The room was almost silent as Rainbow Dash and Applejack blinked rapidly from shock. The only noises around them were the sound of the demon’s remains slowly changing to smoke, the sound of Tom breathing heavily from exhaustion, and their own frantically beating hearts. They couldn’t believe that they were still alive. They felt a mixture of joy and elation welling up inside of them, but they were still too stunned to react.

“Is it… dead?” Rainbow Dash asked in a dull tone. She was still processing the situation around her, so it was no surprise that the pegasus was at a loss for words.

“Yeah… I think so.” Tom replied in between breaths. As the boy tiredly rested his arms at his side and made his claws disappear, the last wisps of smoke vanished from view.

The ponies felt incredibly happy that they were finally safe, but their joy was cut short as they shifted their attention to their wounded comrade. Sunspot was still lying on the floor bleeding to death while the two mares cradled her gently. The only movement the suited pony was making was the erratic and shallow breaths she was taking, otherwise she was unresponsive.

“Sunspot, can you hear me? Please wake up…” Rainbow Dash pleaded while staring down sadly at the injured mare’s face. Sunspot had a dazed, almost peaceful look on her face, yet the pain she was feeling still elicited a slight grimace.

“Tom… can you please heal her? She doesn’t look like she has much longer.” Applejack asked hesitantly while observing the exhausted human. She knew that it wasn’t a question of conserving energy for Tom. The boy would try to heal her no matter how exhausted he was. But the farm pony could tell that he barely had enough strength to stand, let alone heal a near fatal set of injuries without passing out.

“Sure… just give me a minute.” Tom stated in a sort of tired daze. The two ponies shared a concerned look with each other as they watched the slayer stagger forward slowly.

Tom sat down next to the bleeding mare and paused for a moment to catch his breath. His entire body was trembling as he moved, and to top all of that off he felt incredibly weak, well past the point of feeling ill.

The human reached forward and placed his hand just above the pool of blood on Sunspot’s stomach. After concentrating for a moment, his healing light appeared and flowed into the injured pony. Applejack and Rainbow Dash watched anxiously as Tom struggled and groaned uncomfortably while trying to keep the strenuous action up.

Slowly but surely, the slashes on the suited mare’s chest started disappearing from sight. Despite this uplifting sight, the large amount of blood covering her side made it difficult to tell if the more important wounds were closing up.

Tom strained himself to keep up the stream of blue light, to the point of needing to steady his hand with his other arm. As much as he wanted to just collapse, he needed to be sure that the pegasus was completely healed.

As the blood started running down Sunspot’s side, the relieving sight of undamaged orange fur came into view. Tom groaned heavily while letting his arms fall to his side. While the human recovered, the two mares beside him watched in amazement as the suited pony started to stir.

Sunspot fluttered her eyes open and moaned tiredly. Her entire body felt distant and oddly cold, as if she had passed out with a window open in the middle of winter. On top of the strange feeling prevalent throughout her body, she could tell that she was laying in some kind of liquid. As she opened her eyes further, she was greeted with the excited and smiling faces of Rainbow Dash and Applejack.

“W…wh…wha?” Sunspot muttered while regaining her senses and sitting up slightly.

“Sunspot! You’re awake!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed happily while giving the newly revived pegasus an excited hug. Sunspot seemed confused as to why the two ponies were giving her so much attention.

“Guys…? What happ- oh… right.” Sunspot said in sudden remembrance of what had just happened. Taking a look down to where her wounds had previously been, the pegasus was amazed by how much blood was on and around her.

“Wow… That is a lot of my blood. I don’t feel a thing though… Heh… even my wing feels better. You must be a miracle worker Tom… uh… Tom?” Sunspot asked while looking beside her to find the human that saved her life. She was surprised to see the boy in such bad shape.

Tom seemed to be staring off into space while breathing heavily. His face was pale, and he had a general ill appearance about him. The ponies weren’t sure if he was going to throw up or fall over and pass out. Either way they felt bad for him.

“Are you ok?” Sunspot asked with a concerned frown. Finding no response in the sickly human, she turned to the two mares for answers.

“He must have used a lot of energy while healing you… are you sure you’re ok Tom?” Applejack asked with friendly concern while crouching down and observing the exhausted human.

“I’m good… just… just let me catch my breath.” Tom muttered in between breaths. The farm pony gently put a hoof up to his forehead to feel his temperature. She recoiled in shock when she felt how icy cold he was.

“Sweet Celestia Tom… you’re freezing cold.” Applejack stated in surprise while eyeing the pale human with a concerned frown. Tom tried to relax his face into a less sickly expression and tried to appear as if he were perfectly fine.

“I’m fine Applejack… I can rest after I heal Rainbow Dash’s injuries and-” Tom suggested while motioning towards the cyan mare. Rainbow Dash shook her head in refusal to his statement.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! You aren’t doing anything else to put any more stress on yourself.” Rainbow Dash said in a caring manner. She could still feel blood running down her back from the stinging gashes she received just moments ago, but she wasn’t about to let a sick friend harm himself further just to aid her.

“Rainbow Dash, your back is practically torn to shreds. You need me to-” Tom stated while trying to get up to get closer to the injured mare. Rainbow Dash and Applejack both gently pushed on the human’s shoulders to keep him in a resting position on the floor.

“Tom… you’ve already done more than enough for us. You saved our lives already… I will live with letting these cuts heal on their own… at least until you get your strength back. If you really want to help me, wait until you’re feeling better before you do anything dangerous… ok?” Rainbow Dash asked with a sincerely compassionate tone. The boy could tell that she was resolute in her decision to prevent him from healing her.

“Alright… fine.” Tom shrugged before returning to his attempts at catching his breath. The ponies smiled now that they knew their human friend was focusing on recovering from his own health problems.

“Hey guys… take a look at this.” The group heard Sunspot beckoning them from off to the side. Applejack and Rainbow Dash turned to see the suited mare leaning against the windowsill while looking outside.

As they walked up beside the orange pegasus to see what had caught her attention, they were stunned to see a remarkable sight that they hadn’t seen in what seemed like forever. The sky outside had cleared of any sort of cloud, grey, black, or otherwise. Every trace of the storm, save for the soaked ground and the wind damage, had been erased. In its place was a beautiful starry night sky with an even more breath taking moon shining down on the now peaceful farm.

Even the massive wall of wind surrounding the area had vanished, opening up the view from the house all the way to the end of the fenced in area at the front of the house. It resembled just another night in Ponyville after a large rainstorm. The crickets had even started chirping again, creating a one of a kind ambience that the ponies couldn’t help but to marvel at.

“Man… that is a sight for sore eyes.” Rainbow Dash stated happily while staring at the clear night sky. Sunspot smirked at how familiar the cyan mare’s statement was.

“Seems like we aren’t having a good track record with the weather.” The suited pegasus stated with a chuckle.

“Yeah… After I get home, I think I’m going to take a rain check on checking the rain.” Rainbow Dash replied lightheartedly.

“Well before we do that, we should probably get ourselves cleaned up. I don’t think the sight of us covered in blood will make the others feel as happy as we are.” Sunspot suggested while pulling at her own suit to examine the bloodstains still prevalent around her former wounds. Although she was no longer bleeding, she was covered in enough of the stuff to turn even the strongest stomachs.

Rainbow Dash cringed slightly while glancing behind her. She couldn’t see it, but she knew that she was probably still bleeding from her undoubtedly gruesome injuries. Looking forward and sighing sadly, the cyan pony nodded in agreement.

The group all decided to rest while they mended their wounds and cleaned themselves up. Sunspot used the last few bandages she was carrying to wrap around Rainbow Dash’s back. The three slashes stung whenever something touched them, but the cyan mare managed to grit her teeth and bear through the process of bandaging them.

Once she was finished patching up her fellow pegasus, Sunspot used the last piece of gauze to wipe up some of the excess blood on her stomach region. Still, no matter how much she scrubbed, the stains wouldn’t lift from her suit.

“Ugh, horse feathers… that guy messed up my suit. Do you know how hard it is to get blood out of this fabric?!” Sunspot fumed while observing the poor shape her outfit was in. The sight of her former Wonderbolts’ uniform in such a state almost brought a tear to her eye.

“I’m amazed this is the first time it got messed up… especially since you’re putting it through more paces than the Wonderbolts’ ever imagined possible.” Rainbow Dash said understandingly. Just looking at the ruined outfit almost made her cry as well.

“Who says this is the first time? The blood I can handle… even if it is a pain. I used to get into accidents every other week back on the team with all of the crazy stuff I tried pulling. It’s the holes I’m more upset about… *Sigh*” Sunspot frowned as she ran her hoof over the slashes on the chest area of her suit.

“Hey… maybe you could ask Rarity to take care of that for you.” Applejack suggested in a helpful manner.

“Really? You think she could do that?” Sunspot asked in a surprised tone.

“Yeah… she is amazing with a sewing machine. Just clean it up for her and she can do the rest.” Rainbow Dash replied with a smirk.

“Well then I guess I’ll ask her some time. For the moment I guess I’ll have to make due.” Sunspot said with a smile. The fact that she was still alive to worry about her suit getting messed up was a pleasant surprise to the orange pegasus.

“I think we should probably get going… we need to drop our new friend off somewhere safe until we can get to know him better, and I think we could all use some sleep after everything that has happened.” Tom stated while getting up from the floor. The unicorn held captive in the other room proved to be an interesting subject of thought for the group of ponies. They wondered what he knew, and what they could get him to talk about.

As Tom slowly shuffled along on his way towards the door, the others noticed that he could barely support himself. His legs were wobbling, and his face was still pale. The human looked like he could fall over at any given moment.

Applejack and Sunspot ran up beside the sickly slayer and leaned against him as they walked, helping to steady him as he slowly moved forward. Even with this added support, Tom still reached out to the nearby wall and slid along it while pressing his arm against it. He could have easily fit in at a hospital sick bay. Despite the human’s slow pace, the ponies were gladly willing to slow their pace down to help him walk. He had just saved their lives after all, and it was a generally nice thing to do for a friend.

After walking down the seemingly endless hallway, the group finally made their way back to the bathroom door. Tom leaned against the far wall and waved the two ponies off, freeing Applejack up to go and open the door.

Once the door opened, everyone inside turned to look at their visitors with elated expressions, everyone except for the bound unicorn still sitting against the wall that is. Cotton Quill remained silent and looked on with a troubled expression as Applebloom and Big Mac rushed forward to greet their sister. Even Neon Streak took the time to get up and walk over to the cheerful group.

“Guys! You’re ok!” Applebloom cheered excitedly while examining the group. Although Rainbow Dash was bandaged up and Sunspot looked like hell froze over, the filly was glad that nobody had been killed during the attack.

“Of course we are sugar cube. Ah told you that we would be fine, now didn’t Ah?” Applejack stated happily while embracing the filly in a warm hug. Once she was done greeting her younger sister, the farm pony looked up and quickly hugged the red stallion eagerly waiting.

“We thought you were in trouble… there was a lot of ruckus out there. Are those things gone?” Big Mac asked curiously. He knew that if the four were still alive, then they must have done something right.

“Yeah… Tom and Sunspot took care of things. It even stopped storming outside.” Rainbow Dash explained while motioning behind her.

“Does that mean we can come out? Ah need to stretch my legs or something… it is cramped in here.” Applebloom chimed in, eager to leave the confined bathroom. Applejack chuckled at the thought that all her sister had to worry about was a tight space.

“Yes Applebloom. You can all come out now, just be careful walking around the windows… lot of broken glass out there.” Applejack explained while backing up to let everyone out. Applebloom immediately darted out into the hallway excitedly, while Big Mac stayed behind to help Neon Streak walk.

Once everyone was out of the claustrophobia inducing space, they looked around their once proud home and frowned slightly. Most of the windows were broken around the house, letting in the cold night air from outside. The carpet in several places was soaked clean through due to so much rain flying in. There were tables and pictures knocked down everywhere, and there were even claw marks on the walls and ceilings. Seeing the state the hallways were in, the farm ponies shuddered to think about what their rooms looked like.

“Oh my gosh…” Applebloom stated in shock while looking around. She expected the house to be in bad shape, but actually seeing all the damage was horrifying to the distraught filly.

“Don’t worry about all of this… we can clean this up tomorrow.” Applejack tried to sound reassuring, but everyone could tell that the orange mare was dreading the amount of work that would have to be done as well.

While looking around to survey the damage done to her house, Applebloom noticed the pale human off to the side. She was shocked to see how ill he looked. The filly had never seen the boy this way, he was always so animated and cheerful, but now he looked so sick that he was barely aware of his surroundings.

“Are you ok Tom?” Applebloom asked with a concerned expression while walking up to the pale human. Now that attention had been brought to him, the others looked over to Tom and gasped from how bad of a shape he was in.

“Sweet Celestia Tom! What happened to you guys out here?” Neon Streak asked while glancing back over to the cyan mare next to her. She hadn’t paid much attention to Rainbow Dash’s wounds before, but seeing how Tom was too sick to heal her, something bad must have happened.

Tom tried to stand upright without looking like he was about to throw up. The task was a little hard due to his trembling body, but he somehow managed to put on a cheerful persona.

“You think we look bad? You should see the other guy…” Tom stated lightheartedly. The ponies were slightly amused by his comment, but their concerned frowns didn’t waver.

“We just ran into some trouble while getting rid of these guys… I got cut on my back and Sunspot got hurt pretty badly, but Tom took care of her. He just needs to rest and he will be feeling good as new… right Tom?” Rainbow Dash asked with a slight twinge of concern in her voice. The human claimed that he would be fine, but the pegasus wasn’t entirely sure if she should believe him. He claimed the same thing out in the Everfree Forest when he almost passed out from exhaustion.

“Yeah… and then I can take care of you two.” Tom replied while pointing to Neon Streak and Rainbow Dash.

“Well for now Ah think we should all get some rest… you guys should probably take that Cotton feller wherever you need to so you can get home and get some sleep.” Applejack suggested while pointing towards the bathroom where the unicorn was still sitting. Everyone nodded eagerly at the prospect of getting sleep. With that said, Sunspot walked into the bathroom and crouched down in front of Cotton Quill.

“Come on buddy… it’s time to go.” Sunspot said while pulling out a small collapsible knife from her suit. A little rougher than the unicorn would have liked, the suited mare grabbed his bound hooves and cut the zip tie holding him in place.

After rubbing the red marks left behind by the tight bindings, Cotton got up and looked at his captors sadly. He couldn’t believe that this was actually happening. He had put so much work in for Raven Feather in the past, but now he had been captured by the very people he was striving to overthrow.

“W-what are you going to do with me?” Cotton Quill asked nervously while looking around at the scornful expressions he was receiving.

“Well… if it were up to me, you would be tied to a tree in the Everfree Forest and left for the timberwolves… but luckily for you I’m not the one calling the shots.” Sunspot stated in an agitated tone while shoving the unicorn forward.

Cotton reluctantly walked out of the bathroom and followed the suited mare as she escorted him towards the stairs. Rainbow Dash and Tom quickly followed the pegasus as she walked their prisoner forward.

“I think I’m going to go see Peppermint to get this looked at… will you guys be ok here by yourselves for a few hours?” Neon Streak asked while glancing down to her injury.

“Of course we will Neon. You just focus on getting better.” Applejack stated with a thankful smile while observing the green mare that contributed to saving her and her family. With a nod of agreement, Neon slowly walked over to the group as they waited by the top of the stairs.

“Thanks for coming out here to save us, guys… Ah don’t know what would have happened without you here, and Ah don’t think Ah want to know.” Applejack said while offering her rescuers a thankful smile.

“Just doing my job Applejack… although technically you weren’t supposed to be the one I was protecting.” Sunspot stated lightheartedly while glancing over to the cyan pegasus beside her.

“Ditto.” Tom added with a slight smirk.

The apple family waved goodbye to their battered friends, who returned the gesture before walking downstairs with the hooded unicorn in tow. Sunspot kept a close eye on Cotton Quill while helping Tom walk, while Rainbow Dash assisted the green earth pony with walking.

The group slowly made their way through the soaked and trashed living room before reaching the door and stepping outside. The fresh after rain smell that hit the ponies was oddly relaxing to them considering their previous experience with weather. It was like the storm had passed them, and the smell along with the calm night atmosphere made the group feel at peace.

Walking on the cold and wet muddy ground was the only part of the experience that wasn’t calming or even enjoyable. The ponies could feel their hooves sinking into the ground a little ways before coming back up covered in freezing cold brown sludge. The disgusting feeling might have passed after the first few steps, but it was still unpleasant.

As they approached the gate to the farm’s fence, the group noticed an unexpected sight waiting for them on the other side. Several familiar ponies had gathered around outside the farm, waiting around and conversing amongst themselves.

Among the crowd outside were Brimstoke and his group, including Rarity, her friends, and even Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. Twilight, Spike, and Peppermint were also present. And surprisingly enough, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia were even among the ponies.

Noticing the five walking closer to her out of the corner of her eye, Pinkie Pie turned and gasped in excitement at the sight of her friends’ safe return.

“Guys!” The pink mare exclaimed eagerly while rushing forward to greet the group. Everyone else turned their heads just in time to see Pinkie plowing into Rainbow Dash and nearly knocking her down. Neon Streak barely had enough time to get out of the way as the cyan pegasus was tackled into a hug by the party pony.

While Rainbow Dash was struggling to breathe, she looked up to see the rest of her friends rushing over to greet her. Thankfully they were leaps and bounds more gentle with their group hug as they walked up to join their pink friend.

“We were so worried about you! Where’s Applejack? Is she ok?!” Pinkie Pie asked frantically while thinking of every horrible outcome that could have befallen her orange friend.

“Pinkie, relax… Applejack and the others are fine. They are just resting back at the house.” Rainbow Dash explained to ease the pink pony’s fears. Pinkie breathed a sigh of relief as she learned that all of her friends were safe and sound.

“What are all of you doing out here?” Sunspot asked curiously while observing the large group. Princess Luna stepped forward to explain.

“Twilight sent a letter out to us to explain what was going on. By the time we got out here it wasn’t raining anymore, so we gathered everyone up and went to go check on you. When we got out here there was an impassable wall of wind blocking our path.” The blue alicorn explained while glancing around where the massive tornado had been.

“Interesting… we were able to get through just fine. The tornado must have intensified once the demon manifested.” Tom hypothesized about the strange properties of the cyclone.

“Demon? What demon? I thought you were only dealing with lesser demons… and who is this guy?” Twilight asked curiously while glancing over to the hooded unicorn beside the group.

“This is Cotton Quill… we found him inside of a pictogram on the property. Apparently he summoned a storm demon with the intent of killing the elements of harmony.” Tom explained while looking over to the white unicorn with a leery expression. Cotton Quill looked down nervously as he felt the prying eyes of so many ponies staring at him, including Princess Celestia herself.

Twilight and her friends were shocked to hear that they were targeted for assassination by demonic monster. They had been attacked by terrifying creatures before, but to learn that someone specifically wanted them dead was unnerving to the four mares. Rainbow Dash was still upset at the fact, even though she already knew beforehand.

“You mean those… those things that came after us before were sent to kill us?” Rarity asked in a horrified manner. She didn’t really expect the monsters to have a nice chat with her, but they usually weren’t specifically sent after her either.

“Yeah… that’s the gist of it. You guys are just lucky that I found a way to kill that thing before it got to you… it was a lot worse than the lesser demons let me tell you.” Tom stated while thinking back to the brutal fight with the demon. He hadn’t been pushed that far in a single fight since the incident in the cave with the dark matter.

Even without the specifics of the creature, Twilight and the others shuddered at the thought of such a terrifying beast. From the state that their friends were in, it must have been a horrible experience.

“What was he still doing here? Shouldn’t he have run away once he finished the spell that summoned those things?” Glitterball asked curiously. Cotton Quill shrugged and looked down in disappointment at the mention of his failure.

“Well… he probably would have, but it looks like somebody didn’t do a lot of research on the spell they were using. He got stuck inside of a force field… most likely designed to protect the spell caster from whatever they were summoning.” Tom explained while glancing over to the hooded unicorn. Cotton trailed his eyes off as he thought more about the obvious mistake he made.

“Regardless of whatever happened to keep him here, he has a lot to answer for.” Celestia spoke in a more serious tone while eyeing Cotton. The alicorn’s gaze filled the nervous unicorn with a sense of dread and anxiety that he didn’t think possible. Somehow the princess was managing to intimidate him more than Raven Feather ever could.

After she was done observing the petrified pony in front of her, Celestia turned around and softened her expression as she looked at the four that had performed the most work in getting rid of the creatures. Rainbow Dash, Sunspot, Neon Streak, and Tom looked battered and beaten, but they somehow were able to appear cheerful now that their hardships were over.

“You all did incredibly well tonight… you should head home and get some rest after Peppermint checks your injuries.” Celestia suggested with a warm smile.

“Will do princess… will do.” Rainbow Dash stated in an exhausted tone. Her lack of sleep was starting to catch up with her now that there wasn’t anything trying to kill her.

“What about our hooded friend here? What are we going to do with him?” Sunspot asked curiously while looking over to their prisoner. Celestia looked over to the hooded unicorn for a moment before thinking about what she should do with him.

“Luna, take Brimstoke and deliver Mr. Cotton Quill here down to the royal guard station in town. We can hold him there overnight until we can question him further about his involvement with recent events. I will join you once I investigate the pictogram he used to summon those creatures.” Celestia instructed to her sister. The blue alicorn nodded before glancing over to her new prisoner.

“Yes sister.” Luna replied before motioning for Brimstoke to follow her. The stallion took Cotton Quill by the arm and escorted him behind the alicorn as she walked away.

“Peppermint, you take care of Neon Streak and Rainbow Dash. As for the rest of you, you’re free to head home. Feel free to drop by the station tomorrow… I think you would like to be present when we question our new friend.” Celestia said while looking around at the group of ponies.

As Peppermint got to work examining the two injured mares, everyone else prepared to leave with their respective groups. Although Brimstoke and Peppermint would not be present to protect their assigned ponies, luckily most of the group was staying together over at Rarity’s, so Glitterball and Glimmer Shine could pick up the slack. As far as Twilight and Spike were concerned, they had Tom to help them feel safe.

“You guys go on ahead… I think I will stay with Rainbow Dash until she is ready to head home.” Sunspot stated as she watched the group walk ahead. Everyone turned and waved at the others before departing on their way home.

Eventually, Twilight and her two companions split off from Rarity’s group and said their goodbyes and goodnights. The trio was eager to get back home so they could finally get some sleep after the long day and night they just had.

As they walked, Twilight and Spike kept a concerned eye on Tom and observed him closely. He seemed to be winded after every couple steps he would take, slowing down and breathing heavily to catch his breath.

This disconcerting behavior combined with the boy’s overall ill appearance made the two very concerned for him. He seemed happy enough back at the farm, but this wouldn’t be the first time that the human hid his true feelings from others.

“Tom… are you ok?” Twilight asked in a concerned tone.

“I’m fine… I just had a lot taken out of me today and tonight. A good night’s sleep will fix me up.” Tom replied with a tired voice. It wasn’t hard to see that the human desperately wanted to get some sleep. Despite this explanation, the unicorn was still concerned for him.

“You must have used up a lot of energy… you didn’t even heal Rainbow Dash and Neon Streak. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing… but you usually don’t get this tired.” Twilight reasoned while thinking back to her experience in the cave. Tom was all but completely wiped out in terms of strength after his fight to protect them from the dark matter, but back then he acted much differently than he was acting now.

Tom thought about why he was getting so exhausted himself. Usually his body would have bounced back more than it has already, sleep or no sleep. He wondered what could have been causing his predicament in the first place. Perhaps he was somehow unsure of himself after his battle with such a strong enemy, the mere thought of being mentally unsound for his duties made the slayer shiver slightly.

“It’s just been a long day Twilight. Anyone would be tired after going through half of what Tom did.” Spike chimed in to offer his thoughts. Tom breathed a silent sigh of relief to see the young dragon helping him end the conversation.

“*Sigh*… I suppose. I just don’t want you to over work yourself Tom.” Twilight stated in a sincere manner. The human was flattered to hear that the unicorn cared for him so much.

“I’ll be alright Twilight. If anyone should be messed up it should be you guys anyway… how are you two doing? I didn’t really get a chance to ask how you were holding up after two of those things came flying into your room.” Tom replied curiously. Not only did he want to shift the conversation off of himself, but he was genuinely concerned for how all of this was affecting the seemingly sensitive pair.

“Well… I guess we’re alright. I mean… between getting the living daylights scared out of me in my sleep and spending the next hour locked in a small room playing twenty questions with Peppermint, I would say I’m still mentally stable.” Twilight replied with a shrug.

“Hey… at least you didn’t agree to try playing I spy with him. Do you know how short that game was?” Spike asked lightheartedly while thinking back to his time in the cramped bathroom.

“I was there Spike… I think you got three turns out before you ran out of things to spy.” Twilight rolled her eyes at the mere thought of the horrifically boring experience.

“Yeesh… and I thought I had the roughest time tonight. You guys definitely sound like you could use a few hours of sleep to forget that traumatic experience.” Tom said with a slight chuckle. The two laughed warmly at the human’s comment.

“Just remind me to go pick up some cards or something the next time we have to stay in a room to survive.” Twilight added jestingly.

Before they even knew it, the three arrived at the library. Twilight quickly walked up to the door and opened it while her two friends walked inside. After wiping their muddy feet and breathing a sigh of relief, the trio decided to immediately head upstairs for the night.

Tom struggled to bend down to grab his blanket and pillow off the floor. Spotting her distressed friend struggling to perform the simplest task, Twilight lit up her horn and levitated the items up to carry them for him.

“Here, let me get these for you.” The purple mare stated with a helpful tone and a slight smile.

“Thanks.” Tom groaned while slowly getting back up. As the unicorn and dragon walked upstairs, the boy used the wall to steady himself as he slowly walked up to join them. Twilight waited for the human to finish his slow climb before opening the door to her bedroom and stepping inside.

As she sat the pillows on the floor and laid out the blanket with her magic, the unicorn glanced over to the broken glass on the floor and sighed. Although her room did have a large opening in it for the balcony, the sight of broken windows was still upsetting.

“Why can’t there ever be a monster that takes other people’s feelings and worldly possessions into consideration before wrecking everything?” Twilight shrugged while averting her eyes from the damage to her room.

“If one exists… I have never met it.” Tom stated while slowly working his way to the floor so he could lay down in his makeshift bed. Twilight and Spike followed his example by climbing into their own beds and getting comfortable. Although their sheets were almost freezing cold due to the night air, it was still relaxing when combined with their levels of exhaustion. They could be sleeping on a bed of nails and they would probably still manage to fall asleep.

“Night guys…” Tom muttered tiredly while closing his eyes and relaxing.

“Night.” Spike yawned before turning over in his bed and pulling the blankets closer to his head.

“Goodnight.” Twilight added with a smile while taking one last look at her two friends. She then laid back and got herself comfortable against the pillow beneath her. Although it had been a long night, the three would definitely sleep like rocks.