As the sun gradually disappeared from the sky, the last tints of red vanished from the horizon only to be replaced by a dimly lit blue that barely offered any light onto the landscape of Equestria. Rainbow Dash and Sunspot were casually walking the bereft streets of Ponyville’s outskirts. They had since left the larger group behind as they all split off to go to their respective homes.

The cool night air and the occasional chirping of a stray cricket created a soothing atmosphere that suited the exhausted ponies well. After everything that had happened that day, both of the pegasus’s were ready to unwind in the comfort of a safe house.

“Man… those stars are a sight for sore eyes. For a while there, I thought I would never see the sky again.” Rainbow Dash stated while staring at the night sky in amazement.

“Heh… you and me both.” Sunspot chuckled briefly while looking back at her bandaged up side. The suited mare thought she was going to be eaten alive by that undead dragon, so to be able to take in the breath taking views of nature was a pleasant surprise.

“I wonder what happened to everyone that ran away. They were scared out of their wits… I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them were still running.” The cyan mare pondered out loud while observing the empty streets. Although they were on the outskirts of town, and everyone may very well be sleeping in their homes, she couldn’t help but to wonder if they were made aware that the situation was taken care of.

“I’m sure that Celestia made sure to send a patrol around town to check on everyone. She usually puts the safety of the general populous pretty high up on her list.” Sunspot stated in a reassuring tone. She was certain that the princess would do something to keep her subjects informed on dangerous matters such as these.

“Yeah… I just wish she would put our safety a tad bit lower on the list.” Rainbow Dash huffed in annoyance while thinking about how she would just have to sit and wait until the hooded ponies have been dealt with.

Sunspot frowned sympathetically for the upset mare. She could tell that Rainbow Dash wasn’t upset at her for the fact that she had to watch her. The cyan pony was more upset at the fact that she would be missing out on getting the retribution she so desperately wanted.

“She means well… You six are really important to her. Besides, she is kind of freaking out about this whole thing anyway. I’m surprised she hasn’t put Ponyville on lockdown and told everyone to stay indoors.” The suited pegasus explained in a lighthearted tone to cheer up the upset mare. Rather than being cheered up, Rainbow Dash was more confused than anything.

“Freaking out…? How do you know that? She seems to be handling this pretty well all things considered.” Rainbow Dash said with a confused expression. The white alicorn always appeared so stoic and brave in times of crisis.

“Princess Luna told me about it. Apparently they had a miniature argument, and it was about us no less… Celestia was a little upset that Luna didn’t tell her about the books she found instead of making a secret task force for fighting evil.” Sunspot explained in an uneasy tone. She was so used to seeing the two princesses getting along. Even if it was a small argument based off of Celestia’s concerns, it still troubled the suited mare that it happened.

“Really? How did Princess Luna react to that?” Rainbow Dash asked with an intrigued expression.

“She said that she didn’t want to worry her about it. Back then it was just a few books full of occult knowledge, she had no way of knowing any of it was even real. The mere fact that she brought us together was strictly supposed to be a precautionary action.” Sunspot added in an understanding tone.

“Wow… I never imagined that this was affecting them that much.” Rainbow Dash shrugged in surprise at the alicorn’s actions. She now had a more understanding outlook on why the princess put her and her friends on protective watch.

Sunspot added no further comments on her story. She decided that it would be best for the cyan mare to process her feelings about the situation for a moment, so she dropped the conversation unless she was asked more about it.

The two walked along in silence for a while after that. In the midst of their discussion, they hadn’t noticed that they were now in the countryside outside of Ponyville. Rainbow Dash’s house wouldn’t be much further of a walk.

Sure enough, the pair spotted the cloud home coming into view in the distance. It wasn’t hard to make out due to how much it stood out against the relatively clear sky. The sight of her home getting closer filled the cyan pony with relief.

“So that’s your house huh?” Sunspot asked while taking in the view of whatever features she could make out of the house.

“Yep… yet ever so humble.” Rainbow Dash replied with a warm smirk.

“Wow… that sure brings back memories. I haven’t been to Cloudsdale since my Wonderbolt days.” The suited mare stated while glancing down to her outfit and smiling nostalgically, she clearly harbored many good memories from her brief stint on the team.

“Heh… I got you beat there. I haven’t been back there since I moved out here years ago, aside from a few temporary visits.” Rainbow added while chuckling briefly. Sunspot shared in the brief laughter while observing the décor dotted around the cloud home. Nearly every piece of decoration in the outside area one could loosely call a lawn was based off of Cloudsdale architecture, right down to the Greek style columns.

Once the pair of ponies reached the edge of the cloud structure, they were eager to get up there and rest. Sunspot instinctively tried to spread her wings to take off when she quickly realized that she was bandaged up under her suit.

“Aww hay… how is this going to work out?” The orange mare huffed in frustration while looking down to her injured appendage. Rainbow Dash frowned sympathetically as she watched the suited pony fretting over her injury. She looked up to the base of the cloud home and tried to estimate how high up it was in terms of flying.

“Uhh… shoot.” The cyan pegasus cursed under her breath as she found no easy solution. Suddenly an idea popped into her head.

“Here, let me help you out.” Rainbow Dash suggested while spreading her wings and lifting into the air slightly. She hovered above Sunspot and wrapped her arms around her waist. The suited mare was surprised by the sudden invasion of her personal bubble, and more surprised that the blue pegasus would attempt such a seemingly excessive task.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Are you really going to pick me up?!” Sunspot half chuckled and half panicked as the cyan mare started to lift her a little ways off the ground. Rainbow Dash set her back down as she questioned her plan.

“Hey, do you have a better idea?” The cyan mare questioned while eyeing at the suited pony sarcastically. Sunspot quickly tried to think of an alternative route, but sighed in defeat when her mind drew a blank.

“Alright… but two things before we get airborne; don’t hurt yourself… and don’t drop me. Emphasis on the second one hot shot.” The orange pony instructed in as clear a manner as she could. Rainbow Dash chuckled confidently at the concerned pegasus.

“You got it boss.” Rainbow Dash stated jokingly before pulling up to take off. Sunspot was surprised at how easily the cyan mare lifted her up and carried her along midflight.

Rainbow Dash decided to take things slow and cautious while flying up to her house. Although she was confident in her ability, she didn’t want to risk dropping the suited mare or causing pain to her already injured wing. Sunspot cringed nervously as she looked down. Being a pegasus, the orange pony wasn’t afraid of heights, but given her impaired wing, she was starting to sweat nervously at the prospect of falling.

Despite the vast number of fear inducing thoughts flying through Sunspot’s head, the two finally reached a section of cloud connected to Rainbow Dash’s main house. The cyan mare sat her friend down and landed next to her.

“See? That wasn’t so bad huh?” Rainbow Dash said with a lighthearted smirk. The orange mare smiled in return as she couldn’t deny her friend’s good job.

“Yeah… I guess not. You’re a pretty good flyer.” Sunspot stated in a congratulatory tone. Rainbow Dash smiled in flattery from the comment.

“Thanks… I guess practice makes perfect.” Rainbow chuckled lightheartedly while walking up to her front door. She opened it up and ushered the suited pegasus inside.

Once inside the structure, one could forget that they were in the clouds high above Ponyville’s outskirts. The interior of the main building looked much more homey and average than the stark white exterior, while still matching with the theme. Shades ranging from light blue down to dark purple adorned most of the walls and ceilings, some of the floors had a tile theme comprised of light blue and a darker shade of blue, and there were more stone columns inside, though these ones were either dark grey or black.

“Nice place you got going here Dash.” Sunspot commented while observing the interior of the house.

“Heh… thanks. Go ahead and get comfortable. I’m going to see if I have an air mattress or something.” Rainbow Dash said while walking off towards her storage room. Meanwhile, Sunspot was left to her own devices in the spacious home. The suited mare quickly found a couch and promptly sat on it to rest her weary body.

Over on the other side of Ponyville, Applejack, her sister, and her travel companion had already made it back home. The three were walking on the main pathway that led through Sweet Apple Acres. The sight of the apple trees swaying in the soft night breeze off to the side complimented with the moonlight shining down to create the perfect peaceful atmosphere.

“So this is the famous Sweet Apple Acres huh?” Neon Streak said while admiring her surroundings. “I’ve heard that these are the most beautiful apple orchards in all of Equestria… I can see where they’re coming from.” She stated in an astounded tone.

“Hehe… thanks Neon. If you come around during harvest time, maybe we could treat you to something.” Applejack offered in a friendly way. Neon Streak was intrigued by the farmer’s proposition.

“Hmm… sounds like a plan. I’ll have to see about coming back here after all of this is over.” The green mare said with a charmed expression on her face. Applejack was surprised that the tough as nails pony had a soft spot for hometown comforts.

“You aren’t sticking around Ponyville?” Applebloom asked curiously from beside the two. The yellow filly figured that the members of Spirit would remain close by after things were wrapped up with the hooded ponies.

“Nah… me and the guys will probably just head back to Canterlot until we get another assignment.” Neon replied as she thought about where her team would head after they were done in Ponyville.

“Awww… Ah was just starting to get to know you. Me and the girls were even thinking about joining your team!” Applebloom said with an enthusiastic smile. Neon Streak chuckled at the cute little filly. She remembered back when she was that young.

“Well… we will be sure to come visit you guys often. How does that sound?” The green mare offered to comfort the disappointed filly. Applebloom’s face brightened up at the proposal.

“Great!” Applebloom chimed in excitement. The yellow filly couldn’t wait to learn more about the team of monster hunters.

Applejack smiled as she watched her eager sister fantasize about the team of ponies. It was always good to see the young filly being so passionate about something. Not to mention the friendly way that Neon Streak was addressing her. If someone seemingly as rough around the edges as Brimstoke or Neon Streak could be kind, then maybe there was hope for pony kind after all.

Soon enough, the trio made their way up to the farm house. The sight of the humble structure immediately filled Applejack and her sister with a sense of comfort and happiness. Neon Streak could understand how living on a farm could be peaceful and rewarding in many ways.

“Huh… looks like Big Mac is up.” Applejack stated while observing the light coming through one of the windows beside the door.

“He’s probably worried sick about us…” Applebloom said in a disheartened tone. The orange mare frowned slightly as she thought of how much her brother must have been worrying about her.

“Let’s head inside then… we better not keep him waiting.” Applejack said while opening the door and ushering everyone inside. Neon Streak and Applebloom quickly went inside while the cow pony closed the door behind them.

Once inside, the trio was greeted by the sight of a red stallion sitting on the couch with a concerned expression. As he noticed his family return, Big Mac got up and smiled slightly, although his two sisters knew that his tiny grin was much more intense on the inside.

“Applejack! Applebloom!” Big Mac exclaimed while walking up to the two and hugging them. Once the stallion released his sisters from his tight grip, he shifted his expression to a more worried one.

“What happened over there? Ah thought that you were just heading down to the library… it’s practically midnight." Big Mac stated while looking out the window at the darkness outside. Applejack frowned as she tried to come up with a valid reason for her delay. It wasn’t exactly easy to tell your older brother that you almost died trying to save your younger sister and her friends.

“Sorry about that. There was an… incident… that kind of demanded our attention.” Applejack explained with a hesitant expression. Big Mac paused and frowned as he listened to the distressed mare. He might not have known what happened, but he could tell that the orange mare did not want to bring it up.

“Ok… Ah’m just glad that you two are safe.” Big Mac spoke in a calm and sympathetic tone. Now that his attention was freed up, the stallion looked over at the green mare curiously. Upon seeing that her brother had noticed the strange newcomer, Applejack felt it necessary to introduce her. She was going to be staying with them after all.

“Oh! Uh… Big Mac, this is our friend Neon Streak. She is one of the ponies that have been helping us out with everything that has been going on. The princess wants someone keeping an eye on us, so she will be staying with us for a while.” The orange mare explained while motioning to the green mare.

“Nice to meet you Big Mac.” Neon Streak greeted in a friendly tone while reaching forward to shake the stallion’s hoof. Big Mac accepted the gesture and smiled in return.

“Likewise.” Big Mac stated with a warm smile.

After introducing their new guest to her brother Applejack intended to head off to bed, but she suddenly felt a pang of hunger that was too severe to warrant ignoring. A sudden rumble beside her told the orange mare that her sister felt the same.

“Man… Ah’m starving.” Applebloom stated while holding her empty gut.

“Me too… Ah guess in all the commotion we didn’t get anything to eat.” Applejack added while glancing to Neon Streak for confirmation. The green mare nodded in agreement while taking note of her own feeling of hunger.

“Ah’ll go fix you guys something to eat.” Big Mac suggested with a helpful attitude while walking towards the kitchen. The others smiled at the prospect of being fed without spending any effort themselves.

Neon Streak walked over to the couch and plopped down on it with a groan of tired relief. She remained motionless while staring up at the ceiling with half of her body hanging off the couch. The sight of the green mare lazing around came as a surprise to Applejack. She had to constantly remind herself that even though these were professionals trained by Princess Luna herself, they were still regular ponies underneath their tactical gear.

“Ah guess you all had just as rough a day as we did over at the square.” Applejack stated in a sympathetic tone while sitting down on the couch. Neon Streak chuckled slightly at the statement.

“Heh… I guess you could say that. Me and the others spent half our time running through crowds of seriously agitated skeletons to rescue ponies, and the other half fending off said crowds of seriously agitated skeletons while the princess found a solution. I feel like my arms are going to fall off from how much I had to use my strobe.” The green mare explained in a lighthearted way while taking a moment to breathe easy.

“Wow… that is pretty rough. Me and the girls were in a tense situation too, but at least we didn’t have to run around all day. Ah like exercise as much as the next girl, but Ah think that running for long periods of time doesn’t suit me.” Applejack said in a jesting manner to lighten the mood. Everyone else laughed warmly at the orange mare’s statement.

Suddenly, Big Mac came back into the room carrying three plates with sandwiches on them. Neon Streak immediately sat up and righted herself to be sitting upright on the couch as the stallion sat the plates down on the table in front of the three ponies.

“Sorry it isn’t anything fancy… Ah’m not what you would call a gourmet chef.” Big Mac said while rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Applebloom and the others smirked at the sight of any kind of food, so they could have cared less.

“It’s fine Big Mac… Ah don’t think my stomach would care what Ah put into it at this point, so these look delicious in my eyes.” The yellow filly stated to make her brother feel better. The red stallion smiled at the kind words of his little sister.

“Well what are we waiting for? Let’s eat!” Neon Streak said happily while picking up her plate and cradling it in her lap. Applejack and her sister followed suit and got comfortable while they ate.

“Awwww come on Rarity… it will be fun!” Pinkie Pie beamed while pleading with the white unicorn to partake in her party game. While they were walking home, Rarity suggested that Sweetie Belle and the other crusaders have a sleepover at her house. With the mere mention of the word sleepover, Pinkie Pie burst with excitement. She eagerly suggested that she should be a part of the gathering, and even offered for some of the others to come along. Although she was hesitant to allow the energetic mare to come stay with her, Rarity couldn’t turn down her friend.

Now the Carousel Boutique was filled with a veritable guest list of ponies. Scootaloo had agreed to come, although Applebloom and her sister politely declined. Fluttershy agreed to come along, so by extension Glimmer Shine had to tag along with the yellow pegasus. And of course, Glitterball and Brimstoke were required to attend the event due to their obligation to remain close to their charges.

“I don’t know Pinkie… I had intended to just relax for the rest of the night after what happened at the library.” Rarity stated in an uncertain tone while eyeing around at the eager fillies clutching pillows in their hooves. It wasn’t easy to see how a pillow fight had come about from Rarity’s idea of a peaceful get together, but the party pony worked in mysterious ways.

Rarity had gotten out a large number of sleeping bags for everybody, including herself, and now they were all camping out together in a heap of bags just in front of her bed. Rarity had wanted to sleep in her bed with Sweetie Belle, but the filly suggested that they join their friends on the floor to get a better sleepover experience. The unicorn protested of course, but then Sweetie Belle suggested that they use pillows with their sleeping bags.

Rarity figured that she would be comfortable enough with the added pillows, so she accepted. Once she had gotten everything together however, Pinkie’s fun loving mind kicked into gear. With the sleepover atmosphere completed with the addition of pillows, she was giddy with excitement. To be able to have a large scale pillow fight with her friends had always been a dream of hers. Even if Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack were absent, Pinkie was certain that she and the others would have enough fun for all of their friends that weren’t there.

“I’m sorry that you girls had such a scary experience at the library, but you need to unwind. Laughter is the best medicine, fun is the best doctor, and pillow fights are fun! See my point?” The energetic mare asked while looking around at the others for confirmation. Although they were confused by Pinkie’s deduction process, they agreed that they could all use some fun.

“But… do we really need to partake in something as barbaric as a pillow fight? I’m sure that there are other less violent and messy ways to have fun.” Rarity reasoned in an attempt to talk her way out of the approaching chaos.

“Aww come on Rarity… pleeeaaase?” Sweetie Belle whined in as cute a tone as she could muster. She even batted her eyelashes, knowing full well that her childlike charm would turn the unicorn into putty in her hooves.

“Ugh… you know I hate it when you give me the puppy dog eyes Sweetie Belle. It’s not fair!” Rarity attempted to remain steadfast in her decision, but she couldn’t prevent the adorable filly from eating away at her willpower with each passing second. Sweetie Belle remained silent while putting all the effort she had into trying to win her sister over with cuteness.

“Well… I guess it wouldn’t hurt that much. I’ll do it for a l-” Rarity’s sentence was cut off by a pillow being smacked across her face. Although the soft weapon didn’t hurt, it was jarring enough to knock her a little ways off balance.

The unicorn puffed out a burst of air to get her hair out of her eyes. She then glared at the group in front of her to determine the culprit of the surprise attack. One quick glance at the eager pink mare holding a pillow in a striking stance told Rarity everything she needed to know.

“Good to hear! Now let’s get started!” Pinkie stated with an excited giggle. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo joined the pink mare in swinging their pillows around haphazardly. The sudden battle incited the other reluctant ponies to join in, for fear of getting caught off guard.

Pinkie Pie gently slapped her pillow into Fluttershy. Despite the slow approach of the fluffy object, the yellow mare used her arms to shield her face from the blow. After the pink pony was finished with her strike, Fluttershy struck back with a determined smirk.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were both trying to team up on Glimmer Shine. Judging from his expression, the yellow stallion wasn’t exactly prepared to battle against two fillies, even if it was with pillows. The pair of crusaders took advantage of the apprehensive pony’s inaction and pounced on him, sending him to the floor with a barrage of pillow smacks.

“I’m not too sure if I want to join in… I think I will wait on the sidelines.” Brimstoke stated while eyeing his pillow with uncertainty. Before the stallion could leave the circle of battling ponies, he was struck across the face with a pillow by Glitterball.

“Come on Brimstoke, live a little!” The rainbow haired mare exclaimed with a chuckle as she watched Brimstoke spitting out a stray feather that had been knocked loose from the pillow. The stallion sighed in defeat before gripping his pillow tightly and swinging back at the smirking unicorn. He was surprised by just how fun the seemingly pointless activity was.

The fierce and fluffy battle raged on for a full ten minutes without break. One by one, the ponies each bowed out of the fight and sat or laid down on the sidelines to watch the others. Pinkie Pie was unsurprisingly one of the last ones participating in a small duel, but her opponent was seemingly the most unlikely of the group to have lasted so long. Rarity was ducking and weaving around each strike the pink mare threw at her.

Everyone else was resting on the floor with their respective sleeping bag while they watched the two mares fight in a circle. Finally Pinkie could take no more as her fatigued body screamed at her to lie down and rest. With a final smack from Rarity’s pillow sending her on her way, the pink mare fell to the floor and landed on her sleeping bag with a soft thud.

With her opponent resting on the floor in defeat, the white unicorn lifted her hooves into the air triumphantly before falling to a seated position herself.

“I won! Yes!” Rarity exclaimed happily in between breaths. Pinkie chuckled as she watched the excited unicorn try to celebrate her victory while resting.

“Good job Rarity…*pant*… I knew you had it in you.” The party pony congratulated her opponent while slightly lifting her head off the floor. She barely had enough drive to get up and move her sleeping bag to a spot better suited for actually sleeping.

“Thanks…*pant* Hehe.” Rarity stated with a dumb smile plastered on her face. She couldn’t believe that she enjoyed the game so much, but she didn’t really care. All that mattered was that she was having fun, and the unicorn really needed some after what happened earlier. She hoped that Applejack and Twilight could find a method of cheering themselves up so they could feel good again, especially Twilight.

“Well… I’m all tuckered out. I guess we should probably get to sleep.” Pinkie suggested while stretching her body and yawning, most of the group shared her opinion, most of it anyway.

“Aww come on! I’m not even tired.” Scootaloo protested in a frustrated tone while looking to her friend for support.

“Yeah… isn’t there something else we could do?” Sweetie Belle pleaded innocently while looking around at the group. Most of the others were so tired that they could barely hold themselves up.

“Sorry girls, but we’re all exhausted from earlier.” Glimmer Shine said in a sympathetic tone while moving his sleeping bag into place. The sight of all the ponies preparing for bed filled the fillies with a sense of disappointment.

“Ugh… fine.” Scootaloo pouted while crossing her arms in defeat. Her fellow crusader shrugged while unzipping her bag and wriggling her lower half into it.

Pinkie Pie frowned understandingly as she watched the pair prepare their bags for sleep. She hated to end their fun so abruptly, especially since she was the one who started it in the first place. The pink mare felt the need to help out the bored crusaders build up inside of her. She could sleep later; right now there were ponies in need of some fun.

“Alright girls… tell you what. I will stay up a little longer and tell you a bedtime story.” The pink mare stated with a warm smile. The two fillies immediately perked up from the exciting news.

“Really…? Awesome! What’s it about?” Scootaloo asked eagerly while sitting up in her sleeping bag. Pinkie thought about it for a moment and hummed curiously. She hadn’t really put much thought into what the story would be when she offered, but she was confident in her creative and spontaneous nature.

“I don’t know… what are you two in the mood for? A fairy tale…? An adventure?” Pinkie started naming off story genres to see what would sound appealing to the two crusaders.

“Oooo… how about a ghost story?” Scootaloo suggested with a devious grin. Sweetie Belle seemed a little nervous at the mention of a ghost story.

“Uh… maybe we should go for something a bit… tamer.” The white filly suggested nervously.

“Come on Sweetie Belle… it’s Pinkie. How bad could anything she thinks of be?” Scootaloo stated to convince her friend to let the pink mare tell an actually interesting story.

Sweetie Belle shrugged as she watched the pleading expression on her friend’s face. She didn’t want her to miss out just because she was nervous or frightened. Finally the white filly decided to swallow her fear and listen to the story.

“Ok fine… ghost story it is then.” Sweetie Bell stated while gulping quietly and steeling her nerves for whatever nightmare fuel was to come. Pinkie Pie smiled at the opportunity to bust out a ghost story from her vast reservoir of tall tales. The pink mare cleared her throat as she watched the two fillies get comfortable to listen intently.

“Ok… so, once upon a time…” Pinkie said in an ominous tone to set the mood. While everyone else settled in to bed, the two fillies waited eagerly for the pink mare to delve into an exciting tale of horror.