She was back in her previous location where she started. Just then, she heard shouting. She turned around and noticed that it was Pinkie Pie.

“Oh, hey there Twilight! Any luck?” Pinkie asked.

She shook her head. “I check around again for the creature but it seems to have disappeared. For the most part, everything seems to be okay,” Twilight answered.

“Well, I’m glad your okay. Did you find anything exciting?” Pinkie asked.

There was a short pause in Twilight’s response. Almost as if she had a thought about the past. “It seems she’s really insisting on finding him…”

“Hmm?” Pinkie asked.

After making her way back to the Empire, she went towards the castle to see if anypony had anything to report on the location of the monster. Upon moving forward, she bumped into Fluttershy.

“Oh hey, Twilight. How are you?” Fluttershy asked, holding some medical supplies with her wings.

“Did you happen to find any results, Fluttershy?” Twilight bluntly asked.

Hearing that nearly made Fluttershy drop her medical supplies.

“Uh, no Twilight. Not yet.” Fluttershy said, glancing around for anything bad.

“Hmm. Well, head to the medical room. The patients need treatment.”

Fluttershy nodded her head and dashed towards the medical room with the medical supplies in hoof. After Fluttershy left, Twilight went forward to the throne room to see if there were any updates. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were waiting.

“What do you have so far, Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked.

“Right now, every scout hasn’t found much on a lead, but we did find some ooze from a dead griffin.” Rainbow Dash reported.

“Any leads yet?”

“Right now, we’re having the research department look over the remains to see what has caused the griffin to change. It may take some time, so be patient until we have results.”

Twilight nodded at Rainbow Dash, then turned towards Applejack.

“How is morale, Applejack?” she asked.

“So far, everypony’s doin’ fine, but they all seem to be shaky due to that monster recently overwhelming Los Pegasus.” Applejack responded.

“Is that right? Any survivors?”

“Only a few, but they seem to be traumatized by the events that unfolded in Pegasus.”

“I see. Once they’ve calmed down, see if you can get any answers on where it’ll strike next.”

“Can do, Twilight!”

After going over their reports, both Applejack and Rainbow Dash, leaving Twilight to go to the throne room. As she was walking towards the castle, she noticed Starlight concentrating on some sort of spell as she was glowing her horn.

“How are the unicorns, Starlight?” Twilight asked.

“I’m showing them how to concentrate a single blast of magic from a faraway distance against any dragons that they may stumble upon.”

“Hmm. Carry on then.”

Starlight nodded at Twilight before she left, but not before turning her head and giving her a worried look. She had no idea long it has been since she has been able to speak to Twilight directly, but she knew that Twilight had became a shadow of whom she once was. Then she turned back to her spell. Twilight kept moving about towards the castle to report what has happened on her assignment. As she kept moving, she had thoughts about the times when she was with her friends. It turned her stomach to know that she can’t be with them in these times, but she had a responsibility to attend to. Just then, she bumped into Rarity.

“Rarity?” Twilight asked, picking her scythe up.

“Oh, Twilight! It’s good to see you again. How was the outside world?” Rarity asked, putting up a fake smile.

“Wonderful. How is everypony doing right now?”

“So far, we have evacuated another twenty more ponies from Equestria unscathed, but we are beginning to run out of room for most of the shelters, unfortunately.”

“I see. Are we still lucky?”

“Well, the barrier is still holding, but the anomaly is getting stronger and stronger everyday now. To be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if we get any cracks.”

“Hmm. Anyway, I have to report to Luna and Cadence. Keep taking care everypony that comes in and be sure that the barrier is still holding.”

“Very well, Twilight.”

Twilight kept moving on towards the castle and this time, hoping that there won’t be any interruptions. After making her way towards the front entrance, she was ready to open the door. But suddenly, Pinkie Pie came crashing on Twilight just when she was about to grab the handle.

“Ow! Pinkie!” Twilight shouted in an infuriated manner.

“Sorry Twilight! I was about to head into the castle.” Pinkie said in a happy, yet embarrassed manner.

Twilight shrugged as Pinkie helped her off the ground when they opened the door. After entering the castle, Twilight asked,

“So how many souls have you found?”

“Right now, I seemed to have found ten, but the rest of them were corrupted. I looked around for the rest of the souls, but they were already taken.” Pinkie responded.

“I see. Have you reported yourself yet?”

“No. I was just about to. At least before I bumped into you. But now that you’re here, we can kill two birds with one stone!”

Twilight rolled her eyes upon hearing that. After finally entering the castle, the two started walking to the throne room.

“What about you, Twilight? How goes your current escapade?” Pinkie asked, bouncing to the castle.

“Right now, I’ve found around fifteen souls, but the anomaly’s getting stronger. Everyday, the barrier looks as if it is ready to shatter. The monster behind it all is now more dangerous than ever.” Twilight responded.

“Ha! No kidding. The ooze coming from Everfree Forest nearly had me there.”

Twilight gave her a surprised look when Pinkie mentioned what had almost happened to her. But then she remembered that it was Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie, so she just brushed it off. But she did feel something off. Not a terrible feeling, but Pinkie was feeling a little off. A little too off.