Twilight let out a loud sigh and rubbed her forehead. How was she going to explain? What she did while she was meditating was kind of an alicorn thing, and she didn't think her friends would really get it.
"Well," she said, dropping her hoof to the table. "I guess the simplest way to say it is that I was upstairs practicing something Luna taught me. Its a spell that lets me see other places without actually having to go there."
"Woah! Is it like that one Mantis guy that Daring Do goes up against? The one that can read your mind and do, like, astral projections and stuff because he's psychotic?"
"It's a bit more complicated, Rainbow, but, yeah. Something like that. And I think you mean 'psychic,' not 'psychotic. Anyway, I was using this spell upstairs in my room to look at other planets, other worlds like ours, and then out of nowhere I get hit with this wave of panic. As soon as I got ahold of myself, I followed it back to it's source. When I got there I found this huge... Monstrosity. This horrible, evil creature. Worse than anything we've gone up against. Worse than Nightmare Moon, worse than Sombra..."
"Don't tell me that's the thing that Fluttershy's tryin' to calm down, Twi."
"What? No! Of course not! That creature up there is what it was trying to eat. I couldn't just let it die like that, so I did the only thing I could think of. I pulled it back here."
Applejack cocked her eyebrow at Twilight. "Y'all did what now?"
"I couldn't just leave him there! He was in danger."
Applejack shook her head and closed her eyes. "Ok, I don't pretend to understand your magical hocus pocus, but what in Celestia's name made you think it was a good idea to bring him back here?"
"Because I couldn't just live him to the mercy of that... Monstrosity." Twilight shuddered. "Do you remember King Sombra?"
"Of course I do. How could I forget?"
"Do you remember the rage? The fear? The power?" AJ nodded. "Well, the thing that was going to... Going to eat him was kind of like Sombra, but it was worse. It was older. Maybe even more powerful. It had killed three other ones like the one I saved by the time I got there. Killed them for the fun of it. Just to smell their terror. It ate their souls."
Applejack reached out and slipped a foreleg around Twilight's shoulders and pulled her close. The earthy smell that always hung around the mare filled Twilight's nostrils as she leaned against her friend. "I couldn't just leave him there. Nopony deserves that."
"It's ok, Twi. I don't know if you did the right thing, but I reckon I'd have done the same if I was in your place."
Twilight laughed. "Thanks AJ. That means a lot."
"Well, I reckon that the only thing we can do now is wait. Hopefully Fluttershy won't be too much longer. I don't like leaving her alone with that thing."
"Yeah, where is Fluttershy? Shouldn't she be done by now?"
Twilight chuckled. "I think you're asking a little much of her, Rainbow. That poor creature must be pretty traumatized. Let me go put on some tea. Hopefully she'll be done by then."
Twilight pushed herself to her feet and slowly walked into the kitchen. Her back hurt from where she it the wall, and her horn was starting to throb from exerting herself so much. She'd have to ask Fluttershy for something before she left.
AJ watched her go and shook her head before looking down at her hooves. Rainbow glanced over and cocked her head. "What's up, AJ? You look worried."
"I don't know, RD," she replied, looking up the stairs at Twilight's room. "I just can't shake the feeling that this new creature is bad news."
"Come on, AJ. It'll be fine. You said it yourself. Twilight's got a Pinkie Sense about these kind of things."
Applejack smirked. "I suppose you're right. Besides, it ain't like we haven't dealt with some strange stuff before, right?"
Rainbow playfully punched her friend in the shoulder. "You know it, cowgirl. There ain't nothing we can't handle. Especially when you've got someone as awesome as me on your side."
Applejack grinned and rolled her eyes. "Woah, there little missy. Your back's gonna wear out from all that patting your giving yourself."
"Whatever. You know it's true."
"Heh. I reckon I do."
A quiet creek from upstairs made both mares' heads whip around. Fluttershy was closing the door to Twilight's room. Her mane was messy, and the fur on her neck was matted and wet. Her hooves had blood on them, and her wings were ruffled. She made her way carefully down the stairs and over to the table where she let out a loud sigh.