The group rush into a clearing in the forest just off the path towards the spa as they look around and wear perplexed expressions.

"Where did it go?!" Edward asks as he frantically looks around.

"Does anyone even know what we are looking for?" Alexander asks, catching his breath slightly.

Twilight lights up her horn in preparation to cast a spell as she focuses, before releasing her magic and making her eyes glow a tinge of blue.

"Well, going by our profile thus far... A slime of some description?" Twilight looks around and points towards a blob of mass through her thermal vision spell. "There is something hidden in the bushes over there."

After several seconds the purple slime slides out of the bushes and grows slowly in mass as a magical looking energy inside it shrinks and is absorbed.

"I guess we found the culprit who has been stealing the students magic, but how the hell do we subdue it?" Alexander asks standing in his regular preparation stance with his right arm lowered.

"That is a very good question... The more important question would be how to subdue it without magic." Twilight states in observation as she runs through several scenarios.

The slime simply stands there looking at them before stopping on Alexander and wobbling up straight upon recognising him. Alexander does the same before his eyes widen and they point at each other.

"You were that funky looking dude in the parlour!" Alexander states but the slime appears to mimic it with his body movements.

"You saw him in the ice cream parlour?" Starlight asks raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, he was wearing sunglasses, a wig and a top hat, but I know it's the same guy." Alexander explains as he settles back down out of his combat stance.

"In all honesty, it doesn't appear to be hostile at all and that girl said her sister collapsed after petting it..." Twilight muses rubbing her muzzle.

Alexander glances up towards the nearby mountainside with a frowned expression as he can't quite make out a presence using his wind magic. Twilight suddenly feels a tiny pinch on her neck making her slap the spot on instinct before looking at her hand in confusion as she can't see anything there. Twilight's chest suddenly feels very tight and inflamed as she clenches her shirt tightly.

"What's wrong Twilight?" Edward asks concerned as he steps closer to her side.

Twilight can feel her magic fluctuate and begin to rise within her body before the slime in front of them stares blankly in her direction. Twilight's magical energy continues to rise causing her to hold her head and chest as her horn begins to build-up too.

"I think we should get the hell away from here!" Alexander states as he begins to back away from the scene.

Starlight and Edward nod at that notion and they both begin to help a struggling Twilight hobble quickly away from the slime who appears to be drooling. After several seconds, Twilight's magic reaches the point it bursts into an intense faint aura around her person causing the nearby slime to turn bright red and scowl. The creature then roars loudly and begins chasing after the group with abnormal haste while spitting smallish sized slime pellets at them. The group is able to dodge the majority of the slime pellets, but several lands on Starlight and Twilight's blazers.

"Excuse me, princess." Edward states as he rushes to strip Twilight's blazer while avoiding the slime.

"I apologise in advance." Alexander states as he skids and comes to a stopping point in his iconic combat stance.

"Sorry for what- don't even think about it!" Starlight states before Alexander snaps his fingers.

The resulting air slashes tear Starlight's blazer to shreds but manage to remove both it and the slime. Starlight glares at Alexander as the trio catch up to him and continue running.

"Edward, I don't suppose you perfected that metal bending you've been practising?" Alexander asks as he attempts to send airwaves at the creature, they make holes in the slime which quickly close up.

"Good a time as any to actually field test it, though I warn you making rings is all I've perfected." Edward gives Twilight to Starlight before fishing in his pocket for a box of marble sized metal beads.

Opening the box, Edward throws four up into the air and concentrates some magic while uttering an incantation before slapping said hands together. Looking up, the slime is confused when four spikes suddenly land around him and then fan out to create a dome.

"Holy shit, you actually did it... Figures you'd use that anime character's signature clap, but I won't belittle results." Alexander states with a slight deadpan expression.

"Thank you, but I'm surprised it worked at all..." Edward states panting slightly before staring at the dome in confusion.

Leaking out from minuscule gaps in Edward barrier can be seen the bright red slime who slowly weasels its way out of the trap. The group groan and continue running before they are quickly pursued.

"I have an idea, it is a very bad idea but it's all I got right now." Alexander states as he redirects them.

After several paces through the forest, they come upon the poorly boarded up entrance of an old mineshaft. Not having time to argue against the plan, the group slide through the boards and begin to run down the mine.

"According to the records wasn't this place shut down several hundred years ago." Edward asks, now holding Twilight again.

"Apparently, yeah. The guys and I come down here for D&D every Thursday night." Alexander states with an awkward smile.

"That's where you've been going at night on Thursday! I'd been trying to follow you, but got nowhere." Starlight exclaims.

"Yup, wait... You were following me?!" Alexander states before they hear a loud roar making the tunnels shake.

Suddenly the ground begins to crack and rumble before giving way into a black abyss which swallows the group whole. The slime creeps up to the edge of the hole and growls before slithering off.

Alexander groans as he slowly opens his eyes to barely see the dimly lit cavern which appears to be a certain shade of lilac. The dim light coming from behind it appears to be light turquoise in nature.

"Starlight, you can get off me now..." Alexander states as she sighs.

"I've been awake for at least an hour by now and you haven't complained." Starlight replies without moving.

"Get your flank off my chest for the love of god woman." Alexander snaps his fingers to elevate the mare off him and sit her nearby.

"Spoilsport... Any idea where we are?" Starlight asks as she stands up and dusts off her skirt.

Alexander stands up and stretches, cracking several parts of his body before groaning and looking around.

"Likely deeper in the mine... You know this would have been a softer landing if you didn't grab my arms on the way down." Alexander states rubbing his neck.

"You had no problem moving anything! Your wind magic should have saved us from a hard landing..." Starlight states folding her arms in a humph.

"Hold on a moment here... I'm just going to say what I'm sure everyone else is thinking by this point." Alexander takes a breath.

Starlight turns away from Alexander and sighs.

"What is that then?" Starlight asks.

"Why in the name of all that is magical in the world did you not just levitate yourself like I've seen you do before, you could have easily avoided landing on me." Alexander shouts, pointing at Starlight dramatically.

Starlight blushes deeply before turning sharply to look at Alexander.

"That's hardly the point of any of this! Besides, I did use it just before landing on you so I didn't crush your chest, so there ha!" Starlight exclaims pointing back at him.

"So, what you're saying is, you purposely landed on me with your flank in my face and proceeded to stay like such for an hour? What the hell were you doing for that whole time?" Alexander asks, folding his arms.

"I... Well... Objection! I didn't mean anything by it, I was just too lazy to move. As for what I was doing... Playing Plants V.S Zombies on your phone till you woke up..." Starlight avoids looking at Alexander directly.

Alexander tries to work his mouth, but can only just stare at the mare in front of him before sighing deeply.

"You give me headaches, Starlight... Headaches. We need to find Edward and Twilight before that slime thing does and hopefully find a way to fix her." Alexander looks around and spots a tunnel leading off from where they are.

"I guess I'll go first then seeing as I have the light magic, but you better cover my ass with your wind magic so nothing jumps us." Starlight states as she walks in front of him towards the tunnel.

"Oh, believe me, I won't take my eyes off it." Alexander states as he starts walking a little bit behind her.

"You are terrible..." Starlight sighs as they descend down the tunnel.

Edward slowly blinks open his eyes and moves a little before groaning and holding his arm as he flinches in pain. Looking around he can see Twilight laying a short distance from him, her magical aura still pulsing around her. Between them is a metal sled made from the same material as the balls Edward threw at the slime before.

"Least the days spent practising that technique during last winter paid off..." Edward mutters to himself before moving over to Twilight.

Gently touching the mare to try and move her, Edward could feel that her body is rising slowly in temperature.

"Ngh... W-where are we..?" Twilight asks as she comes around but keeps clutching her chest.

"By the looks of things, deeper within the mine. We got separated from Alexander and Starlight part way down the fall, I was lucky enough to be able to reach my metal balls and form the sledge which saved us." Edward states drawing her attention to the nearby metal sled.

"Thank you... With me unable to seemingly do much with my magic, unstable as it is..." Twilight sits herself up despite her intense pain.

"It's fine. We need to find a way out of here and meet up with the others before the slime finds us." Edward states standing up and looks around.

A short distance away from them, Edward can see a tunnel leading off from the room they are in. Nodding to himself, he squats down and prompts Twilight to get on his back.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Twilight asks as she slowly moves onto Edward in a piggyback position.

Edward slowly stands up and Twilight gets comfortable before settling.

"It's the best method to get around right now with you suffering how you are. Please just bear with it for now." Edward states before they start moving down the tunnel.

"Thank you..." Twilight states before closing her eyes.

Author's Notes:

Another chapter out for the latest arc and I hope you guys like the speed at which we do things. We like to do things bit by bit which seems to work and stretches out the reading into manageable chapters so as people can digest the information before reading the next chapter. This also allows them to imagine what will happen next which is always interesting. We hope to see you all next time.