Angel of Justice: Blood Moon

A few minutes ago, Sparkplug and her group were still hastily walking away from their encounter with the blood monster.

They were walking, mostly because this had been going on for some time, and they were exhausted. Two of them were hurt to some degree, and even though they should have stopped a while ago, they all agreed to put as much distance as possible between them and the creature.

On the plus side, it also allowed them to continue searching for a way out, or to get closer to the reading on their locator and hopefully find somepony else. Because if Sparkplug wanted one thing above all others, it was to not be solely responsible for the lives of her friends.

Thankfully, Applejack and Fluttershy could hold their own, which was a bit surprising in the yellow mare’s case. The way the pegasus took control of the situation and saved both her and Applejack impressed her to no end.

Eventually, however, Sparkplug was the one to peter out to a halt, signaling her companions to stop and rest as well.

Sparkplug leaned against the slightly moistened stone wall beside her. They hadn’t seen any pools of blood for some time, and there were no grates in sight for the creature to sneak up on them from. All in all, they were as safe as they could have been, or so they hoped.

“I think…” Sparkplug panted, “I think we lost it.”

A pained grunt brought both her and Fluttershy’s attention over to see Applejack slumping against the wall and sliding down to a seated position. She was clutching her shoulder, which was still bleeding slightly from where the creature stabbed her.

“Thank goodness for that…” Applejack said, a somewhat dazed look in her eyes.

“Are you ok, Applej-ACK!” Sparkplug yelped as she started to move forward to assist her friend, only to put weight on her bad ankle and nearly falter. She looked down, only to see her own wounds still bleeding a bit.

“I’d ask you the same thing, sugar,” Applejack frowned.

Sparkplug cringed and cradled her hind hoof, doing her best to keep weight off of it. “Ngh… I don’t think I’ll be running any marathons for a while, that’s for sure.”

Seeing the gray mare in stable condition, and seeing how Applejack looked like she was about to pass out, Fluttershy decided to examine the farmer first.

The pegasus softened her features as she sat down next to her friend and examined her shoulder. The wounds were mostly dry and devoid of blood, save for the edges, similar to what she expected to see.

“How do you feel, Applejack?” Fluttershy asked, watching her friend for any signs of fainting.

Applejack made an effort to appear more stable than she felt, but her pale complexion and dazed stare gave her away. “I’m… feelin’ a lil’ woozy, but… I should be fine,” She tried to get up, only to stumble a bit, where the pegasus caught her.

“I was afraid of that,” Fluttershy sighed. “We need to get this wound patched up so you don’t lose any more blood. You’re lucky it didn’t drain you as much as the one at the school did me.”

“Wait… it drained her blood?” Sparkplug asked, her eyes growing with alarm. “Oh my gosh, that’s what you dealt with?! In a school?! With kids?!”

“Yeah, well, blame Raincloud on that one. She’s about the only pony left alive to blame anyway,” Applejack muttered. “But, nopony got hurt too bad, thank Celestia.”

Sparkplug shuddered at the thought of young fillies and colts going through such a horrible thing. She then shifted her attention back to Applejack and frowned. “Hold on. I think we have some medical supplies. They should be… uh…” She paused, checking her own vest for the location. “There we go. Check the pouches on her left side.”

While Sparkplug produced some bandages and got to work mending her own injury, Fluttershy rifled her hoof through Applejack’s vest until she found what she was looking for.

“Hold still, AJ,” Fluttershy said softly, starting the process of cleaning the wound and dressing it.

Applejack didn’t like putting her friend out like this, but she didn’t have much of a choice, so she tried her best to cooperate. Even with how gentle the pegasus was being, it stung enough to make her stifle a cringe.

Thinking back to how they narrowly escaped such a fearsome monster, her mind drifted back to her friends. Specifically, she thought back to how Sunspot and Glimmer Shine had just abruptly cut off communications a few minutes ago.

“You think Sunspot and Glimmer are alright?” Applejack asked.

Sparkplug didn’t look up from wrapping her ankle in gauze, but she softened her eyes with concern as she thought of the pair. “I hope so. I mean… they would have talked to us by now if they could, right?”

“Maybe they’re just busy?” Fluttershy suggested timidly. She looked like she didn’t exactly have faith in herself.

After re-wrapping her ankle to make it looser and somewhat comfortable, Sparkplug sighed. “I’ll see if I can reach them again.” She said, starting to reach a hoof to her ear.

However, before she could even make contact, an unexpectedly loud voice rang in her head, making her flinch.

“Guys! Stay out of the water! There’s a monster down there!” Pinkie Pie informed, probably more energetically than was required.

Applejack and Fluttershy skewed their expressions as they saw their gray friend recovering from seemingly nothing.

“Somethin’ wrong, Sparkplug?” AJ asked with mild concern.

Sparkplug took a second to calm her racing heart and massage her sensitive ear before looking up. “It’s Pinkie Pie.”

Hearing this, both mares perked up eagerly.

“Pinkie?! She’s ok?!” Fluttershy said, putting perhaps too much enthusiasm into her current task, which, unfortunately for Applejack, was pulling the bandages tight. A slight grunt quickly made the pegasus cringe apologetically and fix her work.

“She sure sounds ok,” Sparkplug said before touching her ear and focusing on the pink mare. “Yeah… we already know. Jeez, Pinkie…” She muttered flatly before shifting her focus to slight concern. “You had us worried for a minute there. Everything alright with you guys?”

A moment later, the pink mare chirped happily. “Yep! We had a close call, but everything’s okie dokie artichokie now. We even found a way upstairs!”

That last statement made Sparkplug’s eyes widen. “Wow, that’s great, Pinkie!” She said before dropping her hoof briefly to relay the message to her eagerly waiting companions. “They found a way upstairs!”

As she was inspecting her newly bandaged shoulder, Applejack brightened her expression and looked up. “I knew they would pull through!”

Fluttershy smiled as well. “Leave it to Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie to come out on top.”

Sparkplug shared in her friends’ excitement for a moment before shifting her attention back to the pink mare in her ear. “Listen, don’t wait up for us. You get yourselves out of this place and we’ll catch up when we--”

Then, before she could finish her sentence, a loud wooden bang echoed from further down the corridor, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and jolt. Sparkplug actually produced a startled yelp and jumped to her hooves as she stared in the direction of the noise.

“Sparkplug? Hello? Are you ok?!” Pinkie’s voice came, brimming with worry.

The gray mare ignored her for a moment and waited, her ears poised forward alongside the other two mares. More echoed sounds came in the form of hurried hoofsteps.

“Uh… I’m gonna have to get back to you on that, Pinkie!” Sparkplug said before dropping her hoof to her vest. She fished out her popper and kept it loosely pointed ahead.

Applejack got in front of Fluttershy and drew her silver blade. Their detectors were still glowing, so they couldn’t rule out any dangers to be the source of the sound.

The three ponies huddled together and watched, ready to fight or flee at a moment’s notice as the sound drew closer. Then, two colorful shapes came down the curved corridor. One of them flinched back and froze upon noticing the trio, while the other jumped and yelped.

“Girls…?...!” A familiar stallion asked, his tense expression fading to a bright smile as he recognized them.

Sparkplug and the others quickly lowered their weapons and gawked at the pair. “Glimmer? Sunspot?!” The gray mare replied, equally as stunned and excited to see them as they were to see her.

Sunspot deflated with relief from her seated position, one foreleg reaching halfway to her suit. “You guys scared the hay out of us!” She said, a joyful smile plastered on her face regardless. Of all the surprises she was anticipating down in the winding tunnels and rooms, this was a pleasant one.

Applejack eyed down to the blade she was still carrying and chuckled awkwardly as she put it away. “Sorry… You kinda scared us too,” She said before skewing her expression as she noted the pair’s appearance. They were soaking wet, and there was a reddish tint to their respective uniforms and fur coats. “Why are you guys all wet?”

Sunspot grumbled under her breath as she looked down at her suit. “Don’t ask.”

Meanwhile, while his teammate was bemoaning their own situation, Glimmer Shine’s expression fell as he noticed the orange mare’s bandaged shoulder and Sparkplug’s ankle. “Oh my gosh, what happened to you two?”

“Monster attack,” Applejack replied, glancing back down the tunnel behind them in a paranoid manner. “Honestly, I’m surprised it took this long in a place like this.”

Sunspot cringed sympathetically at the orange mare’s wound. Sparkplug’s injury looked fairly tame in comparison. “Yikes… those skeletons really did a number on you, didn’t they?”

Suddenly, the three mares paused in confusion and mild concern.

“Wait… skeletons?” Sparkplug wrinkled her expression.

Glimmer and Sunspot looked at each other and blinked before facing the trio.

“Is that… not what attacked you?” Sunspot asked hesitantly.

Fluttershy’s eyes softened with worry, “No. It was one of the things that-”

Then, before the pegasus could finish, another sound echoed from down the tunnel where the two ponies had just come from.

What sounded like a guttural series of growls and screeches were slowly getting louder. While the sounds were plenty unnerving, enough so to make Sparkplug and the others stand up and stare ahead nervously, Sunspot and Glimmer Shine seemed to be the most concerned by them.

“Uh oh...” Glimmer muttered.

“W-what is that?” Applejack asked, unsure if she even wanted an answer.

Sunspot said, “That would be the skeletons,” She took a few nervous steps back toward the tunnel behind them. “We should go… like, right now.”

Sparkplug reached out to stop the pegasus. “Wait! We can’t go that way. Our monster is back there somewhere!”

“Well, where do we go?!” Sunspot asked.

As the noises grew louder and more pronounced, Fluttershy felt her heart rate climbing. “Guys… w-what do we do?”

Glimmer Shine turned toward the noises, his eyes holding a serious air to them behind the unease. "There was another path back where we came from. Come on! Let's get moving before those creeps beat us there!"

The others wasted no time in following behind the stallion as he ran down the tunnel.

Running toward the howling cries and moans of the undead horde proved to be a spine-tingling experience for much of the group, but they had no other choice. All they could do was keep a fast pace and hope they reached their destination before the creatures did.

Shortly, they saw an intersection up ahead with a smaller corridor leading off to the right. Judging from the sounds emanating from it, Sparkplug and the two mares with her quickly figured out that this was where Glimmer and Sunspot came from, and also where the skeletal monsters were approaching from.

As they were running by, Applejack turned and noticed a few red dots glowing just beyond the light of a torch at the mouth of the corridor. Immediately after, a skeletal griffin lurched into the light and shrieked at her.

“Sweet apple pie!” The orange mare jerked back before picking up her pace.

Sunspot turned from the front of the group and saw the first few skeletons pouring out into the tunnel after them, their mismatched eyes and empty sockets staring toward the fleeing ponies.

“Son of a-” The pegasus muttered, pulling out her popper and taking a few shots at the faster-looking skeletons. None of the creatures could really keep up with them at a full sprint, but Sparkplug’s injury was slowing them down enough to cause concern.

“Keep moving!” Glimmer Shine said, ushering Fluttershy and the injured mares ahead while he took up the rear with Sunspot and tried to slow down the advancing horde. They would each take potshots over their shoulder every few moments.

Sparkplug winced in pain as she stumbled to the floor. Even with the added support of the bandage, her ankle could barely support the strain she was putting it through. Fluttershy quickly helped the gray mare up and put a foreleg around her to help her stay mobile as the group kept going down the tunnel.

Eventually, the group arrived at the end of the corridor. Only a single doorway to their left served as a path, so they were inclined to take it.

Applejack was first through the opening, and she paused as she saw what was waiting for them. It was a room with a bridge in the center spanning over a ten-foot-deep pit with more blood at the bottom. There were also various puddles of the crimson fluid scattered around, making the area slick and slippery.

However, what captivated the ponies’ attention as they all filtered into the room, was an elevated platform at the back wall leading to a stairway.

Sparkplug’s face brightened, “There’s our ticket out of here!”

“Not like we have much choice. Let’s book it!” Sunspot suggested after taking a paranoid glance behind them out into the tunnel. She could see the skeletons outside getting uncomfortably close.

With ample motivation in the form of a chorus of unearthly sounds, the ponies all trotted up to the bridge and rushed to cross it as fast as they could without falling off.

Applejack’s hoof nearly slipped out from under her in the center of the bridge, but luckily Glimmer Shine nudged her back onto stable ground.

However, just before they reached the other side, a startled yelp and subsequent grunt of pain made them pause and turn. They saw Sunspot flat on her face, apparently having fallen over as something caught her hind hoof.

Much to their horror, they immediately saw the problem. A bloody claw was reaching up out of the crimson puddle in the center of the bridge and clutching the pegasus’ leg.

“What the h-” Sunspot muttered before widening her eyes as she saw the talons wrapping around her limb, right around the time the claw pulled her backward. “AHH!”

Glimmer Shine yelled, “Sunspot!”

As the pegasus was being pulled back, a grotesque visage of a griffon made out of blood emerged from the living puddle. It started to move sideways and fall off of the bridge, seemingly trying to take Sunspot with it down into the bloody pool below.

Glimmer wasted no time in leaping forward, managing to grab the suited mare’s hooves just as she was falling to the side. She unfurled her wings and did her best to hover in place while the stretchy limb kept pulling her down.

Off to the side, a pair of the horrid-looking skeletons emerged into the room, with more stalking in behind them. The undead creatures didn’t seem to care that another monster was present. All they cared about was reaching the ponies and tearing into them.

Seeing their friends in danger and the undead horde approaching, Sparkplug and the others quickly sprang into action. The gray mare drew her popper, and Applejack drew her strobe tentatively.

“Hold on, Sunspot!” Sparkplug shouted as she took aim with her weapon.

“That was the plan!” The pegasus retorted, face wrinkled from nerves and exertion as she fought to stay above the bridge with Glimmer’s help.

With pressure mounting, Sparkplug trailed the vial in her hooves down toward the midpoint of the bloody forelimb. Her aim was getting better with the popper, but she didn’t want to risk hitting Sunspot.

An apt ‘pop’ rang out as a bolt of green light shot out of the tip of the vial, eliciting a slight flinch from both Fluttershy and Sparkplug herself. The light zipped straight past the intended mark, coming close, but not making contact and instead uselessly splashing into the pit below.

Sparkplug tensed herself and shifted her aim before letting loose two more shots. The first one missed again, but the second exploded into the bloody appendage, sending it spraying out like a burst water balloon as the bolt of energy sailed through. A displeased growl came from the pit below as a familiar beaked skull glared up at the gray mare.

Almost instantly, Sunspot felt the claw around her hind leg giving way and shifting to liquid. Without the strong pull on her form, she quickly hovered back up onto the bridge, where Glimmer Shine was waiting to pull her in and put a reassuring hoof on her shoulder.

The pair started to cast an impressed and thankful look over to Sparkplug when a particularly close shriek made them dart their eyes behind them. Seeing how close the skeletons had gotten, they both flinched back in alarm.

“Holy-!” Sunspot exclaimed, immediately fumbling on her suit for some kind of weapon.

However, before either of them could react further, a zapping sound behind them signaled a series of colorful orbs of sparkling light to surge past.

Applejack used every bit of her strobe’s rapid fire rate and hammered the button. The vibrant projectiles collided with the two nearest skeletons, exploding into equally vibrant sparkles and creating a sizzling sound.

Much to Glimmer and Sunspot’s surprise, the skeletons produced a pained wail and jerked back. The strange, fleshy tendril snaking through their bodies seemed to shrivel up and blacken, and as the farm pony hit them with more projectiles, one of them actually collapsed to the floor and scattered into a heap of bones.

“Wow… You’d think we would have tried that,” Glimmer said, glancing down to his own strobe and lifting his brows.

“Come on!” Applejack beckoned, keeping her weapon trained on the cautiously approaching horde. “We gotta get outta here ‘fore that bloody critter-”

Then, another splash from the water below drew their attention to the side. The ponies watched as a similar bloody limb to the creature by the bridge stretched up before planting itself onto the cold stone near the exit platform. Soon after, a mass of blood seemed to defy gravity and flow up the limb, pooling into a crimson puddle around the claw.

Fluttershy flinched back as the puddle started forming upwards and taking the shape of the creature. Much to her horror, she darted her eyes back to the pit below the bridge, only to see the same beaked visage growling at Sunspot and Glimmer Shine.

“There’s two of them?!” She squeaked, immediately slinking back to the wall behind her and descending into a panic.

Seeing how Sparkplug used a popper to attack the crimson beasts, Glimmer Shine grabbed his own popper and quickly made it over the bridge so he could stand in front of the mares
protectively.

“Get ready to make a break for the stairs,” He said, taking a darting glance at the skeletons off to the side. Applejack’s occasional strobe fire was dissuading most of them from moving, but it was only a matter of time before they were overwhelmed.

A sharp gurgle came from the creature ahead of them as it reeled its forelimb back, immediately sending a wave of alarm through the ponies.

“Look out!” Sparkplug yelled as she and the others either dove to the side or ducked.

Sunspot barely got clear in time before the clawed projectile came rocketing between them. She cringed in pain as it nicked her shoulder, creating a small cut in her suit and even drawing a bit of blood. Applejack narrowly avoided getting impaled as she fell backward, watching the bloody geyser surge over her and into the wall behind the group.

Before the creature could act further, Glimmer Shine rolled from his position on the ground and aimed up before sending two bolts of green energy zipping forward.

One hit near the puddle at the blobby base of the monster, creating a sizable hole in its form. The other impacted its neck, sending its head dropping to the floor before splashing into liquid, with its body drooping and melting soon after.

“Go, go, go!” Glimmer said, scrambling to get to his hooves. Nobody needed to be told twice.

Fluttershy and Sparkplug went after the stallion up the stone steps. The opening into the cramped stairway was just in their reach. They really hoped that it didn’t lead to a dead end.

Sunspot and Applejack took up the rear, with the pegasus keeping her popper in her teeth while clutching her stinging shoulder with one hoof.

Hearing a sound like flowing water, Sunspot looked over just in time to see another bloody claw stretching toward her. “Woah!” She yelped, shrinking back against the wall just in time for the claws to swipe down where she just was and scrape along the stonework as it receded back.

Following the stretchy limb, they noticed that it came from the creature still in the pit. It stopped just at the edge of the trench, holding onto the side while its liquid skin started flowing up and pooling into a larger puddle. It was coming up after the fleeing ponies.

“Get the lead out!” Applejack shouted ahead of her as everyone scrambled to get up and into the stairwell. She and Sunspot got inside just in time to hear a bellowing garble of a roar echo through the claustrophobic space.

Up the stairs they all went, narrowly avoiding tripping several times. The space around them wasn't wet or slick, but the tight spacing of the steps made them difficult to traverse in a hurry.

Glimmer Shine saw a door coming into view at the top of the stairs. He felt a twinge of dread welling up inside of him as he silently prayed that it wasn't locked. And as he picked up his pace and reached the wooden obstacle, it thankfully clicked open at his touch.

The door swung open to reveal a relatively familiar-looking setting. It was a carpeted hallway, with lit torches, paintings, and tapestries adorning the walls.

“Oh, thank Celestia,” Glimmer noted with relief.

“Are we back on the first floor?” Fluttershy asked as she and Sparkplug made it out of the stairwell. She let the gray mare rest against the nearby wall while she took a look around.

However, the faint howls and growls coming up through the stairwell behind them drew their attention back just in time to see Sunspot and Applejack coming through the door in an exhausted state of panic.

Sunspot panted a bit before looking to Glimmer Shine, “We got problems! Those freaks are still following us!”

“What are we gonna do? Outrun them?!” Sparkplug asked. Between her injury and everyone’s collective stamina swiftly running out, she wasn't sure how much longer they could keep ahead of the creatures.

While everyone else was slowly descending into a panic, Glimmer Shine took a moment of thought before quickly springing into action.

“Sunspot, help me make a barrier!” The stallion instructed as he dug through his vest for materials, coming up with a small strip of paper, a quill, and some ink.

Sunspot gave the stallion a wary look as he started feverishly drawing some kind of symbols on the paper. “Are you sure that would work here?” She asked, looking to the door while also digging for her own supplies.

“It’s an interior door. The spell doesn’t say anything about magical mazes!” Glimmer replied. In truth, he wasn't entirely sure how two different kinds of magic overlapping would work. He only hoped that they would just ignore each other.

Applejack watched down the stairs while her two friends worked. Her pupils shrank as she saw a familiar crimson figure slithering up the steps. Once it saw the ponies at the top, it growled and shifted its body eagerly.

And judging from the choir of noises behind the creature, the remaining skeletons weren’t too far behind either.

“Uh… guys, I don’t wanna alarm you or nothin’, but could ya maybe hurry it up?!” Applejack stated nervously.

“Almost got it…” Glimmer said, taking pains not to compromise the accuracy of the symbols he was drawing in his haste. “There!” He stated, dropping the quill to the side and frantically picking the piece of paper up.

The others watched as the stallion rushed to the door and affixed the strip of paper onto the other side. He took a glance down the stairwell toward the approaching monsters and flinched back anxiously as he saw a bloody claw shooting toward him.

With a startled yelp, Glimmer shut the door and pressed his back against it. There was a sizable thunk that made the door shake and jolt slightly. “Sunspot, it’s now or never!”

“I’m trying, I’m trying!” Sunspot cringed as she fought her mounting nerves and the pressure of the situation to draw straight lines and smooth curves. It was hard enough for her to draw in the first place, let alone such a small set of intricate symbols from memory.

Fluttershy backed up to the other side of the hallway until her backside hit the wall. She whined tensely as she stared at the door, all of the noises coming out of it sending her already shocked nerves into overdrive.

Sparkplug backed up as well and even sat down so she could draw her popper and keep it at the ready. Soon, only Glimmer and Sunspot were left near the door, with all eyes on the pegasus.

“Come on…” Sunspot muttered, her brow starting to sweat as she filled in the remaining sections of the spell. She actually had to steady her foreleg with her free hoof to prevent it from jittering and ruining her work. “Come on…”

The shrieks and groans were getting closer and closer. All of the ponies felt their hearts racing. Fluttershy in particular was trembling fearfully as she anticipated watching a bloody puddle slip under the door.

Then, Sunspot’s eyes lit up and a smile split her features as she finished. “Got it!” She exclaimed, picking up the scrap of paper and rushing to the door.

Glimmer Shine scooted to the side, giving the suited mare room to plant the paper into the middle of the door. The moment she did, the ink on the paper lit up a brilliant shade of blue as a shockwave of energy surged out through the door, stopping at the frame.

Almost the instant the light faded, a muted bang sounded out as something crashed into the door from the other side. A luminescent aura flashed to life, covering the entirety of the door, even the seams around its edges. There was a garbled bleat, followed by some more pounding. Thankfully, however, the door remained secure.

Sunspot immediately let out a relieved sigh and deflated back onto her haunches.

While the others were easing up, Sparkplug seemed unconvinced. "Are we good…? Is that going to hold?"

"Trust me, that barrier has kept out things a lot nastier," Glimmer Shine said with a confident smile.

"I don’t know… those things looked pretty nasty," Sunspot said. She skewed her expression in thought before looking to the others curiously. "Hey, didn't they look familiar?"

"Yeah. It's the monster that attacked the school back when the hooded ponies were around." Glimmer Shine explained. He had only seen a picture in a book of a more humanoid-looking version of the creature, but he could never forget it.

"Yikes…" Sunspot said, softening her expression as she looked up to Fluttershy. "That’s what you guys went through? By yourselves?"

Fluttershy rubbed a hoof along her foreleg uncomfortably. “Twilight and the others did most of the work.”

“Don’t be so modest, sugar,” Applejack chimed in. “I heard you saved Twilight’s life… kinda like you and Sparkplug saved mine.” She smiled at the pair.

“Yeah. You’re amazing, Fluttershy,” Sparkplug added.

The praise her friends were giving her made the pegasus’ cheeks redden, however much she had earned it. “I’m just glad we’re all ok…”

“It’s kinda sad when this is ok for us,” Sunspot said, cringing a bit as she looked at the cut on her shoulder. Still, she couldn’t exactly complain, considering Applejack had a worse version of her injury.

“Anything you can walk away from is ok in my books,” Glimmer Shine added optimistically as he stood up and shifted his attention to the hallway around them. He started to say something else when he was suddenly interrupted by a distant rumble.

The ponies all paused and turned toward the faint noise. They could hear the castle shaking from whatever explosive force was just unleashed.

“What was that?” Applejack asked the obvious question.

Glimmer Shine frowned uneasily, “The princesses said they were fighting something earlier.”

“You think they’re still fighting?” Sunspot asked, more than a hint of concern showing through.

“Oh my gosh…” Fluttershy’s ears fell as she imagined what was going on. She was worried about the alicorns, sure, but she also had Blue Bolt to worry about.

Another muffled clamor came, furthering the sense of concern the ponies felt. Even if it wasn't the alicorns, whoever it was sounded like they were in trouble.

“What do we do?” Sparkplug looked around at her friends, uncertainty written all over her face.

Without even taking a moment to think, Glimmer Shine steeled his expression. “What else? We go help.”

“Can we even help?” Sparkplug ventured. “If the princesses are having trouble fighting whatever it is, what can we do?”

“We can try,” Applejack said, a bit of unease behind the determination in her voice. She was going to help her friends, no matter what, even if it was a losing battle.

Sparkplug looked down to her injured ankle, and then around at the others. They all seemed like they had made up their minds, however nervous they might have been. Finally, she sighed and stood up on three legs. “Well, we’ve been getting by alright so far by trying.”

“That’s the spirit,” Sunspot said, briefly curling her mouth up at her own wordplay before letting her expression droop as no one reciprocated her reaction.

With that, they marched forward down the hall. While they were eager to leave the lower levels behind, they couldn’t help but think that the night was far from over, and that their worst experience was still yet to come.