The atmosphere in the room was tense as Twilight and the others watched Glitterball and Tom get to work. The unicorn was putting all of her effort into overloading the seal, while the human had something else to keep him busy.

“There… that should do it.” Tom said while handing the feather quill he received from Sunspot back to its rightful owner. The human stepped back and admired the symbol he had just painted on the wall. The strange glyph was one of four that he had drawn across all of the walls.

“So… what exactly are these supposed to do?” Sunspot asked in a confused tone while looking around at the symbols.

“They’re spiritual wards. They are the best thing we can make without proper prep work. On a good day, they can repel most weak ghosts and spirits.” Tom explained in a helpful tone.

“And what will they do to our super ghosts?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously.

“Well… at best they might weaken them. At worst, it might tickle them a little bit.” Tom shrugged in a disheartened tone as he realized just how futile his efforts were.

“Ah guess that’s an improvement on how we’ve been faring against them so far.” Applejack said with a slightly more hopeful tone.

“It would help an awful lot if we could get done before they got here. Maybe if we step in and help Glitter with the symbol?” Twilight asked with an anxious tone. It was killing her to just be standing off to the side while everyone else worked.

“Sorry Twilight, but this is too dangerous for you guys. I’m not so hot on the idea of this thing blowing up when I’m done… for obvious reasons.” Glitterball said while looking down and chuckling nervously. “But I would rather not have you standing right on top of it if it does.” She said in a concerned tone.

“Glitter, that’s a horrible way to look at it. I don’t want to think that you’re willing to blow yourself up for us.” Twilight said in an appalled tone.

“Well… if it came down to it, I am. We may look different and have a lot more toys, but we’re basically royal guard. The princess told us to protect you, and I won’t let anything get in the way of that.” Glitter said in a confident tone. Twilight and the others somberly glanced around at the unicorn and her teammates. They would each lay their lives down to save them like it was their appointed duty. Even though they were confident that their fledgling friendship had something to do with it, it was a bizarre and humbling thought to picture them as soldiers.

“Still, it would be a lot better if one of us helped you. I don’t really care if there’s a risk for blowing up. We’re all in danger here anyway.” Twilight said in an adamant tone.

“Allow me to assist Glitterball with the symbol.” Luna suggested while stepping forward.

“Umm… Princess, are you sure you’re up to doing something like that?” Twilight asked with a concerned expression while watching the sickly alicorn.

“I’ll be fine Twilight. Even in my current state, I would be more resistant to anything that might happen when this symbol breaks than any of you. Besides, I want you all to focus on protecting yourselves.” Luna said in a serious tone while looking around at the purple mare and her five friends. It wasn’t hard to tell that the alicorn was concerned for their safety.

“Not that we can do much against those things. We already got our tails kicked by just one of them on multiple occasions. Imagine having all three of them in the same room.” Rainbow Dash said with a slight shudder.

“Which is exactly why you need to arm yourselves.” Tom said while walking over to the ponies with something held in his arms. “Think fast.” He said while passing one of the objects to the cyan pegasus. Rainbow Dash caught the item and looked at it, only to realize that it was one of the iron pipes that the hooded ponies had with them on the other side of the room.

“Iron huh?” Rainbow Dash said with a small smirk building on her face. “I like where this is going… I’ve been wanting to smack that woman with the scissors for a while for what she did to us… and that goes double for the creep with the glasses.” She said while swinging the pipe a few times.

“And that’s only if you can hit them. In case you forgot, that creep with the glasses dodged everything we threw at him… then he picked us up and knocked our heads together.” Applejack said in a disheartened tone.

“Ugh… don’t remind me. I can still feel a bruise from where we bumped skulls.” Rainbow Dash winced while rubbing her forehead gingerly.

“Still, it’s better than nothing. Thanks Tom.” Twilight said while levitating the remaining two poles out of the human’s hands. She handed the two iron weapons to Applejack and Pinkie Pie.

“Uh, Twilight… maybe you should keep one of these for yourself.” Applejack suggested nervously while glancing over to the pink mare trying to examine the iron pipe. “No offense sugar cube, but Ah don’t see you as much of a fighter.” She said in a friendly tone while putting a hoof on Pinkie’s shoulder.

“Yeah… maybe you’re right. Here you go Twilight.” Pinkie said while offering the small pipe back to the unicorn.

“It’s ok Pinkie, you keep it. I have my magic to help me, so I want you to have something to help keep you safe. I just wish we had enough for everyone.” Twilight said while glancing to Fluttershy sympathetically.

“Aww… thanks Twilight.” Pinkie said in a cheerful tone.

“Don’t worry Fluttershy, we’ll keep you safe.” Rainbow Dash said in a sincere tone while offering the timid mare a hoof on the shoulder.

“Thanks guys.” Fluttershy said with a grateful smile.

Suddenly, a loud buzz filled the air, followed by a harsh gasp. Everyone turned to see Tom’s senses going off, as well as Brimstoke and the others holding their now glowing locators with alarmed expressions.

“Looks like we’ve got company. Everyone get ready.” Brimstoke said in a serious tone while readying his strobe.

Everyone suddenly became very alarmed as they looked around frantically for any sign of the ghosts. The constant buzzing from the glowing vials that Brimstoke and his team were carrying made everyone’s nerves go into overdrive. Twilight and the others backed together and readied themselves for anything that could come their way.

“I’ve got multiple readings here!” Sunspot announced while pointing her locator around frantically. No matter where she pointed the vial, the liquid inside was completely glowing.

“How many of them are there?” Brimstoke asked in a concerned tone.

“Where are they coming from?” Twilight asked nervously while darting their eyes around.

“I don’t know! I can’t tell where they are exactly… it feels like they’re all around us.” Tom said in a frustrated tone while frantically using his senses and darting his eyes around.

“Feels like they’re all around you eh? Well… that would be quite amusing now wouldn’t it?” Suddenly, the group heard an eerily familiar voice coming from the left side of the room. They looked over to see a ghostly man with glasses and a scalpel in hand walking into view.

“Wouldn’t you agree, sister?” The man asked while looking behind the group. The ponies swiftly turned around as they heard female laughter coming from behind them. They noticed a woman in a white dress wielding a pair of bloody scissors walking out of the wall.

“Heheh… quite so brother… quite so.” The woman chuckled in a sinister manner while closing and opening the pair of scissors slowly.

“You don’t scare us. We’re going to beat you.” Twilight said in as much of a threatening tone as she could muster. The purple mare lit up her horn and backed into a tight circle around Luna and Glitterball with her friends while they prepared their own means of defending themselves. Tom, Brimstoke, and the others stood in front of the group of mares to keep something between the ghosts and them.

“Ah yes, I suppose we are in a bit of a bind, what with you tampering with that symbol and all.” The man said while pointing at the symbol that Luna and Glitterball were trying to work on in between glaring at the two spirits.

“The spell we used to bind our spirits here is fragile. We were going to undo it carefully so we could keep our power and leave this place, but some other people came here and activated the seals before we woke up.” The woman with the scissors explained in a disappointed manner.

“We’ve been waiting a very long time to get out and have some fun. Our dear brother here would be laughing it up with us if he could still talk.” The man with the glasses said while looking off to the side. Everyone turned to see the ghost with the axe walking up to them with a stoic and eerily blank expression on his face.

“Even if he can’t express it himself, I think he would agree with us when we say that we will not let you spoil our fun prematurely.” The ghostly woman said with a more vicious tone and a bloodthirsty glint in her eyes.

Before anyone could think of something to do, Tom stepped forward and raised his arms into a fighting position. Flames briefly crackled to life around his fingertips as he summoned his claws into existence. Once his weapons were fully formed, the human glared at the three spirits around him with an unyielding resolve.

“If you want to get to them, you’re going to have to go through me.” Tom said in a serious tone.

“Tom, don’t...” Twilight pleaded for the human to rethink his actions. If he kept risking his own life by stepping into the fray alone, then only the worst could come of it.

“Heh… you were right about him sister. He does have a bit of a spark in him doesn’t he?” The man with the scalpel said in an amused tone while glancing to his sibling.

“You really think you can beat all three of us alone? Have you already forgotten the fun times we had together?” The woman asked while smirking at the bold slayer. She brandished her bloody scissors and snipped the blades together a few times to let the chilling sound unnerve the others.

“I hate to agree with a spineless ghost, but she’s right Tom.” Sunspot said in an uneasy tone while stepping forward slightly.

“You need our help if you’re going to beat them Tom. None of us have beaten even one of them by ourselves, but we can win if we work together.” Luna said while looking around at the group preparing themselves for battle. Although she had to continue her work on the symbol, she would gladly jump in to help if the need arose.

“Everyone stay back. Enough people have gotten hurt by these monsters tonight, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let any more of you down.” Tom said while glancing behind him with a stern expression.

“But… but Tom, you could die if you fight them!” Twilight yelled in a concerned tone. She couldn’t believe that the human was stubborn enough to refuse their help.

“I don’t really care about that right now. I’m a slayer… I think it’s about time I do my job.” Tom said in a serious tone while directing his attention to the ghost directly in front of him, which just so happened to be the man with the scalpel.

The ghostly man chuckled to himself for a moment while looking to the floor. He pushed his glasses back onto his face before looking up and smiling sinisterly. The ponies watched nervously while he flipped the scalpel in his hands a few times.

“Alright… if you insist on fighting us, then it’s a fight you will receive.” The man said in a surprisingly calm tone before lowering his arms to his sides and waiting for the slayer to make his move.

“Then shut up and fight me!” Tom yelled fiercely while charging forward towards the ghostly human. As he jabbed forward with his claws, the man effortlessly dodged to the side, leading the boy to launch another attack at him. With the spirit ducking under his next swipe, Tom tried to speed up enough to land a hit on him.

The ghostly man struck back with his scalpel, making a swift and precise stab towards Tom’s chest. Luckily, the boy managed to maneuver his body out of the way of the strike, putting him in a good position for a counter. As he swiped his claws at the ghost’s head, he was surprised to see the spirit using his small scalpel to clash with his blades to deflect them.

“Hyah!” The woman in white squealed in excitement and anger as she leapt forward and stabbed at the slayer with her scissors. Tom quickly used his other clawed hand to catch the scissors in mid strike. The boy suddenly found himself standing between two ghosts with sharp objects that were hell bent on killing him. The two spirits smirked at each other for a moment before yelling fiercely and lashing out at the boy.

Twilight and the others watched with anxious expressions as Tom used a mixture of his claws and evasive dodges to escape the two ghosts’ attacks. The clashing of metal against metal rang out as the human tried his best to stay on top of the situation. Despite his best efforts, Tom was reeling to keep up with the two spirits and their swift speed.

“Gah!” Tom yelped suddenly as the man with the scalpel caught his hand with a downward slice. Before the two ghosts could capitalize on the break in the human’s defenses, he leapt backwards to distance himself from them and recover. Still, the two spirits followed him dauntlessly and managed to back him all the way to the wall at the left side of the room.

“Tom!” Twilight and the others cried fearfully as they watched the human frantically parrying and clashing the two blades striking at him. He seemed like he was struggling to keep up with the pair as the exhaustion and nervousness was clear in his face.

“That’s it! I’m done watching from the sidelines!” Sunspot said while stepping forward from the group and readying her strobe. Before anyone could try to stop or assist her, the pegasus opened fire to assist the human.

The ghostly man and woman swiftly turned around and saw the incoming barrage of energy blasts. They quickly dodged out of the way of them, but they also had Tom to deal with. As more bolts of light flew at the spirits, they were forced to dodge while also fighting the human and his claws.

“Agh!” The woman cried out in pain as Tom’s claws clipped her side. The blades passed right through her and left the area where they impacted a mass of burning smoke. The human couldn’t help but smirk at giving the sadistic spirit a taste of her own medicine.

“Alright Tom!” Sunspot cheered in excitement while smiling at her contribution to the fight. She prepared to open fire again, until something big appeared out of the corner of her eye.

“Sunspot, lookout!” Glimmer Shine yelled while readying his strobe to shoot behind the pegasus. Sunspot turned to see the ghost with the axe standing right in front of her with his weapon held overhead. By the time Glimmer Shine or anyone else could assist her, she could already have her head rolling on the floor.

“Ah!” Sunspot yelped in surprise while diving backwards. The man swung the axe downwards, burying it into the floor mere inches away from the orange mare’s leg. The ghostly man stared at the pegasus silently as splinters from the floor flew in the air. It was like he was engaging her with his eyes due to his apparent inability to speak.

Considering the amount of strength the spirit put behind his strike, and the amount of the axe blade stuck into the floor, the ponies would have figured that it would take him at least a few moments to extract the weapon, but they were mistaken. With an unnatural amount of speed, the ghost plucked the blade out of the floor and prepared to strike at Sunspot again.

Sunspot looked up and immediately saw that she was right next to Twilight and the others. If she backed up any more, she would be bringing them into the fight whether they wanted it or not. The last thing the pegasus wanted was to put one of them in the swinging path for the psychopathic ghost to kill them as collateral.

“Hrg!” Sunspot groaned as she rolled out of the way of the axe flying down at her. After gaining some distance from the ghost, she rolled onto her back and pointed her strobe at him. Glimmer Shine and Brimstoke readied their strobes along with the pegasus. They were prepared to gun the spirit down in a blaze of light.

“Fire!” Brimstoke instructed while pressing the button on his vial as fast as he could. Sunspot and Glimmer Shine needed no guidance to join the stallion in firing at the spirit.

As the three lines of energy blasts converged and prepared to hit the mute specter, he was forced to react evasively. Leaving his axe embedded in the floor, he vanished into a puff of swirling mist. The many bolts of energy flew in the air, hitting either themselves or the walls and exploding harmlessly into sparks of light.

“Dangit! Where’d he go?!” Sunspot growled in frustration while looking around for the spirit.

“I don’t know, but I think you made him mad.” Rainbow Dash said while stepping out of the group and helping the vested pegasus to her feet.

“Shouldn’t you be staying back with the Princess and Glitter?” Sunspot asked while giving the cyan mare a suggestive expression and motioning towards the others.

“Not a chance. We’re all in this now whether you like it or not. Now keep your eyes open and shoot anything that moves.” Rainbow Dash said while looking around and holding her iron pipe defensively.

“Why do I always have to watch the stubborn ones?” Sunspot shrugged before backing up against the cyan pegasus and scanning the room with her.

Meanwhile on the other side of the room, Tom was still facing off against the two spirits. The woman in white was cringing and gritting her teeth while clutching her side. Her form was still unstable from the strike that the slayer landed on her.

“Are you alright sister?” The man with the glasses asked, though he seemed more curious than concerned.

“Heh… stings doesn’t it? You ghosts think you’re untouchable as long as iron isn’t around. Well I’ve got news for you. The spirit weapons of a slayer are able to cut down a lot worse than you ectoplasmic wastes of space.” Tom said with a wry smirk. Even though he was clearly exhausted, he was taking his small victory for all it was worth.

“We know all about you slayers. We stumbled across you in our research on immortality. We figured that all of you had died out with the rest of humanity… but I guess that you are more stubborn than I first thought.” The man explained before turning to his sibling. “Do you want me to take care of him?” He asked curiously while readying his scalpel.

“No… I like it when they fight back.” The woman said before returning a smile to her face.

“Alright, you want to go for round two? I can promise you this time that when I hit you I won’t just clip you.” Tom said while readying his hands in front of him to counter any incoming attacks.

“Hehehe.” The woman laughed sinisterly while letting her armed hand fall to her side and raising her free hand in front of her. She clenched her fist while leveling it with the human. Suddenly, Tom felt something gripping around his neck tightly. As the woman raised her arm upwards, Tom felt himself getting lifted into the air by his neck. He gagged and choked while clutching at the invisible hands wrapping around his neck.

“Hrk… gah…” Tom croaked while desperately trying to ignore the pain in his throat. “Right… levitation… I forgot you could do that for a second there.” He said in a strangled voice while trying to break free from her grasp.

“Allow me to remind you what else I can do.” The woman said with a sinister grin. She flicked her arm to the side, sending the boy flying through the air with a startled yelp. Just as quickly as he was sent on his way, Tom slammed into the far wall face first, causing him to fall to the floor with a wave of pain coursing through him.

As he looked up in a painful daze, he noticed that the woman was nowhere to be seen. Feeling his senses going off as a puff of mist escaped his mouth, Tom looked behind him to see the spirit staring down at him with vicious intent.

“AGH!” Tom yelled in pain as the woman sliced across his stomach with the pair of scissors. The cut she made was deep, causing a surge of mind numbing pain to overtake the slayer.

“Heheheheh!” The woman laughed maniacally while taking the scissors and stabbing them into the boy once more. She seemed to relish listening to Tom’s screams of agony and the blood spurting from his wounds.

“Leave him alone!” Applejack yelled fiercely while charging forward with her iron pipe at the ready. She swung the weapon as hard as she could at the woman, only to have the pipe stopped by the ghost slamming the pair of scissors into it.

The orange mare stared at the blades of the scissors nervously as they precariously pressed against the iron pipe, just barely stopped by the force of the two clashing together. One false move from her or one smart move from the spirit, and the blades of the scissors would plunge straight into her face, chest, or even her neck.

“Oof!” Applejack groaned as the ghost used her invisible influence to shove her backwards. She landed on her back with a painful thud, the iron pipe still clutched in her mouth. She quickly looked up with fearful eyes as she saw the woman charging for her with her scissors at the ready.

“AHH!” The orange mare screamed and held her hooves out to try and catch the scissors before they did any real damage. She realized that due to her attacker being a ghost, she couldn’t just grab her arm to push back against her. Her only hope would be to catch the scissors by its small handle, a task which would be difficult to accomplish without the added challenge that leverage would be against her if she did manage to grab the small target.

Suddenly, a muffled thud sounded out as if something struck glass. Applejack looked up to see a purple tinted force field shielding her from the murderous spirit. The woman in white seemed mildly confused as to why she wasn’t currently ripping the earth pony to shreds, and the orange mare was equally confused.

“Hey, you remember me?” Rainbow Dash yelled while rushing forward and jumping into the air. She used her wings to glide to the side of the spirit and swung at her with her iron pipe.

“I never forget something I kill… or in this case mortally wound.” The woman said while swatting her arm sideways. Rainbow Dash was knocked out of the air with a painful grunt. She landed on her back and slid a few inches before coming to a stop.

Applejack watched in horror as the ghostly woman stood over the pegasus with her bloody weapon held high. Suddenly, a magical zap sounded out as a flash of light appeared behind the ghost. The orange mare looked over to see Twilight standing there with a serious expression on her face.

“How about me? Do you remember me at all?” Twilight asked with a smug expression. The woman looked behind her to see the smirking pony. She was slightly enraged to be mocked by such a feeble creature.

Rainbow Dash glanced down to the iron pipe next to her. She looked up and saw Twilight looking at her and motioning to the pipe with her eyes. The cyan mare smirked as she realized her friend had a plan in place.

“Think fast!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed while flinging the pipe at the ghostly woman as hard as she could. The spirit dodged to the side to let the pipe barely whiz by her. She smirked sinisterly at the pony’s apparently failed attempt at retaliation, until she saw a purple glow out of the corner of her eye.

The woman turned to see the pipe floating in midair with a purple aura around it. She widened her eyes slightly in fear as she realized her mistake. Twilight quickly spun the pipe around, smacking the ghost across her head and forcing it through her intangible form.

“AGHH!” The woman screamed in pain while disappearing into a puff of fiery mist.

“Nice job girls. You saved my hide.” Applejack said in a grateful tone while accepting the purple mare’s help in getting to her feet.

“Anytime.” Rainbow Dash said with a victorious chuckle.

“Are you ok Tom?” Twilight asked in a concerned tone while looking over to the human. The three ponies frowned sympathetically as they saw the human trying to cope with the pain he was going through. The wounds on his stomach and chest were still bleeding profusely as he slowly made his way to his feet.

“Gah…” Tom winced in pain as flames sparked to life across each of his wounds. The fire worked slowly due to his exhaustion, but eventually his injuries vanished into the fiery aether.

“I’m ok… but I’m not sure how much longer I can keep fighting.” The human said while lowering his hands to his sides. Just having his spirit weapons out was making his hands shake.

“Don’t worry, we can help you.” Twilight said in a reassuring tone.

“I don’t know if you’ve forgotten about me or not, but perhaps you should think for a moment before making such bold claims.” The ponies suddenly heard a familiar voice taunting them from the side. They looked over to see the ghostly man with the glasses staring at them menacingly. They felt a cold shudder as they thought back to the last time they fought the man. Even with their superior numbers, he beat them senseless.

“Hey you big meanie! Stop hurting my friends!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed while charging forward from seemingly out of nowhere. She leapt at the man with the scalpel and swung her iron pipe sideways, nearly catching him off guard.

The man swung his small blade to counter the pink mare’s attack, but she kept swinging at him. He was slightly surprised by how much energy she was putting into her speed and stamina. He was almost having a hard time keeping up with her as the clashing of iron against steel rang out.

“Why you little… Hold still!” The ghost yelled in an irritated tone while frantically swinging at the energetic pony. Pinkie jumped over or ducked around every strike the spirit sent her way with relative ease and a smile on her face. It was almost like she was playing a game of tag, but her opponent was playing for keeps.

“You’re going to have to move faster than that if you want to catch me!” Pinkie exclaimed while sticking her tongue out at the annoyed man.

“I don’t need to move fast if you can’t move at all.” The human said with a sinister smirk while stopping his attacks. The pink mare was more than a little confused at his statement.

“What are you talking about? I can move just fine.” Pinkie said with a slight chuckle. She prepared to strike the idle spirit with her iron weapon, until he held his arm out in front of his body and clenched his fist.

Pinkie suddenly felt an invisible force constricting her body. She was forcefully lifted up into the air, causing her to drop her weapon in surprise. She could offer little more than a startled yelp for resistance as she squirmed in the air.

“Hey! That’s cheating!” Pinkie said in a dismayed tone.

“I don’t really care…” The ghostly man said with a sinister chuckle while eyeing the trapped pony sinisterly.

“Pinkie!” Twilight and the others yelled fearfully as they saw their friend in danger. Rainbow Dash and Applejack gripped their iron pipes tightly and Twilight and Tom prepared their own weapons to charge forward and assist the pink mare.

“Tut, tut… no interrupting.” The man said in an irritated tone while shoving his open palm towards the group.

“Ack!” Twilight yelped in surprise as her body was flung backwards forcefully. Her three friends were thrown through the air along with her until they all slammed into the far wall.

“Gah… I can’t move.” Rainbow Dash groaned while trying to lift herself up. An invisible force was pushing her down and keeping her on the floor.

“Me neither…” Applejack said in a strained voice while struggling against the force pushing her down. The orange mare barely managed to make any progress before her muscles gave out.

“No… we have to save Pinkie…!” Twilight groaned in exhaustion while turning her attention forward. The ghostly man still held the pink mare in front of him with his invisible grasp.

“Now then… I think it’s about time that someone gives you the beating you deserve. All of you have harmed me and my sister, and been a general thorn in our sides for too long. I’m going to kill all of you slowly and painfully, but first I’m going to kill this pink headache.” The man said in a more angry tone while glaring at Pinkie. Before anyone could react, the spirit used his power to forcefully fling the pink mare over his head and onto the floor.

“Agh!” Pinkie yelped in pain as she slammed into the floor with her back. Her body throbbed in pain and her head felt like she had just been struck from behind, which by all intents and purposes she was. She clutched the back of her head and looked up hesitantly to see the man standing over her with his scalpel in hand. The sight of the bloodthirsty look in the spirit’s eyes made a fearful silence fall over the pink mare.

“You want to find out how fast I can disembowel a pony with just a scalpel and my bare hands?” The man asked with a maddened smirk building on his face. Pinkie felt herself shivering in a terrified state as she stared at the bloody scalpel with wide eyes.

“P-please… don’t.” Pinkie said in a quiet stammer while shaking her head in protest. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes as her mind screamed at her to try and escape. Even if her body wasn’t frozen in fear, she doubted that the man would let her escape so easily.

Twilight and the others gasped as they saw the human raise his arm in preparation to strike. They averted their eyes and shielded their faces to prevent themselves from seeing their friend getting stabbed to death. The last thing they saw before they looked away fearfully was the ghost bringing his arm down towards the helpless mare.

“No!” A frightened voice suddenly rang out from behind the spirit, causing him to pause in surprise. Everyone looked over to see Fluttershy standing behind the man with the iron pipe Pinkie dropped clutched in her mouth.

“You again? I thought you were cowering off in the corner somewhere?” The ghostly man asked in a surprised tone while eyeing the pegasus curiously. The yellow mare was obviously terrified. Her body was shaking violently, her breathing was rapid and erratic, and the iron pipe in her mouth was practically vibrating against her chattering teeth. And yet here she was, confronting a terrifying opponent about to slaughter one of her friends.

“I’m n-not going to let y-you hurt her.” Fluttershy said in a nervous tone. “I won’t let you h-hurt anyone e-else.” She added in what she hoped would be a threatening tone while clutching her iron pipe like it was her only life line. Despite her best intentions, she still looked pale and terrified.

“Oh… and you’re going to stop me? Hah… don’t make me laugh. You know what happens when I get excited.” The man said with a suggestive smirk.

“Fluttershy, don’t do this! You’ll just get hurt if you fight him!” Pinkie said in a fearful tone while pleading with the pegasus to get her to leave.

“You should really listen to your friend dearie. I wouldn’t want to mess up that pretty face of yours… yet anyway.” The man said with a sinister chuckle.

Fluttershy felt her heart pounding in her chest as she stood her ground against the murderous spirit. She had already watched the man before her steal away two lives right in front of her, and she wasn’t about to let another of her friends die. Still, she felt like she was facing off against her worst nightmare come to life.

“Don’t ever… call me dearie again.” Fluttershy said in a surprisingly fierce tone as she felt a great deal of anger building up inside of her. The sheer desire to give the ghost his just deserts was giving her enough of a courage boost to act.

“Hyah!” Fluttershy yelled slightly as she charged forward with her weapon at the ready. Her timid demeanor lessened the amount of anger she showed, but it was still a surprising display to her friends and the spirit.

The yellow mare swung her head to the side to strike the man with the pipe. She flinched her eyes shut as she saw the man moving the scalpel towards her. The metal blade collided with the iron pipe, causing a harsh sound to ring out and a surprising amount of force to push back against the pegasus. The shock of the sound and the impact made Fluttershy flinch again, but she opened her eyes and steeled herself enough to launch another strike.

Everyone watched in anxious surprise as the pegasus launched a flurry of attacks against the spirit. Her form was erratic and hesitant due to the feeling of fear inside of her, but she managed to rapidly swing the pipe around to try and land a hit on the ghost. Every strike the pony sent his way, the man would block with relative ease with his scalpel.

Suddenly, the man swiped towards Fluttershy’s face. The yellow mare tensed up and moved her head to the side as fast as she could, but she couldn’t move fast enough to get away unscathed. She whined in a shocked state of pain as she felt the blade of the scalpel scraping across her cheek. The jolt of the attack made the surprised pony back up a step.

Fluttershy stammered in shock as she brought a hoof up to her new injury. The wound stung as she put a light amount of pressure on it. She stared at her hoof with wide eyes as blood trickled off of it. She then looked up at the spirit with a newfound sense of fear. The iron pipe that she clung to so fiercely before loosely hung in her mouth as she felt her body locking up in fear again.

“Aww… I told you I didn’t want to mess up your face. You look so afraid… why don’t I put you out of your misery?” The man suggested with a faked tone of sympathy that came off as cold and eerie. Fluttershy tried to run away, but her legs were frozen in place along with the rest of her body as she stared at the man with a quivering jaw.

“Fluttershy!” Pinkie yelled in dismay at the scene in front of her. She had to act fast if she was going to save her friend. The pink mare quickly got to her feet and looked around frantically. Her eyes settled on the only weapon in reach, the iron pipe still sitting in Fluttershy’s mouth. The only thing between her and her friend was the ghostly man. Suddenly, an idea popped into the pink pony’s head. One that she hoped was crazy enough to work.

Fluttershy watched as Pinkie suddenly stepped forward and reached her arm through the ghostly human. The man looked down with a confused expression as his body shifted to smoke around the pink mare’s arm. Before the spirit could react, Pinkie grabbed the iron pipe and pulled it out of her friend’s mouth.

“AGH!” The man cried out in pain as the pink mare pulled the iron pipe through his body. Pinkie held the weapon inside of his form, causing it to erupt into a fiery mass of smoke. Despite the man’s best efforts to remain solid, he eventually disappeared as his sister did in a puff of smoke.

The two ponies were left staring at each other with shocked expressions. They were both equally surprised to be alive, and even more surprised that they had at least temporarily vanquished a very powerful enemy that had plagued them all night.

“You… you saved me?” Fluttershy asked in a surprised tone.

“No… we saved each other.” Pinkie said with a triumphant giggle. Fluttershy couldn’t help but join her friend in laughing cheerfully at their victory.

“Nice job you two!” Rainbow Dash said while rushing over to the pair and congratulating them. The two looked over to see the others walking up to join them in their celebration.

“We thought you were going to die for a minute there.” Twilight said in a relieved tone.

“We’re not out of the woods yet… we still need that symbol to be broken.” Tom said while turning his attention to the other side of the room. Everyone nodded in agreement before collecting their weapons and walking over to join the others.

Meanwhile on the other side of the room, Sunspot and her teammates were still looking for the third spirit. Ever since they forced him to flee, they had been scanning their eyes around the area frantically in search of him. His axe was still embedded into the floor a short distance away, so they were also keeping an eye on that just in case he decided to stay invisible when he attacked them.

“Glitter, how long do we have on that symbol?” Brimstoke asked in an anxious tone while looking back at the unicorn and the alicorn standing next to the symbol on the floor.

“Ugh… I don’t know. This thing is really fighting us. It might be another ten minutes for all I know.” Glitterball replied in an understandably nervous tone.

“I’m not sure if we have ten minutes. Those other two will be back eventually.” Twilight said while trotting up to the group with her small band of friends.

“Are you guys ok?” Sunspot asked in a concerned tone as she saw the disheveled state that most of the ponies were in. Twilight and the others looked like they had bruises forming in various places, and Fluttershy had a small cut across her cheek.

“We fought the other two ghosts. We’re ok all things considered.” Twilight explained while glancing to Fluttershy with a concerned expression. The yellow mare nodded in agreement with a small smile on her face.

“Sorry we weren’t with you… I knew we should have intervened.” Sunspot said in a regretful tone while looking down sadly.

“You had to watch the Princess and Glitter. We need to work together if we’re going to survive.” Twilight said in a reassuring tone. Suddenly, the purple mare noticed the axe in the floor vibrating slightly. The bloody weapon swiftly lifted itself into the air and remained still before pointing towards Sunspot.

“*Gasp* Sunspot look out!” Twilight exclaimed while pointing behind the pegasus.

Sunspot spun her head around and widened her eyes as she saw the axe pointing towards her. Before she could even process her next move, the floating weapon sailed forward and raised up to strike her at high speeds.

“AH!” Sunspot yelped fearfully while trying to move to the side. She could already see that she would be too late to avoid the attack.

Suddenly the orange pegasus felt something tackling her to the side. After an uncomfortable landing on the ground, she looked over and saw the axe blade piercing into the floor. She then looked beside her to see Glimmer Shine lying next to her.

The pair knew that they didn’t have time for thanks or even to take a breather. With little more than a shared look of frantic agreement, the two reached for their strobes and turned their bodies to face the impending threat. They could see the ghostly man appearing out of thin air and walking up to reclaim his weapon embedded into the floor.

“Fire!” Glimmer Shine shouted fiercely, though his partner needed no confirmation. The two ponies fired their strobes in a blinding flurry of light and magical bursts. The man briefly looked at the oncoming barrage of blasts before blinking out of sight with little more than a puff of smoke to signify his former presence.

“Where’d he go?!” Sunspot asked while quickly getting to her feet and scanning the area with her strobe.

“Heads up!” Brimstoke yelled while pointing his strobe behind the orange pegasus.

Sunspot whipped her head around and saw that the spirit was standing behind her with his axe held high above his head. The man was staring down at her with a silent expression of contempt. The orange mare quickly leapt forward to not only get out of the way of the spirit, but to give Brimstoke a clear shot. As the white stallion fired several blasts at the ghostly man, he disappeared before the bolts of light could hit him.

One quick look around the room, and the group found the silent spirit appearing behind Twilight and Rainbow Dash. The two mares spun around and gasped as they saw the man raising his axe to strike them. The cyan mare forcefully shoved her iron pipe against the wooden handle of the axe. She managed to hold her own against the spirit’s strength until he pulled back into a defensive stance.

“Hyah!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she struck at the ghost with her weapon. The man used his axe to block her attack. The cyan pony ignored her antsy nerves and continued her assault against the spirit. Every attack the pegasus sent his way, the ghost blocked or dodged. When the man finally struck back, Rainbow Dash managed to dodge as well.

“Twilight, catch!” Pinkie exclaimed while tossing her iron pipe to the unicorn. Twilight quickly used her magic to grab the flying object, and just as quickly she joined her pegasus friend in attacking the murderous spirit. Somehow, the spirit was able to block and dodge the combined attacks from the two ponies. He seemed to be having some difficulty with keeping up with them.

Spotting an opening in the fight, Sunspot fired her strobe at the ghost. The man looked ahead at the incoming blast with a concerned expression. Before the burst of light hit, he vanished again, only this time he left behind his weapon. The axe clattered to the floor near Twilight and Rainbow Dash.

“How much longer on that symbol?” Brimstoke asked in an anxious tone.

“We’re almost done.” Luna reported in an equally anxious tone. The group was starting to get too tense for their liking.

Suddenly, the axe on the floor started shaking violently. It vibrated against the ground for a few moments as if it had a mind of its own. No sooner did the ponies notice it than they watched it fling into the air and sail across the room.

“*Gasp* Brimstoke lookout!” Glitterball yelled fearfully as she watched the axe sailing straight towards the white stallion. Everyone in the room followed the axe with their eyes as it flew through the air.

Brimstoke saw the incoming threat. He barely had any time to react, but he made a move to the side. However good his reflexes were, they weren’t enough to evade the speeding weapon. The axe crashed into his body at high speeds, burying itself into his upper chest and knocking him from his feet.

“Agh!” Brimstoke screamed in pain as he flew across the room. He skidded across the floor a short distance before slamming into the far wall and remaining motionless.

“Brimstoke!” Everyone yelled in utter shock as they watched the stallion getting struck with an axe. There was a trail of blood leading over to the other side of the room, and streams of the crimson fluid were already flowing out around the axe embedded in Brimstoke’s chest.

To the horror of the helpless onlookers, the axe pulled itself out of the injured stallion, creating a sickening squelch and a gush of blood. The bloodied weapon flew across the room, where it landed in the outstretched palm of the newly appeared ghost. The man was silent and blank faced as ever, but the ponies could swear that they noticed his mouth curving upwards into a sadistic smirk at the corners.

“You… you…” Sunspot muttered in an angry stupor. “You bastard!” She yelled fiercely while charging straight for the ghostly human. Much to everyone’s surprise, she didn’t even waver when the man raised his axe up to strike her.

“Sunspot, move!” Twilight pleaded desperately as the pegasus seemingly charged straight towards her doom. Sunspot paid no attention to the warnings of her friends and continued on her path.

The man with the axe smirked as the orange mare got close enough to him for him to act. He swung his weapon downwards with blinding speed, however, he wasn’t fast enough. Sunspot dodged to the side and arched her body around his. She suddenly shoved her hoof directly into his body, and she was holding a familiar vial full of liquid.

“Dodge this you bucking freak!” Sunspot yelled fiercely at the murderous spirit. The man had a surprised look in his eyes as he looked down to see what the orange pony was doing, but he was too late. The pegasus pressed the button on her strobe, causing a small explosion of light and colorful sparks to erupt as the spirit’s body flickered violently. After a short time of trying to remain solid, the ghostly man finally disappeared from sight.

Now that all three ghosts had been temporarily dealt with, the group could turn their attention to the most important matter at hand. Everyone turned their heads and stared at the white stallion bleeding on the floor at the edge of the room. Their eyes widened as the weight of the situation became clear.

“Brimstoke!” Glitterball exclaimed while racing forward. She didn’t care about working on the symbol anymore. All she cared about was trying to help her friend.

Twilight and the others raced forward to join the rainbow haired unicorn as she examined the stallion. Brimstoke was seemingly unconscious, but he was breathing, at least for the moment. There was a deep and gruesome gash in the upper part of his chest. The size and scope of the injury made it reach up to his neck and shoulder area. The ponies were worried that the axe might have severed a vital artery in his neck from appearances alone.

“Brimstoke, can you hear me?!” Glitterball asked in a nervous tone while kneeling down in front of the stallion. She seemed to be using her medical training to assess what to do next, but her hooves were shaking and she seemed to be frantic and unfocused.

“Is he ok?!” Glimmer Shine asked while observing the amount of blood on the floor in a panic.

“Oh no… I think his carotid artery got hit by the axe.” Glitter said in an alarmed tone of despair.

“You can help him can’t you? Right, Glitter?” Sunspot asked in a fearful tone.

“I… I can’t do anything that would stop the bleeding in time. Even if I could, his brain isn’t getting the oxygen it needs from the blood. I don’t think he’s going to make it.” Glitterball explained with tears welling up in her eyes as she took the stallion’s pulse. She could barely even feel anything to indicate that the white pony was alive.

Sunspot could do little more than to put her hooves on her head and let out an assortment of frustrated noises. She was desperate to do something to help the stallion, but she was powerless to do so. She turned to the human in the group as she ran out of options.

“Tom, there has to be something you can do! Can’t you heal him or something?!” Sunspot asked in a desperate tone while looking to the human for an answer. Tom seemed to be hesitant to even attempt to heal the stallion. Between his remaining strength and the severity of the wound, he wasn’t sure if he could do anything.

“I don’t think I can do anything for him… I’m sorry, but I can’t revive a person after they…” Tom paused sadly while looking down at the stallion. He was clearly on his way out of this world, but the orange pegasus wasn’t willing to accept it yet.

“Please, you have to do something! You have to save him! What good are your powers if you can’t use them to help people?!” Sunspot asked in a visibly upset tone. The others were shocked to see the pegasus lashing out in such a way. Even if they knew she wasn’t trying to attack the human, it seemed that way at first glance.

Tom looked around at the group of concerned ponies for a moment before settling his eyes on Brimstoke. He grunted in frustration while trying to think of something he could do. Every fiber in his being was telling him to save the stallion, but he wasn’t sure if he could. Finally the boy gave up on debating himself and the orange pegasus and rushed to Brimstoke’s side.

Twilight and the others watched with varying expressions of concern and sadness as Tom held his hand over the stallion’s injury and projected his healing light. Much to their surprise, Brimstoke’s wound started closing up. After it closed up a decent amount, the human carefully removed the axe and continued his struggle.

“Is it working?” Glitterball asked in a nervous tone. She was clearly shutting down mentally, and she needed someone to tell her that things would be ok.

“His wound is healing, but his heart is stopped. I’m not sure if I can get it started again.” Tom explained with a sad tone of voice. Despite his somber news, he was still putting everything he had into reviving the stallion.

Twilight watched with concern as the human’s arm started shaking. He had a pale expression, and he was grunting from exertion. Despite his obvious weakness, he was desperately trying to save the pony before him. Tom was gritting his teeth and toughing through whatever fatigue he was feeling, but it was clear to see that he was hurting himself.

“Tom, stop it.” Twilight said in a pleading tone.

“I can do this Twilight.” Tom replied in a frustrated tone without diverting his attention away.

“Tom… you’re only going to hurt yourself at this point.” Twilight explained in a more concerned tone while stepping forward and putting a hoof on the boy’s shoulder.

“I’m not going to let anyone else die tonight!” Tom replied in a more upset manner. He tried to push the unicorn away with his free hand, but he wasn’t even strong enough to budge her hoof an inch. Sunspot and the others looked on in shock as they realized what state the human was in.

“Tom…” Sunspot said in a somber tone while looking down sadly. On the one hand, she desperately wanted the human to save Brimstoke, but on the other hand she didn’t want him to get hurt while trying.

“Tom, that’s enough… you can stop now!” Twilight said in a more stern tone while nudging the human and trying to pull him away.

“Damnit Twilight, I can save him!” Tom said while turning to the unicorn and trying to raise his voice. He cringed from fatigue and fell forward slightly, but he still kept his healing light going. Despite the frightful amount of effort the boy was putting into saving the stallion, Brimstoke remained motionless.

“You can’t Tom!” Twilight yelled while forcefully pulling the human away. Tom cried out in refusal, but he could do nothing to stop the unicorn from pulling him to the side. The boy fell over as the beam of light projecting from his hand died out. He struggled in the purple mare’s grasp as he tried to get back to the stallion.

“I have to save him… I have to!” Tom argued in a weak tone. He had tears building in his eyes as he struggled against the unicorn. Twilight could feel his body shaking as he fought against her. Despite the fact that she had to hold him against his will, she was deeply concerned with the small amount of effort she had to put in restraining him.

“You can’t save everyone Tom.” Twilight said in a sad tone while looking around at the others. Glitterball silently walked next to the pair and felt for Brimstoke’s pulse. Shaking her head sadly, the white unicorn turned to inform the group on what they already knew.

“He’s gone.” Glitter said in a distraught tone. She sobbed as she felt an overwhelming wave of sadness coursing through her. Everyone else looked down sadly and started weeping over their fallen friend. Meanwhile, Twilight was still holding onto Tom and cradling him against her body while trying to keep him from hurting himself. She cried openly as she listened to the human pleading for her to release him. Everyone had to distance themselves from the tragic scene in order to prevent themselves from breaking down into a fit of crying.

“This isn’t right… this isn’t fair.” Sunspot muttered in an upset tone while sitting away from the group. She could feel her entire body tensing up from how many emotions she was feeling. She felt horribly sad, not only that a close friend had just died, but that another friend was having an emotional breakdown from trying to save him. She also felt incredibly angry towards the spirits that caused all of this. Taking a look around at the others, the pegasus deduced that they all felt the same. Although, most of the ponies were stuck in a phase of grief filled wailing and crying rather than dealing with overwhelming anger.

“I don’t… *Hic*… I don’t know if I can take this anymore.” Fluttershy said in a shaky voice. The weight of the situation was clearly starting to get to the fragile mare. Her entire body was shaking and she couldn’t stop crying.

Feeling some sort of responsibility for cheering her friends up in even the most tragic situations, Pinkie walked over and sat down next to the yellow mare. She put her arm around the weeping pegasus and pulled her in for a side hug. Despite her best intentions, she couldn’t manage to appear cheery herself due to her own grief and sadness.

“Don’t worry Fluttershy. We’re going to get out of here.” Pinkie said in what she hoped would be a confident tone.

“How can y-you even say that anymore? *Sniff*… Those ghosts are going to kill us… I just know it. We’re never getting out of here.” Fluttershy said before breaking down into another fit of crying. She hid her face in her hooves and wept openly while her friends offered her concerned expressions. All of the fear and sadness she had been feeling seemed to have finally broken her. The once kind and cheery pegasus was now a quivering and disheveled shadow of her former self. Twilight and the others wondered if they would ever see her smile again.

“No, Fluttershy… we are getting out of here.” Luna spoke up in a somber tone, causing everyone to look up in surprise.

“Princess…?” Fluttershy muttered in a confused manner as she looked up at the alicorn. She seemed to be going through the same amount of grief and sadness as the others were, as evident by the tearstains on her face.

“A lot of terrible things have happened tonight. I fully take the blame for all of them happening… it’s my fault you’re all here, and it’s my fault that so many innocents have died tonight. I know that saying sorry will not be enough to atone for my failures tonight…” Luna said in a sad tone while looking down and hiding her eyes from the group. ”But I can make you one promise that I fully intend to keep. I’m going to get you all out of here if it’s the last thing I do.” She said in an adamant manner while finally looking up to face the group. The alicorn’s speech was enough to create a stunned silence among the group.

“Princess… you don’t need to blame yourself for what’s happening to us. If anyone deserves the blame for this, it’s Raven Feather. I think we can all agree on that.” Twilight said while looking around at the others for confirmation. Everyone nodded silently in stern agreement as they thought about the mysterious leader of the hooded ponies. Nobody had even seen her before, but they all harbored a hatred for her that they had never felt before in their lives.

“And if you want to make us a promise, promise us that you’re going to be there with us when we take that creep down. I don’t want to hear anything from you about if it’s the last thing you do… too many people have died tonight.” Rainbow Dash added with a somber expression.

“I… I…” Luna muttered in a stunned tone while looking around at the group. Everyone still had somber expressions, but they were somehow more confident that they would escape now, and they were determined to make sure that everyone got out alive.

“Very well, I promise.” Luna said while finally managing a slight smile.

Suddenly, the group heard someone clapping slowly on the other side of the room. The sound was faded and echoed, but it was slowly getting clearer and closer to them. When they looked around the area, they couldn’t find any sign of the intruder, until they noticed a familiar man with glasses coming into view.

“Very good… very, very good, I must say that I didn’t expect you all to make it this far. Well… not that all of you did.” The man said with a slight chuckle while motioning behind the group towards Brimstoke. The ponies immediately felt a mixed feeling of fear and anger towards the spirit as they stared him down.

“Just go away and leave us alone. We beat you before, we can do it again.” Sunspot said while keeping her strobe at the ready.

“So you did… and here you are making heartfelt promises to each other that you’ll all get out of here in one piece. I hate to break it to you, but you’re all going to die in here.” The man said in an eerily calm and cold tone.

Just as the group was weighing their options to fight the ghostly human, they saw another figure appearing out of thin air. The woman in white was strolling forward with her scissors in hand. She walked forward until she stepped in line with her brother, where she stopped and grinned at the group of ponies.

“Can I have those three? They were mean to me…” The woman asked her sibling while pointing to Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack. The three mares gulped nervously as they remembered their parts in interrupting the spirit’s battle with Tom.

“You can have whoever you like. Just be sure to save some for me and our brother… whenever he gets back.” The man said while looking around for the third spirit, who was probably still recovering from his own defeat.

“I’m afraid you two aren’t going to have any more fun tonight, or ever again for that matter.” Luna said with a small smirk building on her face. Everyone including the two ghosts looked over to the alicorn to see that she was still working on the symbol as she had been the entire time. Only now, the symbol beneath the blue mare was glowing red and humming magically.

“NO!” Both of the spirits yelled fiercely while rushing forward towards the alicorn. By the time they reached her, it was too late. As Luna finished undoing the spell, the symbol flashed brightly as a loud gust of wind erupted from the center of it.

Twilight and the others hugged the floor fearfully as they felt a strong wind blowing around them. Their hair, their clothes, and even loose items around the room were blowing around as a cyclone of wind circled around the symbol. It was almost like they were caught in a tornado.

“AHHHHHHH.” The two ghosts screamed as their bodies shifted into smoke. The smoke was pulled towards the symbol until it started swirling down towards the center of it, where it disappeared. Once all of the smoke was gone, one final thunderous burst of air surged out through the room, leaving everything silent.

Everyone slowly uncovered their heads and looked around with stunned expressions. They were half expecting the ghosts to reappear and murder them, but the room remained still and quiet. The only sign that the spirits were ever even present was the glowing red symbol on the floor.

“Are… are they gone?” Fluttershy asked nervously.

“It looks like it.” Glimmer Shine stated while looking around the room.

“What about that third one? The guy with the axe… I didn’t see him getting sucked in with the others.” Twilight said in a concerned tone.

“I doubt he had the energy to become visible so soon after Sunspot blasted him. Don’t worry though. He got sucked up just like the other two.” Tom explained in a confident tone.

“So we can leave? We can finally get out of here?!” Rainbow Dash asked in a stunned tone.

“Yes Rainbow Dash, I believe we can.” Luna replied with a pleased smirk.

Suddenly, the entire area started shaking as a loud rumble rang out through the room. The group steadied themselves and looked around fearfully until the shaking stopped. When they looked around to find the source of the strange occurrence, they noticed that the symbol was flashing white and emitting a strange buzzing sound.

“W-what’s happening?” Fluttershy asked nervously.

“I don’t know, but it can’t be good.” Glitterball said in an uneasy tone. She walked closer to the symbol to examine it, but when it buzzed more and flashed brighter, she backed away nervously.

“Keep away from the symbol.” Glimmer Shine suggested while distancing himself and the others from the glowing symbol.

A thick white mist started rising out of the symbol. It didn’t spread out around the room in a way that a gaseous substance should. Instead, it slowly undulated into the air in certain parts, resembling a snake made out of white smoke.

Tom used his senses a few times in order to find out what was going on. Once he realized what was happening, he widened his eyes in shock.

“Oh no… we need to get out of here!” Tom explained urgently.

“What’s wrong Tom? What’s happening?” Luna asked nervously while looking to the human for answers.

“The symbol didn’t erase the ghosts and all of their energy immediately. It just converted their energy into its purest form. Apparently the ghosts are still awake in there somewhere, and they have control of the energy until the symbol purges it all.” Tom explained while eyeing the white smoke nervously. The sinister substance seemed to be getting more deliberate with its movements, almost as if it was alive.

“What does that mean?” Rainbow Dash asked uneasily.

“It means that we need to get out of here before they figure out what’s going on!” Tom stated urgently while moving towards the exit of the room.

Before the ponies could start moving to join the human, a loud bang sounded out as a burst of air surged out from the symbol. The gust of wind was so strong that it knocked everyone a short distance away, either slamming them into a wall or against the floor.

“Everyone run!” Twilight yelled while getting to her feet and rushing to assist Pinkie Pie, who was still on the floor. Once everyone made it to their feet, they rushed towards the door. The group bolted through the hall as fast as they could to exit the room. Just before the purple mare could leave the room however, she heard something that made her heart sink.

“Ack!” Luna yelped suddenly as she felt something wrapping around her leg and pulling her backwards.

Twilight paused in the doorway and turned around as she heard the alicorn cry out. As she peered back into the room, she gasped fearfully as she noticed the blue mare on the floor over by the symbol. The wispy stream of white smoke had somehow formed into a hand shape that was latched onto the princess and holding her down on the floor. Just in front of Luna, the white smoke was rising into the air and spreading out into the room, all the while it was making a horrific wailing sound.

“Princess!” Twilight yelled fearfully while reaching her hoof towards the trapped alicorn.

Luna looked up to see the purple mare at the doorway. She looked like she was contemplating rushing in to help her. One look at the rapidly approaching wall of energy told the alicorn that a living creature caught inside of the mass wouldn’t remain living for long. She could already feel the tendril around her leg burning her as the ghosts lashed out angrily through the medium of energy.

“Princess, teleport over here! Use your magic!” Twilight pleaded desperately. The alicorn tried focusing her magic and managed to light up her horn, but after a few moments of attempting a teleport spell, she groaned heavily while her horn dimmed. She barely had any energy left from everything that had happened to her.

“I… I’m not sure I can.” Luna said in a grim tone as she realized just how bad the situation was now.

“T-try again! You can do this Princess… you have to!” Twilight stated while trying to keep her voice from trembling.

“Run Twilight!” Luna yelled while struggling to keep the tendril from pulling her in. She lit up her horn again and tried using her magic to interact with the smoke, only to realize that she was too weak to do anything of great importance. Even if she had her strength, the smoke seemed to be fighting against her magic.

“I’m not leaving you here… you’ll die!” Twilight yelled back while looking at the smoke as it spread across the room. It was making its way around the alicorn and trying to reach her. She could feel a great deal of raw hatred and anger emanating from the smoke, which made sense considering that the three spirits were somehow inside of it.

Luna pulled on her leg with all of her might, but she couldn’t free herself from the energy. She could feel herself getting pulled along the floor towards the mass of energy. The entire room was filled with the distorted moans and wails of the spirits within the smoke, creating an even more disturbing atmosphere than what was already present.

“What the hay is going on h…” Sunspot asked while rushing back to see why the two weren’t running with the others. “Oh no…” She exclaimed in a horrified tone as she saw the scene before her.

“We have to help her!” Twilight stated while lighting up her horn. Sunspot nodded frantically while drawing her strobe. The pair of ponies desperately used every tool in their arsenal as they tried to push back the smoke trying to envelop the alicorn. As the blasts from Sunspot’s strobe failed to affect the white smoke, and Twilight’s magic failed to work, they both realized that they were powerless to help from where they were.

“Don’t worry Princess, I’ll save you!” Twilight exclaimed while stepping forward into the room. She was stopped as another tendril of energy slammed to the floor in front of her, causing a loud crash followed by a deep wail to ring out.

“Just go! I don’t want you to die with me!” Luna instructed in an adamant tone. She offered the pair a sad expression as she gradually realized her grim situation.

Twilight stared at the scene in front of her with a horrified expression. She desperately wanted to help the alicorn escape, but she didn’t know what to do. She was absolutely helpless, and she knew it. Still, she remained in the doorway, desperately hoping that she could find a way to save the princess.

“But… but…!” Twilight stammered fearfully while racking her mind to try and find a solution. The wall of energy was getting closer to the princess, and it was also getting closer to the doorway at the same time.

“Sunspot, get her out of here! That is a direct order!” Luna demanded while looking to the pegasus to save the stubborn unicorn. Sunspot groaned in frustration as she realized that there was nothing she could do but to follow her orders.

“Twilight, we need to go!” Sunspot said while grabbing the unicorn’s arm and pulling her away. Twilight pulled against the orange mare in an attempt at getting free. Once she realized that the purple mare wouldn’t cooperate, Sunspot grabbed her by the waist and pulled even harder.

“No! Let me… grr… let me go!” Twilight yelled as the pegasus pulled her away from the room. She reached towards the trapped alicorn as she was carried away against her will.

“Princess Luna!” Twilight yelled mournfully as the wall of energy appeared in the doorway. The animate smoke poured out into the hallway with an angry wail as it tried to chase the escaping ponies.

The entire house shook again, causing the two mares to drop to the floor. As she got to her feet, Sunspot noticed that Twilight was still staring ahead with a distraught expression. The unicorn was seemingly in her own world as she sluggishly allowed the pegasus to help her to her feet.

“There’s nothing we can do for her now! We need to go Twilight!” Sunspot pleaded while shaking the unicorn. Finally, the purple mare shook herself out of her daze and turned tail to follow the orange pony.

As the terrifying sounds of the living energy followed them down the hallway, the two ponies raced to catch up to their friends. Finally they found the others waiting for them just in front of the hole in the wall that led into the crawlspace.

“Thank goodness you two made it!” Rarity exclaimed in a relieved tone as she saw her two friends running towards her.

“Where is Princess Luna?” Applejack asked in an uneasy tone as she noticed that the two were alone. Twilight and Sunspot looked down sadly, until a distorted roar from down the hallway pulled them from their sad thoughts.

“There’s no time to explain. That thing was right behind us when we left!” Twilight stated in an urgent tone.

“Then we don’t have much time… everyone into the wall, now!” Glimmer Shine instructed in a stern tone while ushering the others towards the hole in the wall. Everyone looked to the small opening with dread filling their minds. They knew that the first part of the crawlspace was actually rather spacious, but that the second part was barely large enough to fit them.

Despite their nerves, the ponies decided that now wasn’t the time for letting their fears get the best of them. While Glimmer Shine and the others watched the hallway for any signs of their supernatural stalker, the group quickly made their way into the hole in the wall.

After Twilight ducked into the opening, Glimmer Shine and Tom followed her inside. The group immediately knew what they had to do. They had to run, and they had to run fast. Small streams of the animate smoke were starting to appear in different places on the walls and ceiling. While these streams might not have been connected to the main mass, they would probably pose a similar threat to the ponies if they got too close.

“This way!” Glitterball exclaimed while running ahead of the group to light the way. The unicorn looked back to make sure that the others were following her, only to nearly fall into one of the pits in the strange room.

Twilight and the others had to constantly avoid tripping or falling over raised portions of earth as they ran. They would probably be disturbed that they were running over forgotten bodies of the dead, but they had bigger problems to contend with.

Finally the group made it to the smaller portion of the room. With no time to pause, the ponies started making their way under the low hanging ceiling and funneling towards the opening that would take them to freedom. Everyone was nervous about their friends lagging too far behind, but they had to keep moving or they would eventually get jammed up as everyone paused to make it through the small opening.

Pinkie Pie and Glitterball reached the hole in the wall first. After the pink mare urgently crouched to the floor and crawled through, she helped the unicorn to make her way through the small opening.

“Come on guys!” Pinkie exclaimed while helping the next person through. She looked ahead, only to notice that the rest of her friends were just now reaching the opening. The occasional rumbling of the house and the eerie howls coming from behind them made the ponies well aware of the fact that they were running from something.

After Sunspot hurriedly made her way through the opening, Twilight insisted that Tom be the next one through. The purple mare helped to push the weakened human through the hole in the wall from her end. She looked around her and noticed that there were only four people left including her. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Glimmer Shine were all staring at her with fearful expressions as they waited for her to make her way through.

“Come on Fluttershy, you’re next.” Twilight said while gently ushering the yellow mare forward. Fluttershy seemed open to the concept of being next, but she was also worried that her friends would be in danger.

“What about you?” Fluttershy asked nervously as the unicorn pushed her through the opening.

“We’re right behind you, just follow the others.” Rainbow Dash stated in a reassuring tone. Fluttershy looked to the side to see Sunspot ushering her down the right side of the hallway. The others were probably somewhere up ahead, trying to make as much progress while also staying far enough behind to help if they were needed.

“Ok… hurry and get back to us safe.” Fluttershy said in a worried tone before trotting off to join the others.

“Alright, you next Twilight.” Rainbow Dash suggested while motioning towards the opening.

“No, you go first.” Twilight replied in a firm tone.

“What? You can’t be serious.” Rainbow Dash said in a tone of disbelief. A sudden rumble around them drew the ponies’ attention to their rear. Glimmer Shine’s flashlight illuminated the rest of the crawlspace from where he was. The three could see a massive wall of smoke moving in through the other opening and spreading out through the room.

“There’s no time for arguing! You go next!” Twilight demanded while shoving the cyan mare towards the opening. Rainbow Dash quickly realized that the unicorn would forcefully cram her into the hole if she didn’t cooperate.

“Grr… you better not die. If you die, I’m going to kill you.” Rainbow Dash said in a concerned tone while crawling through the hole as fast as she could.

“Duly noted, now go with the others.” Twilight said with a brief nod of comprehension to the cyan mare. Finally, the unicorn was left with only one other person in the crawlspace with her.

“You go next.” Twilight suggested while motioning for Glimmer Shine to move through the hole.

“Not a chance, Twilight.” Glimmer Shine said while gently pushing her towards the opening.

“Glimmer… I can’t lose anyone else tonight.” Twilight said in a sad tone while thinking back to Princess Luna. Glimmer Shine offered her a sympathetic expression before thinking back to his brother.

“Neither can I.” The yellow stallion stated before forcing the unicorn to move through the opening. Twilight rolled from Glimmer pushing her through to the other side. She groaned before quickly getting up and rushing to assist her companion.

“Come on!” Twilight hurried the stallion along as he made his way through the hole. Glimmer Shine quickly pulled his way out into the hallway. He made it almost completely out, until he felt something icy cold wrapping around his back leg.

“AH!” Glimmer yelled fearfully as he was pulled back into the hole. Just before he disappeared from view, he felt something else grabbing onto his outstretched hoof. The yellow pony looked up to see Twilight struggling to pull him out. He then looked back to see a tendril of wispy energy reaching out from the now massive wall of white smoke. The wall was slowly making its way past the smaller portion of the crawlspace on its path to get at the escaping ponies. At this rate, it would be upon them in moments.

“I can’t pull you out! It’s too strong!” Twilight exclaimed in a dreadful tone as she realized that she was losing the battle.

“Let me go!” Glimmer Shine instructed in a desperate tone.

“What?!” Twilight replied with a shocked expression, partially because she was so shocked, and partially because she could barely hear the stallion over the wailing of the mass of energy.

“Let me go… you’ll only get pulled in with me!” Glimmer stated in a louder tone while trying to wrestle out of the unicorn’s grip.

“I’m not going to let you die!” Twilight said in an adamant tone while pulling harder on the stallion. Despite her resolve, she was rapidly losing ground as the tendril pulled both her and the yellow pony further towards their doom.

Just before all hope was lost, Twilight noticed a second pair of hooves grabbing onto Glimmer Shine’s free arm. She looked beside her to see a familiar cyan pegasus struggling to help her in her battle against the cloud of smoke.

“Rainbow Dash…? I thought you left.” Twilight said in a surprised tone.

“Duh… element of loyalty.” Rainbow Dash stated in a sarcastic tone before flashing her friend a smirk. The purple mare smiled in return before returning her attention to the task of saving the yellow stallion.

With the combined efforts of two ponies, the pair finally managed to pull Glimmer Shine free of the wispy tendril. The two mares barely let the stallion come to his senses before they yanked him out of the crawlspace and threw him out into the hallway.

“Move or die people, those are your choices!” Rainbow Dash stated while rushing down the hallway with her two friends in tow.

After running a short distance down the corridor, the three met back up with the rest of the group. The others had apparently slowed down and waited for them to catch up.

“What are you guys waiting for?! Move it!” Glimmer Shine yelled while bolting past the group. As another rumble and a faint wail filled the air, the ponies were filled with a sense of urgency that forced them to run after the yellow stallion.

After a short run, the group came to a fork in the hallway and paused. They knew that they came from the left fork in the hallway, but another thought was making them hesitate nervously. In all of the commotion, most of the ponies had forgotten exactly where they came from. Twilight and the others didn’t even know where they were to begin with on account of their capture at the hands of the man with the glasses.

“Which way do we go from here?!” Twilight asked in a frantic tone. They had to run, and she knew that they wouldn’t have time to backtrack from a mistake once they started running.

“Follow me! I remember how to get back to the stairs!” Tom exclaimed while rushing ahead of the group. The others briefly looked at each other with uncertain expressions. They quickly ran to catch up with the human for fear that they would lose track of him in the commotion.

The entire house was shaking violently from the amount of energy flowing through the area. Lights were flickering wildly from the rooms to either side of the group as lamps and lightbulbs seemingly came to life without power. It was like the mass of evil that was following them was merging with the house and feeling its way around.

“Whoa!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed in surprise while jumping over a pile of boxes that toppled over in front of her. Everyone behind her was forced to either do the same or kick the boxes to the side and risk losing speed.

“It feels like this whole place is coming down!” Fluttershy stated fearfully.

“If it makes you feel better, that’s just because the ghosts are using their influence to try to stop us. Everything should be fine once the energy dissipates.” Tom explained from the front of the group.

“And just how long is that going to take?” Twilight asked in an uneasy tone while taking note of the hallway shaking around her.

“I don’t know… but something tells me that the mass of energy will catch up to us before it does. Just keep running!” Tom replied in a more serious tone.

“You don’t need to tell me twice!” Rainbow Dash stated in a nervously joking manner.

As another intersection came up, the human at the front of the group skidded to a halt and immediately darted down the new hallway. Everyone made a hard left to keep up with their companion before he got out of sight.

“This isn’t good… the energy is catching up with us.” Glitterball said while looking at her locator vial. The glowing portion of the blue liquid in the vial was steadily growing as she pointed it to the side.

“I thought we were running away from it?” Applejack asked nervously.

“We were, but now we’re facing a different direction. Since it can move through walls, it will be right on top of us before long.” Tom stated in an alarmed tone as he realized what the white unicorn had already realized.

“Ok, I just want to point out that the whole moving through walls thing is totally unfair!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed in a frustrated tone.

“Keep going! We need to get out of here before that thing catches up!” Glimmer Shine stated to keep the group moving as fast as possible. Their lungs were burning and their muscles were sore, but they had to keep moving or they would never see the light of day again.

“It’s a straight shot to the stairs from here! We’re almost out!” Tom stated to give the group an update on their progress. Everyone was relieved to hear that they were almost out, but they were also alarmed by the fact that they were racing against time. The fact that the white mist could come through the left wall at any time gave the ponies ample motivation to run faster.

“Oof!” Fluttershy groaned painfully as she tripped over another fallen box. She fell to the floor and hit her face and upper body against the ground.

“Come on Fluttershy, keep going. We’re not going to leave you here.” Applejack stated while pushing the yellow mare to her feet.

“Thank you.” Fluttershy said while flashing a brief smile at the cow pony. Another crash from more items falling around them made the two mares snap out of their brief distraction. They returned their attention to running as fast as they could while also avoiding the numerous pieces of debris on the floor.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the group came to the end of the hallway. To their left was the makeshift safe area they had set up when they first arrived in the basement, and to their right were the stairs leading up to the first floor. The ponies could see faint light from the upstairs hallway bleeding through the seam at the bottom of the door. The small glimmer of light was probably nothing more than a nearby candle, but it filled the group with enough hope to make it as significant as a lighthouse on a stormy night.

“Come on!” Tom exclaimed while ushering the group up the stairs. Once a few of the ponies made it up, he started up after them while everyone else followed him.

Just as Twilight was making her way onto the staircase, she felt something wrapping around her back leg. The sensation given by the thing grabbing her indicated that it wasn’t very solid, but somehow it was icy cold enough to elicit a painful reaction with her skin as it constricted around her leg.

“AH!” Twilight yelped in surprise as she was yanked backwards by the thing around her leg. Despite her attempts at catching herself, she banged her chin on one of the steps on her way down. The impact sent her into a painful daze, but she still found the strength to reach forward and grab one of the stairs to hold her ground.

As she looked behind her to see what was attacking her, she was confronted by a long and slender tendril of white smoke sticking out of the floor. The sight of the tendril alone would have been disconcerting enough to the unicorn, but she could see an even bigger threat seeping through the far wall. The rest of the mass of energy was slowly making its presence known as it slowly moved out of the wall and moved towards the pinned mare.

“Twilight!” Pinkie exclaimed fearfully as she noticed the purple unicorn being pulled towards the white mass. Before she could even think about the matter further, the pink pony darted down the stairs and grabbed one of Twilight’s arms to pull her out of the tendril’s grasp.

Spotting their friend in danger, Rainbow Dash and Applejack pushed around the terrified onlookers and rushed down the stairs to assist in her rescue. The two mares grabbed the unicorn by the arms and pulled with all of their might. Even with the combined efforts of three adult ponies, they were having a hard time with yanking the purple pony free.

“Agh!” Twilight yelped painfully as she felt a burning sensation in her back legs. She looked behind her to see that the cloud of white smoke was close to enveloping her.

Using the unicorn’s cries of pain as motivation, Pinkie and her two cohorts pulled one last time with everything they had. They all fell backwards as the purple mare was ripped away from the tendril holding her. All four ponies scrambled to get to their feet and flee from the rapidly approaching cloud.

“Run!” Twilight yelled in a panic as she bolted up the stairs. The cloud of energy was catching up to them, and they knew it.

Everyone ran out of the stairwell and out into the first floor hallway. The familiar sight of the candle lit tables and warm colored carpet was comforting to the ponies, or at least it would have been if they weren’t running for their lives.

“*Gasp* There it is!” Pinkie stated in an excited tone while looking ahead of the group. They had finally reached the end of the hallway. The door to the foyer, and hopefully freedom, was swiftly getting closer to them. Their journey was close to an end, for better or worse.

“I just hope that the front doors open.” Glitterball said with a worried expression.

“If they don’t, I’m heading through the nearest window!” Sunspot said with an eager chuckle. The excitement of reaching the entrance was clearly getting to the orange pegasus.

“That doesn’t sound like the best way to leave in my opinion.” Twilight shrugged uneasily at the prospect of being forced to jump out of a window.

“Hey, it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve done it tonight.” Sunspot replied to the cynical unicorn with a surprising amount of wit and cheerfulness.

“Yeah, but weren’t you unconscious the last time it happened? And didn’t you have a ghost to send you on your way?” Glitterball interjected in an uncertain tone, eliciting a shrug from the once cheerful pegasus.

“Don’t burst my bubble, Glitter!” Sunspot said in an irritated tone.

Before anyone else could entertain the thought of jumping out of a window, the group reached the door. Glimmer Shine threw it open and darted out into the foyer along with his frantic group. Even though he knew it wouldn’t do any good, he closed the door behind the group.

“Sir, where have you been? We’ve been waiting for you to get back for ages.” The voice of a confused guard drew everyone’s attention to the side. They saw several of the guards making their way down to see their miraculous return. Before anyone could say anything further, another loud wail and an even louder rumble shook the house.

“No time to explain! Everyone out!” Glimmer Shine yelled to everyone in the room before rushing to the front doors. While the confused and concerned guards rushed to gather the prisoners and other important items and follow the group, Glimmer grabbed the front doors and silently prayed while pushing on them.

Much to the amazement and relief of everyone present, the double doors creaked open. As the doors slid the rest of the way open, the awestruck ponies looked at the outside world with wide eyes and excited expressions.

It was pitch black outside, with the light from the foyer illuminating the stone porch and a little of the yard beyond. Although it had stopped storming, there was a thick cover of clouds over the night sky. The entire area was also soaking wet from the torrential downpour, but the ponies didn’t care.

“I never thought I would be so happy to see a pair of doors opening.” Rainbow Dash said while enjoying the cool fresh air hitting her face. Most of the others were on the verge of breaking down into tears of joy from looking around outside.

A distorted howl drew Twilight’s attention behind her. She gasped as she saw the cloud of white mist pouring into the room from behind the stairs. The mass of energy seemed to be moving much faster, as if the spirits inside were making a last ditch effort at catching the fleeing ponies.

“Everyone run!” Twilight exclaimed loudly while bolting outside. Once everyone noticed what had spooked the unicorn, they ran out to follow her. They didn’t even stop at the stone porch, opting instead to flee across the yard.

The ponies’ hooves sunk into the deep mud, but none of them cared about that at a time like this. Rarity held a passing thought of disgust in her mind before it was pushed aside by the terror she felt. Everyone was running for their lives as the angry mass of energy reached the front of the house and howled at them.

“It isn’t following us.” Pinkie stated as she looked behind her and noticed the cloud of white mist pausing at the threshold of the house.

“I would feel safer if we were over the property line to be sure!” Tom said while continuing over the crumbling stone path that lay off to the side. Everyone shared his desire to be as far away as possible, so they kept running.

Finally, after everything they had endured inside of the mansion, Twilight and her friends ran outside of the ancient iron fence that they had crossed so many hours ago. They stopped running and fought to catch their breaths as they realized just how tired they were. Noticing that the ground around them was strangely dry, a few of the ponies fell to the ground and rested from their ordeal.

“*Pant*… we… we made it.” Twilight said with a smile building on her face as the realization finally sunk in. The ponies were free. They had survived the trap intended to kill them, and they had even defeated the ghosts.

Everyone turned and looked to the mansion to watch the white smoke as it howled angrily in the distance. It looked like it was trying to ram against whatever invisible prison was keeping it in the house, but it wasn’t making any progress. Suddenly, a bright flash of light erupted from the inside of the mansion. Once the light died down, the white smoke was completely gone, with only a droning wail to mark its departure.

“Is it gone? Are they… gone?” Fluttershy asked in an uncertain tone while thinking back to the ghosts.

“I think so. With how much effort they put into chasing us, they must have sped up the process of eliminating the rest of their energy.” Tom said in a confident tone. Everyone smiled as they realized that they had won.

Meanwhile, towards the back of the group, Glimmer Shine noticed one of the guards trotting up to him. The stallion naturally had many questions to ask, as most of the other guards did. However, the yellow pony was uncertain if he wanted to answer the questions he had.

“Glimmer Shine… what in Celestia’s name happened down in the basement? Where are the others? Where is Princess Luna?” The guard asked in an uneasy tone. As the subject of the princess and the others was brought up, everyone’s smile shifted into an expression of sadness.

“They’re gone… all of them.” Glimmer Shine explained in a somber tone while looking down sadly.

“My word… I… I’m sorry sir.” The guard said in a sympathetic tone.

“Shouldn’t we send a team in there to look for survivors and…” One of the guards started to speak, until he hesitated with a somber expression at his next thought.

“Retrieve the bodies…” Glimmer Shine said while looking up with a blank expression. Despite his calm exterior, the group could tell that he was dying on the inside.

“I think that can wait until later. I want to be sure that the ghosts are gone before sending anyone else in there. Besides… I think we could all use some rest.” Glimmer said while looking around at the others. Everyone offered him sympathetic expressions of sadness as they remembered those that were lost in the mansion.

“Of course sir.” The guard said before saluting and waiting at attention. Glimmer Shine merely started walking away slowly.

Deciding that there was nothing more they could do, everyone else started to follow the yellow stallion towards the forest. They were sore, tired, and sorrowful, but they still walked slowly while processing their thoughts. Everyone hoped that they could get to sleep once they got home, and they all silently wished that this would all turn out to be a horrible nightmare that they would wake up from.