Loyalty from Above and Beyond the grave

*rainbow's dream*

"... where... friends...?" She 'awoke' in a dark and empty void, the steady dripping of SOMETHING being the only sound echoing across the abyss.

"C...ume...

Rainbow was immediately on high alert. "Who... There...?" She felt something, squeezing at the edges of her mind.

"Dev... oure..." the noise hurt Dash immensely, she could FEEL something trying to worm its way into her mind. The only thing keeping it at bay, was her dedication to protecting her friends, but with nopony there, she could feel it slowly overpowering her.

"No... nonono.... wont... le-"

"FEED!"

*canterlot hospital, quarantine*

"Subject's brain waves just spiked! I repeat, subject is waking up!" Nurse Vira was worried, as she had heard about the carnage this creature had wrought during its short time awake. No pegasus, no, no PONY, should be capable of something so violent... the creatures eyes opened, and its pale yellow slits zoned in on something. Still behind the safety of the one way quarantine barrier, she began scribbling down notes. "Subject's eyes have become reptilian, and appear to be bioluminescent."

She flinched back when it bared its teeth. "Subjects molars have been reconfigured into canines, suggesting a carnivorous diet. Observation of wings shows that the skin of the leading edge has peeled back, revealing bone sharpened to a fine edge." When it tore itself free of its restraints, she became slightly worried. "Subject shows signs of increased muscle density, capable of tearing through medical restraints within three minutes of waking up, despite still being affected by heavy sedatives."

Her eyes widened when it bit down on one of the guardrails, and a hissing sound emanated from it, before with a final protest, the guardrail was bitten clean through. "Subject exhibits acidic saliva, and extreme jaw strength, capable of biting through a solid steel guardrail within five seconds." She watched, intrigued, as it began taking chunks out of anything in the room, swallowing them without showing any ill effects. "Observation of subject has show that it is capable of consuming a wide range of inorganic substances, including: steel, stone, glass and rubber, with no negative effects."

She continued writing down her observations, when its ears swiveled, and it stood stock still. "Subject show signs of potentially enhanced senses..." It suddenly whirled to face her, and charged, slamming into the one way wall, startling her, and causing her to spew her coffee on the glass. When she noticed it looking directly at her, she slowly inched sideways, only for its eyes to follow her. "Subject may be able to see beyond the visab-" *Bang* it impacted the glass again, harder this time. Vira's eyes widened as cracks spiderwebbed from the point of impact. She bolted, trying to get as far from it as possible.

*CRASH!* "Patient Zero has broken quarantine, I repeat, Patient Zero is loose!" Alarms began blaring, and the containment shields began descending. "OhFaustohFaustohFaust, I'm not going to make it!" The shields reached the ground, the magically reinforced glass sealing her in with the monster. Turning around, she saw it approaching her, saliva dripping from its mouth, melting the floor. She closed her eyes, expecting a bloody end.

*Thump!* upon hearing something on the other side of the barrier, she opened her eyes, and saw Patient Zero staring at something behind her. Turning to see, she saw a butter yellow pegasus, with a pink mane, banging on the containment barrier, tears flowing from her eyes as she shouted something at the top of her lungs.

"Flutter... shy...?" She immediately whipped back to Patient Zero, surprised it was capable of recognizing faces, let alone rational thought. It looked to her, and then the barrier. "...move..." Vira got well out of it's way when she saw it's muscles tensing, and It charged the barrier with enough force to cause the magically reinforced glass to shudder. It let out a guttural growl, before shifting into an inequine roar of fury, as it pounced the barrier again, to little effect. At this point, Guards Ponies had begun filtering into the room behind the barrier, and where preparing themselves, when one of them tried to get the yellow mare away from the glass.

The room suddenly felt a LOT colder, and it appeared the guards outside the barrier felt it too, because Patient Zero let out a scream that nearly gave Vira a heart attack, and charged the barrier at nearly triple the speed of its last charge, the force actually cracking the glass, much to the guards horror. "DON'T... TOUCH... SHY!" The barrier shattered under the next blow, and Zero turned into a hurricane of carnage, taking down the majority of the guards in minutes, with not a single one of them getting killed, and instead received multiple fractures, dislocated limbs, and at least one unicorn got his horn stuck in a wall. When the remaining guards fell back, Zero position itself in between the mare and the guards.

"Rainbow! Stop it! You don't need to be so senselessly violent! You should be ash-" The yellow mare, Fluttershy, if Vira heard Rainbow correctly, suddenly had a powerful coughing fit. Tuo Vira's assessment, Instead of going on a killing spree, Rainbow backed down, and sat herself on the floor. Realizing she still had her notepad and pen on her, she quickly scribbled down the fact that Rainbow became docile around ponies she was familiar with.

Eventually the state of alarm was lifted, and everypony in the facility was told to under no circumstances, provoke Rainbow, or as they knew her, Patient Zero, by attempting to separate her from anypony she was familiar with, least she go on another rampage. That did cause a problem, when they had reason to believe Fluttershy had become infected with what eventually became known as the Necrovirus.