Twilight followed her large group of friends through town as the princess led them to the edge of the Everfree Forest. Being a part of an organized group that was so big was exciting, and they hadn’t even met up with the team of guards coming with them.

Everyone was feeling a wide array of emotions as they walked through the empty streets of Ponyville. There was excitement, eagerness, fear, anxiety, and nervousness in every member of the group. The only ones that seemed to be hiding their emotions were Tom and Princess Luna. Twilight was unsure of how they felt, and that made her slightly concerned.

“So, where are these guys anyway? Are they really just hiding out in the Everfree Forest?” Applejack asked curiously.

“According to Cotton Quill, they use some kind of old mansion out in the forest as a base. I think he said that the mansion was from human times, but that seems like it would be impossible.” Twilight explained in a puzzled tone. She wasn’t sure how such a thing could exist, but she had no reason to believe that Cotton Quill would make something like that up.

“It does sound strange, but we have seen a lot of strange things in recent days.” Luna said from the front of the group.

“Are you sure Cotton wasn’t lying? I mean come on… a human mansion just so happened to be out in the Everfree Forest, complete with all of the books on human magic that these guys would need to learn everything about taking over the world? That sounds ridiculous.” Rainbow Dash said in a tone of disbelief. As much as she wanted to confront the hooded ponies, she had a hard time believing such a farfetched story.

“I don’t think so… he seemed sincere, and I’m not sure if he could make up such a creative story on the spot. Besides… he was killed for what he told us, so I have to believe that it was true.” Twilight explained with a troubled expression.

“Don’t worry. We’ll make these guys pay.” Brimstoke said in a reassuring tone while glancing back at the purple mare.

“Hey look, there they are!” Pinkie announced while pointing ahead. The group looked forward and saw at least a dozen royal guards gathered around at the edge of the forest. They were all varied races, with a few unicorns and pegasus’s scattered throughout. At the front of the troop, Sargent Fireside was waiting for the princess and her group to reach him.

As the two groups merged, all of the guards bowed while Princess Luna walked up to them. She glanced to the small army around her and smiled with a determined expression.

“Greetings Sargent… I assume everyone is briefed and ready to go?” Luna asked in an expectant tone.

“Yes princess, we’re all set.” Fireside replied while looking between his men confidently.

“Good… just to be sure everyone is on the same page, I am going to discuss our plan of action.” Luna explained while turning to face Brimstoke and the others. “Brimstoke and his team are going to lead the charge into the mansion. Our objective is to neutralize any threats we find in there, with non-lethal force if at all possible. You have all been equipped with items that will prove useful in detaining these individuals… if you come across a pony that is able to use supernatural powers or shadow magic, you are to stand down and wait for backup.” She instructed while glancing between the ponies around her to see if they comprehended her.

“Umm princess?” Twilight asked hesitantly to get the alicorn’s attention. Luna turned to the purple mare and smiled slightly.

“Yes Twilight?” The alicorn asked in a friendly manner.

“What are we going to do? I’m all for helping out… but we aren’t trained to handle this kind of stuff.” Twilight said in a nervous tone. She normally took charge in handling assignments due to her leadership and organization, but the sheer amount of danger in this mission was understandably scaring her.

“Don’t worry Twilight, we won’t be sending you in to fight these guys. You can come inside once we clear the main room, and you can volunteer to help as much as you are comfortable with from there.” Luna explained with a reassuring expression. Twilight let a relieved smile fall across her face. She was glad to hear that she could choose what to do once she got to the mansion.

“Ok… if there aren’t any more questions, I think it’s time we get moving.” Luna said while turning to Sargent Fireside.

“You heard the princess, let’s go!” Fireside instructed loudly. All of the guards nodded before turning and heading into the forest. Fireside rushed to get ahead of them so he could make sure they were going in the right direction.

Princess Luna turned to Twilight and the others and nodded before walking into the trees. Everyone quickly followed the alicorn into the forest. They were excited to be finally striking back at the hooded ponies.

Suddenly, a knocking at the door woke Raven Feather from her already troubled sleep. She almost thought that she was dreaming, but then she realized that this annoyance was really happening. The knocking was frantic and loud, probably somebody who didn’t know just how much the black mare wanted to kill them for making such a disturbance.

“Ugh… what is it?” She groaned in a half asleep tone. The mattress creaked underneath her as she sat up in bed. The master bedroom was comfortable, but it didn’t exactly look any better than the rest of the house. The canopy to her bed had so many moth holes in it that it could hardly stay together.

“Miss Raven Feather! I’m sorry to wake you, but there’s something you need to know!” A muffled voice on the other side of the door spoke in an urgent tone. Raven Feather didn’t recognize the pony, so it was probably a random worker.

“This better be important…” The black mare muttered in a livid tone just loud enough to be heard.

The door opened, and a nervous looking mare in a hood hesitantly stepped into the doorway. She could hardly make eye contact with her leader, and she appeared to be frightened. Something must have spooked her if she would willingly disturb Raven Feather this late in the night.

“Miss Raven Feather, the detection charms out in the forest have been tripped! It looks like there are multiple unidentified ponies heading our way!” The hooded mare explained frantically. Raven Feather’s heart skipped a beat and her eyes widened in shock at the apparent news.

“W-what?!” Raven Feather stammered in disbelief. She got off of her bed and stared at the worker in front of her with a sense of urgency.

“They were at the outer markers the last time I checked. They will be here in fifteen minutes!” The hooded mare stated in an alarmed tone. Her adrenaline was obviously pumping because she could hardly stand still.

Raven Feather’s mind raced a mile a minute. She knew that the mare wasn’t pulling an extremely sick practical joke, as much as she wanted to believe that. She must have underestimated how fast the princess would react. Right now, she couldn’t afford to idly stand around and think.

“Wake the others, right now! I want them in the library five minutes ago!” Raven Feather yelled in a commanding voice that made the hooded mare cringe slightly. She stood at attention and saluted nervously.

“Y-yes miss Raven Feather!” The mare stammered fearfully before turning to run away. She was moving so fast that she bumped her head into the doorframe as she rushed to carry out her orders.

Raven Feather rushed out of the door and ran down the hallway as fast as she could. As she ran for the library, she tried to think of a way out of the mess she was in. All of the books and items she would need, not to mention all of the ponies needed to help her, needed to get out of the mansion. However, the mansion was about to be raided by a team of Equestria’s finest defenders. More than anything, Raven Feather needed time, time that she didn’t have.

Once she reached the library, the black mare spent the next few tensest minutes of her life waiting for her colleagues to arrive. One by one; Dust Kicker, Raincloud, Shadow Mist, and Grimwood ran into the library with confused and shocked expressions shared between them.

“What the hell is going on Raven Feather?!” Raincloud asked in a frantic tone. Half of the hoods in the mansion were panicking and running around like there literally was no tomorrow, so naturally the grey pegasus was a little concerned.

“The princess sent a team after us sooner than I expected. We have around… twelve minutes before we are up to our eyes in royal guard, that team of featherbrained idiots, the slayer, hell… probably the princess herself, and who knows what else?” Raven Feather explained in an understandably troubled tone.

“What?!” Grimwood said in a shocked tone before anyone else could speak up. The group was surprised to see the normally monotonous colt reacting with such emotion, but they perfectly understood his outburst.

“Raven Feather, we still have a load of research that we need to pack up. Even if we only take the stuff needed for the ritual, there is no way that we could gather it up and get out of here before they get here.” Dust Kicker stated with a pale expression.

“I know…” Raven Feather muttered quietly while rubbing her temples and looking down in thought. While the black mare was frantically searching for an answer, everyone else in the room was losing their minds.

“We’re going to die!” One of the hoods in the room yelled fearfully.

“Don’t be ridiculous… we’re going to spend the rest of our lives in prison, and then we’re going to die!” Another worker yelled back at the first, who was having a panic attack much like most of the others in the room.

The tumultuous uproar in the room was making Raven Feather grit her teeth in frustration. Raincloud and the others were trying to calm everyone down, but the hooded ponies throughout the library and out in the hall wouldn’t shut up. Their entire operation was coming down on top of their heads, and they knew it.

Suddenly, Raven Feather raised her hoof in the air and channeled shadow energy to it. She stomped her hoof down and sent a shockwave of air through the room. All of the ponies in the room had their hair blown back. On top of blowing back hair, all of the candles in the room were blown out by the wave, with some of them falling to the floor with a loud clatter.

“EVERYBODY QUIET!” Raven Feather screamed at the top of her lungs. The thundering sound of the black mare’s outburst made everyone freeze in their tracks. Raven Feather looked around at the stunned ponies around her before blowing her disheveled hair out of her face and recomposing herself.

Now that it was silent and she could hear herself think, Raven Feather thought of something to do. She breathed in a full breath, partly to catch her breath after her outburst, and partly as a sign of relief at her sudden idea.

“We need someone to stay behind and gather up what we need for the ritual while the rest of us escape through the hidden passage in the basement.” The black mare said in a calm tone. The rest of the ponies in the room weren’t as calm as she was at the plan she made.

“What?! How in the hay is that going to work? That would be a suicide mission!” Raincloud stated with an alarmed tone of voice.

“Not if whoever stays behind has a diversion to work with.” Raven Feather replied with a sterner expression. Now that she thought about her plan, she was starting to get worried herself.

“And what diversion did you have in mind?” Dust Kicker asked in a concerned tone as he watched the uneasy expression on his leader’s face.

“We’ll erase the protective charms around the house… let them deal with our guests.” Raven Feather suggested uneasily.

“What?! But… but they will kill whoever is left in the house when they wake up!” Raincloud said in a shocked tone. She couldn’t believe that Raven Feather would even suggest such a dangerous plan. Whoever stayed behind probably wouldn’t live to get out with the research they were retrieving.

“Look, Raincloud we don’t have time to argue this. I will stay behind and-” Raven Feather started to volunteer, when someone spoke up and interrupted her.

“I’ll go…” Shadow Mist said in a slightly nervous tone. Everyone turned their heads to look at the red stallion as he stepped forward.

“Shadow Mist… I-” Raven Feather tried to protest the stallion’s decision, until he put up a hoof to stop her.

“Look, I can use my powers to hide from the princess and her team while I gather the research. I can slip in and out before I run into any trouble with… you know who.” Shadow Mist explained confidently, though everyone could detect a hint of fear in his voice.

Everyone was shocked to hear their comrade volunteer himself up to go on such a dangerous mission. They had come to know him as family, and they were devastated that they might not see him return to them safely.

“Shadow Mist, don’t be stupid! There’s no way you’re walking away from this!” Raincloud protested with a visibly upset expression.

“We don’t have time to sit around here arguing over who gets to go. You guys need to move it, now!” Shadow Mist instructed while rushing to the door. He had a daunting task ahead of him, and he would have to get it done fast.

“Shadow Mist…” Grimwood spoke up suddenly, causing the red stallion to pause and turn around. “Are you sure you’re going to be ok?” He asked in a concerned tone. Shadow Mist smiled slightly as he caught the colt’s hidden meaning. He knew that Grimwood was genuinely concerned for him, but he also had research of his own that needed to be smuggled out of the building, not to mention the rest of the materials he needed from the elements of harmony.

“Don’t worry… I can handle this.” Shadow Mist stated confidently before turning and running out the door. Raven Feather glanced around at the others in the room. The red stallion was right about one thing, they didn’t have time to be sitting around doing nothing.

“Let’s get moving everyone! Tell every hood you pass to come with us down to the basement… leave the rest to be sorted out when they get here.” Raven Feather instructed while rushing towards the door. All of the hooded workers in the room rushed to follow the black mare and her group out of the library. They knew that their survival was optional, and they did not want to be left behind.

Twilight and her friends followed the princess and her team of guards through the Everfree forest. The constant sound of hooves crushing grass and breaking twigs did wonders to drown out the eerie ambient noises of the forest, but it didn’t do anything to help with the equally eerie atmosphere. The purple unicorn and her five fellow element bearers had been through the forest so much in the past week that it was starting to get scarily familiar to them.

“Are you sure we’re going the right way Twilight? We’re going really far out into the forest…” Fluttershy asked in a nervous whisper while eyeing her surroundings. She hated going out into the Everfree forest on a good day, and now she was treading unknown waters by going farther in than she had ever been before.

“Don’t worry… It looks like we’re following Cotton’s directions perfectly. Wherever we’re going, we should be there soon.” Twilight replied in a reassuring tone while glancing back at the nervous pegasus.

“I just hope we can find our way back. It’s really easy to get lost out here… and there are probably still some monsters out here somewhere.” Fluttershy stated with growing fear and unease.

“Lighten up Fluttershy. We’ll make sure that you get home in one piece.” Rainbow Dash said confidently.

“Yeah, don’t you worry about nothing sugar cube. Ah brought a compass, so we should have no problems getting back.” Applejack said with a bright smile of reassurance.

“I just wish I could have brought all of my things with me… I don’t know what I’m going to do without that hairspray.” Rarity groaned while patting her mane. She could already feel the humid air wreaking havoc on her hair.

“At least some of us brought something useful.” Applejack groaned in annoyance while glancing at the white unicorn.

“Settle down girls. We’ll be there soon, and we need to stay focused.” Glimmer Shine spoke back to the six mares while walking alongside his teammates.

With the looming promise that they would soon arrive at the hooded ponies’ base, the group quieted down and focused on the path ahead. This wasn’t the time or the place to be squabbling on petty differences.

Suddenly, the group heard the guards further ahead muttering amongst themselves excitedly. They seemed to be talking about something important due to how many of them were speaking, but the others couldn’t tell what was being said.

“What’s going on up there?” Fluttershy asked in an anxious tone.

“I don’t know, I can’t tell what they’re saying. All I hear is a bunch of gibberish.” Pinkie said while straining her ears to discern what everyone was talking about.

Before the ponies could wonder what was going on any further, one of the guards from up ahead rushed back to the rest of the group. He had an excited expression on his face, and he seemed eager to tell everyone what was going on.

“Hey guys! We’re here! We found it!” The guard exclaimed while pointing behind him. Everyone immediately shifted their attention from their thoughts once they heard the news.

“What? We’re here…?” Twilight asked curiously while glancing up ahead. She could barely see a few guards through the trees, but she couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary beyond them.

“Follow me, it’s just up ahead!” The guard suggested while motioning for everyone to follow him. The ponies glanced at each other with varying degrees of nervousness and excitement as the stallion turned around and went back through the trees.

Twilight and the others eagerly rushed through the trees to reach the others. Soon enough, they started to notice fewer trees up ahead. Once there were few enough trees, they started to see something in the distance. There were several guards standing around while staring ahead with awestruck expressions. Once the ponies caught a good glimpse at what the others were staring at, their jaws dropped in amazement.

Up ahead, there was a clearing in the trees. In the clearing, there was a large mansion tucked away inside of a sprawling fenced in area. The old house was unlike anything the ponies had ever seen. There was clearly a lot of damage done by age, but the former beauty of the architecture was apparent even underneath the decrepit exterior.

There were vines climbing up the walls in a few places, seemingly the only trace of living plant life to be found. All of the trees in the front yard were dead. Their branches were so stiff that they barely swayed in the wind.

The dead trees seemed to set the standard for the rest of the property. The iron fence was so rusty that it looked like it could be pushed over in a few places. There was a stone path that led from the front gate through what appeared to be the remains of a large garden and up to the front door, but even the path itself was cracked and falling apart.

The house itself looked old, but it seemed to be in remarkably good shape considering how old it apparently was. Most of the windows were damaged in some way, with some being cracked slightly, and some missing their shutters completely. The wood looked to be in good condition, although it was broken in a few places.

The ponies stared at the estate for the longest time without saying anything. They had to tear themselves away from staring at the house to be able to notice that there were lights on inside. This was definitely where the hooded ponies were, unless there were two ancient mansions out in the forest.

“How… how is this here?” Twilight asked in a dumbfounded tone. She had so many questions about how what she was seeing could be possible.

“It looks like it’s from the Victorian era… but it looks like it hasn’t aged past my day and age.” Tom said in amazement while observing the remarkable condition of the house.

“We’ll have time to figure out how this place has survived the ages later, right now we need to focus on our mission.” Princess Luna said to remind the group of their goal.

“Right… we need to set up a perimeter around this place.” Brimstoke said while turning to Sunspot thoughtfully. “Sunspot, take a team of pegasus’s and fly above the house. I want you to make sure nobody leaves out the back or the sides before we can get in there. Try to keep yourselves unseen.” The white stallion instructed. Sunspot nodded before turning to the small cluster of pegasus guards around her.

“Alright guys, follow me and keep quiet. They won’t know what hit them!” The orange mare exclaimed in excitement before spreading her wings and taking off into the air. Four other pegasus’s quickly followed the vested pony and fell into formation beside her as she climbed higher in the sky.

“Ok everyone, let’s move. We need to get in there and clear the place out before they figure out we’re here.” Sargent Fireside spoke up while rallying his men. Everyone nodded before following the stallion up to the front gate and heading inside.

As the group walked through the outskirts of the front yard, they glanced around at their surroundings as they walked. There were a few trees that had symbols painted on them in white. Tom paused in front of one of them and examined it curiously.

“Do you recognize it?” Twilight asked curiously while walking up to the human and examining the symbol herself. It looked similar to the previous symbols that the hooded ponies had used, but it wasn’t a traditional looking pictogram.

“I think it’s some kind of masking charm. That might explain why nobody has been able to find this place before, and why I haven’t been able to sense all of the energy these guys must be using.” The boy explained in an intrigued tone.

“Do you think that this place is still here because of magic?” Applejack asked while pondering on the issue of how the mansion could even still exist.

“I would imagine… if this place really is from human times, it must be millions of years old. Or… however long it took for ponies to evolve… I’m not even sure if I want to wrap my head around that one.” Tom shook his head in confusion while trying not to put too much thought into the subject of how ponies came to be.

“Maybe it isn’t from human times? Maybe whoever built it just has weird taste in architecture.” Rainbow Dash suggested while scratching her head.

“No… this place is definitely from human times. I can tell that much at least…” Twilight said with a twinge of confidence in her voice.

“How can you be sure of that Twilight?” Applejack asked while tilting her head curiously. The purple mare simply pointed ahead with her hoof. The group turned their heads and looked to where she was pointing, only to notice a bunch of decorations for what used to be a garden.

There were a few stone benches scattered around what appeared to be the dead remnants of hedges and flower bushes. In the center of one of the smaller areas, there was a statue of a human woman with wings that appeared to be crying with her head hung low.

“It might not make much sense… but this place is somehow from human times, which means that this is probably where all of those books on human magic came from.” Twilight explained to her group of curious listeners.

Without further delay, the group continued moving forward through the yard. They snaked through dead gardens and branching stone pathways as they continued to move closer to the main house’s front door. Before they knew it, the ponies had arrived at the front steps. Brimstoke and the princess paused and turned around to face the group.

“Ok girls, you need to stay out here while we clear out the main room. We will come get you when it’s safe. Glitter, you and Peppermint stay here and keep an eye on them.” Brimstoke instructed to the two while waiting for all of the guards and the rest of his team to climb up the steps.

“Be careful in there.” Glitterball said in a concerned tone.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be fine.” Tom said while reaching around his back and patting the holster to his sword with a confident expression.

“I’m sure that we can handle these guys.” Luna chimed in with a reassuring tone.

“Good luck princess.” Twilight said with a small smile. She knew that everything would be fine, but she couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that something bad was going to happen.

“Alright, everyone form up on me and get ready to bust down that door.” Brimstoke said while trotting up the steps and walking to the side of the large door. All of the guards and everyone else that was going inside quickly followed the stallion and waited for his go ahead.

“You in position Sunspot?” Brimstoke asked while placing a hoof to his ear. Everyone in front of the house looked up to see the orange mare and her team of pegasus’s hovering above the roof.

“Ready when you are chief.” Sunspot replied while waving to the crowd on the ground confidently.

“Ok… on my mark, three… two… one… go!” Brimstoke announced while quickly pulling the large door open. Tom and the princess led the charge while being followed by several guards. Once everyone was inside, Brimstoke stepped inside along with Neon Streak and Glimmer Shine.

The strike team acted swiftly and mercilessly. They caught every single hooded pony in the foyer off guard. Several ponies tried to run, until they were chased down and tackled by a few guards. Tom rushed up the stairs and ran after a hooded unicorn that tried to escape into the hallway. Before he could get the door open, the human slammed into him and shoved him to the floor.

Twilight and the others listened to the shouts and yells from outside. They could only wonder as to what was going on inside the room. Judging from the amount of terrified screams and yells coming from the hooded ponies, they estimated that the guards were winning.

“Ok Guys, you can come in now. Sunspot, stay outside and keep an eye on things until further notice.” Brimstoke said over the communication spell.

“Alright everyone, we can go inside now. They secured the entryway.” Glitterball announced to the six mares. Twilight and her friends cheered in excitement as they finally prepared to go after their enemies. The unicorn and her teammate led the six mares through the door and into the mansion.

As the group looked around to view their surroundings, they saw numerous hooded ponies getting apprehended by either guards or Brimstoke and his two teammates. Everyone was putting the hoods into hoof cuffs while laying them on their stomachs. The unicorns had special hoof cuffs put onto them to suppress their magic.

“Wow… you guys work fast.” Rainbow Dash said in an impressed tone.

“That’s what happens when you organize a team of a dozen royal guards and a team of highly trained monster hunters together.” Glimmer Shine said with a slight smirk.

“Alright, get these guys piled up over by that wall, and get some guys watching all of the doors. This room is now our base of operations. We should split into teams and sweep each of the floors.” Brimstoke instructed to the guards scattered around the room. Everyone nodded before going to complete their assigned task.