” The farm pony said while smiling warmly. The green mare smirked and nodded in response.

“Right then… now that all of you have someone watching out for you, I suggest you head home for the night. You can still help out with the investigation from the library… there are a lot of things we need researched after all.” Celestia explained in a friendly tone. Everyone sighed quietly as they thought of the prospect of researching without facing the hooded ponies themselves. It felt like they would be working for nothing.

“Goodbye everyone… stay safe for me alright?” Twilight said as she watched her friends get up to leave. Everyone turned and waved to each other as they walked to the door.

“Bye guys.” Pinkie Pie stated while walking outside with Brimstoke in tow. Before the two made it out of the door, the stallion turned to his teammates.

“If any of you see anything suspicious, be sure to call in. Even if you can’t reach all of us from across town, you should be able to reach at least one person.” Brimstoke instructed to the others, putting special emphasis towards Glimmer Shine, who would be the farthest away.

“Heh… I would like to see them try something after what happened today. I’ll bet they’re still licking their wounds under whatever rock they crawled out of.” Rainbow Dash stated in a confident tone. She could only imagine how much embarrassment the hooded ponies were feeling from their failure.

The group finally said their goodbyes and funneled out the door. Twilight was left with Tom and Spike, along with their new friend Peppermint to keep her company.