Meanwhile over at the library, Twilight and the others were getting settled in for the night. Tom and Peppermint decided to sleep downstairs to give the jilted unicorn and dragon some much needed rest and relaxation. The entire day had been stressful on everybody, but Twilight and Spike seemed to have caught the worst of the ordeal.

Spike was uncomfortably watching as the purple mare remained awake on the edge of her bed. She seemed to be thinking about something deeply, and whatever it was seemed to be troublesome to her. The young dragon wondered if she was thinking about what happened to him. The experience must have been very traumatic for her after all.

As the unicorn quietly sighed while staring at the floor with an empty expression, Spike quickly realized that she wasn’t going to reach out to him to talk about her problems. He decided that he needed to be the one to help her cope with whatever mental demons she was battling.

“Twilight… are you ok?” The dragon spoke up in a concerned tone while looking up to the sulking pony. Twilight eyed over to him briefly before quickly averting her gaze. She seemed to be having trouble even looking him in the face.

“I’m fine Spike.” The purple mare replied in a dismal tone. Spike obviously didn’t believe her words, but he wasn’t even sure if she cared whether or not he did.

“No… you’re not fine.” Fed up with his friend dodging her own emotions, Spike got up from his bed and walked over to her. The dragon walked up the stairs to the loft, hopped up to the bed and sat down next to the purple unicorn. Twilight shrugged sadly as she watched her assistant trying to comfort her.

“Ok… so I’m a little upset. I just have a lot of things to mull over right now.” Twilight stated in a slightly less sad tone while trying to be understanding. She knew that she had been fussing over a lot of things recently. One might even call her depressed if they just watched her expressions, but she didn’t mean to look so down in the dumps.

“You know… you can talk to me about things that are bothering you. Discussing things can make you feel better sometimes.” Spike stated with an uplifting attitude. Twilight smiled slightly from seeing the cheerful dragon’s outlook.

“I guess I’m just upset that the princess told us to stand by and watch while she handles things… I want to help put these guys behind bars… probably even more than anyone else does.” The unicorn shrugged as she thought back to everything she had experienced because of the hooded ponies.

“I mean… I have been on the receiving end of most of the bad things that have happened in the past few days… The school, the hospital, almost losing you and…” Twilight paused abruptly as she reached the next event in sequence. She figured that it would be best if Spike didn’t know that she almost died while he was unconscious.

“And…?” Spike asked curiously. Twilight groaned mentally as she dreaded the dragon’s inquisitive nature.

“Nothing… my point is that I feel too much involvement with these attacks to just sit around and do nothing.” The unicorn stated to change the subject. Thankfully Spike didn’t seem to have any desire to pry further at the matter.

“*Sigh*… I just wish we had some way of helping the princess catch these guys. But I don’t think poking around town to look for the ponies we know about would be a good idea… not after what happened to Applejack and the others yesterday.” Twilight shuddered at the thought of her friend getting ambushed by ponies with the intent of harming or killing her.

“I’m glad that Neon and Glimmer were there to help her out… I don’t even want to think about what could have happened otherwise. I can’t believe that these guys would go to such extremes… and that they could be anywhere.” Spike said uneasily with a sense of paranoid dread slowly filling him. The hooded ponies could be anywhere around town, just waiting for a chance to strike, and that thought terrified the young dragon.

Twilight shared in his concerns, but she had to find some way to lighten up the situation. No matter how scared or frustrated she was on the inside, she would always try her best to shield the dragon from anything frightening or dangerous.

“Don’t worry Spike… I’m sure that they won’t be trying anything too radical for a while. Besides, Peppermint and Tom will keep us safe, and the others will be fine with Brimstoke and his team looking out for them.” The unicorn said while placing a reassuring hoof on Spike’s head and ruffling his scaly hair. The dragon felt a little calmer knowing that the purple mare was confident in their safety.

“Well… I hope that they wait as long as possible before trying anything else. I want them to be caught before they summon any more monsters. Ugh… I hate just knowing that monsters even exist.” Spike stated in an anxious tone.

“You and me both Spike… you and me both.” Twilight added in agreement while pulling the dragon closer to her for a side hug. Spike leaned his head on the unicorn’s side and let her wrap her arm around him.

The two sat still on the bed while enjoying the feeling of their own body warmth mingling. The pair didn’t often take any time to offer affection to each other, but with recent events weighing heavy on their minds, they felt a strong need to hold one another as close as possible.

Twilight was thinking heavily about how close she had come to losing Spike in the previous days. At the hospital she could just keep telling herself that he was fine, but she witnessed his close brush with death at the library first hand. She could see him pouring blood out onto the floor, she could see the color drain from his face from oncoming weakness, and she hated every minute of it.

Meanwhile, Spike was thinking about how everything that had happened recently was affecting him and his friends. He was worried that someone he knew was going to get seriously hurt by the hooded ponies. Although he understood their desire to personally bring justice to the malicious ponies, he was also very concerned for their wellbeing.

No matter how different their worries might have been, the pair knew that they had each other to count on, and they would fight to keep their bond intact.

“*Yawn*… I think I’m ready for bed.” Spike stated drowsily while scooting away from the purple mare and hopping off of the bed. Twilight took a moment to gauge her own level of energy before concluding that she was sleepy as well.

“Yeah, me too.” Twilight said while scooting backwards on her bed to reach the front. Once she got past her covers, the unicorn quickly lifted them up and slid her body underneath them. Taking a moment to enjoy the silky coolness of a fresh and soft bed sheet, Twilight smiled happily.

“Feels good to be able to climb into bed again… for a while there I thought I wasn’t going to make it, so all the little things really stand out to me.” Spike said with a slight chuckle. Twilight was unsure if she should be concerned with how well the dragon was processing his near death experience. Most people would have been shaken up for at least a few days afterwards, but Spike seemed to be bouncing right back.

“Yeah… I guess you’re right.” The purple pony stated with a slightly surprised tone. Considering her own brush with death, she did notice that she appreciated her surroundings a little more. Thankfully Spike didn’t seem to notice the odd way she said that, as if she were speaking from experience.

“Well... goodnight Twilight.” Spike said in a friendly manner while climbing into his basket and finding a comfortable position to sleep in. Twilight smiled as she listened to the noises of blankets rustling around.

“Night Spike…” The unicorn stated while finally laying down the rest of the way. She pulled her covers closer and nestled her head against her pillow to get comfortable. After staring at the ceiling in thought for a brief moment, Twilight closed her eyes and waited to drift off to sleep.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town in the Apple family house, Applejack and her friends were winding down for the night. They had just recently finished their meal, and although it wasn’t exactly a grand dinner, it was enough to keep them satisfied for the night.

Everyone was chatting happily, enjoying each others company while they shared stories about their lives and had a fun time. Although she wanted to remain awake for the conversation, Applebloom could barely keep her eyes open. Applejack noticed the drowsy filly as she started to slowly tilt her body sideways onto her. Applebloom would regain her senses midway through her fall and re-adjust her position. Despite her best efforts at staying awake, the filly finally drifted onto her sister’s lap and conked out.

“Applebloom… are you asleep sugar cube?” Applejack gently shook the sleeping filly to stir her without an unnecessary jolt to the system. Applebloom groaned as she woke up and groggily lifted herself up.

“Sorry… Ah’m just a little tired is all.” The filly stated while rubbing her eyes and shaking herself to further wake up.

“Maybe we should be heading to bed… it is late after all.” Big Mac suggested while looking around at the others for their input. Neon Streak and Applejack nodded in agreement as they felt their own varying levels of drowsiness kick in.

“Hey Neon… why don’t you go sleep in Granny’s room for now? She won’t be back for a while anyway, and there is no point in you sleeping on the couch with a perfectly good bed available.” Applejack suggested with a helpful smile.

“Really…? Thanks.” Neon Streak replied with a grateful tone. She wasn’t going to complain about whatever lodgings she would get, but it would be nice to sleep in an actual bed rather than a couch.

“Sure thing, just head straight past Applebloom’s room and it’s on the right. The bathroom is the first door on the left, and if you want a midnight snack, go ahead and help yourself to whatever is in the fridge.” The orange mare added while heading towards the stairs to her room with her sister in tow. She figured it would be a good idea if she made sure that Applebloom at least got into her bed before passing out again.

“Night girls…” Big Mac stated with a yawn while heading upstairs himself. It was an odd occurrence seeing the red stallion act so tired. He usually went to bed long before he was so tired as to express it outwardly.

“Goodnight everyone.” Neon Streak said as she observed the apple family going upstairs to their respective rooms. The green mare was heart warmed by how close and well knit together their bonds with each other were. She also felt good knowing that she was playing a part in keeping them safe and comfortable in their own home. Even if nothing bad happened during her stay, having her around would doubtlessly put to rest some of their concerns about the hooded ponies. And if something did happen, she would fight for all she was worth to protect the three ponies.

Realizing that she would need to know where Applebloom’s bedroom was so she could find her own room, Neon quickly snapped out of her admiration and walked up the stairs after the family. She saw Applebloom lazily opening her door and heading inside while her two siblings walked further down the hall to their own rooms.

As she walked down the hall, the green mare looked around at the various pictures adorning the wall. The cheerful memories contained in the snapshots, combined with the quaint decorations and already homey atmosphere made this the perfect place to live and get comfortable in. Compared to her room at the academy, this was a large improvement to comfort and warmth.

Stopping at the next door up and gripping the handle, Neon Streak was unsure of what to expect. Her own grandmother was a bit tame as far as elderly folk went, but there was no telling how eccentric Applejack’s grandmother would be, or what her taste in room décor would be.

As she opened the door and stepped inside, the green mare was pleasantly surprised. The room didn’t look much different from any other room she would expect to be in the farm house. A warm colored carpet, a stylish wallpaper, and a warm and inviting looking bed with a fluffy cover over it.

“Hmm… not bad... I wouldn’t mind living in a place like this myself.” She stated to herself as she stepped inside and shut off the light she had used to examine the room. Despite her knowledge that dark places were generally bad, the green mare felt oddly comfortable strolling up to the bed in pitch blackness. It was like she had become a temporary part of the apple family, and she felt just as welcomed and cared for as any other person they invited into their home.

Neon sat down on the bed to test its firmness. The mattress creaked as the green pony settled her weight onto it. The bed had a few worn spots in the padding from age, but it was still soft and comfortable.

“Man… what a day.” Neon shrugged to herself as she reached down onto her vest. She undid the clips holding it in place and slid the entire thing off by slipping her arms out of it. Once the black vest hit the bed, the many vials attached to it sounded out a soft click as they bumped into each other. The green mare grabbed the vest and carefully placed it on the floor next to the bed.

“Feels good to get that thing off for a while.” She stated while rubbing a spot on her back previously concealed by the vest. Although it wasn’t very heavy due to the nature of their gear, the scratchy material the sleek item was made of did tend to itch occasionally.

With her gear off, the green mare could fully enjoy the cool feeling of her body hitting the sheets as she laid down and pulled the covers closer to her.

“Hopefully I won’t be too sore in the morning… as long as I get some sleep I should be able to mitigate any aches and pains from earlier.” Neon muttered to herself as she got comfortable. She had been fighting for much of the day, so she would doubtlessly have a few stiff muscles in the morning. But none of that really mattered to her. All that mattered was getting a good night’s sleep.

Meanwhile, as most ponies were trying to enjoy a quiet and peaceful environment to sleep in, Rainbow Dash and Sunspot were suffering through the ear-shatteringly loud sound of an air mattress motor as it inflated.

Although it wasn’t as deafening as it felt like, it was still ear grating for the orange mare to sit at the bottom of the mattress to test its firmness while it filled. Sunspot would poke the slowly inflating mattress to see if it would hold her weight comfortably. Once it reached a suitable level, she quickly, and with great relief, shut off the howling motor.

“Thank Celestia for that… you would think that pumping air wouldn’t make so… much… noise.” Rainbow Dash shrugged as she dealt with the now foreign silence in the room. The sound of her own voice was strangely loud now that everything else had quieted down.

“Yeah… well you would think a lot of things wouldn’t be the way they are.” The suited mare replied with a chuckle as she slowly climbed onto the bed. Something about the bare feel of an air mattress was strangely appealing, so the orange pegasus took the opportunity to lay down on it while it didn’t have any sheets.

Rainbow Dash giggled as she watched the lounging mare from her own bed. She almost looked like she was going to fall asleep just as she was, no pillows or sheets or anything. Although it would have been nice not to make her house guest’s bed, the cyan pony figured that she would be kinder than lazy.

“Hey, you want me to get you some sheets, or are you good like that?” Rainbow Dash asked in a jesting manner while hopping off of her bed to go find some sheets. Sunspot shrugged as she was forced to move from her comfortable position.

“Yes please… besides, I think it’s time for me to check my bandages, so I should probably get up anyway.” The orange pony said while slowly sitting up and climbing off the bouncy mattress.

“The bathroom is right there… you need some help?” Rainbow Dash asked courteously while pointing off to an open door. Her bedroom was rather big, so it wasn’t much of a surprise that she would have a bathroom inside for convenience.

“Nah… I got things handled thanks.” Sunspot replied while walking off to the bathroom. She quickly found the medicine cabinet and rummaged through it until she found some peroxide. She then reached into a pocket on her suit and pulled out some bandages.

Rainbow Dash watched curiously as Sunspot undid the zipper to her modified suit. Although it was clearly different from a Wonderbolts’ uniform, the suit and all of the gear hanging off of it still intrigued the cyan mare.

“So, you were really a Wonderbolt? Like… the main team and everything?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously while examining the suit’s color scheme and comparing it in her head to what a normal outfit looked like.

“Yep… the whole nine yards.” Sunspot replied while turning to look at the eager mare. She could tell that Rainbow Dash had a thing for the Wonderbolts, although it didn’t exactly take a rocket scientist to figure out.

“So you knew Spitfire and the others? What were they like to work with…? I mean… I have met them a few times, but you were part of their inner circle!” The cyan pegasus grew more excited as she thought more about the fact that she had an official Wonderbolt staying at her house.

Sunspot trailed her eyes off in thought as she recalled her previous teammates. Although she had left the team, she didn’t hate them by any means.

“Well… If you have met Spitfire, you must know that she can be a little… rough around the edges so to speak.” The orange mare stated while gesturing with her hoof. Rainbow Dash chuckled as she thought about how strict and bossy the lead Wonderbolt was to her during her brief time at the academy.

“Yeah… she wasn’t exactly easy going.” Rainbow Dash replied in agreement to the statement while nodding and smiling.

“Eh… she just has a thing for doing things right. Once you get past the tough as nails bit… she just wants to improve her own skills and the skills of those that she teaches so they can help people. We didn’t really butt heads too often.” Sunspot added to her explanation with a smirk. As tough as Spitfire was on her, she respected her desire to assist others in her own way.

“Wow… you two didn’t argue much? I would have figured she would be all over you… you don’t exactly embody the poster child for rules.” Rainbow Dash commented in a flattering sort of way. She considered herself to be a free spirit, and it was easy to see that the suited mare also fit into that category.

“Heh… I guess that is a bit strange.” Sunspot chuckled while rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. “I tried to keep in line wherever possible so Spitfire didn’t have to get on my case. We both just wanted to help people out… I know the Wonderbolts are pretty much glorified stunt flyers, but they do get a lot of action when things go south.” She explained with a smile as she thought back to her days on the team.

“Soarin was a real sweetheart to work with. When I first met him, I thought he had a thing for me… but as it turns out he is just a little quirky. Fleetfoot was practically my best friend ever… I swear she almost made me stay on the team.” Sunspot was gushing slightly over her nostalgia, but Rainbow Dash didn’t mind.

“Why didn’t you? From the sound of it, nothing was bad enough to leave over.” The cyan pegasus asked with a confused expression. She had been dreaming of joining the Wonderbolts since she was a filly, so she had no idea why anyone would want to leave the team.

“I didn’t leave because of them… I just felt like I could do more good to ponies elsewhere, so I left. They were really respectful of my wishes… threw me a little going away party, gave me the best of luck… I mean hay, they even let me keep my suit.” Sunspot stated with a cheerful laugh while pointing out her suit.

“I could only imagine how they would react if they knew that you were fighting monsters now.” Rainbow Dash smiled at the notion of the orange mare having a get together with her former teammates and telling them what she made of herself.

“Hahahah... I don’t know, but I will be sure to rub it in their faces when I see them again.” Sunspot shared a warm laugh with the cyan pegasus over her suggestion.

As the orange mare continued removing her suit, she stopped laughing abruptly when a sharp pain shot through her side and wing. Apparently she had carelessly allowed the suit to brush against her wing as she was slowly lifting it free.

“Owwwchie!” Sunspot exclaimed in pain as she looked down to her now free appendage. The wing still appeared to be attached, so things were at least looking up for the wounded pegasus.

“I will give you this… this suit, for all it’s worth, it does not leave much wiggle room for your wings when taking it off. Although I suppose I probably should have followed their advice and kept it off after they bandaged me.” Sunspot winced slightly while finally removing the suit completely from her body. She let the discarded suit fall to the floor and lie mostly flat, save for all the vials and other pieces of gear clipped to it.

“Hey, I don’t blame you. If I had one of those suits I would probably never take it off.” Rainbow Dash stated to make the careless mare feel better about her reckless action. “Still, that looks pretty painful… are you sure you’re alright?” She asked with a concerned and sympathetic frown as she watched the orange mare gently unwrap her injury.

Once the wing was fully unwrapped, the cyan mare could see the full extent of her injury. Before now, Rainbow Dash hadn’t seen much of the wound due to Sunspot being whisked away by the medical ponies. But now that her suit was off, she could see the full extent of the orange pony’s wounds. The wing had three claw marks that started on the wing’s base and went down her side. The wound had mostly dried up, but the red stained bandages were enough of a sign to tell how much it was bleeding beforehand.

“That flying pile of bones clipped me pretty bad… but like I said earlier, it looks worse than it is.” Sunspot explained while applying peroxide to a cloth and dabbing it on the wing. She had to clench her teeth to prevent a painful outburst from the stinging sensation.

“Really…? Because it looks pretty bad.” Rainbow Dash said with a sorrowful expression. Being a pegasus, she could imagine how such an injury would feel in relation to her own body.

“Don’t sweat it… that bonehead would have done a lot worse to me if you hadn’t stepped in when you did… How bad are your burns now?” The orange mare asked curiously while examining Rainbow Dash’s fur. Although there weren’t many obvious indicators of the burns left on her body, they could still be causing her considerable pain.

Rainbow Dash poked a section of her body that was burned earlier. The slight stinging sensation she got told her that the burn was still there, but it was mostly healed up. All in all, the pair had went head to head with an undead dragon and got away mostly intact.

“Well… it still stings a little bit when I touch it… and I’m probably going to smell like sulfur for a week… but other than that I’m doing alright.” Rainbow Dash announced her findings with a cheerful smirk.

“That was some grade-a flying you did to save my tail Rainbow Dash. I could definitely see you as a Wonderbolt.” Sunspot stated with a confident smile. Rainbow Dash was elated to hear that an ex Wonderbolt thought she was good enough to be on the team.

“Really?” The cyan mare asked to be certain of her opinion. Sunspot nodded confidently, causing Rainbow Dash to giggle in excitement and flattery.

“Hehehe… thanks.” Rainbow Dash stated while trying to contain the stupid grin on her face. Sunspot didn’t seem to mind the gushing pegasus as she tried in vain to keep her emotions in check.

As Sunspot continued to clean and bandage her wound, Rainbow Dash left to finally grab her guest some sheets and pillows. She found a bottom sheet and carefully placed it over the air mattress, struggling briefly with the frustrating elastic straps on the sheet. She then placed down some pillows and laid out another sheet and comforter on the bed.

While she was putting the finishing touches on her guest’s bed, the cyan mare glanced up and noticed something that made her pause to examine it further. It never occurred to her that she had never seen Sunspot out of her uniform before, so she never had the opportunity to see her cutie mark before.

The mark wasn’t anything out of the ordinary as far as cutie marks went. It was a fiery comet leaving a long tail behind it. The color of the mark matched the mare’s own fur and hair color, having different shades of orange and yellow throughout.

“So that’s what your cutie mark is… I was wondering what it looked like for a while.” Rainbow Dash stated in a complimentary tone. Sunspot paused and turned to the cyan mare before looking down at her cutie mark and smiling in flattery.

“Oh, uh… thanks. My parents think it represents my personality… they said that trying to get me under control was like trying to chain yourself to a comet.” The orange mare stated bashfully. Rainbow Dash chuckled at the statement as she thought about her own cutie mark and what it represented.

“Heh… I guess we both have cutie marks that suit our sense of adventure. You know, we would make a good team if we tried to take down those hooded ponies together.” Rainbow Dash stated cheerfully before becoming slightly disheartened as she thought about the situation more. She sighed in disappointment as she decided to let bygones be bygones.

“Ok… but if we’re a team, I am so totally team captain… you can be my sidekick.” Sunspot stated jokingly while smirking at the cyan pegasus. Rainbow Dash leered at the orange mare playfully in response.

“Hey! If anyone is the sidekick here it’s you… Next time a skeleton dragon tries to make you its crispy snack, you try and pull that team captain thing on it… I’m sure it will get so scared it will just leave you alone.” Rainbow Dash replied sarcastically with a smirk.

“Owch… low blow.” Sunspot chuckled at the feisty response from the cyan pony. Before she could think of anything further to add, the orange mare had already finished her bandages.

“There we go… almost good as new.” Sunspot stated happily while getting up and discarding her trash in a nearby bin. The freshly bandaged pegasus then walked out of the bathroom and observed her bed with a welcoming smile.

“Thanks for making the bed for me… If you don’t mind, I think I’m going to turn in for the night.” Sunspot said while climbing onto the wobbly mattress and sliding under the covers.

“Sure thing, I was thinking of going to sleep myself… long day of skeleton fighting and all.” Rainbow Dash replied while walking across the room to turn off the lights. Once the room was sufficiently darkened, the cyan pony walked back to her bed, nearly tripping on the air mattress in the process.

“Well… goodnight Rainbow Dash.” Sunspot said while watching the cyan mare climb into bed. Rainbow Dash turned to face the orange mare in the dark and smiled.

“Goodnight.” The cyan mare replied while climbing underneath her own covers and getting comfortable. Sunspot turned over and nestled her head into her pillows while stretching her legs.

It didn’t take long for both pegasus’s to drift off to sleep in the peaceful quiet of the darkened room. Thoughts of what they would be doing in the morning fluttering through their heads as they slowly lost focus of their surroundings.

All across Ponyville, everyone was either sleeping or preparing to sleep. The streets were quiet and peaceful amid the comforting glow of the moon and stars in the sky. The only noise was the quiet whistling of wind and the distant sound of crickets chirping in the night.

Every pony was settled in their homes for the night; every pony, except for one. Cotton Quill was walking down the empty cobbled streets of Ponyville, wearing the grey hoodie that most other members of his group used to conceal their identity.

The unicorn was carrying a book and several pouches of unknown contents beside him with his magic, along with some candles of various sizes and colors. He was walking quickly, using the shadows of the night as cover for himself. He knew that he must have been a wanted pony around town, especially after the bold stunt that Raven Feather pulled earlier in the morning. Despite the possible dangers, Cotton had a mission that needed to be completed.

Once I kill the elements of harmony, Raven Feather will have to give me my old job back. He thought to himself with a sinister grin on his face. He was incredibly thankful that Grimwood believed in him enough to give him such a grand opportunity.

As the fenced in area of Sweet Apple Acres came into view, Cotton was relieved that his plan was that much closer to coming to fruition. He walked up to the fence and scanned the area for somewhere suitable for his needs.

“Grim said I need to be close to one of their homes… I hope I can stay outside the fence and still be close enough.” The unicorn stated to himself curiously. He wondered why the pale colt had instructed him to get close to one of the elements homes, but he must have known more about the spell than Cotton did. The spell was fairly complex magic after all.

Cotton ran along the fence into the open area outside the farmland. The apple family had such a large piece of land under their control that even they didn’t use all of it. The cutie mark crusaders own clubhouse was a fair distance away from the main section of the farm.

“Here… this should do.” Cotton stated as he came to a section that was hidden by the sprawling apple trees that sat on the other side of the fence. Surely nobody would be able to find the pictogram he drew there.

Without delay, Cotton got to work laying out the necessary items for the spell. He drew up the pictogram and added the section that gathered fear for the group to use. He figured that any fear the monster gathered would only be a bonus to what he was going to accomplish.

After a solid five minutes of drawing and hard work, the pictogram was done. Cotton poured the powdery contents of each of the pouches he had out around the symbol. As he finished the circle of powder, the unicorn placed the photo of Twilight and her friends down on it. He then went around the symbol and placed candles at various points, lighting them as he went.

He had never performed a spell with such complex rituals to it. Most spells Raven Feather gave to him were relatively simple for convenience. Still, he followed the necessary steps that the instructions called for with diligence.

Once he was done pouring out the pouches and making other preparations, the white stallion walked to the center of the pictogram and picked up the book. He read the bookmarked section and his notes intently as he familiarized himself with the final steps of the spell.

“I always hated the ones that use incantations… all of these old languages are so primitive and bizarre that I can barely recite them properly.” He muttered to himself while scanning over the spell’s incantation. It was in a language that he barely understood, but all of the words and phonetic pronunciations were in front of him, so he would have little difficulties with performing the spell.

Cotton cleared his throat and sat down as he read over the incantation in his mind. After mouthing a few of the more obscure sounding words, he felt comfortable enough to try out the full spell out loud.

“O rex magni nubium, oro te ut de caelo descendere in terram, et consumere perdere illud apud ira tuum.” The unicorn spoke in a clear and confident manner, putting emphasis on the pronunciation of each word. As he continued, the wind picked up slightly before growing in magnitude. The flame on each of the candles swayed in the violent breeze, seemingly on the verge of being snuffed out.

Cotton’s hair blew back all at once, being forcibly pushed by the sheer power of the wind. The white pony could hardly even hear himself over the sound of the squall, it was frightening him a little bit, but he had to remain calm while performing the spell. The pages of the book he was holding were blowing around violently, causing the unicorn to hold onto them tightly to keep his place in the book. It was a wonder that the powder on the ground didn’t blow away, but perhaps that was part of the spell.

“Tenebrescere caelum apud tuum forma, obstrepant autem vulgus apud tuum vox, et occidere omnes quisnam impugnare vos.” As he finished the incantation, Cotton was free to look around at his noisy and windy surroundings. A quick glance upwards revealed the possible source of the sudden tempest.

A circle of pitch black storm clouds was looming overhead. The ominous display combined with the ferocious wind instilled a sense of horror and spine chilling fear in the unicorn. He wondered what sort of power he had just called on.

A sudden flash of blinding light filled the sky as the deafening crackle of lightning smothered all other sounds. Cotton let out a shriek of terror as he shielded his face with his arms. The unicorn thought that the lightning must have struck the ground somewhere close by, and judging from the deafening noise and blinding light, he figured that he was correct.

As Cotton slowly unshielded his face, he noticed that the candles around him had been extinguished. He also noticed the surprising presence of a fiery orange light. After turning his attention forward to investigate, the unicorn realized that the circle of powder was on fire.

Seemingly right where the lightning had struck, the powder outside the chalk outline of the pictogram was ablaze. The crackling fire was swiftly spreading around the circle from both sides. Cotton followed the fire as it circled behind him to reach the rest of the powder.

Once the fire reached the photograph in the middle of the line of powder, the photo burst into a spectacular display of flames. As the photo slowly burned up and the faces of the purple unicorn and her friends disappeared into charred blackness, Cotton couldn’t help but ponder at the frighteningly curious spell.

Suddenly, Cotton heard a noise from far above. It almost blended into the roaring wind, but the unicorn could swear that he heard a low groan coming from the blackened sky. The otherworldly noises made chills go up and down the unicorn’s spine.

“I guess that must be the monster… I better get out of here before things get messy.” He stated to himself while urgently gathering the equipment he would take with him. As he stuffed all of his notes into the book and shut it tight, the unicorn walked towards the edge of the pictogram to leave.

*Thunk*

“Ow!” Cotton recoiled in pain as his head hit something solid. As he rubbed the tender spot on his cranium, the white pony stared ahead in confusion and dismay.

“What the…?” He muttered with a perplexed expression as he wondered what had impeded his exit. Cotton got back up and walked forward again, only this time more slowly.

The unicorn reached out a hoof, only to be met by a solid wall. As he looked down, he realized that the section of the pictogram directly below where he was contacting the air was glowing bright white.

“What the hay?!” As he realized his predicament, Cotton frantically pushed and shoved on the invisible force keeping him prisoner. With no progress being made on the force field, the unicorn proceeded to pound and smack on the invisible wall.

“Grr! Let… me… ou- OW!” Cotton recoiled in pain once more as he injured his wrist from banging so hard on a solid object. As he rubbed the stinging sensation out of his sore wrist, the unicorn realized that he wasn’t going anywhere.

Not being one to give up, Cotton lit up his horn to try and find a solution with magic. After failing to interact with the barrier in any meaningful way, the unicorn tried to think of a spell he could use to escape.

Cotton concentrated for a moment and fired a blast of energy out of his horn. The ray of light zipped into the invisible barrier, and bounced straight off. The beam of energy made a loud and alarming noise as it bounced around the white pony rapidly. The white stallion jumped around to dodge the wayward bolt of energy as it zipped around his invisible cage before finally fizzling out.

“Well, that didn’t work… time for a simpler approach.” Cotton stated in determination while preparing himself for a teleportation spell. The unicorn pictured himself outside of the pictogram and concentrated. Soon enough, he blinked out of existence before rapidly blinking back into existence, by slamming into the barrier wall.

“Ow! Crap!” Cotton cursed loudly as his entire muzzle throbbed from his sudden impact. He was sent backwards, only to be caught by the harsh ground.

As he clutched his aching nose, the unicorn looked around him and slowly came to a frightening conclusion. He was completely and utterly trapped. He couldn’t escape, he couldn’t call for help, and the only person that even knew he was out here was probably asleep. Cotton was screwed, plain and simple.

“Oh no… oh no… ohhhh… No.” Cotton’s eyes widened as he looked around him at the progressively worsening weather. The crackle of lightning from before had since returned in a more frequent form in the sky, the wind was loud and frightful as ever, and there was an unseen monster somewhere around the area. The more he thought about his situation, the more his heart started to pound.

“Ok… this time I screwed up.” Cotton spoke to himself, trying to find a way to accept his own failure. He was just going to have to wait around and hope that the spell would end when the monster finished its job. He only hoped that his invisible prison would keep him safe from the creature he summoned.