Twilight and the others darted their eyes around nervously as they followed the guard through the darkened hallways of the station. Even with their large group, and the alicorn protecting them, everyone felt anxious and fearful about what lurked in the shadows.

Glitterball glanced down to her locator vial apprehensively. As she expected, it was aglow with blue light. Ever since the dark matter had latched onto the building, the locators were reacting strongly, and the presence of monsters around them wasn’t helping. Due to the constant readings, the vial served as nothing more than a glowing reminder of their grim situation.

“Are we almost there?” Glimmer Shine asked uneasily while looking ahead to the guard that was leading them. The nervous stallion glanced back to the restless group and shrugged uncomfortably as he thought about how to answer the question.

“Almost… we should get there relatively soon.” The guard replied before turning his attention forward again.

“Assuming we don’t run into more of those things.” Rainbow Dash stated nervously while darting her eyes around. She was staying near the back with her pink friend while pointing her strobe at whatever minute noise or hint of motion she noticed.

“Why did you have to say that…? Now you’ve jinxed us!” Pinkie chided her cyan friend while tensing up in preparation for the horrific monsters she was now expecting to come their way.

“I don’t think those things know about jinxes Pinkie… at least I hope not.” Rainbow Dash replied with a hint of doubt.

“They don’t need to know about them… that’s how jinxes work!” Pinkie added while getting progressively more worked up.

“Settle down guys… we don’t want to make any undue noise. Jinx or no jinx, we will be up to our eyes in those things if we keep shouting.” Twilight said in an attempt at calming her two friends. Pinkie shrugged before nodding in agreement and falling silent.

Now that the quiet atmosphere had returned, the group was left to their own thoughts once more. Most of the ponies worried that they would see one of the fierce monsters just behind them or just around a corner, but Twilight was worried about something else.

Even though they had taken a relatively straight path through the station, they hadn’t seen any sign of Fluttershy or Rarity, or anybody for that matter. The rooms and halls around them were dead quiet, and aptly devoid of life. If any ponies had been through here, it hadn’t been in a long time.

“What is wrong Twilight?” Luna spoke up while glancing back at the troubled unicorn. Twilight looked up and immediately realized that she hadn’t been hiding her worries as well as she thought she was.

“Oh, umm… *sigh* I guess I’m just worried about Fluttershy and Rarity. We haven’t seen any sign of them… or anyone else.” Twilight explained in a concerned tone.

“I am certain that they are fine. We will find them… you just need to believe that we will.” Luna replied with a reassuring smile.

“Right.” Twilight stated while nodding in agreement. She knew in her heart that her friends were still alive and that they were just waiting to be rescued by someone. The unicorn only hoped that she could reach them before it was too late.

As they continued on their path, the ponies became tenser by the passing second. Every minute that passed felt like an eternity as they hurried along every chance they got. It didn’t help that the one leading them was just as nervous as they were.

The guard darted his eyes around fearfully while walking. He seemed to be dreading every inch of progress that he made as if he were expecting to be snatched up at a moment’s notice by one of the monsters that he thought he had escaped from forever.

The stallion wasn’t the only nervous one in the group, however. Peppermint was just as unnerved by the darkness surrounding the ponies. He was almost as nervous as Twilight and her friends, despite his training in combating the supernatural. Apparently, all the training in the world can’t prepare someone for actually facing the things that lurk in the dark.

Spotting something up ahead that caught her eye, Twilight slowed down for a moment and looked around. She suddenly realized that they had come across the bathrooms. Two doors sat across from each other with the typical pink and blue pictures beside them denoting which room belonged to which gender.

“Hey guys, hold up a minute.” Twilight spoke up, eliciting the group to come to a slow halt.

“Please don’t tell me you need to go at a time like this.” The guard at the head of the group groaned nervously.

“No, it’s not that. Our friends were on their way to the bathroom before everything happened. Maybe they are still in there?” Twilight replied in an optimistic manner.

“Either way, it’s worth a look to see if anyone is in there. I’ll search the men’s room, you guys take a look in there.” Glimmer Shine suggested while pointing to the female restroom.

“Alright.” Twilight nodded in agreement. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie stepped forward to join their friend as she approached the door.

“We’ll keep watch out here. Be sure to yell if you find anything unpleasant.” Glitterball stated while taking one last glance at the two parties before they opened their respective doors.

“Same goes for you… I would rather not come back out here to find all of you missing if you can help it.” Rainbow Dash said with a nervous chuckle while hoping that her words wouldn’t come true.

“We’ll try…” Glitterball replied with a lighthearted smile.

With caution in mind, Glimmer Shine opened his door and slowly walked inside. Taking this as a hint to move faster, Twilight nodded to her two companions before opening the door and slowly stepping inside.

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie stepped in ahead of their unicorn friend with their strobes at the ready. The door shut behind them, making them jump slightly in surprise. Once they calmed down, they glanced to their lavender leader and waited for her to make a move.

“Fluttershy, Rarity, are you guys in here?” Twilight spoke up softly while walking forward. All of the stalls were open slightly, but the doors were still concealing anything that was inside.

“Anyone in here…? We’re not going to hurt you.” Twilight spoke again while approaching one of the stalls. Rainbow Dash and her pink partner pointed their strobes ahead as the unicorn prepared to open the door.

With a swift motion, the door swung open. Despite their tense nerves, the two ponies managed to point their weapons inside with rapid synchronization. Nothing was inside but a toilet, some toilet paper, and the stark shadows that lay in wait just outside of the light being cast by the unicorn.

With the first stall turning up empty, the trio turned their attention to the next stall. Twilight hovered her hoof near the door hesitantly. Taking a quick glance at her team for confidence, she saw that they nodded as a sign that they were ready. Despite how ready her friends might have been, the unicorn herself wasn’t sure if she was ready to open the door.

Swallowing her fear, Twilight quickly pushed the door open. Just as before, the stall was empty and devoid of any movement. The ponies breathed a quick sigh of relief as their search turned up fruitless yet again. They would rather find nothing than find a horrific monster waiting to pounce on them and eat their faces off.

Not wanting to waste time, the three mares spread out and stood in front of the three remaining stalls. Looking at each other for confidence, they all held out their hooves and prepared to open their respective doors. Rainbow Dash mouthed a brief countdown for her two friends so they could move in unison.

On three, the ponies opened the doors and looked inside with their weapons at the ready. Thankfully, all three of the stalls were just as empty as the first two. Although it was comforting in a way to not see anything in the stalls, it was also equally disheartening.

“I guess they must have moved when the monsters came.” Twilight shrugged at the lack of progress on finding her friends. Now she had no idea where they could have been, and that thought made her look down sadly.

“Don’t worry, we’ll see them again.” Rainbow Dash said reassuringly while offering a comforting hoof on the purple mare’s shoulder.

“Yeah, they are probably looking for us right now. I’ll bet they are just as worried about us as we are about them.” Pinkie added with a confident smile. Seeing her friends with such certain expressions made Twilight’s spirits lift.

“Hopefully Tom can find them and lead them back to the others. I’m sure that they found a safe place to hide until then.” Twilight said with a comforted tone. Now that most of her concerns were gone, she could realistically think about how the two mares would try to flee from danger. Knowing Fluttershy, she would have most likely raced to the safest possible location reachable in her position.

“Let’s hurry up and get out of here. This place gives me the creeps in the dark.” Rainbow Dash suggested nervously. Twilight and Pinkie nodded in agreement before turning to join their cyan friend in exiting the bathroom.

Once they opened the door and stepped out, they found everyone waiting just outside and looking at them. Even Glimmer Shine was present, having finished his search of the other restroom. The disappointed expression on the stallion’s face told that his search was fruitless as well.

“Any luck?” Glimmer Shine asked curiously.

“Unfortunately no… They must have gone somewhere else after everything turned bad.” Twilight announced their bleak findings to the group.

“Probably… they are smart after all. Maybe Tom found them and they’re already back in the safe room with the others.” Glitterball suggested lightheartedly.

“Here’s hoping… They have things better than us if they are.” Rainbow Dash said while shrugging and walking to the back of the group.

“Maybe we should keep moving… It isn’t safe out here after all.” The lieutenant suggested nervously while peering behind the group. He seemed to be even more anxious than Twilight and her two friends were. Perhaps he wasn’t as accustomed to paranormal events and frightful creatures as they were. The thought of such a tolerance having already been formed made the purple mare shrug in disappointment.

“Yeah… I guess it isn’t.” Twilight stated while glancing around at the others to take in their opinion. Nobody objected to the idea of moving forward. After all, it wasn’t safe anywhere in the dark hallways of the station, so the less time they spent wandering around the better.

With this thought in mind, the group continued on their way forward. The guard kept them going in the right direction, while everyone else kept their eyes open for anything that might try to ambush them in the dark.

Once the group came to an intersection, they made a right turn and continued down another hallway. Without any knowledge of the building they were in, all of the halls blended into a gray blur for Twilight and the others. The only thing keeping their hopes high was the trust they had in the lieutenant to lead them to safety.

Twilight and her two friends clung to each other protectively as they brought up the rear. Out of all the fear-inducing positions they could have been in, they decided that the back of the group was the safest. Unless something came from behind them, they wouldn’t be caught off guard.

Despite this knowledge, the three mares were still incredibly nervous. Twilight herself was probably the most frightened. Pinkie Pie had her unending happiness and childlike energy to ward off her fears, and Rainbow Dash was braver than most other ponies, but all Twilight had going for her was her wits, and they weren’t doing much in terms of alleviating her fears.

Every corner or open door the group passed made the unicorn dart her head sideways to watch them pass by. She would stare at the openings until they were behind her, at which point she would shift her gaze forward to another possible threat that needed surveillance.

Noticing her friend acting extremely nervously, Pinkie Pie felt the need to speak up and brighten the mood. Although she was scared herself, she still had to make an effort to lessen her friends’ fears if at all possible.

“How are you doing Twilight? You look nervous.” Pinkie pointed out with mild concern. The pink mare hoped that small talk would serve to comfort herself and her two friends. And if it didn’t, she had no idea what would.

Twilight glanced beside her to see her two friends staring back. She had been too focused on her surroundings to pay attention to the fact that she wasn’t alone. Had she kept her eyes on her friends, she might have prevented herself from getting so scared.

“Oh… umm…” Twilight muttered while trying to think of a valid response. She didn’t exactly want to say that she was about to pass out from shocked nerves, but it was the truth after all.

“That’s because she is nervous Pinkie… we all are.” Rainbow Dash spoke up in place of the unicorn. She could recognize the absolute fright in her eyes, mostly because she had seen it before and experienced it herself.

“It’s ok Pinkie… we’ll be fine.” Twilight said in a reassuring tone. She could tell that the pink pony was just trying to lighten the mood.

“Yeah… I know.” Pinkie shrugged in a disheartened manner. Her brief attempt at cheering up her friends was just about as successful as she expected.

Suddenly, a faint noise drifted over from an adjacent hallway. Twilight stopped mid stride and perked her ears up. The only thing she could see down the hall was pitch blackness, but she was certain that she heard something. Noticing the purple unicorn pausing, the rest of the group slowly came to a halt. They looked around to see what might have spooked her, only to find nothing out of the ordinary.

“What’s wrong?” Glitterball asked in a concerned tone while gripping her strobe tightly and walking over to the halted mare.

“I heard something… it came from down there.” Twilight explained while pointing down the dark hallway.

Glitterball reached down to the flashlight on her vest and flipped it on. The beam projected farther than her magical light did, revealing more of the hallway. Even with the added light, not much could be seen to reveal the source of the threat. She stepped forward slightly while keeping her strobe trained on the darkness ahead. If anything moved, she was prepared to annihilate it in a flurry of light.

“I don’t see anything.” Glitterball reported uneasily while glancing back at the three mares behind her. Twilight and her two friends watched anxiously as they tried to find out what had made the noise.

“I’m not getting anything on the locator.” Peppermint said while holding up his glowing vial. Glitter shrugged as she remembered how her own locator had reacted ever since the lights went out.

“The locators aren’t doing anything for us right now with so much activity around us. Remind me to tweak them when we get out of here.” Glitterball said in a mildly sarcastic tone.

“Guys… can we get going? I don’t want to stick around here any longer than I have to.” The guard suggested nervously from the front of the group. Twilight and the others glanced over to the white stallion and froze in shock at what they saw.

Numerous black shapes were waiting in the darkness behind the lieutenant and Princess Luna. The shapes were so blurry that only their silhouettes could be seen, but the shapes themselves weren’t so terrifying on their own. Glowing red slits in varying patterns ran up and down each shape, giving whatever creature they belonged to another layer of mystery and eeriness.

“What’s wrong?” The white stallion asked uneasily while looking around at the shocked expressions of the ponies in front of him.

“Don’t… make any… sudden… movements.” Glimmer Shine explained in a calm tone while slowly raising his strobe in front of him.

Before either the princess or the guard could process what was going on, a soft growl rose up from behind them. The two slowly turned around to see what was going on. Once she saw the creatures standing in the darkness in front of her, Luna gasped quietly but made sure not to move suddenly. The white stallion beside her, however, did not react quite so calmly.

“AHH!” The lieutenant yelped in fright and backed up. In response, the creatures howled fiercely and started to rush forward.

“Ok, time for plan B!” Glitterball yelled while opening fire on the pack of monsters.

With the combined efforts of Glitterball and her small troop, the blasts from the strobes managed to cut down the majority of all of the attacking monsters. Luna lit up her horn and focused her energy. With a concentrated blast, she eradicated the remaining few creatures. As the last few remaining puffs of black smoke disappeared into the air, the ponies breathed a brief sigh of relief.

“Let’s hurry up and get to the equipment room.” Glimmer Shine suggested eagerly while scanning the area ahead for any stragglers.

“I agree… the less time spent out here, the better.” Glitterball replied while cautiously walking forward. Everyone else nodded in agreement as they slowly regained their senses and allowed their racing hearts to slow.

“That was some nice shooting you did back there.” Twilight said while glancing over to Rainbow Dash. She was amazed at just how accurate the cyan mare had been while firing at the approaching monsters.

“Thanks… I guess I’m getting used to this thing.” Rainbow Dash replied cheerfully while twirling her strobe around by the small chain on the side of its cap.

“If you ask nicely, we might let you keep one when all of this is over.” Glimmer Shine stated playfully while glancing back at the two mares.

“It would sure come in handy for dealing with jerks.” Rainbow Dash said with a chuckle.

“These don’t work on ponies… you know that right?” Glitterball asked curiously.

“Yeah… but they don’t know that.” Rainbow Dash replied with a devilish grin.

Just as the group was turning to leave, Twilight heard a low growl beside her. The incredibly short distance of the growl made her nerves tense up. It sounded like it was right next to her face. She quickly darted her head sideways to see what it was, only to see a familiar dark shape with two glowing red slits for eyes standing not two inches from her. The monster in front of her was a darkling.

Twilight noticed that the creature was already about to pounce her. There was no way that she could channel her magic to her horn fast enough to defend herself. With a loud snarl, the beast leapt forward at the unicorn.

“AHH!” Twilight yelled in fright and shut her eyes tightly. She heard the sounds of footsteps rapidly approaching, followed by the sound of flesh being pierced, and the shrill yelp of the creature in front of her.

Once she opened her eyes to see what had happened, she was surprised to see the darkling on the floor with a glowing blue sword sticking through its mid-section. Holding onto the sword, was a familiar blue suited human.

“Tom!” Twilight said with a cheerful smile. Her heart was still racing from her near death experience, so she was overjoyed to see the slayer rescue her.

“You know… we have got to stop meeting like this. You were almost this thing’s chew toy.” Tom stated lightheartedly.

“I’m trying to stay out of trouble… I swear.” Twilight replied with a nervous chuckle.

“Did you find Rarity and Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash asked eagerly while putting a reassuring hoof on her recently endangered friend.

“Unfortunately no… I think they might be in the equipment room, though. That seems to be the only other place with people in it.” Tom said with a troubled tone. The news that their friends were still missing made the ponies’ hearts sink.

“Let’s hope they are… If they didn’t make it in there, then they are probably-” The lieutenant started to speak when he noticed the three mares frowning sadly. “Umm… I mean… *sigh* I’m sure they’re fine.” The white stallion said in what he hoped would be a comforting tone. Twilight and the others didn’t change their sullen expressions as they thought about what could have happened to their friends.

“Well, we aren’t going to find them by staying here. Let’s get moving… they are probably waiting for us right now.” Glitterball suggested in an uplifting tone.

“Yeah… let’s go.” Twilight said in agreement.

“Umm… now that your human friend is here, do you think that he could… you know.” The guard asked in a nervous tone. In response, Tom smirked and walked to the front of the group.

“Don’t worry, I’ll stay in front.” Tom said in an understanding manner. The white stallion breathed a sigh of relief now that he didn’t need to be the first to run into any danger.

Now that the slayer was with them, the ponies felt much more at ease while walking down the dark corridors of the station. The passing shadows and the occasional far-off howl of some unseen monster still made them nervous and uneasy, but they knew that their human friend would keep them safe at any cost.

Taking a few moments to use his senses to get an idea of what was around him, Tom looked around stoically as he scanned the area for monsters or other surprises. He seemed to be a lot more confident in what he was doing and where he was going than the white guard pony behind him.

“Feel anything?” Glimmer Shine asked curiously while walking faster to catch up to the human. Tom turned to face the yellow stallion and shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s a little hard to pinpoint individual creatures with how many there are in this place… not to mention the dark matter outside. All I can feel at the moment is large clusters of them throughout the building, and if I concentrate I might be able to tell if they are near us.” Tom explained with a mildly frustrated tone.

“Heh… you’re doing a lot better than we are in that department. All we have are these… and they are doing next to nothing right now.” Glitterball stated in a lighthearted manner while holding up her locator for reference.

“Well… if you throw it at one of them it might distract them. Shadow creatures are probably dumb enough to be swayed by pretty lights.” Tom replied jestingly. The ponies laughed warmly at his comment. It felt good for the group to be able to smile and laugh in such a bleak situation.

Suddenly, Tom paused and tilted his head curiously. He used his senses a few more times before crouching and moving to the wall. While the ponies watched with confused expressions, the human quickly walked to the nearby corner and peered his head around it.

“What’s wrong?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously while observing the human.

“Sshh!” Tom turned around and hushed the group of ponies while motioning for them to be quiet. Before anyone could ask any further questions, a series of growls and shrieks rang out from nearby.

The ponies immediately froze up and fell silent. They looked at each other nervously before settling their eyes on the human crouching by the wall. Tom jerked his head towards the corner, eliciting the group to cautiously move closer.

Luna, Glimmer Shine, Peppermint, and Glitterball slowly crept behind Tom and looked around the corner. Feeling curious, and seeing her two friends’ curious expressions, Twilight decided to take a look on all of their behalves.

The unicorn slowly moved around the quiet group looking around the corner and peered around them. She widened her eyes in shock and immediately ducked behind the safety of the corner when she saw what was just down the hallway.

Dozens upon dozens of shadowy black figures in all shapes and sizes were crammed into the small hallway. There were glowing red eyes everywhere, all of them moving around and blinking in a disturbing display. It was like a light show at a Nightmare Night party, only the sound effects here were far more spine-tingling than any shabby party Twilight and the others had been to.

Every low growl or high pitched screech that the creatures made blended into an all-encompassing ambience that filled the air. Twilight could identify and make out every feral noise she had heard from the monsters she had seen in the station, and several that were strange and terrifyingly new to her.

“My word…” Luna exclaimed quietly. She was almost at a loss for words at the situation before her. She had never seen so many evil creatures gathered in one place.

“There must be dozens of them…” Twilight stated in a shocked tone while backing away from the wall defensively. From what she saw, the monsters hadn’t noticed them, but that could change at any moment.

“Let me guess… the equipment room is that way.” Tom asked while glancing over to the white stallion. He nodded slowly while gulping at the horrific sight just around the corner.

“Yes… it’s actually just down that hallway.” The lieutenant explained in a hopeless tone. Tom growled in annoyance at the obstacle in his path.

“What are we going to do? I’m not sure if we can take that many of them… even with five strobes.” Peppermint observed anxiously while glancing around at his teammates and Twilight’s small band of friends.

“Maybe we can find a way around… surely this isn’t the only way to get to the equipment room.” Twilight reasoned nervously. She hated the idea of being out in the dark hallways any longer, but she could also feel her spine melting to the floor from the unnerving choir of noises coming from just around the corner.

Meanwhile, while the ponies were quietly trying to find a way to circumvent the large obstacle in their path, Tom was shrugging and slowly getting to his feet. He casually walked into the middle of the hallway and turned to face the horde of monsters.

Pinkie Pie noticed the human standing in harm’s way and froze up in fear. She gasped in shock and felt her blood run cold as she watched the boy doing the worst possible thing that could be done at the moment.

“Tom, what are you doing?!” Pinkie asked in a frantic whisper. Everyone else turned their attention to the stoic human and gasped in shock. Tom merely turned his head and shrugged his shoulders.

“I’m getting tired of walking around here and doing nothing. I’m going to clear us a path.” Tom stated casually before turning his attention forward. While Twilight and the others desperately tried to wave the human back over to the relative safety of their hallway, he slowly started walking towards the crowd of monsters.

“What are we going to do?! There’s no way he can take that many of them on! And once they’re done with him, they will be coming for us!” The guard pony said in a fearful panic, though everyone else was too preoccupied with watching the bold human to notice.

Tom approached the monsters with an unwavering blank expression. He seemed to be bored with his current situation, and almost appeared as if he were thinking about something to do later on in the day.

One of the beasts paused and turned its head down the hallway. It started growling violently as it noticed the human. With a drastic change in tone, all of the monsters started howling angrily at their approaching prey.

Before the horde of monsters could react, Tom raised his arm out in front of him and opened his palm. With a blinding flash of light, the human projected a beam of positive energy towards the monsters. The ponies shielded their eyes and watched in amazement as the beam obscured the crowd of creatures from view.

The monster’s terrifying cries and howls immediately turned to cries and howls of a different variety. They all screamed in pain as the slayer’s beam of light cut through them and pushed them back. Tom kept walking forward while putting more effort into projecting his light. With one final push, he yelled fiercely as the light raced down the hallway.

Once the light died down, there was nothing left in the quiet hallway other than a few wisps of black smoke. Tom dusted his hands off and smiled in satisfaction. He then turned around and looked to the awestruck ponies watching him.

“Are you guys going to get over here? It’s kind of dark here… and you know how I feel about the dark.” Tom exclaimed while glancing over to Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. The two mares were too busy processing the amazing feat they had just witnessed to laugh at the boy’s quip.

“That was incredible! How did you do that?” The lieutenant asked while walking out along with the rest of the group.

“Well… I don’t really think shadow creatures mix well with light… especially positively charged light.” Tom stated lightheartedly.

“Ok… let’s ignore the fact that you just erased an entire hallway full of monsters with your bare hand for a minute. We should probably get going now… we need to get on top of this situation before more ponies get hurt.” Glitterball said with an amazed smile on her face. Even though she was trying to get things back on track, she still felt just as impressed as the others did at the human’s amazing feat.

“Alright... lead the way. I doubt there are any more of them in the general vicinity of that direction.” Tom said while pointing down the hallway. The white stallion nodded before walking ahead of the group to lead them to safety.

After a short walk, the group finally made it to the end of the hallway. The guard smiled and breathed a sigh of relief as he turned to face a door with a small sign beside it. The ponies’ faces lit up once they read what it said. In bright letters, the words ‘equipment room’ were plastered across the sign.

“Finally… we’re here.” The guard pony stated happily.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Let’s head inside already!” Rainbow Dash suggested eagerly.

With a quick nod, the white stallion swiftly proceeded to knock on the door. After a brief wait, the group could hear movement from the other side. The door finally creaked open slowly to reveal another guard pony peeking out cautiously. Once he saw the group waiting outside, he shifted his curious expression to a surprised one.

“Lieutenant…? I’m surprised to see that anyone else made it.” The guard said in a pleased tone.

“We have a sort of safe area set up in the main room, but we figured that this would be a better place to set up.” The lieutenant said with a smile. He then turned to his eager group and decided that he had better not keep them waiting any longer.

“Can we come in?” The lieutenant asked curiously, although his request was cursory at best.

“Of course, right this way.” The guard replied while backing up to let the ponies in.

With a collective sigh of relief, the group quickly made their way inside the fortified room. Once inside, Twilight and the others looked around to see a small gathering of other guards and civilian ponies amid the various supplies scattered around.

One pony in particular that Twilight and her two friends immediately noticed, was a familiar yellow pegasus with pink hair standing off in the corner.

“Fluttershy!” Twilight exclaimed cheerfully while rushing forward. Fluttershy looked up just in time to see her three friends rushing towards her, and just in time to watch them crash into her to pull her into a group hug.

“Girls!” Fluttershy said happily. Although she was being hugged a little too tightly for comfort, she didn’t care at all. All that mattered at that moment in time was embracing three ponies that she never thought she would see again.

“We were so worried about you!” Rainbow Dash stated with tears of joy welling up in her eyes. She could hardly contain her excitement as she smiled from ear to ear.

“Yeah! When we went to the bathrooms and didn’t find you, we thought something awful must have happened!” Pinkie added cheerfully. The yellow mare couldn’t help but smile at the lengths her friends went to just find her.

“Well… me and Rarity stayed there for a while before moving. We met some people along the way and eventually ended up here.” Fluttershy explained while thinking back to her journey from the bathroom to where she was currently.

“Where is Rarity anyway?” Twilight asked curiously. Her heart sunk as she watched Fluttershy frown from the mention of the white unicorn. “Fluttershy… what’s wrong?” She asked with a more concerned expression. The pegasus shrugged sadly in response.

“She got attacked on the way here. One of those things threw a chair at her and hit her in the head… she got a concussion from it. We thought she was going to be fine, but then she just… she just…” Fluttershy explained sadly. She allowed fresh tears to fall to the floor as she stifled a quiet sob.

“Take us to her Fluttershy. Maybe Tom can heal her.” Twilight suggested in a serious tone of voice. The yellow mare looked up in surprise at the mention of the human.

“Tom is here?” Fluttershy asked while looking over to the rest of the group. Her face brightened up slightly when she noticed the boy standing in the front of the room.

“Yeah, we found him on our way here. I’ll go get him, you guys go see Rarity.” Rainbow Dash suggested while walking towards the other side of the room quickly.

Twilight and Pinkie Pie quickly followed Fluttershy through a doorway and into another section of the equipment room. Once inside, the trio could see several other ponies scattered around the room, but they were more focused on what was in the center of the room.

Lying on the floor in the middle of the room, Rarity was being tended to by a single guard pony. The white stallion was operating a small oxygen mask that was clasped over the unicorn’s mouth. The guard constantly squeezed the bag over the mask in rhythm to give air to the unconscious pony.

“Oh my gosh…” Twilight exclaimed in shock while putting a hoof up to her mouth. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. The sight of her friend in such poor shape made the purple mare feel horrible.

“She’s been like this for the last few minutes… we can’t get any kind of response out of her.” Fluttershy explained sadly.

The three turned to see Rainbow Dash rushing into the room with Tom following suit. The cyan mare gasped in shock once she saw the unconscious unicorn lying on the floor a short distance away.

“Rarity… no…” Rainbow Dash muttered in a distraught tone while staring at the motionless mare. The sight of another pony having to make constant efforts just to keep her friend alive nearly drove the pegasus to tears.

“Can you… can you help her?” Twilight asked hesitantly while glancing over to Tom. She dreaded the thought of him being unable to revive the unicorn.

“I’ll see what I can do.” Tom replied in a reassuring tone. He then walked over to the unconscious mare and knelt down.

The guard pony looked at the human curiously as he concentrated silently. He decided to leave the boy to his own devices and continued pumping oxygen into the white pony’s lungs. Meanwhile, Tom was focusing on saving her life rather than maintaining it.

After a brief moment of concentration, a blue light projected from Tom’s hand and flowed into Rarity’s body. The ponies watched anxiously as the boy focused all of his energy on healing the unicorn. Tom groaned uncomfortably as the stress on his body piled up. His arm felt like it was going to fall off, and the rest of his body felt like it would follow suit.

Everyone held their breath as they watched Rarity for signs of life. They felt like they might need that oxygen mask for themselves in a few moments with how much stress they could feel. When suddenly, all at once, the white mare shot up and gasped for air.

The guard pony took the oxygen mask off of her and let her sit up. Rarity breathed rapidly while looking around in a shocked and confused state. She looked like somebody had just jammed a syringe full of adrenaline into her chest.

“Where am I?” Rarity asked in between breaths. Rather than receiving an answer to her question, the white mare was suddenly smothered by her friends piling onto her in excitement. Although they were eager to see the unicorn, the four tried their best to temper their excitement for fear of harming their friend.

“Rarity! I’m so glad to see that you’re awake!” Fluttershy said cheerfully while backing up and offering the white mare some room to breathe. Rarity took a moment to regain her senses before looking to her friends with a shocked expression.

“I was… knocked out? The last thing I remember was walking into the equipment room, and then… everything gets a bit fuzzy after that.” Rarity said while mentally trying to ascertain what happened to her.

“You blacked out for a while there… we thought you weren’t going to wake back up.” Fluttershy explained. The unicorn glanced over to the human kneeling in front of her and smiled.

“I suppose that means you must have healed me? Thank you, Tom… I don’t know how I can possibly repay you.” Rarity said with a warm smile of gratitude.

“Seeing you alive and well is payment enough for me.” Tom replied while getting up and taking a moment to rest. The human’s response only made the unicorn smile even more.

“Now that we’re all together, what are we going to do? Those things have the station overrun.” A brown unicorn stallion asked while walking up to the group. Fluttershy and Rarity immediately recognized the guard, but Twilight and the others could only identify him through his rank of lieutenant. Before anyone could speak up, Luna walked into the room with a pensive expression. She seemed to have a certain level of confidence about her, so the ponies figured that she had something in mind.

“I was just about to get to that, lieutenant. I believe I have something in mind that will help us.” Luna explained with a smirk.