Twilight groaned drowsily while stirring from what seemed like a long sleep. She wasn’t sure if her senses were messed up, but she felt like she was being suspended off the ground by something. As she tried to move her legs, she felt something holding her in place.

“Ugh… what the…?” She muttered in a confused tone while lifting her head up. As gravity kicked in and made her head slump forward, she quickly realized that she was hanging in the air. Ignoring her exhausted state, the unicorn opened her eyes and looked down at her body in a panic.

Twilight saw that she was tied to an angled table by four leather straps. Each of her limbs were spread apart and restrained by the tight straps that dug painfully into her skin. Strangely enough, her front legs were also linked together by a pair of steel hoof cuffs.

“Twilight?” The sound of Applejack’s voice in front of her made the purple mare look up in surprise. She noticed the farm pony tied to a similar table across from her.

“Applejack!” Twilight exclaimed eagerly. “I’m so glad to see you… where are we?” She asked uneasily while examining the room she was in. As she looked around the room, she noticed her other friends around her.

Pinkie Pie was on a table next to hers, although she was still unconscious. Rainbow Dash was on a table across from the pink mare and next to Applejack, and she was also unconscious. Fluttershy was on a table to the far left of the room, and Rarity was on the far right of the room next to a doorway.

Rarity was the only one in the room that wasn’t tied to a table. In fact, she seemed to have limited use of her limbs. The white mare’s legs were chained together, and the short chain coming off her front legs led to a small pipe on the wall. She also had the same hoof cuffs on her front legs that Twilight had, and she was also unconscious. Other than Applejack and Twilight, everyone else in the room was still knocked out cold.

The room itself had only one entrance, which was the open doorway beside Rarity. The majority of the space in the room was taken up by the five tables that Twilight and her friends were tied to, but there were three small trays on wheels. Two of the trays held oil lanterns that were providing light across the room, while the third tray held a selection of cutting implements.

“Ah don’t know… Ah came to a few minutes ago and we were already here. Ah’m so glad you’re awake.” Applejack stated in a sincere tone.

“What happened? Last thing I remember we were fighting… *Gasp* that ghost! He must have taken us here while we were unconscious!” Twilight stated in an alarmed tone. She grunted from exertion as she pulled against the leather straps holding her in place. After a few moments of getting nowhere with this approach, the unicorn panted heavily and leaned her head back to rest.

“If that creep took us, he’s probably going to come back… which means we need to get out of here. Can’t you use your magic to get loose?” Applejack asked in a hopeful tone.

“Of course, why didn’t I think of that?” Twilight mentally face palmed as she remembered that she was in fact a unicorn. Escaping with magic would be a breeze. She could free herself and her friends and escape before the spirit returned.

Twilight looked down at the straps holding her legs in place and concentrated on them. Having expected to have no trouble using her magic, the purple mare was surprised that she couldn’t channel energy to her horn. Putting more effort into it and grunting from exertion, she became more alarmed as she realized that her magic wasn’t working.

“What the hay? I can’t use my magic.” Twilight said in a troubled tone while looking up at her horn. As her eyes trailed upwards, she suddenly drew her attention to the hoof cuffs connected to her front legs. Her heart sank as she noticed several strange symbols etched into the metal of the cuffs.

“What’s wrong?!” Applejack asked nervously while watching the unicorn growing pale.

“Oh no… he must have gotten the magic nullifying cuffs off of the guards. I can’t use my magic while these are on me.” Twilight explained in a dreadful tone. The weight of the situation was finally sinking in. She was trapped, and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.

Suddenly, the pair heard a soft groan coming from beside them. The two mares looked over and noticed that Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were starting to wake up. After a few moments, Rarity and Fluttershy started to stir as well.

“Ugh… five more minutes mommy.” Pinkie groaned in a sleepy tone while lifting her head up slightly. After a few seconds of looking around in a confused daze, the pink mare became alarmed as she realized that she wasn’t where she first thought she was.

“What the…?! Where am I?! How did I get here?!” Pinkie asked frantically while looking around with wide eyes. She tugged at the straps holding her in place in a vain attempt at escaping her table.

“Pinkie, calm down… we’re here with you.” Twilight spoke in a soft tone in an attempt at bringing the jilted pony to her senses. The pink mare looked to her side and gasped in excitement as she saw the unicorn next to her.

“Twilight! I’m so glad to see you!” Pinkie exclaimed happily before looking around and noticing the others. As she realized that all of her friends were trapped just like her, her initial excitement vanished and was replaced by fear.

“Gah… would you keep it down over there? My head is killing me…” Rainbow Dash muttered while cringing painfully and trying to bring her hoof up to her head. Once she noticed that her limbs were restrained, the cyan mare suddenly became very alarmed.

“Hey, what gives?!” Rainbow Dash asked nervously while shaking herself awake and looking down at her tied legs.

“What in Celestia’s name is going on here?! I demand to be released this instant!” Rarity stated in a distraught tone while rattling the chain attached to her legs as she tried to get up. Due to the short length of the chain connected to the pipe, the white mare couldn’t get to her feet and instead had to awkwardly lay on her side.

“Can somepony please tell me what the hay is going on?” Rainbow Dash asked in a pleading tone while looking to her friends for answers. Twilight and Applejack were about to try and calm their frantic friends down until they were interrupted by another frightened voice speaking up.

“Oh no… not this! Anything but this, please!” Fluttershy whined fearfully while looking at her own restraints. The others watched as the yellow pegasus started hyperventilating from fright. She looked like she was either going to break down into tears or pass out from oxygen deprivation at any moment.

“Everyone calm down!” Twilight yelled in order to gain everyone’s attention. “I know this looks bad, but we’ve gotten out of worse scrapes before. All we need to do is keep our heads and we can find a way out of this.” She explained in what she hoped would be a reassuring manner. The purple mare herself was feeling nervous and scared, so she was unsure if the others believed her.

“Yeah… Twilight is right guys. We can get out of here no problem.” Rainbow Dash stated in her usual confident manner while struggling against her bonds. “Just… hrk! Just give me… hrk! A minute to get out of these… gah! Stupid straps!” She groaned in exhausted annoyance as she put all of her strength into trying to free herself. No matter how hard the pegasus pulled on her straps, they showed no signs of loosening their grip on her.

“This can’t be happening… this is just like last time.” Fluttershy muttered in a distraught tone. The yellow mare closed her eyes and looked away as tears began forming from all of the horrific memories that she had of this situation.

“Fluttershy, listen to me.” Twilight said in a sincere tone while looking over to the pegasus. Fluttershy reluctantly opened her eyes and looked over to see the unicorn offering her a serious expression.

“This is not going to end up like last time, you hear me? We’re all going to get out of here in one piece.” Twilight stated in a calm and sincere manner. The sheer determination in her voice was enough to make all of her friends quiet down and look at her with amazed expressions.

Fluttershy looked around at her friends on each of the other tables. She still felt fearful and anxious, but somehow she believed the unicorn’s words. She and her friends had encountered many situations where she thought all was lost, but the power of the bond that she shared with the five mares kept them together through all of the hardships they had faced.

“Twilight… I… I…” Fluttershy stammered in an emotional tone. She had so many thoughts and emotions swirling around inside of her that she felt unsure of what to do. Still, she wanted to believe her friend and her promise of safety.

“In one piece eh? Well… I’m not so sure of that.” The group heard a disturbingly familiar voice chiming in from the doorway. Everyone turned and widened their eyes in fright as they saw the same ghostly human that captured them walking in through the doorway. His form flickered into view as he walked into the room, as if his existence was merely a twisted spectacle for the ponies to witness.

“You...” Rainbow Dash said in a disdainful tone while leering at the man. “You let us go right now, or you’ll be sorry!” She said in a fierce manner while trying her best to be brave in the face of danger.

“Ha… don’t make me laugh. No seriously, don’t… I get violent when I get excited.” The human said in a calm manner while shifting his eyes to look at the cyan pegasus. The spirit’s icy cold stare was enough to unnerve even Rainbow Dash.

All of the ponies in the room were scared. Everyone remained speechless as they dreadfully anticipated what the human was going to do to them. Everyone, except for one yellow pegasus whining in terror at the back of the room.

As the human drew his gaze towards Fluttershy, she began tensing up and breathing rapidly again. Everyone watched nervously as the ghost slowly walked up to the fearful pegasus and stared at her for a moment. Twilight and the others were terrified that he would do something to hurt their timid friend.

“So… here we are again. It’s Fluttershy, isn’t it? What a bizarre name… I’ll never understand how you ponies came to be so childish and weak.” The man said while reaching his hand up and placing it on the yellow mare’s cheek. Fluttershy tried to move her head out of the way of the human’s cold and disturbing touch, but her head could only move so much while her body was restrained.

“Please… don’t hurt us.” Fluttershy muttered while avoiding eye contact with the man and looking to the floor fearfully.

“You know… it may be impolite to stare, but I really think you should look a man in the eye when you ask him not to hurt you.” The human said with a slight smirk. His smile and lighthearted nature quickly shifted to an annoyed expression as the pegasus still stared at the floor while shaking from fright.

“I said look at me, and I meant it… now show me those pretty little eyes of yours.” The ghostly man said in a harsh tone while grabbing the pegasus under the chin and roughly moving her head up to look at him. Fluttershy yelped slightly, if not from pain than from sheer terror as she was forced to look at the human’s cold and calculating expression.

“Leave her alone you brute!” Rarity yelled in a threatening tone from across the room. The white mare tried to light up her horn to use a spell, but she grunted from exertion as she realized that her magic wasn’t working.

“Don’t bother trying anything with that horn of yours. I got those anti magic cuffs courtesy of your two friends, so I assume that they literally work like a charm.” The human said while letting Fluttershy go and turning around to face the rest of the group.

“What did you do with the guards?” Twilight asked in a demanding tone while glaring at the human. The two stallions that came with her and her friends were nowhere to be found in the room. The purple mare feared the worst might have happened to them at the hands of this sinister spirit.

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about them anymore. I already took care of them before you woke up. I barely had time to clean up the mess before I heard some commotion in here.” The man said with a slight chuckle. The six ponies stared at the human in shock as they processed his words.

“You monster…” Applejack muttered in a quiet tone of disbelief at the cruel actions of the man.

“Now then… why don’t we just pick up where we left off?” The man said while holding his hand behind him with his palm open. A small scalpel from the tray near Twilight vibrated slightly before shooting across the room and into the ghost’s waiting hand.

“I have to admit, I was a little peeved when your friends so rudely interrupted us last time. I was so looking forward to finding you again and continuing our little game, so imagine my surprise when I just stumble upon you and your friends.” The human said while bringing his scalpel up to Fluttershy’s chest. The pegasus froze up in fright and flinched her eyes shut. She whined softly as she prepared to feel her body being sliced into.

“Hey! Leave her alone!” Rainbow Dash yelled fiercely, causing the human to pause. The ghostly man dropped the scalpel to his side and slowly turned his head to face the cyan pegasus.

“What was that?” The human asked in a cynical and slightly threatening tone. He didn’t expect that the pony would offer much bravery after he walked up to her while brandishing the scalpel menacingly, but she barely flinched at his approach.

“I said don’t touch her… you keep your filthy mitts off of her.” Rainbow Dash said while managing the courage to glare at the specter while hiding her fear under her anger.

Suddenly, something triggered inside of Fluttershy’s head. Memories that she had tried her best to forget came flooding back to her. All of the other sounds in the room faded and time slowed down as she pictured Neon Streak on the table in front of her. She could still hear the determination in her voice as she threatened the ghost to protect her.

“Really? Because last time I checked I can put my filthy mitts wherever I want.” The human replied while matching the pegasus’s glare in intensity. His icy cold and haunting eyes made the cyan mare uneasy, but she couldn’t let him harm her friend.

“Why don’t you pick on someone your own size? If you want to cut somebody, cut me.” Rainbow Dash stated in a brave tone. Twilight and the others couldn’t believe that the pegasus was suggesting such a thing, but they couldn’t imagine the possible ramifications of her statement for their yellow friend.

Fluttershy felt her heart skip a beat as she heard the cyan mare’s words. They held a chilling place in her mind as she heard a similar statement from another pony strapped to a similar table. Flashes of the green mare getting cut up and screaming in pain filled the pegasus’s head. Fluttershy felt tears streaming down her face as the flashes of Neon Streak getting tortured shifted to images of Rainbow Dash getting cut up. She could see the cyan mare suffering everything that the green mare did, and in one horrific flash that made her already fragile mind scream out in defiance, she saw Rainbow Dash getting her throat sliced open before slowly dying in front of her.

“NO!” Fluttershy yelled loudly in refusal to the situation before her. Everyone looked over in shock at the normally timid mare’s outburst. They saw that the pegasus had tears freely flowing down her cheeks as she took in shallow breaths.

“Please… cut me.” Fluttershy finally managed to speak again in a distraught tone while averting her eyes to the floor and sobbing quietly.

“Fluttershy, what are you doing? I’m not just going to let him hurt you like that!” Rainbow Dash said in a confused tone while looking at the crying pony in a stunned state of disbelief.

“I don’t want him to hurt you… I can’t lose you too…” Fluttershy said in a heartbroken tone while breaking down into a fit of crying. The grim realization of the yellow mare’s meaning hit the others like a ton of bricks.

The sight of the crying pony made the others look down sadly. Hearing her letting out so much pent up sadness and despair was enough to make them teary eyed as well, and they didn’t even go through the torture she was forced to.

“Fluttershy…” Rainbow Dash muttered in a sympathetic tone. She couldn’t believe that her friend was being forced to relive such a tragic moment in her life.

“Look… I would hate to interrupt this touching moment, but I have more important things I could be doing than just standing here.” The human said while fidgeting with the scalpel suggestively. He wasted no time in going over to Fluttershy and bringing the cutting tool up to her skin again.

“Hey! I’m not done with you!” Rainbow Dash said while trying her best to arch her body sideways to better look at the spirit.

“Rainbow Dash, please don’t.” Fluttershy pleaded as she nervously watched the human glaring at the cyan mare out of the corner of his eye.

“No Fluttershy, I can’t just let him have his way with you. I don’t want to lose you either!” Rainbow Dash said in a determined tone.

“Neither do I…” Pinkie Pie said with anxious resolve while committing to joining her friends.

“If you want to get to her, you’ll need to go through us.” Twilight said confidently while looking to her friends for support. Applejack and Rarity nodded in agreement while joining the others.

Fluttershy stared at her five friends with a stunned expression. She couldn’t believe that they were risking their lives for her with such determination in their eyes. She had seen that level of determination before in Neon’s eyes, but there was something else present among the five mares. They all were expressing the love and compassion they held for her by making sure that she wasn’t harmed.

“Girls… I… I don’t know what to say.” Fluttershy stated with tears of joy welling up in her eyes. She silently allowed them to fall down her face as she looked around at the five ponies. Twilight and the others smiled warmly at the yellow mare in return.

Suddenly, the human held up his free arm and opened his palm. He held his fingers together before swiping his arm sideways in a smacking motion. A collective thwack filled the air as Twilight and the others felt an invisible force slapping them on the side of their face so hard it made them turn their heads.

“Ow!” Pinkie and Rarity yelped in surprise while trying to clutch to clutch the throbbing area on their cheek instinctively. While the white unicorn barely managed to bring her hoof to her face, the pink mare was totally restrained by the leather straps on her table.

“What the hay was that for?!” Rainbow Dash asked in an angry tone while looking around at her friends. Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie were still recovering from the shock of the sudden smack to their face, while Applejack joined the cyan pegasus in glaring at the spirit for striking them.

“I’m done playing games with you ponies. I tried toying around with you before, and that didn’t end so favorably for me. I’m cutting whoever the hell I want to cut, and there is nothing any of you can say to stop me. Now shut up and let me work before I cut your tongues out.” The human stated in an annoyed manner before turning his attention back to Fluttershy.

Before anyone could even say anything else, the man brought the scalpel up to the yellow mare’s side and roughly dragged it down, causing a bloody incision to be made that sent a burning sensation flooding through her body.

“Agghhh!” Fluttershy screamed in pain while rocking her head back against the table. The human ignored the screaming pony and brought the scalpel clear down to her hip before pulling it back and admiring the bloody gash he just created.

“Fluttershy!” Twilight and the others yelled in unison. They watched the pegasus writhing in pain with shocked and alarmed expressions.

“No… please sto- AHH!” Fluttershy’s plead for mercy was cut short as the man sliced across her stomach sideways. Although the cuts weren’t too deep, they sent waves of agony coursing through her body that made her heart pound in her chest and her breathing speed up.

“Leave her alone!” Applejack yelled in refusal to the scene before her. The orange mare and several of the others tried struggling against their bonds again in a desperate attempt to free themselves to save their friend from the violent spirit.

The human ignored the cries of the ponies behind him and watched the yellow mare crying and whimpering as her new injuries burned and stung. He brought his hand up and grabbed the timid pony under the chin again. Fluttershy struggled to move her head out of his grasp, but he pushed harder to bring her up to eye level with him.

“Now that we’re done playing games… I can show you what I can really do.” The man said before roughly letting the terrified pegasus go and walking over to the tray of cutting implements next to Twilight. Everyone stared at the ghostly human fearfully as he put his bloody scalpel down and picked up a corkscrew.

“You might as well get settled in girls… everyone will have their turn in due time.” The man said before shifting his blank expression into a devilish smirk. The ponies cowered in fearful uncertainty as the human started laughing like the mad man he already resembled.

Meanwhile, back in the safe room, Sunspot and Peppermint were waiting anxiously for the group of ponies to return. Peppermint was waiting next to the human still lying unconscious on the floor, but Sunspot was surprisingly mobile. Despite her injuries and soreness, the pegasus was slowly and anxiously pacing around the room while looking at the doorway every few minutes to see if the group would return.

“Come on guys… it’s been a lot longer than thirty minutes.” Sunspot said in a nervous tone while staring out of the door with rapidly fading hope.

“They’re only ten minutes late… maybe they are on their way?” Peppermint reasoned nervously. Although he was trying to be optimistic about the others, even he was getting worried about their safety.

“I really hope you’re right Pepper…” Sunspot replied in a worried manner. Despite the not so comforting words of the white stallion, she continued slowly pacing around the room while looking out at the door with growing anxiety. After a few more minutes of waiting, still nothing happened. Nobody came through the door, no lights in the distance gave the pair a glimmer of hope, only darkness and silence pervaded the room.

Peppermint watched his teammate with growing concern. She might not have been worried about her injuries, but he certainly was. At this rate, she looked like she was about to pace up the walls and along the ceiling, and that would probably be even worse on her sore ribs than just walking around.

“Maybe you should sit down, Sunspot? You wearing a hole in the floor isn’t going to bring them back any faster, so you should probably rest.” The red haired pony suggested in a caring manner.

“I can’t just rest, Pepper… not while they are out there.” Sunspot said in a frustrated tone. “Ugh… why did I let them go? I knew something like this was going to happen! I should have just put my hoof down and made them stay.” She said while finally shifting to a seated position and holding her head in her hooves in worry.

“If you think they’re in danger… we should probably call Brimstoke and tell him.” Peppermint suggested in a concerned tone. He was just as hopeful that the group was fine as the orange pegasus, but even he was getting worried about their safety.

Sunspot glanced over to the white stallion as if to say something, when she suddenly paused and thought about the issue further. Normally she would be against telling her leader about a possible screw up of hers, but there were other lives at stake here. The orange mare swallowed nervously before sighing and forming a determined expression on her face.

“You’re right… I’ll do it. Maybe Brimstoke and the others can look for them.” Sunspot said while putting a hoof up to her ear and concentrating on the white stallion and his group. Peppermint watched as the pegasus’s ear was enveloped in a magical aura. She swallowed her last remaining twinges of pride before nervously gathering the courage to openly address the lapse in judgement she made.

“Brimstoke, are you there?” Sunspot asked before waiting for a response anxiously. Peppermint put a hoof up to his ear as well and concentrated on the others to listen in on the conversation.

“Yeah Sunspot, I’m here. What’s the problem?” Brimstoke’s voice piped into the pairs’ heads. He sounded dull and almost bored, most likely due to the lack of progress on his end.

“We have a possible situation here… Twilight and the others went out to search for the last symbol, and they haven’t come back.” Sunspot explained and prepared herself for the inevitable fallout.

“What?!” Glimmer Shine’s voice rang out in their heads before the white stallion had a chance to speak. Apparently he had been listening into the conversation as well.

“Glimmer, calm down for a minute so we can-” Brimstoke tried to reason with the yellow stallion, but he was quickly interrupted by him again.

“Why did you let them leave the safe room?!” Glimmer Shine asked in a shocked tone.

“I… I…” Sunspot tried to think of a reason to explain herself, but she shook her head in frustration and decided to skip the excuses to get to the matter at hand. “Look, Twilight was going to go whether I let her or not. I told her to take the guards with her, and she brought two strobes and the iron fire poker with her as well… I thought they would be fine, but I told them to check back in half an hour to be safe.” She explained in a serious manner.

“And how long ago was that?” Brimstoke asked in a relatively calm manner, although he was clearly upset as well.

“That was forty minutes ago… we haven’t seen them yet, and I’m starting to get worried.” Sunspot explained in a concerned tone.

“Ok… just calm down and stay there. We’re on our way back to you now.” Brimstoke instructed in a serious tone.

“And don’t go running after them Sunspot. The last thing we need is two sets of lost ponies to look for.” Glimmer Shine stated in a frustrated tone.

Sunspot shrugged before letting her hoof drop to her side. She could tell that the yellow stallion wasn’t really as upset at her as he seemed, but it still stung regardless considering she was the one that allowed them to go.

“I can’t believe I let this happen.” The pegasus sighed in a gloomy tone before sinking to the floor and lying down on her back.

Peppermint watched the forlorn mare with a sympathetic expression. He knew how she must have felt. If it wasn’t for her sore ribs, she would have already been out the door to look for the others. Still, if Twilight and the others were in danger, then they might not have time to wait for Brimstoke and the others to return before searching for them.

Sunspot looked up to see the red haired stallion getting up from the floor and walking over to the doorway with a determined expression. She had never seen him with such confident resolve before in their time knowing each other.

“Pepper, what are you doing?” Sunspot asked in a surprised tone while sitting up slowly and ignoring the pain in her chest. The white stallion paused and shrugged for a moment before turning to face the pegasus.

“I’m going to look for them.” Peppermint stated in a matter of fact way.

“What?! You can’t be serious!” Sunspot exclaimed in shock while struggling to get up from the floor.

“Just stay there Sunspot… someone needs to stay to look after Tom. Besides, you’re in no condition to be looking for them in this place.” Peppermint said while frowning slightly at the injured mare’s efforts at stopping him.

“Brimstoke and the others are coming back right now. There is no need for you to go out there and risk your life!” Sunspot pleaded in a desperate manner while trying to reason with the brave stallion.

“Twilight and the others might need help right now! If I can find them before something bad happens to them, then you can chew me out all you want.” Peppermint said in a determined tone. He stepped over to the door and glanced out into the darkness with a twinge of nervousness before flicking on his flashlight and patting his strobe to make sure it was there.

“Pepper, I…” Sunspot started to speak, until the white stallion turned to face her one more time with a slight smile on his face.

“Don’t follow me Sunspot… I’ll just stop you and bring you back here by force.” Peppermint said before turning and running out of the doorway.

“Pepper, don’t!” Sunspot called after the stallion while lurching forward in an attempt at chasing after him. She quickly yelped in pain and clutched her ribs before sighing and looking out at the now empty doorway.

“Please be safe…” She muttered before turning her attention to the unconscious human lying on the floor. She hoped that he would somehow wake up in time to keep anyone else from getting hurt.

“AGH!” Fluttershy screamed painfully as a butcher’s knife was driven down the side of her leg. Her body oozed blood out of four injuries, with the latest laceration only being another agonizing mark on her form.

The human smirked and wiped the blood off of the blade with a dirty white cloth. He admired his handiwork while the yellow mare whimpered and cried as twinges of pain filled her mind.

“I must say… I really missed the sight of someone on my table. I’m certainly glad my siblings talked me into going along with their plan to bind our spirits here. I don’t know what I would do without the joy of cutting into a live specimen.” The man said with a slight chuckle.

“How can you enjoy the suffering of others so much?! You… you freak!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed in an appalled tone while sniffling slightly. Watching and hearing the sensitive pegasus getting tortured was driving the others to tears, with the cyan mare included.

“Well… I could give you a long and depressing tale about how my father pushed me through medical school despite years of mental trauma at the hands of my mother, not to mention the practical war that went on in our household between my siblings and my parents about their use of the dark arts… but somehow I think that would just bore you to death.” The human said in a dull yet surprisingly lighthearted tone.

“Oww… gah!” Fluttershy whimpered and gritted her teeth as the many wounds on her body stung all at once. Her eyes were red from crying so much and her face was wet for the same reason. While Twilight and the others looked to their friend’s suffering with sympathy and concern, the human looked at it with disappointment.

“You know, I expected a lot more out of you after getting done with your green friend. She lasted fifty cuts before even shedding a tear. It’s a shame she got too antsy for her own good… I would have liked to play with her for longer.” The spirit said while shaking his head in discontent.

“Don’t talk about Neon like that! She was a better person than you could ever hope to become.” Fluttershy said with a surprising amount of disdain towards the human. She leered at him as best she could given her sensitive nature and the pain she was going through. The man looked down at the yellow mare glaring at him and sighed in annoyance.

“Shut up…” He said in a droning tone while slapping the pegasus across the face hard. Fluttershy yelped painfully before shifting her confidence to fear and crying while facing away from the human with her eyes closed.

“How dare you!” Rarity yelled angrily while watching the pegasus crying with an appalled expression. She couldn’t believe that she just witnessed her friend getting struck in such a violent manner after merely speaking her mind.

“Do you really think you can just hurt whoever you want with no consideration for them whatsoever?!” Rarity added while glaring at the human fiercely. The man paused what he was doing and turned to face the unicorn on the far side of the room. Twilight and the others watched anxiously as the ghost started walking across the room towards the white mare. Rarity felt terrified that she had gotten the spirit’s attention, but she kept her fierce glare up as she glanced behind the human at the pegasus still crying on the other side of the room.

“What? You want me to start with you early?” The man asked while pointing the knife in his hand at the chained up unicorn. Rarity gulped nervously before looking over to Fluttershy and the others and gaining courage.

“If it means you will leave Fluttershy alone, then yes. Do your worst you ruffian.” The white mare said in a resolute tone while glaring at the ghost fiercely. The man looked down at the knife in his hands and flipped it around slowly. He looked away pensively for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and letting out a sigh.

“Alright, if you insist…” The human said before reaching forward and swiftly, yet very roughly, grabbing the unicorn by the head and pushing her head back. He held the knife up to her neck and pressed it against her skin.

“NO!” Twilight and the others yelled in unison while watching the man with wide eyes. Most of the group flinched their eyes shut and turned away as they expected to hear the sound of the white mare getting her throat slit.

Rarity yelped in surprise and fear as the man stared at her fiercely. She fell back to the floor as she tried to push the knife away. She could only place her hooves against the handle, half because she couldn’t touch the human, and half because she was afraid that she might cut herself if she moved the blade.

“You still want me to do my worst?! I’ve had a lot of people on my tables before, and I have done a lot worse things than just cutting people!” The human yelled in the unicorn’s face. The white mare closed her eyes and tried her best to hold absolutely still while every muscle in her body tensed up.

“No, please! I have a little sister at home, please don’t kill me!” Rarity begged in an attempt at getting the man to show mercy on her. She felt tears streaming down her face as her neck tingled from having a knife pressed so close to it.

The human paused for a moment before suddenly and abruptly taking the knife away from the unicorn’s neck. He slammed it into the wall a mere inch away from her face, causing a loud thump that made Rarity squeal in fright. The white mare cowered and covered her face with her hooves for a moment before peeking out with one eye to see the knife blade embedded into the wall next to her.

“There’s always someone at home waiting for you isn’t there?” The man said while taking a few steps away and chuckling playfully. “Hey, how old is your sister anyway? I just love the kiddies… after I’m done with you and I break out of this place with my siblings, maybe I’ll pay her a little visit and show her how much fun I had with her big sis.” The human added in a jovial tone while walking away from the unicorn.

“Rarity, are you ok?” Twilight asked in a concerned tone while looking over at the quivering mess on the floor that was her friend. Rarity glanced up at her friends and sniffled before offering a shaky nod and wiping the tears out of her eyes.

Twilight growled in frustration under her breath. She couldn’t stand watching her friends getting physically and emotionally attacked like this. As she struggled in vain to break out of her bonds or channel her magic, she quickly confirmed the information that she already had, which was that she couldn’t do anything.

“So, now that the peanut gallery is taken care of…” The human said while walking over to Fluttershy and smirking. He held his left hand behind him with his palm open. Suddenly, the knife impaled into the wall by Rarity ripped itself out and zipped across the room into the spirit’s hand, causing the white mare to flinch in shock and look beside her with a stunned expression.

“Let’s get back to business shall we?” The man said while walking up to the pegasus and holding the knife up to her chest. Fluttershy closed her eyes and seized up in terror as the tip of the knife just barely touched her. While the yellow mare was whining and whimpering fearfully, the ghost was looking around at the others while thinking for a moment.

“Actually…” He said while taking the knife away and turning around. “I think I’ll start on you for the moment.” The human said while pointing the knife at Twilight and walking up to her. Before the stunned unicorn could process a reaction of fear, the man brought the knife down to her leg and pressed it into her skin.

“GAHH!” Twilight screamed out in pain as the man slowly pressed the blade further in. Blood squirted out of the wound as the unicorn tried to move out of the way of the knife to no avail.

“Twilight!” Rainbow Dash yelled fearfully while watching the purple mare suffering. The human pulled the knife out in one swift motion, causing Twilight’s outcry to die out into a series of pained squeaks. Everyone watched in horror as the human started doing to the unicorn what he was doing to the pegasus before.

Several minutes went by at an agonizingly slow crawl as Peppermint walked along the hallway in search of the missing group. He was using his locator to try and find them through their heat signatures, but the glowing red vial of sand could only get him so close if he couldn’t find the right hallway to go down or the right room to duck into.

“Come on… where are you guys?” Pepper muttered to himself while following the largest heat signature he could find. He was walking down a straight hallway at the moment, but the sand was glowing mostly on the right side of the vial, indicating that he would have to turn at some point.

“Pepper, what in the hay do you think you’re doing?!” The sound of his brother’s voice in his head made the white stallion jump in fright. After catching his breath for a moment, he put his hoof up to his ear to answer his sibling.

“I guess this means you just made it back?” Peppermint asked with a nervous chuckle and cringing while waiting for his brother to respond.

“Yeah, we just made it back… and Sunspot has informed us that you went off by yourself to go and find the others.” Brimstoke interjected himself into the call, perhaps to save the stallion the trouble of listening to his enraged brother.

“Sorry guys… I had to do something other than just stand around while the others were in trouble.” Peppermint explained in an earnest tone.

“You could have at least waited for us!” Glimmer Shine stated loudly. “Pepper, I want you to hightail it back here right now!” He added with frustration clearly evident in his voice.

“Glimmer, you know that I can’t do that. Twilight and the others might need help right now, and I have a head start on finding them. I’ll be safe from the ghosts as long as I stay quiet and keep the charm on me.” Peppermint explained with a determined tone of voice.

“But… you… gah!” Glimmer Shine muttered in an upset stupor. He sounded like he was about to have an aneurysm.

“Look Peppermint… if you think you can find them, do it. We’ll be making our way to you with our locators. If you find them, call us and wait for further orders.” Brimstoke instructed while leveling with the red haired stallion.

“Roger that.” Peppermint said with a satisfied nod.

“And Pepper…” Glimmer Shine spoke up in a calmer and more concerned tone.

“Yeah?” Peppermint replied with a slight smile. The yellow stallion sighed before collecting himself and continuing.

“Just be careful ok?” Glimmer Shine stated with an understanding, yet also worried, tone of voice.

“You’re talking to the same guy who triple checks his work when pulling out a splinter... don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” Peppermint said with a sincere tone of reassurance. Hearing no other responses from his teammates, the white stallion dropped his hoof to the floor and continued down the hallway.

As he reached the end of the hallway he was in and turned right, Peppermint noticed that the signal was getting stronger. The entire front portion of the sand inside the vial was glowing red. Although he still had some distance to cover, he was getting closer. Smiling in satisfaction, the white stallion marched forward down the new corridor.

After a few solid minutes of walking, the glowing red portion of the sand in the vial was growing. Judging from the amount of red sand in the bottle, Pepper estimated that whatever the reading belonged to was just up ahead.

A shrill cry made the stallion’s ears perked up. It sounded like whoever it belonged to was nearby, and in a great deal of pain. Taking this as a sign to hasten his pace, the white pony trotted forward while being careful to remain quiet.

As he got closer and closer to the sound, Peppermint noticed a light coming from a doorway up ahead. He quickly switched off his flashlight and crept closer. Now that he was close enough to hear the sounds coming from the room clearly, he gasped in shock as he recognized several voices coming from inside.

“Just leave her alone… please.” The sound of Applejack’s voice carried out into the hallway. The orange mare sounded like she was mortified by something.

Another painful cry escaped the room, this time Peppermint recognized the scream to belong to Fluttershy. Whatever was happening inside, it couldn’t be good.

“Guys! I found them!” Pepper exclaimed urgently while putting a hoof to his ear and focusing on his teammates.

“You did?! Where are you?!” Glimmer Shine asked frantically with a slightly relieved tone of voice.

“I just took the hallway straight to its end and turned right. It looks like they are in a room just ahead of me.” Peppermint explained with an anxious inflexion in his voice.

“Are they ok?” Sunspot chimed in with a concerned tone.

“It sounds like they are being tortured by someone… probably that ghost that took Fluttershy and Neon.” Peppermint said uneasily. Bringing up Neon’s killer gave him an unsettling feeling in his stomach as he realized the terrible implications that Twilight and the others were being held captive by a vengeful spirit capable of murder.

“Pepper, listen to me very carefully. I want you to stay back and wait for us.” Brimstoke instructed in a serious tone.

“What? No way! They might be dead by the time you get here.” Peppermint stated in refusal to the stallion’s orders.

“Peppermint, don’t you set hoof in that room. You might be one of the dumbest and bravest ponies I know, but you are still my brother, and I know when you are about to get yourself into some deep trouble!” Glimmer Shine said in an urgent tone while trying to convince his brother to stay put.

“Glimmer Shine is right Pepper. Look… Tom just woke up and healed me. He’s in rough shape still, but even he is more likely to beat that ghost alone than you.” Sunspot said in a pleading tone.

“Pepper, please listen to the others. You’re going to get yourself hurt if you go in there. Just wait for us, please. We’ll be there in a few minutes… just please wait.” Glitterball practically begged the white stallion to refrain from doing anything rash.

Peppermint paused for a moment while thinking about his teammates’ concerns. They were only trying to protect him like they always have, but there were more important things to worry about than his own safety at the moment.

“Sorry guys, but I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to them and I could have stopped it.” Pepper stated with a resolute tone while dropping his hoof to the floor and moving forward.

“Pepper!” Glimmer Shine yelled in an urgent tone in a last attempt at stopping the white stallion. Once his brother gave up on trying to reason with him, Peppermint crept down the hallway while hugging the wall.

Meanwhile, Twilight and the others were still at the mercy of the sadistic ghost. The human had shifted his attention to the others for long enough to give them a few cuts, but he was mostly focused on Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus wasn’t covered from head to hoof in wounds, but she was in bad shape from the look of the many bloody cuts and stab wounds she had.

“Ugh… guh…” Fluttershy groaned in pain as the man made another cut down her front leg. Her body was starting to feel numb from all of the blood she had lost, but the knife still stung as it harshly sliced into her skin.

“Hang in there Fluttershy.” Twilight said with a concerned frown while watching the pegasus. She tried her best to offer a reassuring expression as the yellow mare weakly turned her head to look at her.

“We’ll get you out of this… Ah promise.” Applejack said in as much of a sincere tone as she could manage. The others weren’t even sure if the orange mare believed her own words.

The human paused what he was doing and chuckled before briefly glancing at the ponies behind him. To think that they still had faith in their survival was laughable at best. There was absolutely no hope for them escaping this room alive.

“I wouldn’t make promises that you can’t keep… what kind of friend would you be if you got her hopes up that she was going to live and then I killed her?” The man said with a lighthearted smirk that came off as much more sinister as he probably intended.

“You hurt her and you’ll have to answer to me.” Rainbow Dash said in a threatening tone while leering at the human.

“Heh… you are a funny one aren’t you?” The man said before returning his attention to the yellow mare.

Rainbow Dash and the others turned away as the ghost made another cut across the pegasus’s chest. Fluttershy couldn’t even bring herself to scream anymore and instead resorted to a painful whimper and a series of sobs.

Suddenly, the ponies caught a blur of movement over by the doorway. Rainbow Dash and Twilight were the first ones to see it, and Applejack and Pinkie Pie looked to the door as their friends’ eyes widened in surprise. Everyone had to stifle a joyous outcry as they noticed the familiar face of Peppermint poking his head through the door. The stallion looked at the ghostly human at the front of the room before looking around at the captive mares and slowly walking into the room.

“I’m gonna help you.” Pepper silently mouthed to the four ponies while creeping through the doorway and into the room. Twilight and the others nervously glanced to the human with his back to them before nodding eagerly at the red haired pony.

Rarity turned her head as she noticed someone moving beside her. She had to bring her hoof over her mouth to catch a surprised gasp as she saw the white stallion sneaking into the room. Peppermint silently hushed the unicorn with a nervous expression while glancing to the spirit at the far end of the room. Rarity nodded frantically before controlling her emotions and silently watching the stallion’s next move.

Everyone watched as the red haired pony made every effort to be as silent as a ghost. A commendable effort considering he was trying to sneak up on an actual ghost. Taking things one step at a time, Pepper crept closer and closer to the center of the room while eyeing down at his vest where his strobe was kept.

Fluttershy suddenly caught a glimpse of the white stallion as he slowly walked through the room. The human seemed to be genuinely unaware of his presence, and he was using this to his advantage. Even though the man cut her again across her side, she had new faith that she would be rescued. All eyes in the room save for the human’s were glued to Peppermint as he inched along.

The charm on his vest was apparently working perfectly, because the spirit still hadn’t caught onto his presence. Deciding not to test his luck, Peppermint paused and slowly reached for the clip that he held his strobe on.

Twilight and the others sweated nervously as they watched the stallion reaching for the clip and fumbling with the clasp on it. Finally, the clip opened up and Peppermint slid the small vial off of it. A quiet metallic clatter sounded out as the pony brought the vial up into a shooting position. He looked up nervously to see if the human heard him before preparing to fire.

Just as suddenly as she heard the disastrous clatter of the stallion’s strobe, Fluttershy saw the human shifting his eyes to the side suspiciously. She looked down to Pepper and pleaded him with her eyes to fire and blast the spirit into oblivion.

A loud buzz filled the air as Peppermint fired a blast of energy at the spirit. Twilight and the others watched in stunned silence as the bolt of light flew through the air, and completely missed the ghostly man as he dodged to the side. Fluttershy flinched from surprise as she felt the ball of light softly hit her and burst into sparkles.

Peppermint gasped in surprise as the human spun around and glared at him. He raised the strobe again and fired off a volley of rounds at the spirit. The man swiftly dodged each shot fired by the stallion, all the while keeping an irritated expression on his face.

Finally, the man swung his hand to the side. Peppermint felt a powerful force slapping the strobe out of his hooves. The vial flew across the room until it landed and rolled to a rest somewhere by Rarity’s feet. Although it was close by, the unicorn could barely move from her position chained to the pipe to reach the vial.

Before anyone could react, the human darted forward and grabbed Peppermint by the neck. While the red haired pony choked and grunted while feverishly trying to pull the human’s ethereal hand away, the man lifted the full grown pony into the air and held him at arm’s length.

“Did you really think that I would be interrupted a second time?!” The man yelled fiercely while clutching the knife tightly in his hand, and the pony’s neck even tighter in the other.

“Hrk… gah…” Peppermint fought for every breath he took as the human’s grip tightened around him. Twilight and the others were shocked to see their savior being held in such a dangerous predicament.

“Let him go!” Rainbow Dash yelled fiercely at the human while pulling on her legs again.

“Don’t hurt him!” Pinkie yelled in a terrified manner while watching the scene unfold in front of her with wide eyes.

“Hurt him? I’m not gonna hurt him… I’m sure he won’t feel a thing after I choke the life out of his body!” The human stated while putting a lot more effort into squeezing the white pony’s neck. Peppermint croaked in pain as his face started to turn blue. He was kicking his legs and squirming around while trying to fight the spirit, but his struggles were getting weaker by the second.

“No! Please leave him alone!” Fluttershy pleaded in a distraught tone. The human temporarily loosened his grip and turned his head to face the bloody pegasus.

“And what would you suggest I do with him?” The man asked curiously.

“Please… just put him down.” Fluttershy said with tears welling up in her eyes. She couldn’t handle any more stress on her already shattered mind.

The human glanced around at the six concerned mares around him. He then glanced to the white stallion gasping for air in his grip. Taking a brief look down at the knife still in his hand, the man smirked and chuckled slightly.

“Alright, I’ll put him down.” The ghost said with a sinisterly calm inflexion in his voice. Twilight and the others briefly entertained a small amount of hope that the man had a heart after all, and that they had somehow pleaded to his sense of pity. This assumption was quickly shattered as the unthinkable happened.

The man drew his arm back and violently snapped it forward, plunging the knife into Peppermint’s stomach region. A startled cry of pain escaped the stallion’s mouth as he cringed and clutched his new injury. Before anyone could react further, the human pulled the knife out and jammed it back in slightly lower.

“AGH!” Peppermint screamed as loud as he could with the man still holding onto his neck. The six ponies stared on in horror as blood sprayed and gushed out of the wounds in the red haired pony.

“Peppermint!” Twilight yelled in terror and dismay as she watched the human continuing his bloody onslaught.

The man would plunge the knife into the stallion’s chest or stomach, pull it out, and then repeat. Each strike he made only gathered more speed and blood on the floor as the wet sounds of a knife stabbing into flesh filled the air.

Peppermint blinked rapidly as he groaned from pain at each strike. A trickle of blood erupted from his mouth as a forced cough made its way to the surface. The white stallion seemed to be in a daze of agony and suffering that numbed him out faster than anyone could have expected.

“Stop it!” Everyone in the room cried out at once. Finally, the human ceased his attacks. Blood poured onto the floor, either from the knife or from Peppermint’s shredded body. His entire chest and stomach was a bloody mess of stab wounds and dangling bits of flesh.

“I said I would put him down… I didn’t say he would be alright when I did it.” The human said with an amused chuckle. The man glanced at the wounded pony in his grasp. Peppermint’s head was slumped forward and he had a drowsy look in his eyes. A few painful moans escaped his mouth, giving some sort of indication that he was still alive.

The human grunted from exertion as he tossed the limp stallion across the room. Peppermint sailed through the air and hit a wall before plopping to the floor in between Rarity and Rainbow Dash. The red haired pony offered little more than a brief whimper of pain as a sign that he even felt the impact.

Twilight and the others were speechless as they stared at the stallion with a puddle of blood forming underneath him. Their jaws were quivering and their bodies were shaking as their hearts exploded in their chests.

“Pepper! Can you hear me?!” Rainbow Dash asked in a pleading tone while staring at the stallion’s relatively motionless body.

“No… no… no!” Fluttershy shook her head and wailed mournfully as another pony got brutally attacked right in front of her. She cried loudly as new tears began forming in her eyes and a series of sobs crowded her throat.

“I said stop crying!” The human roared angrily while quickly walking over to the yellow mare. Whatever the reason, the man was visibly upset and angered far more than the ponies had seen him before.

“If you don’t stop crying, I’m going to slit every one of your friends’ throats and tape your eyelids open so you have to watch!” The man yelled while pointing with his knife around the room. He got up in the pegasus’s face and watched her as she continued crying.

Fluttershy couldn’t control her emotions any longer. The shock of watching Peppermint getting stabbed in front of her, and the human threatening her friends’ lives and screaming at her was too much for her to handle. Even though she realized that she had to stop crying, she couldn’t prevent herself from sobbing and whining further.

“Or how about I kill you huh? You’re getting to be a little more trouble than you’re worth, so how about I just jam this knife in your neck and be done with it?” The ghost asked in a serious tone. He grabbed the yellow mare’s chin and raised her head up to eye level while looking straight at her. Somehow, the sight of the bawling pegasus was only making him more upset, and Fluttershy certainly wasn’t calming down with his threatening demands.

Suddenly, Rarity looked over to Peppermint as he groaned softly. She was surprised to see the stallion slowly pulling himself along the floor. He was barely making any progress, but he was trying his hardest. The white unicorn glanced to her feet and gasped in revelation as she saw the strobe lying just a few inches away.

Rarity’s chains jingled as she struggled to maneuver herself closer to the vial. Her entire front half was fixed in place due to her front legs’ proximity to the pipe she was chained to. Frustrated at her lack of progress, the white mare dropped to the floor and scooted her lower legs closer to the vial. After stretching the limits of the chain and her muscles’ reach, the unicorn finally got into a viable position to reach the vial with her leg.

Taking a quick glance over to Fluttershy and realizing the urgency of the situation, Rarity took a deep breath before gently kicking the vial in Peppermint’s direction. The strobe rolled along the ground before miraculously coming to a stop next to the white stallion.

Peppermint slowly looked over to the vial next to him. He reached forward with his bloodstained hooves and grabbed the strobe as best he could with his shaking arms. Rolling onto his side, the stallion slowly pointed the weapon at the spirit and panted heavily while fighting against his injuries to function.

Another magical burst filled the air as a bolt of light sailed across the room. The human spun around just in time to watch the ball of energy crashing into his body and exploding on contact. The man let out a scream of agony as his form violently flickered and smoked. Finally, the ghost vanished from sight as his voice distorted and faded.

The room was deathly silent as the last of the human’s screams echoed and died out. The ponies were left to process what just happened and collect their jumbled emotions into something that they could understand. Finally, their attention turned to the stallion bleeding on the floor as he let out a wet cough.

“Pepper... oh my gosh! Peppermint!” Twilight exclaimed in a distraught tone as she stared at the wounded pony on the floor. Peppermint let the bloodstained strobe roll off to the side and groaned painfully as he started dragging himself forward. The six mares watched with concerned expressions as the red haired pony slowly pulled himself along, leaving a trail of blood behind him.

“What is it, darling?” Rarity asked in a sorrowful tone as the stallion got close to her. Peppermint fished around in his vest for a moment before pulling out a small key.

“H-here… take… take t-this.” Pepper said weakly while trying to reach up to the white unicorn’s hoof cuffs. After failing to keep his arm steady enough to fit the key into the keyhole, the red haired pony let his arm fall to his side as Rarity gently took the key from him.

Rarity quickly unlocked the cuffs binding her hooves together and let them clatter to the floor. She channeled energy to her horn and marveled as it lit up a brilliant purple before turning her attention to the task at hand.

The chain holding the unicorn in place lit up in a purple aura before shattering into pieces. Rarity wasted no time before levitating the key over to Twilight and unlocking her cuffs. Once her own magic had been restored, the purple mare smiled in relief before freeing herself from her straps. As her friend slid off of the table and rushed over to free the others, Rarity turned her attention to Peppermint.

“Don’t worry Pepper, we’re going to fix you up.” The white mare stated in a sincere tone while flashing a smile at the injured pony. Peppermint smiled weakly in return before letting his head fall back limply. Rarity gently lifted the stallion up with her magic and leaned him against the far wall. After setting him down, she began rifling through his vest to find any bandages or medical supplies he might have.

“Sweet Celestia… are you ok Pepper?” Applejack asked as she trotted up to the bloody pony on the floor. Rarity looked up to see the rest of her friends walking up to join her. Although Fluttershy needed help walking due to her own blood loss, even she had a concerned expression on her face as she gathered around the red haired pony.

“I’m not doing too good… *Cough*” Peppermint coughed as blood dripped down the side of his mouth. The entire front of his vest was covered in the crimson fluid, making it hard for the white unicorn to find any bandages, or anything else for that matter.

“Just hang in there Pepper. We’re going to take care of you.” Twilight explained in a sincere tone. She looked over to see how Rarity’s progress was going, only to see the white mare pulling a bundle of bandages out of a pouch on the stallion’s vest.

“You lift him, and I’ll wrap the bandages around.” Rarity said while looking to Twilight for assistance.

“Right.” Twilight replied with a nod before lighting up her horn and wrapping her magic around the injured pony. Despite the unicorn’s efforts to be gentle, Peppermint groaned painfully as his body was lifted off the ground slightly. He cringed in pain as Rarity tightly wrapped the bandages around his chest and stomach.

“I know this hurts darling, but just stay with us and it’ll be over soon.” Rarity said in what she hoped would be a comforting tone.

“Heh… Glimmer is going to be so mad at me. He t-told me not to come h-here.” Peppermint stated with a small chuckle before falling into a fit of violent coughing. Rarity used one of the spare cloths to wipe the blood off of the stallion’s mouth after he was done.

“Pepper… you saved our lives. I don’t know what to say… how can I thank you enough knowing that you got hurt to save us?” Fluttershy asked in a sad tone. The yellow pegasus had tears in her eyes as she stared at the wounded pony. Twilight and the others felt tears building up as the somber situation got to them as well.

“That’s what I became a medic for… to help people. *Cough* I don’t care if I get caught up in the cross fire if I help someone in the end.” Peppermint explained with a slight smile on his face. He almost had a peaceful sort of air about him as he looked around at the six mares.

“Hey… could you guys tell the others I said I’m sorry?” Peppermint asked in a sincere tone while struggling to stay awake.

“We’ll tell them… but it won’t come to that. You can hold out until the others get here. Maybe Glitterball can patch you up with her magic?” Twilight suggested in a sad tone while trying to hide her building tears. She tried to think of something she could do to help the stallion, but any healing spells she knew weren’t nearly powerful enough to fix wounds like his.

“I don’t think so…” Peppermint said in a quiet tone. Twilight and the others gasped as the stallion slowly closed his eyes. The white stallion let out a final sigh as his body heaved and his head drooped to the side.

Everyone stood still in shock as they processed the image before them. The quiet sobs that the ponies were holding back were now building as they stared at the stallion with the hope that he would wake up again.

“Pepper…?” Twilight asked in a sorrowful tone while reaching forward and checking the stallion’s pulse. As she drew her arm back and started shaking, the unicorn looked down and let out a mournful cry. Everyone else looked away and started crying as well as the purple mare’s reaction confirmed what they didn’t want to accept.

“Guh… *Sob*… why?! Why did this have to happen?!” Rainbow Dash walked away from the group and stomped her hoof on the ground before sitting down and looking to the floor. She tried to prevent herself from breaking down into a fit of despair, but no matter how much she didn’t want her friends to see her like this, the cyan mare couldn’t stop crying.

Applejack removed her hat and held it against her chest while weeping silently. Even with her tough cow pony exterior, the orange mare was crying from the sight in front of her. She couldn’t stop thinking that she or one of her friends would have taken the red haired pony’s place if he hadn’t shown up. She deeply wished that this didn’t have to happen, but she also felt a strong feeling of gratitude towards the stallion.

Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie was holding onto Rarity tightly for comfort. The white mare could feel her pink friend trembling as she wept loudly into her shoulder, not that she was doing much better. Tears flowed out of the unicorn’s eyes as she sobbed and stared at Peppermint’s body. She had never experienced such grief and sadness before. Hearing about Neon’s death had made the two ponies sad, but watching Peppermint expiring in front of them shattered their worlds.

Twilight and Fluttershy were sitting next to each other while staring at the bloody corpse in front of them. Their bodies were shaking as they sobbed openly while trying to process the empty feeling coursing through them. For both mares this was the second death they had witnessed up close. For Twilight, her first had been Daisychain back at the hospital, and for Fluttershy, it was Neon Streak a mere few hours ago. Both of them had twice witnessed someone drawing their last breath, and both of them felt hollow and broken on the inside.

After a few minutes had gone by, the loud wails of lament shared by the group had died down, replaced by the occasional sniffle and quiet sob. Everyone had stopped crying enough to get up and walk away if they wanted, but nobody wanted to move. The ponies just remained in a circle around their fallen comrade and either silently let the last few tears out of their system or quietly wept to themselves.

“*Sniff*… *Snivel*… *Hic*” Twilight wiped her eyes on her arm and looked down at it. Her fur was soaked from how much she had been crying and rubbing her eyes, but there was also a single cut along her front leg. Seeing the gash made her wince painfully among other things, but it also made her think about what she was up against. If anyone else got caught by the ghosts, they would be tortured and killed in an instant and there was nothing that could be done if they were alone. She had to get her and her friends out of the mansion if it was the last thing she did.

“W-what do we… *Hic*… what do we d-do now?” Pinkie asked in a trembling tone of hopelessness. Her normally cheery attitude had died with Peppermint, and only sadness and despair remained.

“We need to get out of here and find the others…” Twilight said while stifling her last few sobs to be heard clearly. Her voice was still trembling as well, but she sounded like she had committed to her plan. The purple mare slowly got up and walked over to the door. She then paused before the dark opening and turned to her friends.

“But… but w-we can’t just leave him here.” Rainbow Dash said in a sad tone while looking over to Peppermint. She closed her eyes and averted her gaze before she broke down crying again.

“I know… I know we can’t, but there is nothing we can do right now.” Twilight explained while putting a reassuring hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “We need to get out of here first. After we get rid of the ghosts, we can come back and get him and Neon out of here.” She said while trying her hardest to hold back the sadness still gnawing at her.

Rainbow Dash looked down sadly for a moment. She then glanced around to her friends. Although they were still gloomy and wet with tears, their faces expressed how much they wanted to leave. Taking another look to the bloody stallion against the wall, the cyan mare realized how much they really needed to live. If they didn’t escape with their lives, then Peppermint will have died in vain, and she wasn’t about to let that happen.

“You’re right… let’s get out of here. We need to find the others and tell…” Rainbow Dash paused as the sight of flashlights bouncing up and down in the doorway and the sound of multiple footsteps coming from down the corridor drew her attention away.

Everyone got up and looked to the door as the footsteps got closer. Before long, the familiar forms of their friends burst in through the doorway. Sunspot, Tom, Glitterball, and Brimstoke were present, but Glimmer Shine led the charge into the room as he saw the group of mares.

“Girls! We’re here. Where is…” Glimmer Shine’s voice trailed off as he looked around and noticed blood covering the six mares. There was also a trail of blood leading to behind the six ponies. Twilight and the others contemplated blocking, the stallion’s view of the horrible truth that was leaning up against the wall behind them, but the yellow pony quickly walked around them before they could get a chance.

Glimmer Shine stopped dead in his tracks as he saw what had made the sad mares so distraught. A startled gasp escaped his mouth as he stared at his brother’s broken and bloody body. Sunspot and the others entered the room and walked forward until they too saw what had frozen their yellow friend.

“Oh my gosh…” Glitterball exclaimed in shock while recoiling backwards a few steps. Brimstoke and Sunspot were just as shocked by the sight before them, but they were more concerned with the state of their teammate in front of them.

“Glimmer… I-” Sunspot tried to put her arm around the stallion to lead him away from the terrible sight before him, but Glimmer Shine just shoved her arm away before slowly walking forward towards his brother.

Everyone watched as Glimmer Shine walked forward with a shocked expression still frozen on his face. His legs were trembling and tears were already welling up in his eyes as he walked over to his brother and sat down. He didn’t even care about the pool of blood beneath him, he just reached forward and grabbed the limp stallion by the shoulders.

“Pepper…?” Glimmer Shine spoke in a broken tone. He gently shook the red haired pony in disbelief before lowering his head and choking up. Twilight and the others watched sadly as the yellow stallion pulled Peppermint close and rested his head on his shoulder.

“Pepper! Wake up… please!” Glimmer Shine pleaded in between sobs.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash turned and walked out into the corridor with Brimstoke and the others. Sunspot stayed behind, either in shock from learning about her friend’s death, or to comfort the grieving stallion.

As they walked out of the room, Twilight and Rainbow Dash moaned sadly in an attempt at keeping their emotions in check. They couldn’t handle watching Glimmer Shine mourning over the loss of his sibling. As the two mares looked around, they saw Pinkie Pie, Brimstoke, Glitterball, and Tom. Most of the group had tears running down their face. Glitterball was openly weeping while sitting up against the wall. Brimstoke and Tom weren’t crying, but they had distraught expressions on their face that told of how much they were hurting on the inside.

Brimstoke switched between looking at Glitterball and peering inside the room to see the group of ponies trying to offer comfort to Glimmer Shine. It pained him to know that he had lost two of his teammates so suddenly. The white stallion had to physically prevent himself from breaking down like his teammates.

“What happened?” Brimstoke asked in a somber tone while looking to Twilight and her two friends. Taking a quick look to the two mares beside her, the unicorn figured that it would be best if she explained.

“We were attacked by a ghost while we were searching for the symbol. He somehow dodged everything we threw at him. After he knocked us all out, he took us here and started torturing us.” Twilight explained before taking in a deep breath to gather her emotions. “Peppermint snuck in and tried to shoot the ghost with his strobe. He must of heard him somehow… he dodged the blast and knocked the strobe away. After that…” She paused and looked down sadly. She tried to gather the strength to explain the rest of it, until she heard Tom walking away.

Everyone looked over to see the human walking through another of the doorways with an upset expression. He groaned in frustration before making it out of earshot. Even though the area was pitch black outside of the light provided by the group, the human didn’t seem to care that he was walking into darkness.

“What’s wrong with him?” Rainbow Dash asked in a concerned tone of confusion while looking to the others for their opinion on the matter. Everyone seemed clueless as to the odd behavior of the human, everyone except for Twilight that is.

The purple mare had seen that expression on the boy’s face before. It was back at the hospital after he learned that Daisychain and Patches had died. Even so, he seemed to be much more upset this time as he stormed away from the prying eyes of the confused ponies.

“I’ll go check on him.” Twilight said while lighting up her horn and walking into the other room after the human.

As she entered the room and looked around, Twilight noticed that this room had several shelves and boxes lying around. Hearing a loud clatter in front of her, the unicorn looked ahead to see the human kicking a small box over in frustration.

“Damnit!” Tom exclaimed in a distraught tone. He seemed to be venting whatever anger and sadness he felt at the time, but he was doing it a lot more violently than the purple mare had seen before. The human put his hands on his head and walked around while making frustrated and even somewhat sorrowful groans.

“Tom…?” Twilight called the boy’s name in a concerned tone. She had never seen him acting so emotionally before. He seemed to be shaking from frustration and despair, almost like he didn’t know how to process the feelings inside of him.

Tom turned to see that the unicorn had followed him and growled in frustration before turning away. He seemed to have a strong dislike for her seeing him act like this, but he was too unstable to care at the moment.

“Damnit… it’s all my fault!” The human stated in a dreadful and agitated tone while walking over to the far wall of the room to distance himself from the purple pony.

“What’s your fault Tom?” Twilight asked in a softer tone while hesitantly stepping forward. She knew that the human probably wouldn’t lash out at her, but she was unsure of what he would do at this point.

“Everything… all of this! Luna is missing… Neon died… and now Pepper is dead too, and it’s all my fault!” Tom said while kicking the wall as hard as he could. The loud thud that resulted gave the impression that the strike would have hurt the boy’s foot, but he didn’t seem to care.

“Tom… none of that is your fault, why would you think it is?” Twilight asked in a confused tone while walking closer to the human and sitting down next to him. While the boy breathed heavily while sitting on a box, the unicorn put a hoof on his shoulder to try and offer him some comfort.

“I should have tried harder to beat that damn ghost… if I didn’t get captured and tortured, I could have saved them and stopped a lot of the other deaths that have happened tonight. Gah!” Tom clenched his fist and shifted around uneasily. Twilight could feel the human tightening his muscles and shaking from either rage or sadness.

“You don’t know if you could have done anything… you couldn’t possibly know that. Besides, you tried your best. That’s all anyone could possibly ask of you.” Twilight said in a reassuring tone while smiling at the human. She was confused to hear the slayer crying silently while trying to avoid looking at her.

“That’s the problem… I did try my best. I fought that ghost with everything I had, and it still beat me. I’m supposed to be strong enough to fight evil so others don’t get hurt, but I couldn’t even beat a stupid ghost!” Tom stated in a distraught tone. Before Twilight could try to comfort him any further, he got up and walked away from her again.

“Tom, I…” The purple mare paused as she noticed the human crying louder. Tom leaned up against the wall with his hands. He banged his fist against the wall a few times before lowering his head and weeping silently.

“Damnit… why was I chosen?! Why couldn’t my friend have become the slayer?! He would know how to keep you safe right now.” Tom yelled in a distraught tone before turning around and sliding to a seated position. The human hid his head in his hands while trying to prevent the unicorn from seeing him cry.

Twilight stared at the weeping boy on the floor with a sad expression of sympathy. She couldn’t imagine how he had shouldered the weight of such important duties at such a young age for so long, but it was all crashing down on him now.

“Tom… you need to calm down.” Twilight said in a soft tone while walking over to the human and sitting down next to him.

“Why…?” Tom asked while averting his eyes from the unicorn. He was surprised to feel the purple mare gently pulling his arm away to reveal his face. She had a sympathetic expression that told of how much she cared for him on her face.

“You said that a slayer needs to stay strong emotionally, or it could negatively affect their health. If willpower is what is keeping you alive, I don’t think this is doing any good for you.” Twilight explained in a compassionate tone. “I don’t want to lose you just because you think everything is your fault… because it’s not. I’ve already told you that you can’t take responsibility for everything. Slayer or not, that is no way to live a healthy life.” She said while putting her hoof on his shoulder gently.

“But… what am I going to do? What are we… going to do?” Tom asked in a sad tone. He was still concerned about what he was going to do to help the ponies escape the mansion. If he couldn’t fight the ghosts at full strength, what hope did he have of fighting them in his weakened state?

“Right now, you’re going to come with me so we can get back to the others. To be honest… I don’t know what we’re going to do next. Now that we’re all together, we should probably look for Luna and then find that symbol. But I do know this… whatever we’re going to do, we’re going to do it together. We all care about you Tom… Don’t just assume that all of the weight has to go on your shoulders alone.” Twilight said in a sincere tone while smiling at the human.

Tom looked down and sniffled for a moment while thinking about the unicorn’s words. He seemingly took a minute to process his thoughts and emotions before looking away briefly. He wiped his eyes on his sleeve and got the last of his sniffles out of his system before standing up. He looked down at the purple mare and managed to flash a weak smile.

“Ok… I think I’m better now. Let’s get going… I’m sure that Glimmer Shine is having a worse time than me right now, so we should be there to help him if he needs it.” Tom stated while turning his attention back to the others.

“Right.” Twilight replied with a nod of agreement. She got up and walked alongside the human towards the exit to the room.

As they stepped out into the hallway, the pair noticed Brimstoke comforting Glitterball. The white unicorn was sitting on the floor with a mournful expression on her face. Taking a quick glance into the room, the two saw that everyone else was standing in front of Peppermint and trying to offer their support to Glimmer Shine.

“We’re trying to think of our next move…” Brimstoke explained to the pair while looking at the group in the room.

“Maybe we should look for Princess Luna?” Twilight suggested in a concerned tone. She was more worried about the alicorn than ever now that she knew from experience how strong the ghost in the basement was.

“That’s what we were thinking… but we can’t do anything until Glimmer Shine is ready to leave.” Brimstoke said with a gloomy sigh while looking to the yellow stallion with a sympathetic expression.

“Maybe I should talk to him?” Glitterball suggested while wiping the tears from her eyes.

“No, I’ll do it. I think I can get him to move on… at least until we get out of this mansion.” Brimstoke said while getting up and walking into the room. Twilight and the others followed the stallion as he walked up to the others and stood in front of the grieving pony.

“Glimmer… we need to get out of here.” Brimstoke said in a sympathetic manner while glancing to the lifeless pony to his right.

“I know…” Glimmer Shine said in a sad tone while staring at his brother’s body. “I’m just not sure if I can leave him.” He said while trying to hold himself together.

“We’ll be back for him… we can get him out of here once we get rid of those ghosts.” Brimstoke said in an understanding tone while putting a reassuring hoof on the yellow stallion’s shoulder.

“Ok… I think I’m ready to go.” Glimmer Shine said while holding his attention on the bloody pony on the floor. Despite his words, it was easy to tell that he didn’t want to leave.

“Come on everyone, let’s get going. We need to find the princess and get out of here.” Brimstoke said while ushering everyone out of the room. Twilight and the others glanced at Glimmer Shine with sad expressions as they walked away. Everyone looked to Peppermint one last time before lowering their heads sadly as they exited the room.

Glimmer Shine stared at Peppermint mournfully while the others waited for him. He finally managed to tear his gaze away from his brother and walk away. He slowly walked to the others and joined them as they headed down the hallway.