Prototype: Black Rain

Chapters

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7: Part 1
Day 7: Part 2
Day 8: Part 1
Day 8: Part 2
Day 8: Part 3
Day 8: Part 4
Day 8: Part 5
Day 8: Part 6
Day 8: Part 7
Prologue

Day 1

"No... no... no... no... no..." Twilight Sparkle muttered to herself as books after books flew in front of her, their pages turning over rapidly before being discarded just as quickly. Her mane frizzled from stress as her eyes darted back and forth. Around her stacks of books covered every inch of the library floor, with some piling up almost to the ceiling.

"Spike! Did you find anymore books?"
The basement door slammed open. Revealing a purple dragon carrying a stack of tomes of varying size.

"These are the last books in storage!" He plopped the books down in one of the few empty spaces left in the library. Almost immediately they floated their way to the unicorn. "Now! Can somepony tell me what's going on here? What happened to Rainbow Dash? And why are the rest of your friends in the basement? "

"Trying to find that out. And they're worried about Rainbow Dash." came Twilight's rapid fired answer as the books continued to make their way in front of her.
"ARGH! There's NOTHING in these books!" Twilight Sparkle growled in frustration as she tossed the last book of the stack away.

"Can you at least tell me what you're looking for?"
"I don't know!" panic started to fill her voice. "I looked everywhere! Garnet's Guide to Gemology, Moonbeam on Minerals, Dictionaries of Deadly Diseases, Transforming Through Time, Myths on Magic with Malice, Codex on Creepy Creatures... NOTHING came close to describing what happened to Rainbow!"

"Um... can you at least describe what happened to..." Loud yells and crashing noise rumbled from the basement, followed by a rapid series of hoof-fall before Applejack slammed open the door.

"Twilight! She's awake!"
Without another word, Twilight Sparkle ran after Applejack into the library basement with Spike trailing behind them.

"What the..." said Spike upon seeing the pegasus mare. "... Twilight! What is she?"
She didn't reply, her mind was asking exactly the same question. Rainbow Dash had finally woke up after sleeping away most of the day, and was trashing her basement laboratory trying to get away from something.

The reason quickly became obvious. Her sky-blue wings had turned black and bony in appearance. More distinctly, the feathers on her wings had disappeared, replaced by four blade-like claws on each wings connected to the carpal joints, giving them a fan like appearance.

"What's happening to me?! What is THIS?! Where am I?! GET IT AWAY FROM ME! SOME PONY HELP ME!" Rainbow Dash shouted in panic, ignoring the pleas and screams of her friends as she tried to get away from the foreign appendage. Her wings bending and twisting in ways Twilight Sparkle never thought possible for a pegasus as she ran. One of the claw caught a metal support beam of one of her equipment, and to her disbelief, sliced cleanly through it.

That's not good! Twilight Sparkle quickly made her way down, hoping she would make it in time before Rainbow accidentally got one of her claws caught in one of her friends. However, her worries became moot when Fluttershy stopped running and face the panicking Rainbow Dash.

"RAIN... BOW... DASH! LOOK AT ME!" Twilight Sparkle stopped and watched as the blue pegasus froze suddenly, her eyes meeting the unblinking gaze from Fluttershy. She couldn't believe it, but the effect was unmistakable. Fluttershy just used the Stare on her own friend.

"Now, I know you're scared. But you need to listen to us when we're trying to help you! You could have hurt your friend, or worse! And look what you did to Twilight's place! So listen here! Take a deep breath! And calm down! Do you understand?"

Rainbow Dash nodded meekly before sitting down and started taking in deep breaths quickly. Her "wings" dipped to the floor with a clatter. And as the pegasus' breathing slowed, Twilight Sparkle watched in interest as the black wings turned back to blue and the claws split apart and turned back to feathers. In less than a second, Rainbow Dash's wings had returned to normal.

"Good... now... I... I..." Fluttershy started to tremble as she backed away from Rainbow Dash. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I don't know what came over me! I didn't mean to do it! I didn't mean to use the..."

"Shush now Fluttershy." said Applejack, putting her hoof on the retreating pegasus. "Ya probably saved all our hides." Fluttershy blinked at Applejack and nodded.

"Yeah... I..." Rainbow Dash got up and folded her wings before making her way toward them. "I don't know what I would do if I hurt any of you... or..." Rainbow Dash shook her head, as if trying to clear away some unpleasant thought. "So um... Fluttershy, thank you."

Fluttershy mumbled something that sounded like "You're welcome."

"I'm sorry to ask you this so soon..." said Twilight Sparkle. "... but... do you remember anything?"

"I... remember seeing that... thing coming for Fluttershy. I think I managed to push her out-of-the-way... and then..." Rainbow Dash gulped. "I remember being... impaled by that thing and thrown into a building... I could hear you girls trying to get to me... and... AH!"

Rainbow Dash suddenly yelled out in pain as black threads crisscrossed her form and she started to change. Her body grew in size as her fur changed from sky-blue to gray. And in the time it took for them to blink, a large diamond dog was in the place that Rainbow Dash occupied moments ago.

"... he's in so much pain! He was so scared. He didn't know what was happening." the diamond dog started to cry. "And he saw me... he saw me... killing him! Oh Celestia I killed him! I killed him! And... what... " the canine's eyes went wide as he noticed his own paw.

"Calm down Rainbow... just... calm down..." pleaded Twilight Sparkle. She wasn't sure whether it was her word that helped, but the diamond dog in front them shrunk and reverted back to the sky-blue pegasus they knew.

"Okay... that would've been way cool if it wasn't so... freakish." commented Spike.

"What's happening to me?" Tears started to drop from her eyes. Twilight Sparkle looked around her friends, and almost as one, they walked up to the crying pegasus. Fluttershy started stroking Rainbow's back while Pinkie Pie wrapped her hooves around her neck. Rarity levitated a hoofkerchief to dab away tears as they rolled down the pegasus' cheek.

"Twilight... please tell me ya found something..." asked Applejack, her voice choking a bit from seeing her friend in pain.

Twilight shook her head. "I'll keep trying... but I already went through all the book here... I'm going to have to ask for access to the Royal library..." She bit her lip and glanced at her friend. "... we will have to tell Princess Celestia what happened."

"What? NO! You can't!" Pinkie Pie peeled herself away from Rainbow Dash and came face to face with Twilight Sparkle. "Do you know what Princess Celestia will do! She will take Rainbow away! Stick her in a laboratory deep underground and carve her up! And then she's going to brainwash her and turn her into her little super guard pony!"

Twilight blinked at the pink pony in front of her before what she said sank in. "Princess Celestia is not going to do that! At worst she's just going to... um..."

"Banish her?" said Rarity, her voice sharp and unforgiving. "Or worse, kill her? Twilight Sparkle! I can't believe you would do something like that! How could you turn your back on your friend like that just because she's... different..."

"I'm not turning my back to any pony!" Twilight Sparkle stomped her hoof on the ground in frustration. "Think about it! There are ponies in Ponyville who saw what Rainbow did! Words will reach the Princess sooner or later. If I write to her, I can at least try to convince her to help Rainbow instead of banishing her, or worse. And I'm going to need help finding out what happened to her."

Silence descended on the room as each pony mulled over the situation. Twilight Sparkle still felt conflicted. She knew that the decision to tell the Princess was sound. Yet a part of her still worried what the Princess would do.

"That's... fine." Rainbow Dash broke the silence. "If Princess Celestia decided that I should be banished... or... I'm fine with that."

"Dashie..." Pinkie Pie looked imploringly at the pegasus. "... don't say that."

"You don't understand. I can hear him. I know what went through his mind when he... turned. I know he was thinking when I... killed him." she sniffed and wiped her nose with her hoof. "And I couldn't control myself. I don't know if I can control myself. I don't know if I might hurt one of you someday. I couldn't live with myself if I ever do."

Twilight noted the look of resignation on Rainbow's face. "I'll go send the letter then." Rainbow Dash looked up at her and nodded.

"Spike, come on." Twilight Sparkle felt the dragon's weight on her back and proceeded upstairs. She arrived at the main floor of the library, her eyes caught the sky outside as Spike jumped off to find paper and quill. It was late in the evening already, with a clear blue sky dotted by a scattering of golden orange clouds. A perfect day that contradicted the dark and gloomy feeling she felt.

Well, the weather schedule don't revolve around me. Twilight Sparkle saw her dragon assistant had returned with the writing instruments and were watching her expectantly. This may be the most important letter she would write in her life. The letter that may decide the fate of her friend. There was a fleeting moment when she considered just asking Spike to put the paper and quill away. Just so that if Princess Celestia decided on something... bad, she won't feel responsible. But Rainbow Dash needed her, and as Princess Celestia's personal protege, she had the best chance of convincing her to help Rainbow.

She had to try.

"Dear Princess Celestia..."

Something happened to Rainbow Dash, something weird AND awesome. Of that, Scootaloo was certain, a hundred and twenty percent certain. Called it gut instinct, a sense of precognition, or...

"... or yah heard every town pony talking about it." Apple Bloom rolled her eyes at the pegasus filly. "Ah'm pretty shure dat ain't gut instinct."

"Are you sure about this?" Sweetie Bell poked her head out of the tree branch outside the library balcony, watching Spike inside scribbling on a scroll while Twilight dictated. A small pile of crumbled up parchment beside the dragon. "Rarity and Applejack told us to stay at home and lock the door. What with that... scary looking monster that showed up in town."

"Well, if it wasn't for you two. I could have seen Rainbow Dash kick that monster's behind!" Scootaloo gave the air a few quick jabs. Apple Bloom cast a weary glance at the excited filly.

"You ran the fastest." said Apple Bloom in a flat tone.

"I was just... trying to get my camera!"

"Admit, you're a chicken." Apple Bloom bend her front hooves under her front legs and waved them in the air like a chicken. "Scootaloo! Scootaloo!"

"I'm not a chicken! And that's not a chicken! A chicken goes BAWK! BAWK! BWWAK!"

Apple Bloom pointed her hoof at Scootaloo. "See! You even sounded like one!"

"Hey!" cried Scootaloo in indignation.

"Girls! Quiet! Spike's coming!" hissed Sweetie Bell, pushing her two friends back behind the clump of leaves. The three watched the purple dragon walked out to the balcony, carrying a particularly thick scroll in his hand.

"Twilight!" Spike called back to the library. "Are you sure about this one? You sure you're not going to ask me to rewrite it again?"

"Yes I'm sure!" came the reply. "Just send it."

"Alright." Spike took a deep breathe and incinerated the thick scroll with a jet of green fire. "All done."

"Come on then, let's go check on Rainbow."

The three fillies watched as the dragon went back in.

"I wonder what's wrong with Rainbow." asked Sweetie Belle.

"I heard she ate the monster." said Apple Bloom. "Pretty shure eating dat... thing will give yah a bad tummy ache."

"I think its one of those figure of speech thingy." said Sweetie Belle. "Like um... break a leg or something."

"Yeah, Rainbow Dash, eating monsters for breakfast! So awesome!" said Scootaloo excitedly before jumping onto the balcony.

"But it sounded like Rainbow Dash got really hurt." Sweetie Belle followed with Apple Bloom trailing behind.

"That's silly! Nothing will keep Rainbow down" said Scootaloo, part of her attention focused on the inside of Twilight's bedroom. "Alright, coast's clear."

The balcony window opened with a faint creak, followed by three fillies tip-toeing their way across Twilight's bedroom to the door leading to the main floor of the library. Scootaloo pushed it open a crack and peeked out.

"Okay, no ones' down stairs." The Cutie Mark Crusaders slowly made their way down to the library floor.

"Don't knock over any books." said Scootlaoo, eying the towering stacks of book around them. They carefully picked their way across. As they approach the door leading into the basement, they heard Twilight's voice coming out of it.

"... the range of motion is impressive... Spike, could you get me more parchments and quills?"

"Sure thing!" came the reply followed by the clicking sound of talons on wooden floor.

"Quick! Hide!" the three of them quickly find a stack of book to hide behind as the basement door opened. Spike gingerly made his way to the desk and dug through the drawers. Twilight's voice continued to drift upstairs.

"... double-edged at the tip, with the edge longer at the bottom side then the top... that would make it more effective at the downward flap..."

"I got it!" yelled Spike as he hauled a stack of parchment back downstairs. Scootaloo waited until the clicking of talon faded before leaving her hiding place.

"What do you think they're doing down there?" asked Sweetie Belle in a whisper as she joined Scootaloo.

"Guess we're about to find out..." said Apple Bloom as the three carefully made their way through the basement door.

"Time to revert... one point three seconds..." came Twilight voice as the three of them peeked over the side of the landing over the basement. "Rainbow, can you do that again?"

The three filly stared at the pegasus with the rainbow mane, who sat a good distance away from the other ponies below. Except for Twilight Sparkle, who stood nearby, her eyes fixed on the pegasus' wings.

"See!" whispered Scootaloo. "Told ya she's..."

Her voice trailed off. Their eyes grew as large as saucer as Rainbow Dash' wings started to morph. The wings turning black and the tips elongated into a talon like protrusion. Some feathers retreated, while others merged into claw like appendages, four on each side.

"Ooh! Again!" Pinkie Pie pulled out an apple and threw it at Rainbow Dash. Almost by reflex, she flapped her wing at the apple, cutting it cleaning in half.

"Cool!" exclaimed Scootaloo, who had completely forgotten that they're supposed to be sneaking around. Her two fellow crusaders, however, opted for a different response.

"Ah!" Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle screamed before dashing out of the basement.

"Apple Bloom!" "Sweetie Belle!" Applejack and Rarity called out at the same time before both of them galloped up the stairs. Scootaloo, on the other hooves, jumped down, using her wings to slow her descent somewhat. Rainbow Dash quickly scrambled back, a look of surprise on her face as her wings reverted to normal.

"Scootaloo, what are you..."

"That was so cool! Can I see it again?" asked Scootaloo, cutting off the older pegasus' question. "Please?"

Rainbow Dash didn't know what to do. She was expecting her long-time admirer to run away upon seeing her wing changing like that. But here she was, begging to see it again. She looked to Twilight, who was just as stunned and speechless as she was. Not getting a response from the unicorn, she turned back to see two large, purple eyes staring at her.

"Um... okay..." As if responding to her word, her wings quickly turned to claws.

"Cool!" Scootaloo reached her hoof out toward the transformed wings, prompting Rainbow Dash to quickly raised them out of her reach.

"Careful, they're... sharp."

"How did you get them?" asked Scootaloo, her eyes still staring at the black, bony appendages.

"I... don't know..." said Rainbow Dash, looking at the strange limbs that had replaced her wings.

"You're just like a superpony!" Scootaloo gasped. "Just like Wolverwing!"

"Who?" asked Twilight with a perplexed look on her face.

"Ooh! I remember her!" Pinkie Pie jumped in front of Twilight and started bouncing up and down. "She's from Marevel comic! A pegasus with an unknown past who can make steel claws go SHINK from her wing. She's part of a team of super-duper-ponies led by Princess Celestia who fights evil things!"

"But yours is cooler! It's all... and... ooh..." the pegasus filly stared as Rainbow turned her wings at odd angles. "That's so weird!"

For the first time today, Rainbow let out a small smile. "I guess it's kinda weird... and cool."

"Ooh! Can you fly with that?" asked Scootaloo.

"Of course not, it doesn't have any feather." With that she reverted back to her feathered wings. "Come to think about it... haven't tried flying yet."

"Maybe you can do a short hover?" asked Twilight Sparkle. "I'm very interested to see if all those changes affected your flying."

"Alright then!" Rainbow Dash got up to all four, her wings fully flared out above her. "... Three... Two... One..."

"Wait! I don't have my equipments..."

Scootaloo waited with bated breath for something awesome to happen. She got her wish, in the form of a blast of wind sending her crashing into a table, followed by an avalanche of paper burying her.

"AH!" came the scream of Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Rarity from the floor above.

"Rainbow! You okay?" Applejack's urgent voice traveled down stairs.

"Oh my goodness, oh my goodness... Scootaloo?" Scootaloo felt herself being dragged out from under the pile of paper by her tail. "Scootaloo! Are you alright?" asked Fluttershy, her eyes wide with worry.

"Yeah... I'm fine... I think."

"Oh good. Twilight! Where are you Twilight?" Fluttershy walked off, digging through the debris for her friends. Pieces of debris fell from the ceiling, prompting the young filly to look up.

"Whoa..." Right there on the ceiling was Rainbow Dash, if only identifiable by her cutie-mark, her sky-blue fur, and her rainbow-colored tail. Everything else in front of her wings, however, had embedded themselves in the ceiling.

"IS EVERY PONY DOWN THERE OKAY?" And judging by her voice, her head was sticking out of the library's floor.

"Ooh... that was fun!" yelled Pinkie Pie while standing on wobbly hooves, looking as if she's going to tip over any second now. Over on the other side of the basement, Fluttershy had managed to dig out a dazed looking Twilight Sparkle from under a pile of timber.

"Rainbow... Rainbow!" Twilight shook her head to clear away the stars in her eyes. "Rainbow! Are you okay?"

"Yeah!" came the reply. "I'm fine! Just... stuck... hang on..." with more sound of splintering wood, Rainbow Dash freed herself from the ceiling and dropped to the basement floor.

Scootaloo found herself being thrown about a foot into the air before crashing down on the thankfully soft pile of paper. Beside her, Pinkie Pie laid on the floor with her legs sticking out every which way.

"Dashie... did you gain weight..." slurred Pinkie Pie, her eyes spinning around lazily.

"Um... sorry..." said Rainbow Dash. She lifted her hoof and noted the inch deep indentation she made in the ground.

One the other side of the room, Fluttershy was helping Twilight up once again.

"I guess those mass had gotta go somewhere..." said Twilight as she shook of the dust that covered her. She looked around her laboratory, somewhat dismayed at the destruction Rainbow's landing managed to do. Almost all her glass-wares had shattered. Most of her shelves had tipped over, dumping their content in a mostly broken pile in front of them. Twilight sighed. "Has anyone seen Spike?"

"*BURP*" green light shone out from the pile of paper Scootaloo landed on. A clawed hand wielding a scroll reached out as its owner pulled himself out from the pile. Spike dusted himself off before making his way to Twilight.

"Mail call!" said Pinkie Pie, who bounced on all four hooves as if nothing had happened.

"So, how did you beat up that monstrous diamond dog?" asked Scootaloo, prompting a grimace on Rainbow's face.

"Pinkie Pie." said Twilight Sparkle. "Can you take Scootaloo home? It's getting late."

"Okie Dokie Loki!" said Pinkie Pie as she bounced up to Scootaloo.

"Aw... but I want to know how Rainbow beat up that monster!" whined Scootaloo.

"Now now Scootaloo." said Fluttershy. "Your parents must have been very worried about you. And I think Rainbow Dash is getting a bit tired, right?"

Rainbow Dash nodded in response.

"And I was there! So I can tell you ALL about how Dashie gave that monster a good smacking around!" Pinkie Pie gave Scootaloo a wide grin.

"Really! Awesome." said Scootaloo as she was nudged along by Pinkie Pie. The filly didn't notice the pink pony winking knowingly at Rainbow before closing the basement door.

"Hey Applejack! Hey Rarity! Why are you guys in a book cave?" came Pinkie Pie's voice, muffled by the basement door. Sound of book tumbling to the floor were accompanied by Applejack making some comments on Apple Bloom being "grounded" and Rarity complaining about the mess in the library. Soon, the opening and closing of the library door marked their departure.

"So... what's in the letter?" asked Rainbow Dash.

Twilight Sparkle looked at the scroll bearing Celestia's royal seal in Spike's hand. She looked up, and saw the expectant look on the two pegasi's faces. With a deep breath, she levitated the scroll out of Spike's hand and unrolled it.

To My Faithful Student,

I am greatly relieved that you and your friends are well after such an incidence. As for your friend Rainbow Dash, I am sorry to say that I have no answers as to what afflicted her. Although I do suspect that her affliction may be related to the strange happenings surrounding the meteors landed all over the world.

As for your worries about your friend's fate, I cannot make any promises in that regard for the safety of Equestria is of the greatest importance. Your letter do lead me to believe that no drastic actions is required for your friend, but I will have to see for myself before making any decisions. I do promise that if actions are needed, all other possible arrangements will be considered first before banishment and death.

This warning may come a bit late due to recent event. But I strongly urge you not to approach any more of these meteors. My recent investigations with Princess Luna had turned up some... troubling results.

I am currently investigating another fallen meteor near Manehatten with Princess Luna. But I should arrive at Ponyville about two hours past sunrise tomorrow.

Stay safe.

Your Mentor,

Princess Celestia

"I guess that's about as good a reply as we can hope." said Twilight Sparkle while rolling up the scroll. "Well... no use worrying about it any more."

"I'm not worried." said Rainbow Dash, the look on Twilight's and Fluttershy's face told her that they don't believe her, "... okay, maybe just a little..." a yawn escaped her mouth. "... and I feel tired..."

"It is getting a bit late." said Twilight Sparkle, looking at the wall-clock which told her that the sun had just went down. "A lot did happen today." Twilight eyed the four hoof-shaped imprint in the floor below Rainbow Dash. "Maybe you should stay here for the night."

"Yeah..." she looked around the demolished basement. "... that's probably a good idea. In a basement..." her ears drooped. "... away from any pony that I might hurt..."

"I can stay with you." said Fluttershy in a low voice. "If you want..."

Rainbow Dash gave the timid pegasus an incredulous look. "No! You can't stay! What if I lost control and hurt you! Or..."

"You don't... want me around?" asked Fluttershy, her lips quivering.

"No! I mean... yes! I want you around!" said Rainbow Dash, her voice strained. "I'm scared that those... memories will return when I sleep. But I also don't want to risk hurting you!"

Twilight Sparkle looked at her two friends. On one hoof, according to her book on psychology, Rainbow did need some pony around so she could feel safe. On the other hoof, Rainbow won't feel safe unless she's sure that she won't hurt Fluttershy...

"Rainbow, if you don't mind, I think I have a plan." said Twilight Sparkle.

"Are these... really necessary?" asked Fluttershy, poking at what she could be best described as a steel corset around Rainbow Dash's barrel, binding her wings. In addition to that, a collar wrapped around her neck with a chain leading to the floor of the steel cage they're in. A single mattress placed against the steel barred wall opposite of the cage door.

"Yep. This way, Rainbow don't have to worry about losing control in her sleep. If she does, everything should buy you..." Twilight Sparkle pointed to Fluttershy, "... about a minute to run before Rainbow Dash could break out."

"Promise me you'll run if I go nuts." said Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy nodded in response.

"Okay. Now, you remember how to lock and unlock your collar and door?" asked Twilight Sparkle.

"Yeah." said Rainbow Dash, her hoof fiddling around with her collar.

"Good, now you two get some rest." Twilight yawned as she said that. "I'm going to go get some shut-eyes myself."

Twilight Sparkle trotted out of the basement with Spike, leaving behind the two pegasi.

"Thanks for staying..." said Rainbow Dash.

"It's... what friends are for." said Fluttershy, her voice barely above a whisper. "You don't have to wear that collar if you want... it looks... uncomfortable."

"Nah, it's not that bad." said Rainbow, her hoof kicking at the chain on the ground. "Beside, it makes me feel better knowing that I can't hurt you."

"I don't think you'll hurt me." said Fluttershy, her voice raising just a bit.

"I wish I'm as sure about that as you." Rainbow Dash watched her wings change into claws and back again.

Fluttershy stood in silence, not knowing what to say. It took her a few seconds to notice that Rainbow Dash was pushing her out of the cage.

"Let's just get some rest." Rainbow Dash retreated back in, closing and latching the cage door. Fluttershy nodded and walked to a nearby bed Twilight had setup for her, turning off the lights on the way. She climbed into the soft mattress, feeling herself sinking into it. In the dark, she could see nothing else but a silhouette of a pegasus in the cage.

"Rainbow?"

"Mmhm?" came the muffled response in the dark.

"Everything well be okay... I'm sure of it." said Fluttershy. She waited for a response, but none came. The events of the day started to caught up with her as she felt her eye-lids grew heavy. As she lay her head down and close her eyes, Rainbow's voice reached her through the darkness.

"Thanks..."

Day 2

She was on a tower, over looking a city identical to Manehatten in almost every way. Except the bustling sounds of the city were replaced by scattering screams of terror. Beasts of monstrous shape and proportions prowled the streets, hunting the hapless ponies below. The ground and buildings covered with pulsing red masses, looking as if the whole city had become... corrupted. Burning steel chariots littered the streets, the only reminder of the struggle they put up before being overwhelmed. A sense of lost filled her, the lost of someone close to her. A thought that somehow, she had failed echoed in her mind. She felt tired... so... tired...

Rainbow Dash woke with a start. Her eyes darted around the basement. Its only illumination provided lit by the rays of sunlight shining through the hole in the ceiling. The lack of sensations in her wings that she now associated with them turning to claws were there again. She looked to her side and saw the remnant of the metal corset Twilight used to bind her wings. A sudden panic shot through her as she carefully examined her surroundings. To her relief, the chain remained unbroken, and the cage looked intact. With a single thought, an act that became almost natural to her, she willed her clawed wings to revert to normal.

She tried to make sense of the dream. It felt so real, yet at the same time so... distant. Like viewing at an old, faded photographs. And that feeling of lost... who did she...

The creaking sound of door opening and the flood of light broke her out of her thoughts. In the doorway stood Fluttershy, her wings balancing a tray of food on her back.

"Oh... you're awake." said Fluttershy as she slowly made her way down the stairs, careful not to spill the content on her back.

"Yeah, just woke up." said Rainbow Dash as Fluttershy knelt by the cage door and slide the tray off her back. "I... um... didn't do anything last night, did I?"

"Oh no. You slept... fine..." said Fluttershy. "... other than that time when you were stretching your wings..." Fluttershy motioned to the broken pieces of corset in the cage. "Um... can you come out? It's... weird talking to you like this... I mean, if you feel comfortable about it..."

"I guess it is kinda weird..." said Rainbow Dash as she undid the collar from her neck. She got out of the cage and stretched. Fluttershy let out a tiny meep as Rainbow's wings momentarily shift to claws for a second. "Um... sorry."

"It's... okay. Are you hungry?" asked Fluttershy, pointing to the tray of hay, flower and apples.

"Mm..." Rainbow Dash rubbed her stomach. "Not really."

"That's strange, you haven't eaten anything for almost a day, and the last thing you ate was... was..." Fluttershy's ears drooped. "... oh... sorry..."

"Don't worry about it." said Rainbow Dash. "I don't feel that... freaked out over it anymore. Still a bit freaky, but I can handle that."

"Does that mean... that you're a carnivore now?" asked Fluttershy, her voice slightly trembling. "Should I bring some fish instead?"

Rainbow Dash leaned down to the tray and sniffed the apple. The red fruit smelled okay. It may no longer arouse her appetite as before, but it doesn't smell revolting. She opened her mouth and swallowed the apple whole, barely chewing more than once or twice.

"I don't feel sick..." said Rainbow Dash as she proceeded to swallow the hay in large gulps. "... guess I can still eat pony food."

"Well... food sickness generally takes a while to show up..." said Fluttershy. "... I'm fine if you became a carnivore... but it would be nice if you don't need to eat animals..."

"We'll just have to wait and see then..." said Rainbow Dash. She stopped eating and looked at Fluttershy. "... you don't mind me eating... meat?"

"Of course not. I'm friend with bears, and bears eat a lot of meat." said Fluttershy. "Just... try not to ask me to bring you any..."

"I won't dream of it!" said Rainbow Dash, a grin plastered on her face as she gave Fluttershy a poke. "But if I do become a carnivore, maybe you can ask some of your bear friends to hook me up with some nice hunting grounds."

Fluttershy's face went pale as she started stuttering. "I... I don't think..."

"I was just kidding." said Rainbow Dash, smacking her hoof to her forehead.

"Oh... okay..." said Fluttershy. "Um... are you done eating?"

Rainbow Dash looked at the nearly empty tray. "Yeah, I think so."

"Oh good. Rarity said she's going to come around and make you more presentable for the Princess." said Fluttershy.

"AH!" Rainbow Dash looked up in surprise. On the top of the stairs stood Rarity with a distressed look on her face. "This is a disaster!" said the unicorn as she trotted downstairs, carrying a bulging satchel on her back.

"Uh oh..." muttered Rainbow Dash as Rarity advanced toward her with a brush and comb levitating beside her.

Silver Wing, Private First Class of the Third Royal Solar Pegasus Guard, currently the Second Flight of Princess Celestia's Personal Advance Guard, was one relieved pegasus.

For more than a couple of centuries, Equestria had been a peaceful place. Sure there are some border disputes between ponies and other races, but always resolved diplomatically by the Princesses or her diplomats. Because of that, the royal guards had evolved into a more or less ceremonial function. They still train for combat, in the event they ever need to employ deadly forces. But those situations were so rare, that some guards joked that they have a better chance having a threesome with both Princesses then getting into those situations.

So unless threesome with both Princesses were common, the past few weeks were definitely out of the ordinary. So far, he had ended no less than a dozen "lives", if you could call those things that: Killer ducks with sharp beaks, killer monkeys with sharp claws, killer rabbits with sharp fangs... or just killer-anything-normally-harmless-with-sharp-something. Fortunately there were no casualties thus far, a few minor injuries here and there, but nothing serious.

So no pony could fault Silver Wing for feeling relieved when he landed with his flight mates in front of a normal looking library in a harmless looking town. His captain, Feather Ruffle, knocked on the library door. Seconds later, a nervous looking lavender unicorn answered the door.

"Miss Twilight Sparkle," said his captain, "we are the advance guard for her royal highness Princess Celestia. We've been tasked to secure this place for her arrival. May we come in?"

The unicorn looked at each of them for a bit before nodding, allowing them entry into the library.

"I've never seen nor heard Princess Celestia using an armed advance guard..." said Twilight Sparkle. "... ceremonial guards, yes, but never armed guards."

"There had been some... situations..." while his captain answered the unicorn librarian, Silver Wing decided to look around the library. He was walking by the basement door when he heard voices coming from it. As he approached, the voices became clearer and clearer.

"Rainbow! Please stay still! You almost scratched me!" came a voice that spoke of sophistication and grace.

"Then stop painting it! It doesn't even stay painted! See!" followed by a voice that spoke of neither.

"Maybe we just need a different hoof paint..."

Intrigued, the private pushed open the door and walked in, and instantly froze at the sight that greeted him.

Below, three mares looked up with surprise. A yellow pegasus with pastel pink mane and tail who just sat at a distance. A white unicorn with an elaborately curled purple mane was surrounded by brushes, combs and hoof polish. And a sky-blue pegasus with a brightly colored rainbow mane, with clawed appendages where the wings should be, partly painted with silver hoof-paint.

A pegasus... with a pair of very, very sharp claws.

"KILLER PEGASUS!"

There were three things Rainbow Dash look up to: The Wonderbolts, her friends, and the Royal Pegasus Guards. The latter of which had less to do with the pegasus themselves than the cool stuffs they get, and the pegasus by the doorway seemed to have most of them. There were the shiny, razor-sharp blades that clipped on the front edge of the pegasus' wings. On his hooves were four gold-coated leggings, each with a retractable blades that extends by clicking the hooves together. Right below the wings, low enough to not interfere with the wings, were a pair of tube-shaped saddle bag. She knew that those bags contained more than a dozen spring-loaded flechettes, released by pulling on the stirrup connected to each bag. Finally there's the helmet, where the ceremonial plume was replaced by an ax-like blade.

All in all, it made for one impressive looking pegasus. An impressive looking pegasus that dove toward her with a look that said he was out for blood, her blood.

"Whoa!" Rainbow Dash scrambled back, barely missing the pegasus guard's hooves. "What gives?" she heard a click, and had to jump out of a way when the guard tried to buck at her with two bladed hooves. "Hey!"

"Death to the abomination!" Silver Wing screamed as he lowered his head and charged. His wing blades extended. Rainbow Dash quickly transformed her own wing and parried it. The guard seemed to expected it as he slammed into her with his armored body, sending the two to the ground.

Rainbow Dash found herself on her back, slightly dazed by the impact. Looking up, she saw the guard with his front hooves raised above her, the blade on the leggings fully extended.
"Oh crap!" she quickly dug her wing claws into the ground above her. And with a quick flap, dragged herself out-of-the-way of the descending blades.

"Stop that! What are..." Rainbow Dash scrambled to her hooves, just in time to see the guard putting one of his hooves into the stirrup attached to the bag. "... wait!"
Rainbow Dash jumped to the side. A cloud of flechettes buzzed through the air Rainbow once occupied, shattering the few remaining glass-wares Twilight had and embedded themselves in the wall and furniture with a thud.

"Careful with that! You're going to..." the guard put his hoof in the second stirrup. Rainbow was about to jump away when she noticed Fluttershy and Rarity behind her. If she were to move away, this idiotic guard's fléchette will impale her friends instead. She made the split second decision to turn to the side, hoping to shield her friends as much as possible. By instinct, Rainbow raised her clawed wing to shield her eyes and braced herself as the guard pushed down on the stirrup.

The pain was not as bad as she expected. A few of the fléchette bounced off against her wing claws while most entered her body, sending flashes of dull pain through her. Rainbow quickly glanced toward Fluttershy and Rarity. Both of them looked understandably terrified, judging by the small number of flechettes embedded on the wall behind them. But to her relief, neither of them looked hurt.

A twinge of annoyance and anger crossed her mind as she heard the sound of the pegasus guard charging at her. She stood motionless and waited for the guard to get close. When he got in range, Rainbow flared her wings out, smashing the blunt forward edge of her bony wing into the guard's jaw. He went tumbling back and crashed into a table. Rainbow Dash planted her hooves in the ground, making a note not to build up to much forces in her legs, and jumped after the guard.

The dazed guard was trying to get to his hooves when Rainbow landed. The shock wave that resulted was a lot weaker than the one she caused last night, but was enough to cause him to lose his footing and landing painfully on his side. Rainbow stomped her left hoof on pegasus guard's wing, pinning him to the ground. With a snarl, she raised her right wing claws high above her.

"RAINBOW NO!" came Twilight's voice, moments before she brought the claws down on the terrified pegasus guard.

Twilight Sparkle couldn't open her eyes.
She had closed her eyes the moment Rainbow Dash brought those claws of hers down on the immobilized guard. The loud crash was followed by complete silence.

She's done it now... Twilight Sparkle thought, her eyes still closed, Killed one of Celestia's guard... there's just no way she will...

"What... in... Celestia's... name... ARE YOU DOING?!" Twilight Sparkle snapped her eyes opened at Rainbow's shouting. Rainbow was on top the guard, her hoof still pinning the guard's wings to the ground. A sudden relief washed over her as she noticed that Rainbow Dash had embedded her claws in the ground around the guard's head, merely pinning his head and neck to the ground. Most importantly, the guard was still alive, judging by the hyperventilating sound he's making.

Oh good... I can still convince the captain to let this...
"What's going on here?" Twilight Sparkle spun around with the captain. Behind them stood the regal form of Princess Celestia, her face expressionless yet intimidating. Both her and the captain quickly bowed.
We're screwed.

"Twilight Sparkle, what's going on here?" asked Princess Celestia.

"I... er..." Twilight Sparkle stammered. She had no idea what happened. All she knew was that Rainbow Dash still had a guard pinned down beneath her, and from a quick glance, she's not letting that guard up anytime soon.

"Your highness, if I may." said Rarity. Princess Celestia nodded before the unicorn continued. "Your guard attacked Rainbow there without provocation. She was just trying to defend herself and us. If it wasn't for Rainbow shielding us, we would have perished!" She pointed to the wall behind her, where Twilight could make out the tail end of the embedded darts sticking out of the wall.

"Captain?"
Twilight Sparkle could make out an angry twitch in Captain Feather Ruffle features when he turned around to face the guard below.

"Private Silver Wing!" barked the Captain. "Was everything this unicorn said true?"

"... yes..." came the high-pitched and strained answer from the guard. The captain audibly groaned before turning to the princess.

"Your highness, if I may..." Princess Celestia nodded. Prompting the captain to jump over the landing and glide down to where Rainbow was.

"Ma'am..." Captain Feather Ruffle eyed Rainbow's wing claws with some trepidation. "... could you release my subordinate?"

"... fine..." without another word, Rainbow Dash yanked her wing claws out of the ground and limped back to her friends. Twilight Sparkle let out a breath she didn't she was holding as the guard got back to his hooves. The guard looked pitiful. His helmet was crooked and he was sporting a nasty bruise on his jaw. The clipped on blade on his wings was chipped and the feather were all bend and crooked.

"Was there a GOOD reason why you attacked that mare?" the private opened his mouth before the captain cut him off again. "Beside the fact that her wings can turn into claws."

"... no..." answered the private, his ears folded against his head. The captain shook his head and sighed.

"You know, you're lucky that this mare..." he gestured toward Rainbow Dash, who was busy pulling the fléchette darts out of her side with Fluttershy's help. "... stopped you from turning this into a major disaster. Else you will be looking at much more than a month of outhouse duty. Understand?" Silver Wing nodded in like a foal that had been badly scolded. "Good, fall back with the rest of your wing-mates."

The private limped his way up the stair, muttering some words of apology to Rainbow Dash before making the rest of his way out of the library. The Captain stayed a while longer, making a more formal apology to which Rainbow replied, "yeah, whatever." before making his way out.

Now the basement was just her, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and... Princess Celestia. Twilight Sparkle gulped, her eyes glancing the regal form who's surveying the scene with expressionless eyes.

"Princess... I..."
"I've seen enough." To Twilight Sparkle's pleasant surprise, she saw a smile crept up on Princess Celestia's feature as she floated down the stair.

"Princess?" Twilight Sparkle quickly ran down the stairs, where her three friends sat stock still in the presence of the sun alicorn.
"I've seen enough..." she started. "... to promise that, barring major changes, there will be no need to banish miss Rainbow Dash."

"Really?" asked Fluttershy, her eyes lighting up with happiness. "You're not going to send her away?"

Princess Celestia shook her head. "No my little ponies. Rainbow Dash had demonstrated that despite her changes, she's still in control of herself." Fluttershy squeaked happily and pulled Rainbow into a tight embrace, while Twilight Sparkle felt like some pony had lifted a heavy weight off her shoulder. "Some precautions will be required on her part until we can figure out what happened to her. In addition, I may need Rainbow Dash' service in figuring out the strange happening around Equestria."

"What strange happening?" asked Twilight Sparkle. Princess Celestia furrowed her eye-brow in contemplation.

"Before I could answer that, I would like to hear the first hoof account from miss Rainbow Dash on everything that had happened to her."

Princess Luna stood in a small clearing within the Everfree forest. Her face wore a bored expression as she watched her guards examined every bush, every fallen logs, and every piece of rock they come across. Even with Celestia training on modern etiquette, she couldn't help but paw the ground occasionally in frustration. All in all, Princess Luna was not a happy alicorn.

As the regent of the night, it was her duty to investigate these strange objects that intruded on her night sky so callously. True, there were others in the past that deign themselves to be above her design of the heavenly body, but those were few, insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

But these... interlopers came by the dozens every night. Tarnishing her perfect night sky like a bunch of hooligans! And she demanded to know what they are!

If only her guard would see it that way.
"Captain Storm!" barked Princess Luna. Almost immediately a pegasus guard appeared in front of her as in by teleportation. Which surprised Luna somewhat, her mind wondering how a guard weighted down with all those... combat implements could still move that fast.

"Yes your highness?" asked the captain following a quick salute.

"How much longer, pray tell, dost thou..." Curses, lose the old Equestrian, "... will you take with this... security measure?"

"Hm..." the captain looked back toward the forest. "We have finished checking about half of the perimeter... so about... three more hours?"

Princess Luna groaned. Her sister may have meant well, asking her to tolerate such over-protective behavior from her little ponies. But they were really wearing her patience thin. "Captain! Why do you persist in such... pointless activity!"

"Pointless?" came the captain's gasps. "No your highness! All this is for your safety and well-being!"

"Safety and well-being..." repeated Luna, her eyes twitching a bit. "Tell me, captain. Are we... Am I, or am I not, Regent of the Moon, Grand Arbiter of the Night Court, Guardian of Dreams, Ruler of Equestria, AND one of the most powerful pony in the lands?"

"Um... yes, your highness." The captain nodded as if to reinforce his replies.

"And had I, or had I not, demonstrated that I'm more than capable of taking care of myself against a horde of sharp-fanged, rabid monster bunnies? Even when surrounded." Princess Luna couldn't help herself as her volume started to climb.

"Yes. You did." came the curt reply.

"Then WHY..." Volume! Volume! "... do you insist on treating me like a helpless foal?"

"It's a precaution, your majesty." said the captain, who appeared to be oblivious to how close Luna was to losing her temper. "It will be our disgrace as your majesty's royal guards if we failed in our duty in keeping you safe!"

Her eyes twitched some more. "What, pray tell, dost thou... you believe could harm our... my body?"

"Like I said, this is a precaution in case..." the captain's reply was cut short by the sound of a pony screaming at the top of his lung.

"MONSTER DOGS! MONSTER DOGS!" a single unicorn guard came running out of the thick underbrush. Almost immediately, three diamond dogs came racing out after him.

"PROTECT THE PRINCESS!" Captain Storm shouted. And in an instant, Princess Luna found herself surrounded on all sides by her guards.

Luna looked at the three dogs that were after the panicking unicorn guard. At first glance, they looked just like any other diamond dogs. But on a second look, it became obvious something was seriously wrong with them. Their teeth had grown to almost half-foot long, each terminated with into a sharp point. It looked like some-pony had decided to replace all their teeth with brand-new, sharpened railroad spikes. Their nails also changed, resembling more like manticore's claws then dog's. More distinct, were the red masses and veins that covered their entire body.

More of those cursed by the alien rock. thought Princess Luna as her horn started to spark. A dark cloud formed and swirled above her. When the galloping guard and his rabid pursuers were less than a dozen pony lengths away, she unleashed three quick bolts of lightning. The mutated diamond dogs yelped and collapsed to the ground, black smoke rising off them.

"See! I can take care..." one of the diamond dog growled and started to get up. Luna rolled her eyes in annoyance before dropping a more powerful bolt on it, silencing it permanently. "... of myself."

The unicorn guard slowed to a stop in front of Captain Storm, his breath coming out in gasps.

"Private Light Stick..." the captain started with a growl. "... please tell me you did not run out screaming like a foal over three small diamond dogs..."

"No captain!" the private replied in a panic. "There are more of them!"

"Ha! Then let them come!" said Luna. Her voice brimming with confidence. "We shall cleanse this land of... their..."

The tone of confidence left her voice as the ground began to tremble. Luna's feature went slack when countless number of diamond dogs, all mutated horribly, came pouring out from the underbrush.

"Oh... my..."

"This... raised a lot more questions than answers." commented Princess Celestia as the diamond dog in front of her revert to a sky-blue pegasus.

For the past two hours, Rainbow Dash had told Princess Celestia as much as she could about her strange abilities. Most of the things Twilight Sparkle already wrote in her letter to the Princess, others the unicorn saw for herself yesterday. But Rainbow Dash's demonstration of her ability to perfectly mimic a diamond dog's form and mannerism was... disturbing to say the least.

"We know one question that answered." said Pinkie Pie. Her voice carried a tone of seriousness before it bubbled away just a quickly. "What will Rainbow dress up as next Nightmare Night! Wait, is it still considered dressing up if she doesn't need to get dressed..."

That's Pinkie Pie. thought Twilight Sparkle, fighting the urge to face-hoof the second time. The first time was when Pinkie Pie suddenly pop out of nowhere to comment on Rainbow's "multipurpose" wing claws. That almost got her pounced on by Celestia's guard. Twilight Sparkle did wonder if the guards could even catch her.

Princess Celestia merely blinked at the party pony. "I can see why the Element of Laughter chose you." said Princess Celestia in wonderment. "Your ability to find joy in any situation is... unprecedented."

"Well duh! If you don't find the silver in every cloud. You'll be all dull and sad."

"Alright." said Twilight Sparkle. "Back on topic... Princess Celestia, you said something about strange happenings before?"

"Ah yes. The meteors that had fallen all over the world." said Princess Celestia. "As you might have noticed, there had been an abnormal amount of shooting stars in the past month."

Twilight Sparkle nodded. "The rate of falling stars appearing over the past month were orders of magnitudes greater than any other time in recorded history, excluding the Centennial Meteor Shower."

"Those are not exactly falling stars. Or at least, they're not from Luna's stars. Naturally, we went to investigate them." Princess Celestia's suddenly looked solemn. "It was... simply terrible."

"What happened?" asked Twilight. Princess Celestia's horn glowed, swirls of smoke coalesces in the air and turned into photographs. The ponies inched closer to get a better look at them.

"Good heavens! What are those... things?" exclaimed Rarity. The photos showed craters of different shape and sizes. Some almost perfectly circular, while others looked like some pony pulled a plow through it. But all of them showed red, flesh-colored tendrils covering and spreading from the meteor.

"No pony knows. The University scholars took some samples, but they still haven't figure out what they are. All we know is that it somehow turns the surrounding animals into some sort of monsters." said Princess Celestia as she conjured up a second set of photos. All the photos have the same theme: Dead animals of various sizes, all mutated into muscled monstrosities.

"Those poor critters..." said Fluttershy, her eyes started to tear up. On the other hoof, Rainbow Dash just stared numbly at the photographs.

"Just like what happened to that diamond dog..." said Twilight Sparkle.

"Yes, and you spoke of these strange red gems that seems to be the cause." said Princess Celestia.

"Those were no gems." said Rarity before Twilight could answer.

"Oh?" Princess Celestia looked at the fashionista with interest. "How so?"

"My special talent is in finding gems, your highness. That said, I can also determine whether a stone was a fake. And those stones were most certainly fake."

"And they were in the crater where Twilight found us..." said Fluttershy. "... but they disappeared when she got there."

Princess Celestia went silence as she thought it over. In the same manner, Twilight Sparkle's mind ticked along trying to make sense of these information.

"Will I... become like them?" asked Rainbow Dash, her voice wavering.

"Not... likely..." said Twilight Sparkle. "Judging by what happened to that diamond dog, the effect appears to be instantaneous. So if you are going to become like... those thing, you would have been one already. It looks like its effect on pony is... different."

"That will be fortunate if it is so." said Princess Celestia. "However, I am not going to try that on another..."

Princess Celestia stopped talking. Her eyes glazed over, staring blankly ahead. Twilight Sparkle was starting to get worried when the alicorn blinked, her eyes returning to normal.

Then she got really worried when Princess Celestia bolted to her hooves and ran out the basement. Twilight Sparkle quickly ran after her, with her friends following close behind. Once outside, her eyes went wide as she saw a roiling thundercloud hovering above Everfree forest. Lightning bolts crashed at frequency never seen or heard of before.

"Feather Ruffle, evacuate the town. The rest of you, follow me." Princess Celestia broke of into a gallop toward the edge of town bordering the Everfree forest, her guards followed close behind. Twilight Sparkle ran after her with her friends.

"Princess! What's happening?" asked Twilight Sparkle, shouting over the noise of thundering hooves.

"Princess Luna just informed me that there's a large horde of those... monster diamond dogs heading toward us from the Everfree forest." said Princess Celestia. "She and her guards are buying us some time to set up a proper defense."

"What can we do to help?" asked Twilight Sparkle.

"Help evacuate the town, and get yourself to safety."

"Got it." Twilight Sparkle slowed to a trot and let the guards sped past them before turning to her friends. "Okay, girls you heard..."

"Angel! The animals! They're right next to the Everfree forest!" Fluttershy took off before Twilight could say anything. Rainbow Dash quickly went after her.

"I'll help her!" called back Rainbow Dash. "Fluttershy! Wait up!"

Oh! That's right! Applejack's farm is also near the Everfree Forest!

"Okay, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, go help evacuate the town. I'll go get Applejack." said Twilight Sparkle. With that, the ponies went their separate ways. Each hoping that there's enough time to save the town folks.

Hurry up Tia!
Princess Luna urged in her mind. She sent a dozen more lightning bolts crashing down into the swarm of monstrous canines, turning them into ashes. But she could have sworn that for every diamond dog she put down, three more would take their place. All around her, unicorn guards fought to slow the advancing horde down. Many have already used up all their javelins and were chopping down the monsters with their blades. All her pegasus guards were out of their fléchette pack already. Instead, they swoop down in between the trees, cutting the monsters below with their hoof-blades.

But even with their effort, the sheer weight of the horde were pushing them back. To make matter worse, they were getting exhausted, or at least she was. The need to control that many lightning bolts created a great mental strain, and she could notice that some of her bolts were starting to miss their mark. The sheer density of the swarm, however, meant that they still hit something.

Thankfully, her sister voice echoed through her mind.
Luna! Pull back! We're ready for them.

"Fluttershy! Hurry up!" yelled Rainbow Dash. She was standing outside Fluttershy's cottage. The worried look on her face deepened as the rumbling of thunder started to die away. Rainbow Dash went into the cottage and shouted. "We need to go! Now!" She immediately regretted shouting that.

"I can't..." Fluttershy's lip quivered. In front of her was two baskets with injured critters lining the bottom of them. Yet, more critters in various states of injury and illness surrounded her. A white bunny sat beside Fluttershy, his paw on her side as if trying to comfort her. "I can't take them all."

"We have to go..." said Rainbow Dash in more gentle tone.

"I... I can't leave them..." said Fluttershy. Tears started to well up in her eyes. Rainbow Dash looked around at the terrified critters.
"Then you take what you can and go, I'll stay." said Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy looked at her in shock as she continued. "I can't promise that they'll be okay, but I'll try to keep those monsters from your animals."

"You can't!" blurted Fluttershy. "I can't ask you to do that!"

"It's either that or..."

"Rainbow! Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy went outside and saw Twilight Sparkle running toward them, with Applejack hauling a cart behind her. "What's the problem? What's taking you guys so long?"

"Fluttershy got too many injured animals." said Rainbow Dash. "She couldn't leave them."

"Oh good. I suspect that might happen." said Twilight Sparkle. "Good thing I asked Applejack to bring her cart."

"Good thinking Twi. Ah was wondering why yah need me cart here." said Applejack as Fluttershy quickly went back to her cottage with Twilight Sparkle. Moments later, Fluttershy came out with the two basketful of injured animals. The rests were carried through the air by Twilight's magic. "Land-sake, dat right there is a lot of critters!"

The two quickly load the injured critter on the cart when several unicorn ponies came galloping out of the Everfree forest. Rainbow Dash recognized them as Princess Luna's royal unicorn guards by their distinctive midnight blue armors. One of the unicorn guards stopped when he saw them.

"What are you ponies doing here!?"

Before any pony could respond to him, two mutated diamond dogs jumped out of the bush. The guard quickly used his sword and sliced one of them in half. But the second one managed to land on his back, the shock of the impact made him lost his telekinesis grab on his blade. The monstrous canine proceed to try to bite through the chain-mail protecting his neck.

"Get it off me!" the guard started kicking his hind leg into the air, trying to buck the rabid dog off his back. Rainbow Dash bolted forward, tackling the diamond dog off the guard's back and to the ground. Her wings transformed to claws as the diamond dog's started making scratch marks on her with its struggling. She drove both wing claws into the neck of the monster below her and gave her wings a twist. Rainbow Dash grimaced at the dull crack sound of the diamond dog's neck shattering. Her expression turned to mild disgust as black and red tendril latched themselves onto the diamond dog. The dead canine disintegrated as the tendril pull them into her body, which was rapidly healing the cuts and scratches she sustained. Shaking off the healing of disgust, she transformed her wings back to normal and turned to look for her friends. She found them staring at her with their mouth agape, and a floating sword pointing at her.

"What... What are you?" he asked, the sword he was levitating shook unsteadily.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "I am a pegasus... that is going through some issues right now. Can we just run first before more of those things show up?"

"Sir, we really need to go." urged Twilight Sparkle. The unicorn guard still looked unsure, but he sheath his sword anyway. The ponies quickly took off toward Ponyville. Applejack dragging the cart beside Fluttershy. The unicorn guard took up position in front of them, his eyes darting side-to-side. Rainbow Dash ran behind them with Twilight Sparkle beside her.

"Rainbow. Are you alright? Did you have those... flashbacks again?" asked Twilight Sparkle, her voice low and filled with concern.

"I'm... fine. Didn't get it this time." Rainbow Dash bit her lip. "It's like they no longer have their memories anymore..."

As the group approach the main-road toward Ponyville, the lines of trees beside them started to thin out. The sight of foliage, however, was replaced by hundreds of thousands of monstrous looking diamond dogs running toward them.

"Oh cow-pie." swore Rainbow Dash.

For as long as any ponies have remembered, there was never a need to evacuate a town before. So when a group of pegasus guards showed up, telling them that the town was in grave danger, the ponies did the one thing their instinct told them to do.

"RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!" screamed Roseluck for the twenty-seventh time as she ran around in circles. The town was in pandemonium, with ponies running around colliding into each other. Above the chaos, Pinkie Pie had somehow managed to suspend giant neon signs pointing toward Canterlot on Twilight's balloon. Signs that said "Run Here", "Panic This Way", "Free Candies", and "Thar Be Muffins" blinked over the crowd.

"Please just head toward Canterlot... Sweetie Belle! Sweetie... Canterlot, head toward Canterlot, and watch where you're going! Sweetie Belle! Oh... mom and dad are going to kill me... Sweetie Belle! Where are you?" Rarity alternate between finding her own sister and trying to get the town-ponies to head in the right direction. She sincerely hoped that Sweetie Belle had went ahead and evacuated first. However, the sight of a pastel pink and purple tailed filly unicorn disappearing behind a building quickly squashed that hope. "She's SO GROUNDED... DOUBLE GROUNDED!" growled Rarity before she started pushing her way through the crowd once more. "... JUST LOOK UP AT THE DAMN SIGNS!"

"Scootaloo! I really, REALLY think this is a BAD idea!" said Sweetie Belle as she followed the running Scootaloo and Apple Bloom up the bell tower staircase. "Rarity is so going to ground me... again..."

"Ah haveta agree. This is a bad idea! Applejack is going to lock me in the cellar for this!" shouted Apple Bloom.

"And miss all the actions? No way!" Scootaloo jumped the final couple of stairs and reached the top of the bell tower. From there, she could see the boundary between the town and Everfree forest, where lines of unicorn and pegasus guards stood at ready. In the middle of the lines stood a single imposing figure, her horn glowing with the intensity of the sun.

"Sweetie Belle! Apple Bloom! Hurry up! Something cool is about to happen!"

"Applejack! Can't you run any faster?" asked Rainbow Dash as she tracked another diamond angling in on them. With her wing back in claw form, she back winged the canine into the air before bisecting it with a down-stroke. They were just minutes away from the town, in front of a wave of rabid diamond dogs that numbered in the thousands. Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy rode in the cart with the injured animal. The former was picking up passing rock with her magic and hurling them at the pursuing diamond. The latter was working to keep the injured animals from bouncing off the cart.

"Well, just keep them off us!" yelled Applejack, she duck her head a swerved, barely missing a diamond dog trying to jump on her. Said diamond dog didn't manage to get back up before being beheaded by a floating blade. "Thanks Long Sweep."

"Don't mention it." replied the unicorn guard, his blade spinning in the air like a saw, slicing through any diamond dogs that managed to catch up to them. "We need to hurry, Princess Celestia is about to clean this place up."

Rainbow Dash looked forward, noting the line of golden armor right behind the river. In the middle of them, she could barely make out the imposing figure of the solar princess through the glare from her horn. "I'm guessing we should not be here when she starts."

"We need to hurry!" shouted Twilight. "She's going to... AH! HELP!"

Rainbow Dash looked back and saw Twilight Sparkle hanging on to the back of the cart with Fluttershy's help. Behind her, a diamond dog had its teeth latched on the unicorn tail.

"Hang on Twi!" Rainbow Dash pulled back to the side of the offending diamond dog, and using the momentum of her leap, drove her wing claws into its back. The sudden addition of claws into its neck caused the diamond to topple to the dirt. Unfortunately for Twilight, the diamond dog didn't release her tail, which caused her to be dragged off the cart and into the ground.

"Keep going!" she yelled ahead at Applejack, who nodded and continued her way. Rainbow Dash ran to the fallen unicorn, who was trying to pull her tail out of the now dead canine's teeth with no success. She brought her claws up just in time to ram them into a diamond dog charging at Twilight. Lifting up the impaled diamond dog, she spun around and threw them at the pack behind them as hard as she could. The diamond dog carcass plowed into the pursuing pack, knocking them over like rows of bowling pins and creating a gap. To the dismay of Rainbow Dash, the gap was quickly filled in by the massive swarm of diamond dogs behind them.

"Twilight! Hurry..." Rainbow Dash found herself momentarily deaf and blinded. Her sight recovered first. With her ear ringing, she looked around and found the ground behind them covered with dozens of char marks. Diamond dog bodies littered the field, many burnt beyond recognition. Twilight Sparkle was wobbling on her hooves, her eyes dazed and confused. Her nose caught a strong scent of ozone, like the smell of an active thunderstorm. She looked up, and found herself staring at swirling black cloud. The impressive form of Princess Luna loomed over them.

"Make haste!" came the alicorn's rumbling voice, loud enough for Rainbow Dash to hear over her ringing ears. Rainbow Dash quickly cut off Twilight's tail, freeing her from the diamond dog's teeth. Her wings transformed back as she dove below the unicorn, lifting her on her back.

"Twilight! Hang on!" Rainbow Dash felt the unicorn's hooves tightened against her sides. She broke off into a mad dash, catching up to Applejack at an impressive speed as Princess Celestia rose into the air.

"Ooh..." From the bell tower, the three filly watched as the bright glowing figure ascended into the sky. All three wore a pair of sunglasses courtesy of Scootaloo by means unknown.

As Princess Celestia's ascend slowed, the sun started to grow dim with each stroke of her wings. The sky turned from blue to yellow, before finally turned to a dull red. Nothing else seems to happen for several seconds when Princess Celestia just hovered there. Then without warning, shafts of light, almost tangible in quality from the distance, slammed into the ground in front of the advancing diamond dogs.

"Cool!" uttered Scootaloo. Princess Celestia started to fly forward, pushing the beams of light into the diamond dog swarm. The light vaporized anything that didn't get out-of-the-way. Unfortunately for the monsters below, the tightly packed shafts offered no escape.

Rainbow Dash had barely clear the bridge into Ponyville when she was forced to shield her eyes from the intense light. The ground trembled. The air itself hissed, crackled and roared from the heat. Twilight Sparkle had tumbled off her when the unicorn had to shield her own eyes with her front hooves. Her exposed back felt like some pony had shined a high power heat-lamp on her back.

As fast as it came, the intense heat and light went away. Rainbow Dash opened her eye cautiously. Beside her, Twilight Sparkle was already getting up and looking around, her back and mane looked light burnt as small wisps of smoke rose off them. She looked back toward the forest, or the lack of one. Where the Everfree forest once stood, a large swath of it had turned into a blackened plain. Only a few blackened and charred trees here and there remained. Black pieces of glass covered the ground where the earth itself was fused together by the intense heat. Smoke rose up from the edge of the forest the remained, where trees and vegetation were close enough to catch fire, but not close enough to be instant vaporized.

Above the charred landscape, Princess Celestia circled a few times before coming down beside Princess Luna. Both landed in front of their respective guard captains. Rainbow Dash couldn't hear what the princesses were saying. But judging by the loud cheer that erupted, they probably won.

Then the ground started to rumble again.

"Whoa... that was SO COOL!" shouted Scootaloo as she took her sunglasses. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle followed suite.

"Ah haveta admit, that was pretty cool." said Apple Bloom.

"I still think..." Sweetie Belle went pale when she noticed a unicorn purple mane trotting up to the bell tower with steam pouring out her ear.

"SWEE... TIE... BELLE! GET... DOWN... HERE... RIGHT... THIS... INSTANCE..." shouted Rarity in a strained voice. A part of her wanted to give her sister a very, VERY through scolding, maybe a padding on her flank or two. Yet, the other part of her was just relieved that her sister was safe.

The latter part won out when she saw the filly unicorn walked out the bell tower: Her head down with her ears folded against it.

"I..." before Sweetie Belle could get a word out, Rarity swept her into a tight embrace.

"Don't... ever... do that... again..." Rarity choked out to the stunned filly. "I was... so worried..."

"I'm sorry Rarity." replied Sweetie Belle. Her voice cracking as she recognized the distressed she had caused her sister.

"It's alright. Everything is alright." said Rarity as she released the filly unicorn from her embrace. She looked at the two other filly behind her, both looked guilt ridden. "Come on, let's get you girls back to your families."

Rarity had barely taken two steps before the ground started shaking. The rumbling drew near the ground started to swell in front of her. Her eyes went wide when the ground burst, revealing a massive mutated diamond dog in front of her.

"RUN GIRLS! RUN!"

"They are inside the perimeter!"
To their credit, the royal guards reacted quickly. The instant one of those diamond dogs burst out from the ground, they were immediately pin-cushioned by whatever weapons the guards have. However, these diamond dogs were easily three to four times the size of the ones wiped out by Princess Celestia, or a tad larger then the first monster canine Rainbow Dash killed. Even with the sheer amount of injury the guards inflicted, it took them a good minute just to bring one down.

Twilight Sparkle picked up the largest piece of masonry she could find and chucked it at the closest diamond dog, crushing it. From the corner of her eyes, she could make out three ponies that were at least faring better then she was against the monster dogs.

Princess Luna was doing what could be best described as lightning whack-a-mole. With the need to spread out her lightning gone, she called down powerful bolts of lightning that simply vaporized any diamond dog that poke their head out. Princess Celestia had her flaming claymore out, bisecting any diamond dogs that managed to get out of their holes.

Then there's Rainbow Dash. Twilight Sparkle saw her ran up to a diamond dog, heedless of the fact that it was five times taller then she was. With one fluid motion, Rainbow Dash scaled the towering form and drove her wing claws into its shoulder. She gave the beast's head a few kick and jumped off, using her weight to pull the beast off-balance. The flailing monster toppled on its back, sending a tremor through the ground behind the pegasus. Planting her fore-legs into the ground, Rainbow Dash kicked out her hind-legs. With a sickening crack, she drove the monster's head into its shoulder, stilling the monster instantly.

"Three down." said Rainbow Dash before yanking her wing claws out the now deceased monster, the entire event lasting less then ten seconds. That was when Rarity's scream echoed from the town.

"Back you ruffian! Back!" yelled Rarity, her horn glowing as a floating pole stabbed at the monstrous canine in front of her. Behind her the Cutie Mark Crusader backed themselves into a corner, having no where else to run. Worst of all, Rarity's stabbing seemed to not phased the monster at all, judging by the ease with which said monster snapped the pole in half with its powerful jaws. Rarity dropped the pole and scrambled back to the three filly.

"I'm sorry girls..." said Rarity, hugging the three fillies close. "... looks like this is the end for us. Oh cruel..."

"Hey you!" Rarity turned her head to the source of the voice. Rainbow Dash came in at full gallop, her claw wings fully extended. Her shout also drew the attention of the towering canine, who raised its claws and took a wild swipe at charging pegasus. Rainbow Dash quickly ducked, and use the opening to dug her right-wing into the monster's waist. Using the momentum of her charge and her dug in wing claw as a pivot, she spiraled up across the front of the beast and on its back, leaving behind three deep gashes on the beast's body. With her other wing, she started driving her claws into the monster's neck. However, the beast snapping jaw managed to grab it after a few stabs.

"Hey!" the beast twisted its head, snapping her left-wing off. "OW!"

"Rainbow!" came Rarity's worried cries as the three fillies screamed out in shock. Rainbow Dash, on the other hoof, didn't seemed to be hindered by a lost wing. Instead, she simply looked more pissed.

"So it's biting now, huh? Two can play that game!" Rainbow Dash bit down on the diamond dog's ear for anchorage. She yanked out her right-wing and proceed to use it to continue stabbing the canine in the neck. The beast leg gave out when Rainbow's claws managed to severed its spine. It toppled backward, and fell to the ground on top of the pegasus.

"Rainbow! Are you okay?" asked Rarity.

"I'm... okay... just... I got it..." came the muffled reply. Rarity blanched as the monster's body disintegrated and started to merge into the pegasus below. Rainbow Dash scrambled to her hoof, her broken wing rapidly regenerating as the unicorn and fillies watched.

"Are you alright?" asked Rainbow Dash, to which Rarity could only nod in response. "Okay, just stay tight. I going to go take care of these... things." with that, Rainbow Dash ran off, leaving behind three stunned fillies.

"Ah don't think dat rumor was a figure of speech thingy..." commented Apple Bloom.

Well... it's not as bad as I imagined... thought Princess Celestia as she stood over a small hill overlooking the triage area, where dozens of injured guards were being treated. It had taken almost an hour of fighting, and the town itself was pretty much destroyed. Many of the guards were injured, with Princess Luna's own guards making up the largest portion on account of being the first in contact with those... monstrosities. As much as she hated seeing her ponies hurt, she was at least glad that the number of casualties were small. The evacuation had ensured that none of the Ponyville residence were harmed, and only seven guards lost their lives today. Unfortunately, all seven guards were among Luna's.

Just two years back... and you already have to tell some family that their foal had died... She made a mental note to herself to help her sister through that difficult process. Princess Celestia watched as the midnight blue alicorn crisscrossing among the injured guards, offering whatever help and support she could.

"Your highness." Princess Celestia looked to her side and found her personal protegé raising her head up from a bow. "We just finished delivering some medical supplies. Is there anything more we can do too help?"

"Thank you, Twilight. You and your friends have done all that you can. We'll handle it from here." said Princess Celestia, a faint smile on her face.

The smile quickly went away when a worried Fluttershy ran up to the.

"Twilight!... Oh your highness, I'm sorry... but... something is wrong with the guards!"

"Now now Captain Storm. You and your ponies had done very well." Princess Luna said with a smile, her hoof gently pushing the pegasus back on his bed. "I am sorry about your wing thou." said Luna, pointing toward the bandaged stomp on his back.

"Nah, the nurse said they got some potion that can grow it back." said Storm. "I must apologize that I won't be able to lead your aerial guard."

"Your dedication is noted, Captain Storm, but I must insist that you take a paid rest from guard duty." said Princess Luna. "Just think, you'll get to spend some more time with your family."

"Thank you, your highness." Princess Luna did a quick bow to the captain, who returned the gesture. She continued her round, her heart heavy with remorse, seeing the rows of make-shift bed where her injured guards laid.

Strangled cries of pain reached her ears. She quickly located the source, and saw a unicorn guard writhing on his bed. Princess Luna quickly trotted over, noting that his bandage was soaked through with blood.

"Nurse! He's bleeding again..."

"No..." Princess Luna stared at the injured guard who had just interrupted her. It was something the guards never did before in her memory. "... run... your highness..."

"What are you talking about?" asked Princess Luna.

"Something... wrong..." came the strangled word from the unicorn. "I..."

Princess Luna heard a guttural growl beside her. Before she could find the source, a sharp pain shot up from her left-wing. Her eyes went wide when she saw that a pegasus guard had sunk his teeth into her wing. His eyes were bloodshot and wild, with red veins covering them like spiderwebs. Luna quickly flapped her wing, throwing the guard off.

"What... what happened to you? Why did you do that?" the guard that just bit her scrambled to his foot. Princess Luna could see a moment of shock and fear flash through the guard's eyes when, to her horror, the pegasus body began to shift. The skin around his mouth pulled back, revealing the muscles and tendons as his jaw opened into a yawning maw. His teeth enlarged and sharpened. The extra bulk caused his teeth to jut out, forming a crooked row of sharp points. His eyes bulged out until it looked like they're about to popped out from their sockets. Their iris turned cloudy white as red veins extended into it. Undisguised by the enchanted guard armors, his normally yellow mane and tail receded and became sharp spines. His brown coat also receded, exposing the skin below that had become a sickly gray color covered by bulging blood-red veins. His feather fell out as his wings atrophied until they're no more then two, short, bony stumps on his back.

Screams erupted all over the triage area. Princess Luna looked around in shock as the guards started to transform one by one, each as hideous as the next. The ones that weren't changing struggled to their hooves, trying to get away from those that once considered them to be comrades.

"Luna! We need to go!" the stunned lunar princess only saw a plume of white feather covering her before she felt the soaring sensation of being teleported. Princess Luna found herself being deposited on the hill overlooking the triage area, her sister stood by her side. She knew she shouldn't look, but in her state of shock, Princess Luna couldn't look away.

Below, the transformed guards chased and hunted down their former care-takers comrades. Terrified screams of mares and colts filled the air as they were eaten alive. Princess Luna didn't hear her sister taking off into the air, nor did she felt the building up of magical energy.

She did noticed the bright shaft of burning light that, mercifully, wiped away the scene of terror in front of her.

Princess Celestia landed beside her still paralyzed sister. Her own mind was numbed by her own action.

They were Luna's royal guards. Princess Celestia knew most of their names, on account that most of them were from her own guard forces. Luna was just starting to make friend with them, and now, she just killed them all.

She looked at her sister, who stood motionless on the hill. Her eyes stared blankly at the charred ground that was all that remained of her guards.

"Luna..." her voice broke through the paralysis that gripped her sister. Luna turned to look at her, tears welling up in her teal eyes.

"Why Tia..." Luna choked out as tears rolled down her cheek. "WHY?"

"I'm sorry Luna... I... LUNA!" Princess Celestia became alarmed when Luna yelped out in pain.

"My wing! My wing!" yelled the night alicorn as she stumbled to her right. Her left-wing stretched out from her side as if she was trying to get it away from her. The familiar blood-red veins were spreading from the bite wound in her wing.

"Luna!" Princess Celestia quickly got to her sister's side. Her right-wing shot out and pulled Luna's head against her side, covering her eyes in the process. Her horn flared up, releasing a burst of magical flame that coalesced into a flaming sword.

"Hold your wing out!" Princess Luna did as commanded. The red veins had covered half of her wing already when Princess Celestia brought the burning blade down.

"GAH!" screamed Princess Luna as her infected wing flew of in an arc.

"It's okay... It's okay..." Princess Celestia kept her wing tight around Luna's neck, gently lowering the gasping alicorn to the ground. Just when she thought the worst was over, a squelching sound drew her attention to where Luna's wing had landed.

The wing had turned into a puddle of red mass on the ground. From the center of it, a red bulge started to rise. Both stunned princesses watched as the bulge turned into a front leg of a pony, blood-red and lacking any skin. A second, larger bulge rose up, turning into what looked like a skinned unicorn head. Its eyes were pitch-black, the same color as its horn. The rest of the body rose out from the puddle, a pair of featherless wings on burst out from its back. As the body emerged, the red mass coating the creature started to receded, leaving behind a sickly gray coat. Identically colored feathers started to grow from its wings. Dull grayish red mane spilled from the back of its neck. Her tail, also of the same color, emerged out of the puddle along with her hind-legs.

Princess Celestia found herself staring at another alicorn, an alicorn born from the corrupted flesh of her sister. Princess Celestia felt her sister trembled against her as its soulless eyes bore into them. The sun princess got to her hooves, rage burning in her eyes as her sword caught flame again.

"DIE YOU ABOMINATION!" screamed Princess Celestia as she charged. She barely got three steps into her charge when the alicorn opened its mouth and screeched.

Princess Celestia found herself stopped in her track as the wave of sound hit her like a wall. Her flaming blade extinguished as she dug into the ground to stop herself from being blown back. The unnatural sound ceased after just mere moment. With her ear still ringing, Princess Celestia opened her eyes she didn't know she closed and saw the creature flying away toward the Everfree forest. She was about to give chase when the ground started shaking.

Not again! thought Princess Celestia as she ready her blade again. She looked behind her to her sister, who was struggling to her hoof to get ready to fight again. Turning her attention forward again, she focused on the growing bulge on the ground in front of her.

Let's get this over with... thought Princess Celestia, her sword at the ready to cut down more of those monster canines.

The ground erupted.

It wasn't a diamond dog.

"WHAT THE HAY!" exclaimed Applejack as a snake-like creature erupted from the ground. Twilight Sparkle simply stared in disbelief. She had thought that the monster looking alicorn was about as scary as it could get after the monster diamond dogs. But this thing was another matter entirely. She could tell that this creature was once a hydra, a creature that lived in a swamp and had attacked them once. Its bulging muscles had increased in size to the point that the skin had burst. Its mouth split open into four flaps, the inside of which were completely covered with teeth.

Twilight Sparkle wondered where the other three heads were when the ground shook again. She looked around in a hurry, trying to find where the remaining head will come from. Her eyes instantly caught sight of a rapidly bulging ground at a distance from her.

A bulging ground with Fluttershy on top of it. Twilight couldn't even get out a warning before the hydra's head burst out, throwing the stunned pegasus into the air.

"Ee..." Fluttershy's squeak receded rapidly as she went higher and higher into the air. Twilight could do nothing else but watch in horror as the hydra's maw opened. She could see Fluttershy floundering in mid-air, trying to right herself up in order to fly, before her scream was cut off by the hydra's mouth closing around her.

"FLUTTERSHY!" screamed out Rainbow Dash as she galloped toward the hydra that ate Fluttershy. Her eyes followed the hydra's head as it retreated back underground. She tried to jumped in after it, but only for a blast of dirt to push her back out. Spitting the dirt out her mouth, she looked around and saw two more hydra's heads erupted out of the ground. One managed to knock a few royal guards into the air swallowed them before retreating back underground.

The attack always followed the same pattern. A ground bulging a few seconds before the hydra's head popped out. If some unfortunate pony got thrown into the air, the maw opened and swallowed them. Then the whole thing retreats.

Rainbow Dash looked to her friends, who had already snapped out from the shock of seeing their friend eaten and were now just trying to avoid being snacks themselves. Near her, she saw Twilight Sparkle scrambling away from a rising bulge in the ground. She took off toward it, a plan forming in her mind.

"Rainbow! What are you doing?" yelled Twilight Sparkle as Rainbow Dash stopped on top of the bulge. She gave the unicorn a knowing smirk before the hydra launched her into the air.

Rainbow Dash flew straight into the air. She looked down at the rapidly approaching head of the hydra, it's maw opening to swallow her. With a quick flap of her wings, she shot past the closing maw. She quickly transformed her wings into claws, and dug them right into the hydra's neck.

"This is for FLUTTERSHY!" The hydra roared in pain as Rainbow Dash galloped down its neck. Spray of blood and chunks erupted behind her as her wing claws carved out two deep gouges down the length of the hydra. The roar of the hydra faltered when Rainbow Dash reached the ground. The entire length started to topple like a falling tree, forcing Rainbow Dash to keep running to get away from it. With a mighty crash, the slain hydra collapsed to the ground.

"It... stopped." commented Twilight as Rainbow Dash slowed to a stop in front of her. The comment was less of a grand insight into the working of a mutated hydra than the fact that the tremor had stopped. The more scholar side of her reasoned that the main body must be trapped under the ground of the now slain head. The remaining three head were likely trapped in the vicinity and couldn't risk coming out in case they too were killed.

The more personal side of her mourned for the lost of their friend. Out of all her friends, Rarity seems to be the hardest hit of them all.

"Oh Fluttershy..." said Rarity. Her voice soft and wavering. Her usual dramatic flair was nowhere to be found. "... why did it have to be you. So innocent, so kind, so pure, and..."

"Girls look!" Pinkie Pie bounced up and yelled, her hoof pointing toward the slain hydra head. Rarity looked like she was about to admonish the pink pony for disrespecting Fluttershy's memory, but gasped instead when she saw what Pinkie Pie was pointing at.

There, near the base of the slain hydra's neck, a chunk of flesh had tumbled out. Only this one was moving. Blood soaked wings floundered in the pool of blood as a pegasus form pushed itself up right. Blood and mucus slipped off the pegasus, revealing patches of yellow coat. Its eyes opened, and the familiar pair of cyan eyes greeted them.

"Fluttershy!" cried Twilight Sparkle, elation filled her spirit as she galloped toward the entrails-covered pegasus. Her cheering friends galloped beside her. As she got closer, her elation faded when she noticed the ground started to tremor again. Without warning, three hydra heads erupted from the ground behind Fluttershy. More cracks appeared behind them as the main body started to appear.

"Fluttershy! Run!" shouted Twilight Sparkle along with her friends. But to their surprise, Fluttershy shook her head and actually started back away from them.

"Fluttershy! What are you doing?" yelled the perplexed unicorn.

"... away..." was all Twilight Sparkle could make out from the quiet pegasus.

"What are you talking about?"

"... back..." Fluttershy took another step back. The hydra was almost completely out of the ground.

"What ever is wrong with you we can deal with later! Just get away from that thing!"

"... don't... closer..." Fluttershy suddenly doubled over as if in pain.

"Hang on! We're coming!" yelled Twilight Sparkle, willing herself to run faster.

"... no... don't... GET AWAY!" Fluttershy screamed out. Twilight Sparkle's eyes went wide as black and red tendrils appeared on Fluttershy, enveloping her whole body. She didn't see what happened next as a flash of light blinded her, followed instantly by a powerful telekinetic force slamming into her. She landed on her side and proceeded to tumble a few more times before coming to a stop. Her head swam as she tried to pull herself up.

"Did Fluttershy just... exploded?" came Pinkie Pie slurring voice. At the moment, Twilight Sparkle wondered the same thing as she opened her eyes, trying to blink away the after image.

"TIA!" the unicorn immediately regretted doing that. The panic cry of Princess Luna had snapped her back to full attention. Her eyes stared at what she would describe as her worst fear coming to life.

Fluttershy had indeed exploded. Her form hovered in mid-air as countless number of black tendrils extended from her, filling the air all around. The tendrils looked like they're woven out of fibers. Yellow and pink threads, the same color as Fluttershy's coat and mane, mixed in among the mass of black. Behind her, the towering hydra was still, pinned by the massed tendrils that drilled through it like it wasn't even there.

But her worst fear was right in front of Fluttershy. A few feet off the ground, skewered by no less then a dozen tendrils, was Princess Celestia. A look of surprised etched in her face. She let out an agonizing gasp as the tendrils rapidly withdrew back into the pegasus, dropping both of them on the ground. Fluttershy collapsed to her side, her form completely still. Princess Celestia managed to remain steady, albeit with great difficulties. Streams of blood poured from her wounds, staining her pale pink coat blood-red. Blood dripped from her muzzle as she coughed. Her wings trailed on the ground, their tip turning red as blood soaked through them.

Then the hydra, now dead, toppled on top of them both.

"Tia! Ti..." Princess Luna's eyes spaced out for a moment before returning to normal. "Guards! Help me!"

Princess Luna galloped toward the fallen hydra, her gait unsteady on account of her missing a wing. Twilight Sparkle followed the few guards that remained after her, hoping to offer whatever help she could give. Princess Luna's horn flared and enveloped the hydra in dark-blue aura. Before Twilight or any of the unicorn guards could do the same to assist, the hydra went flying into the Everfree forest. Princess Luna proceeded to siphon up the entrails and fluid into a hovering sphere. Twilight lit her horn and did the same. They quickly cleared a way to the fallen princess, guided by the faint glow from Princess Celestia's horn. Her friends and the guards followed close behind them.

"Tia?" Princess Celestia looked absolutely horrible. Her blood-stained wings flapped feebly as she pulled herself up with great difficulties. Her breathing came out as a series of labored wheeze. Her legs shook below her, looking as if she was going to topple over at any moment. Her horn was emitting a soft and constant glow. Twilight Sparkle guessed that it was some form of spell that kept her from bleeding out, judging by the fact that the gaping wounds on her was no longer bleeding.

"Your highness! We need to get you back to Canterlot for some medical attention." said Captain Feather Ruffle as he trotted up with the rest of his guard.

"I don't..." Princess Celestia drew in another shaky breath. "... think I can travel... that distance... at the moment..."

"How about somewhere near? And secure?" asked Princess Luna.

"How about mah barn? It's nearby and It has a cella, should be plenty safe." suggested Applejack.

"You can't honestly think..." one of the guards spoke up before being silenced by a glare from his captain.

"That... will be... fine..." said Princess Celestia. Applejack quickly ran off to get her cart.

The guards suddenly pulled out their weapons in response to a squelching noise nearby. Rainbow Dash growled in response, her legs tensed and back arched as if she was ready to fight. On her back was Fluttershy, who was covered in partially dried blood.

"No... put away your weapons...." said Princess Celestia. "I... I don't... blame her..."

The guards looked at each other, finding no objection and sheathed their weapons. Applejack returned with the cart that was used to carry Fluttershy's animals. Princess Celestia made her way toward it, a dark-blue glow surrounded her as Princess Luna helped kept her up.

"Twilight... keep your friends together... I need to talk to you all in the morning... specifically Fluttershy..." said Princess Celestia as she climbed on the cart. "If you will... miss Applejack..."

Applejack nodded and slowly broke into a canter.

The trip to Sweet Apple Acre was a quiet and uneventful. Applejack pulled the cart carrying Princess Celestia with as much care as she could manage. Only a few guards surrounded them, the remaining have gone ahead to the barn. Twilight Sparkle followed close behind with her friends, with Rainbow Dash carrying the still unconscious Fluttershy on her back.

By the time they got there, the sun had stopped just above the horizon, casting long shadows on the ground. Guards were milling about around the barn, with nurse ponies coming and going from Applejack's cellar adjacent to it. Princess Celestia stepped off the cart. Her leg buckled beneath her, and would've fallen if it wasn't for Princess Luna's intervention with her telekinetic spell. A nurse with a cutie-mark of two overlapping red hearts trotted over in alarm, and motioned for the critically injured princess to follow her. Princess Celestia obliged and followed the nurse down the cellar. Twilight Sparkle tried to follow, only to be stopped by the guards.

"My faithful student..." Princess Celestia's weakened voice echoed out the cellar door. "... please don't follow. I do not wish for you to see me like this."

"Okay." Twilight Sparkle backed away and let the guard close the cellar door. She sat down, her eyes staring at the closed-door of the cellar as the evening light abruptly transitioned into night.

"What now?" asked Applejack as she unhitched herself from the cart.

"Now we wait." answered Twilight Sparkle.

Day 3

forty-four... forty-five... forty-six... forty-seven... forty-eight... *BLINK*...
"Aw I lose again..." said Pinkie Pie, looking down at a scrap of parchment by her hoof. She picked up the pencil and mark another line under the column of labeled "Fluttershy", which was already packed with dozens of similar marks. "Fluttershy, one hundred and twelve... Pinkie Pie, zero... wow Fluttershy! You're really good at this staring contest game! Hey! I just broke the my personal record by one second! And you're still breaking the world staring record! We should celebrate!"
Pinkie Pie bounced around the sitting pegasus, blowing on a paper horn as she went. A party hat with two lit sparklers attached sat on her head. Her signature confetti and streamer cannons saddle going off periodically, sending up showers of colorful paper.
But the pegasus didn't move, nor did she showed any sign that she was aware of Pinkie Pie's antics. Fluttershy sat at the back corner of the barn. Her wings laid limply against the floor. The normally vibrant eyes of hers were lifeless and dull, staring blankly at a distant point in front of her.
Pinkie Pie's paper horn petered out. Her bouncing slowed to a stop as her fluffy mane and tail seems to deflate a bit. She sat down, her eyes staring back at Fluttershy.
"I guess... that's didn't work..." said the party pony. Her hoof rubbing at the dark circle under her eyes.

"You've tried that... thing for like what? The last twenty something times?" said Rainbow Dash, sitting a few feet away from the two ponies.

"Maybe if I ADD a cymbal or two..." said Pinkie Pie. Her voice carried an odd pitch which caused Rainbow Dash to visibly cringe.

"Pinkie... you really need to get some sleep. It's..." Rainbow Dash looked to the desk clock nearby. "... five in the morning."

"That means the cymbal shop is almost open!" gasped Pinkie Pie. Before Rainbow Dash could say anything else, the pink blur already left the front door. A startled Rarity shot her head up and looked around. Seeing that nothing was amiss, she mumbled something unintelligible and went back to sleep.

Rainbow Dash turned back to watching Fluttershy, which she had done so for the past... ten hours at least. As far as she could tell, nothing changed. Fluttershy remained perfectly motionless, saved for the faint movement of her chest as she breathed. Her mind drifted back to the cause of Fluttershy's current predicament.

=====================================================================

10 hours ago...

Fluttershy had woken up in the barn less than an hour after sun-down. She was disoriented, and quite scared that something really bad happened. It took seeing all her friends together, unharmed, to calm her down. Unfortunately, their attempt to conceal from Fluttershy what she did was a monumental act of futility. She had picked up that something was amiss almost immediately, and had set out to get them to tell her what happened. In fact, it was in that very same corner Fluttershy now occupied where she cornered Applejack.

To be frank, Rainbow Dash had never seen Applejack sweat that much since the time she had to stop Pinkie Pie from finding out about the secret birthday party. Applejack fought valiantly and kept her mouth shut against Fluttershy's asking, beseeching, pleading, and out-right begging.

In the end, it was Fluttershy's veiled threat of using The Stare that finally broke Applejack. In less then twenty seconds, Applejack spilled what happened after the hydra swallowed Fluttershy to when they brought Princess Celestia to the basement below.

Fluttershy simple froze in place. Slowly turning around, she stared at each of her friends in turn, as if trying to find some pony to contradict what Applejack said. When none came, Fluttershy simple sat her rump down, let out a soft whimper before going completely catatonic.

And for ten hours straight, she stayed in that same state. Both Applejack and Twilight Sparkle tried to talk her out of it. Unfortunately, Applejack difficulty in lying, including making white lies, culminated in her telling Fluttershy that " at worst she will banish you... okay, maybe not the worse, she may decide to k... I should just shut up now..." before leaving the barn with her head hung low in defeat.

Twilight Sparkle started out trying to argue that Princess Celestia won't "execute" Fluttershy. She pointed out that there was never an execution by the princess, using Nightmare Moon and Discord as examples. When she failed to get a response from Fluttershy, she changed her topic to speeches on various mental traumas and possible cures for Fluttershy. One of the cures suggested, to Rainbow Dash' surprise, apparently involved electrical shocks applied directly to the head. That promptly got Twilight Sparkle dragged out of the barn by Rarity.

Pinkie Pie took over almost immediately. True to the spirit of the Element of Laughter, she started with jokes. However, given the situation, trying to find a joke to laugh about was as easy as dodging raindrops while flying in a storm. A particularly cringe inducing one involved Pinkie Pie declaring that Fluttershy was among those who managed to "... poked Princess Celestia. Get it? Poked!"

Then came the face-making, with Pinkie Pie trying to "mold" Fluttershy's face into different expressions. Then in a more creepy development, started opening and closing Fluttershy's jaw with her hooves to make it look like the pegasus was talking, with the pink party pony providing the voice. Thankfully, Rarity's return and prompt admonishment of Pinkie Pie stopped her from trying to argue with Fluttershy, or as the case may be, argue with herself through Fluttershy. Instead, she settled with a staring contest with the catatonic pegasus.

Rarity simple plop down next to Fluttershy and started brushing her pink mane. The unicorn didn't say much, only making an occasionally comments on things they will do sometimes in the future: Having some nice tea, going to the spa, and maybe try out some new clothes. If anything Rarity said managed to get through to Fluttershy, the pegasus wasn't showing any sign of it. After a while, Rarity simply stopped talking, contend with just brushing Fluttershy's mane. It didn't take long before Rarity made Fluttershy's mane perfectly straight. She then turned her attention to cleaning up the barn as best she could. shortly before falling asleep by the door.

=====================================================================

Now, it's just her, Rarity and Fluttershy... thought Rainbow Dash. With Pinkie gone, the barn descended into complete silence, broken only by Rarity's occasional snoring.

Ever since Fluttershy went catatonic, Rainbow Dash had a stirring speech all readied to be delivered, guaranteed to bring any pony out of their funk. But as she practiced the speech in her head for the past hours, her confidence in it started to wane. She remembered how terrified she was when she found out that a diamond dog was killed by her hooves. She remembered how scared she was that she might have, or would hurt one of her friends or another pony.

But Fluttershy didn't have the luxury of knowing she didn't hurt any pony. To make the matter worse, she didn't just hurt any pony. In fact, she almost killed Princess Celestia, and at the moment that "almost" could very well become "did". Given all that, Rainbow Dash could only think of one thing she could do. She got up and walked over to Fluttershy.

"Fluttershy," said Rainbow Dash, "I can't imagine how scared you are. I mean, I know I was pretty scared when I found out about what happened to me but... well, I can't say I know what it's like for you. But I want you to know, whatever happens, we'll all be here for you."

Rainbow Dash waited for a response that never came. She sat back down right next to Fluttershy and draped her wing over the still pegasus. Before long, she started to drift off to sleep.

"Rainbow... Rainbow..." Rainbow Dash' eyes blinked open at the sound. She yawned, feeling like she didn't get much sleep at all. A quick look at the clock confirmed her suspicion. It was just seven in the morning, she had barely slept for two hours. And the culprit? A unicorn with a lavender coat.

"Rainbow Dash!" said Twilight Sparkle. A pair of dark circles under her eyes. "Princess Celestia wants to talk to Fluttershy."

=====================================================================

Luna didn't have a good night sleep.

In theory, and in practice, Princess Luna normally didn't sleep at night. Normally, her sleep cycle was opposite of that of her sister. Which was convenient for the ponies, it meant that at all hours of the day, there will at least be one princess where they could request an audience with.

But since she started her investigation on the alien meteors, she had adapted to sleeping at night and working by day. The major reason being that her guards. Even if they're her night guards, they were still just ponies, and ponies can't exactly operate against horde of blood-thirsty monsters that well at night.

To be more precisely, her former guards. Whenever she closed her eyes, she could see her guards in their final moments. She could see the fears on their face as they changed into monster or were being eaten by one...

Luna shook her head. There will be a time for mourning. Her sister needed her to be strong. She looked to her side where her sister lay. Princess Celestia was sitting with her legs tucked beneath her. A large white blanket covered her from the shoulders down. Her horn gave off a soft glow as her eyes remained closed in meditation.

"Your highness." Luna ears swiveled forward at the sound of the guards, who was staying just outside of the white sheet curtain that divided their corner of the basement from the rest. "They're here."

Princess Luna saw her sister nodded. "Okay, let them in."

The gap in the curtain parted. Twilight Sparkle entered first, followed by Applejack and Rarity. The two that followed them caused Princess Luna arced her eyebrow. As far as she could tell, Rainbow Dash came in carrying a very realistic looking Fluttershy statue on her back. Twilight Sparkle's horn glowed and moved the statue from the pegasus' back and to the floor. A rustle to her side caused her glance in her sister's direction. Princess Celestia's eyes were open, a look of confusion on her face at the scene.

"... Fluttershy?" asked Princess Celestia. That provoked a very lively response from the statue.

"Princess Celestia!" Fluttershy immediately flattened herself to the floor, her hooves above her head. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry for poking you without permission... or poking you in the first place..."

"... Fluttershy..." said Princess Celestia, her voice gentle and soft.

"... I know you're going to banish me now. But please give me some time to get things in order..."

"... Fluttershy..." Princess Celestia tried again.

"... Rarity, I got some bags of tea in my cupboard. You can have them if you want. I'm not going to need them..."

"... Fluttershy..." and again.

"... Rainbow, I know a good pet hospital that specializes in tortoise. You can send Tank if you need help..."

"... Flutter..."

"... and some pony please take care of my animals for me..."

"... Luna... please..." Princess Luna turned to see her sister looking at her expectantly. She coughed a few times before breathing in.

"FLUTTERSHY!" Princess Luna shouted. The magnified voice reverberated in the basement and caused the curtain to flutter. Fluttershy meeped and, as impossible as it seems for night princess, made herself looked even smaller. "MINE SISTER WISHES TO SPEAK WITH THEE!"

"... okay..." came Fluttershy's response in a whimper. Her whole body was shaking like a leaf.

"Fluttershy, I'm not going to banish you." said Princess Celestia.

"You are... not?"

"No. I am not."

To Princess Luna's surprise, Fluttershy's shaking seems to got worse.

"Oh... okay..." said Fluttershy. Her voice quaking with fear. "... could you... just give me... a day or two to... get ready?"

What is she... no... she can't be thinking...
"Dost thou... believest... that mine sister... will endeth... thy life?" asked Princess Luna, her voice low and threatening. Fluttershy didn't say anything, but her head have a slight up-down bob.

"HOW DARE THEE!" Princess Luna roared. Her wings, repaired overnight with her magic, flared out. The air around her crackled with electric sparks as a storm cloud began to form. All the ponies backed away except for Fluttershy, just continued to shiver.

"... sister..."

"HOW DARE THEE ACCUSE MINE SISTER OF ENTERTAINING SUCH AN ACT!" She continued, not hearing her sister's attempt to calm her down.

"... sister... please..."

"HATH MINE SISTER'S PAST ACTS OF KINDNESS INSUFFICIENT PROOF FOR THEE? THOU UNGRA..."

"Luna! Stop... *HACK*" Princess Celestia shook violently as great hacking coughs wracked her body. Her blanket pressed to her muzzle by her wing. Red-stains appeared on the blanket itself.

"Tia!" Princess Luna rushed to her side. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lost my temper like that."

"It's okay." said Princess Celestia as she folded her wing back, letting the sheet fall back in place. "I understand... just... let me handle this."

Princess Celestia took a couple of deep breathe before turning her attention back to Fluttershy.

"Fluttershy, why do you believe that I would... do such a thing to you?" asked Princess Celestia. Her voice, thou weak, was warm and maternal.

"Because I almost killed you?" said the still shaking Fluttershy.

"Oh, it will take a lot more then that to kill me." said Princess Celestia. "So I say you're okay on that front."

"But I hurt you!" her shaking was less severe. The fear in her voice, while still present, was carrying some note of surprise.

"I believe it was an accident..." Fluttershy nodded slightly. "... and you're sorry about it." She nodded more vigorously. "Then apology accepted."

"So you're not going to..." Fluttershy sat up, disbelief in her eyes. Princess Celestia shook her head and smiled.

"Of course not." said Princess Celestia with a smile.

Almost in that instant, Fluttershy brightened up and was promptly swamped by her four friends.

At least that's one positive thing that happened today... thought Princess Luna as she listened to the small celebration in front of her. Her thoughts went no further as the sound of rattling cymbal and clattering hooves echoed through the basement. Shouts of guards followed when an oddly dressed pink pony burst through the curtain.

"Okay! I'm here! This will definite snap her out of it!" yelled Pinkie Pie. She wore a party hat with a pair of burned out sparklers attached. The confetti and streamer cannon saddle on her back was joined by a pair of cymbals. "Where's Fluttershy?"

Her darting eyes locked in on Fluttershy. She let out a loud gasp before zipping forward and putting her hooves on Fluttershy's shoulder. "You're awake! Wait, you were always awake. I mean you are not going guh..." Pinkie Pie jaw went slack. Her eyes bulged out trying to do the best impression of some pony who was staring into the distance. She quickly revert to normal and continued her rapid-fire talking. "... and *GASP*, you look happy! Are you happy!? Are you, are you, are you?"

Fluttershy, a look of surprise frozen on her face, simply nodded.

"She IS happy! Woohoo!" Pinkie Pie started doing cartwheels. "This deserves a party!" Pinkie Pie got back on four hooves...

"I'm gonna go prepare a... zzz..." ... and promptly collapsed to the ground. A wide smile plastered across her face. The only sound coming from her was the sound of her snoring.

Princess Celestia couldn't help but giggle at the sight. However, she had to stop and lift the blanket to her muzzle when another bout of hacking cough wracked her body.

=====================================================================

"Princess! Are you going to be alright!?" asked Twilight Sparkle with a note of urgency in her voice. Princess Celestia kept the blanket at her muzzle for a moment before responding.

"I'm not sure..." said Princess Celestia, drawing shouts surprise from Twilight Sparkle and her friends.

"I thought you said that you're not going to die!" said Fluttershy in panic.

"I said what you did won't kill me." said Princess Celestia. "What... this is doing, I'm not sure."

"This?" asked Twilight Sparkle with fear. "Are you talking about..."

"Promise me you won't tell any pony else about what I'm about to show you." Princess Celestia watched the five conscious ponies in front of her nod their heads in unison. She raised her right-wing to lift the blanket away.

All the ponies gasped in shock. The bleeding wounds that Fluttershy had caused had healed. However, Twilight Sparkle could see red veins spreading out like spider-webs just beneath Princess Celestia's coat.

"It appears that whatever this disease is, it spreads through contact with blood." said Princess Celestia as she lowered her blanket back in place. "I'm able to stop it from spreading further, but I cannot purge it from my body."

"So you want us to use the Elements of Harmony?" asked Twilight Sparkle. Princess Celestia responded with a shake of her head.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple." said Princess Celestia.

"Why not? It purged Nightmare Moon from Princess Luna! Why can't it..."

"And the first time it was used, it banished Princess Luna with it." said Princess Celestia. "The Elements of Harmony may be powerful artifacts. And as living artifacts, they do learn how to deal with similar threats. But against an unknown enemy, their effects can be... unpredictable. They rely on their wielder to understand the threat involved, something that took me centuries in regard to Nightmare Moon."

"And even if we want to attempt it, we cannot get them to you six." added Princess Luna. "Since the incidence with Discord. The Elements of Harmony were moved to a more secured storage that required complex spell-works from both of us to retrieve. My sister, in her current state, will be unable to perform the spell required to do so."

"Then... what now? What will happen to you?" asked Twilight Sparkle in a fearful tone.

"The Canterlot university scholars were on the task of studying this disease and creating a cure for it. In the mean time, I will keep this in check for as long as I can." said Princess Celestia. "There is something we would like Rainbow Dash to do."

"Me?" said Rainbow Dash while pointing a hoof at herself. "What do you want me to do?"

"The alicorn that was... formed out of my wing escaped toward the Everfree forest. We suspect that it was headed for the diamond dog lairs." said Princess Luna, her horn glowed as a map unrolled in front of her. Twilight Sparkle leaned in and studied the map. It showed a fairly detailed drawing of the area from Ponyville to deep in the Everfree forest. A red circle marked a section labeled The Diamond Dog Lairs. "We want you to investigate what's happening there."

"And you only want Rainbow Dash to go... because you are afraid that we will become like... one of your guards?" asked Twilight Sparkle. Princess Celestia nodded.

"The only thing that I'm fairly sure for now is that whatever this disease is, it affects Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy differently." said Princess Celestia. "While I couldn't bear to see any of your harmed, I also need some pony who can find some answers. So given the circumstance, Rainbow Dash is best suited for this task." Princess Celestia turned to Rainbow Dash. "Of course, if you're not completely willing to..."

"Don't worry your highness!" said Rainbow Dash. "I'm your mare for this!"

=====================================================================

I could get used to this... thought Rainbow Dash as she galloped through the underbrush at full tilt. If her estimate was correct, the distance she traveled on hoof in an hours would've taken any other pegasus two hours to travel by air. That didn't account for the fact that she's running through the Everfree forest, where she had to weave and dodge around trees. Although for some thinner trees, she found she could crash through them like they're not even there. Even better, she didn't feel the slightest bit winded from all this running. In fact, she felt she could do this for as long as she wants.

Oh, I'm so going to beat Applejack in the Running of the Leaves this year. Rainbow Dash weaved past another tree, and found herself looking at a small cliff wall. With a grin, she coiled the muscles in her legs, building up a tremendous amount of tensions. Once she got within a few pony-length away from the cliff-face, she release those tensions and launched herself into the air.

While Rainbow Dash may have lost her ability to sustain flight, owing to the extra mass she gained, her ability to jump to tremendous height did make up for some of that. Once at the peak of the jump, she spread a wing and started to glide. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and enjoyed the wind blasting against her face. It may not be as exhilarating as being able to fly freely, but the feeling was similar.

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes to look where she was going. In front her, cutting through the Everfree forest with its meandering path, was the river that marked the boundary between pony and diamond dog territories. A quick estimate told her that she was going to glide right over it.

Which would be a golden opportunity lost. Rainbow Dash waited until she was right above the river before pulling up sharply, trading all her speed for height. Once she went as high as she could, she snapped her wings shut and tuck her legs in.

"CANNONBALL!" yelled Rainbow Dash as she plummeted straight down. Wind roared past her ears as she quickly reached terminal velocity. She drew in a deep breath as the water surface approached. The adrenaline rushing through her head was tempered by a nagging sensation that something was wrong.

The source of the nagging sensation made itself clear when Rainbow Dash found herself drowning the instant she hit the water. She flailed around until her hoof hit the river bed. Almost by instinct, she kicked against the river bed and launched herself out of the water. She landed in a sprawl on the river bank, gasping for breath.

Guess I found a new skill... super-drowning skill... thought Rainbow Dash as she let out a groan. She shook herself dry and continued on toward her destination. Her mind wondered why she got so adverse to water.

=====================================================================

Back in Applejack's barn...

"So there's additional respiration through her skin." commented a unicorn stallion as he scribbled some notes in a clipboard. His flank adorned by a pair of beakers holding red and green bubbling liquids. "... which would point to a heighten level of metabolism..."

"It does look that way, professor Bubble Shake." said a unicorn mare with a microscope as her cutie-mark. She turned to Twilight Sparkle while pointing her hooves at Fluttershy, who was cocooned in a pale purple magic bubble and wore an oxygen make that covered her face. "I'm impressed, Twilight Sparkle. I've never seen a bubble spell used to detect oxygen consumption."

"Thanks you for the compliment, Professor Scope." said Twilight Sparkle with a smile. "But it's quite a simple modification, really. It just need to detect airflow exchange across the surface, so I..."

"Hey..." Applejack poked her head into the barn. "... Twilight, ah would like to talk to yah."

"Oh before you leave, can you undo the bubble spell?" asked Bubble Shake.

"Sure." Twilight's horn glowed for

"Oh... okay..." said Fluttershy. Her voice muffled by the oxygen mask she's wearing. "... please don't take too long..."

Twilight Sparkle followed Applejack out the barn. Once outside, Applejack turned to Twilight Sparkle with a worried look on her face. "Twilight, are yah sure about this? Ya know Fluttershy ain't so good around stranger."

"To be honest, I'm not really sure." said Twilight Sparkle. Her eyes furrowed with uncertainty. "But at least it's better than having Fluttershy go stay at Canterlot university for a week."

"But why have them here?" asked Applejack, her hoof pointing at the barn. "Why can't you do all this... smarty-smart thingy?"

"While I may study a lot, I am by no mean an expert on biology. Meanwhile, Professor Bubble Shake and Professor Scope are the best experts on biology at the Canterlot University." said Twilight Sparkle with a smile. "So don't worry, Fluttershy is in very good..."

"GAH!" came Fluttershy's scream. At the same moment, dozen of black spears laced with pink threads shot out of the barn wall.

Twilight Sparkle darted back in with her eyes widened with shock. Once inside, she found Fluttershy still sitting at the same spot. Her pastel pink mane, however, had twisted themselves into dozens of black tendrils that shot out. The cause of Fluttershy's behavior became apparent to Twilight Sparkle by a particularly large hypodermic needle stuck in the pegasus' flank.

"Is every pony okay!?" came the hysterical cry of Fluttershy. "Is any pony hurt? Oh Celestia please tell me I didn't hurt any pony!"

Twilight Sparkle took a closer look. There, amidst the tendrils, were the two unicorn professors. Both had contorted their body into uncomfortable forms, narrowly avoiding the tendrils that had instead trapped them. Their eyes filled with surprise and shocked.

"Are you two alright?" asked Twilight Sparkle. She breathed out in relief when both of them nodded the best they could in their position.

"Professor Bubble Shake." said Scope. Her voice strained from the odd angle she had to crane her neck. "I say we proceed with a bit more caution from now on."

=====================================================================

This is it... Diamond Dog territory... Rainbow Dash slowly walked across the rocky quarry that the diamond dogs made their home. The ground around her was covered with holes of varying sizes, all of them were filled in. Her wings were up and in claw form. Her body tense, ready to pounce on any threat. But the quarry was completely silent. The only sound was the sound of her hooves crunching on the gravels.

Rainbow Dash jerked when a pile of dirt covering a hole nearby collapsed. She stared at the now open hole, her wing claws up and ready for whatever that might emerge. But when nothing showed after a minute, Rainbow Dash slowly made her way to the edge of the hole and peered into it. The hole was pitch black, and tried as she might, she couldn't see more then a few meters into it. She could, however, hear some faint noises coming from the bottom of the hole.

Oh well, nothing to see up here anyway... with that thought in mind, Rainbow Dash jumped into the hole. The trip reminded her of the time when they had to infiltrate another diamond dog lair when those canine kidnapped Rarity. However, the wall started to feel wet and fleshy as she continued to slide down. She saw a faint glow near the bottom, and readied her hooves for a solid landing.

She landed in the cave with a squish. Looking down, she found herself standing on what could be best described as a bloody flesh carpet. Rainbow Dash fought the urge to hurl and looked around. The cave walls were covered by similar substance. A couple of torches, now just burning embers, provided the only illumination.

Rainbow Dash ears twitched as she focused on the muted noise she heard. She carefully made her way in the direction of the noise, taking care not to create too much noise herself. After winding through what must have been hundreds of tunnels, and forced to turned around at about several dozen dead-ends, she found herself heading toward a flickering light at an opening. The muted noise became sounds of squelching and squishing the closer she got. With as much care as she could manage, she peeked around the end of the tunnel.

This must have been the diamond dog leader's throne room or something... thought Rainbow Dash as she looked at the massive cavern below. Six burning braziers surrounded a gem studded throne, surrounding it was more piles of gems of assorted colors. The light from the braziers refracted off all the gems, casting multicolored dots of light all over the cavern wall. Something Rainbow Dash really wished it hadn't, since it allowed her to see the pulsating pustules that lined the wall.

Rainbow Dash felt some bile in the back of her mouth when one of the pustules popped, showering the ground with viscous fluid as a shape tumbled to the ground. It was a diamond dog, or at least shaped somewhat like one. It looked very much identical to the smaller ones she had been fighting when Ponyville was attacked. But these looked... younger, if one would to describe it. Its skin was almost transparent, making the red-vein cover it more pronounced. The claws were smaller, and a paler color compared to the jet-black claws others had.

A movement nearby caught Rainbow Dash's eyes. The sickly-gray alicorn walked out from a shadow toward the newly... born canine. The diamond dog made a whining noise like a puppy calling out to its mother. For Rainbow Dash, it was a moment that could almost be considered quite endearing. At least until said "mother" promptly crushed the canine's head under her hooves. Red tendrils shot out from the alicorn's body and pulled the now dead diamond dog into its form. Even before the diamond dog was fully consumed, the alicorn already started making its way to another pulsing pustule. In the flickering light, Rainbow Dash could make out what looked like its cutie mark, three pimple-like lumps on her flank.

The alicorn suddenly stopped in its walk. Its snout tilted high as it sniffed the air a couple of times. With a snap of its neck, the alicorn turned its head around toward Rainbow Dash. The pegasus quickly duck back behind cover. She could hear squishing foot-steps coming closer. Her heart beat against her chest and she had her wing claws raised. Then the hoof-steps stopped, and after a few moments of silence, retreated away. Rainbow Dash waited until everything was quiet again before she poked her head out from behind cover. The cavern was empty, saved for the pulsing pustules and the flickering flames.

Where did it go? thought Rainbow Dash. Her unasked question was immediately answered when she felt an overbearing presence behind her. With a reflex befitting of the Best Young Flier of Equestria, Rainbow Dash jumped out of the tunnel as a set of long claws slammed into the ground that she once occupied. She hit the ground and ran a short distance before turning around. A small tremor rippled through the ground as the alicorn landed right in front of her. Its eyes, now a dull yellow with a cat-like pupil, stared hungrily at her. Its wings had turned to claws, just like Rainbow Dash's. However, the alicorn's claws were much bulkier and longer. Each claw was easily twice as long as the pegasus' body. The alicorn opened its mouth and let out a high-pitched scream. Rainbow Dash could feel her whole body tremble from the sound. Her hooves dug in to stop herself from being blown away.

"So... you want to... WHOA!" Rainbow Dash leaped out-of-the-way as the alicorn charged. Sharp stinging pain shot through her as one of the claw dug into her flesh and tore out a long gash in her side. Rainbow Dash grunted as she landed, the deep wound on her side rapidly regenerating itself.

"Okay, got to watch out for those... CLAWS!" the pegasus dodged to the side as the alicorn charged again. Her own wing claws clashing with the alicorn's to deflect it. The force of the impact sent her flying to the ground on her. She quickly flipped herself upright. In the corner of her eyes she noticed one of her wing claws was regenerating, apparently chipped off at the point where she parried the alicorn's attack.

Rainbow Dash turned around and ran when the alicorn charged again. Her mind ran through the option she had.

One, she could try to face it head on again. However, the result would likely be her being chopped to pieces against those longer and stronger claws.

Two, she could try to out-run it and try to hit it from better angles. That option quickly disappeared when she had to jinx right to avoid the alicorn that had managed to charge right past her. The alicorn's wing claws raked Rainbow Dash side before their owner crashed right into a wall. Rainbow Dash saw the alicorn got up and shook herself off when a plan started to form in her head.

When the alicorn charged again, Rainbow Dash was ready. She ran toward the wall directly ahead with the alicorn in close pursuit. Without fully understanding how she do it, she leaped and found herself running up the cave wall. The alicorn, on the other hooves, crashed into the same wall beneath her. Rainbow Dash pushed off against the wall, somersaulted once in mid-air, before crashing down on the alicorn's back. It roared out and started trying to buck Rainbow Dash off, but was unable since Rainbow Dash had hooked her front hooves around the alicorn's neck.

"Take that, and that, and that!" yelled Rainbow Dash as she drove her wing claws into the alicorn repeatedly. She didn't notice the electric blue lights traveling up from the base of the alicorn's wings to its tip. She did notice her mane standing on end, followed by her whole body seizing up when built up charge released into her. Rainbow Dash lost her grip on the alicorn and was bucked off its back. As she fell, Rainbow Dash found herself staring at the bottom of a pair of hooves before their impact sent her flying. Her body hit the solid cavern wall with enough force to create a pony shaped crater in it. She landed on the ground with a thud, pieces of shattered rocks falling on top of her.

Rainbow Dash managed to push herself upright, but that's all she could do. The electric shock was still sending spasms through her muscle, making any movement difficult. Stars filled her eyes from the impact against the hard rocks. She managed to clear those stars away in time to see the alicorn lowering its horn, which crackled with white and blue electric energy, at her.

Ah... crAH... Rainbow Dash's scream echoed through the cave as the bolt of electricity hit her. The stream of energy pinned her against the wall as her body convulsed violently. When the attack ended, the pegasus collapsed to the ground with a whimper. The air stank of burnt flesh and her body continued to twitch as she lay there. Her eyes could barely open, let alone see the approaching alicorn.

She did manage to wrench open her eyes, thanks to the sharp pain from having two claws driven into her side. Rainbow Dash gasped from a second wave of pain that shot through her as she was lifted into the air by the claws. The alicorn's face swam into her view. It regarded the pegasus with its hungry eyes. Its tongue, long, barbed and slimy, gave her a lick. With whatever strength she had left, Rainbow Dash lashed out with her wing claws, leaving three deep scratches on the alicorn face. The alicorn merely looked annoyed, the wounds on its face rapidly healed.

I guess... this is it... thought Rainbow Dash as the alicorn growled. Its lips pulled back, baring a row of sharp teeth. Then, inexplicably, it howled in pain and dropped her. Stars exploded in her eyes as her body hit the ground. Fighting to keep her eyes open, she saw a black and pink tendril had embedded into the alicorn's neck. A second later, the tendril popped out and started to retract. She followed it back to the owner, and found Fluttershy standing there

"GET YOUR WINGS OFF HER!" yelled Fluttershy. Her pastel pink mane had turned to a single spear like tendril dangling off the back of her neck. The alicorn growled at the new-comer. Fluttershy did not back down, instead she whipped her mane around. The tendril rapidly extended and cracked across the alicorn's face, leaving behind a single gash on its face. "BACK OFF!"

The alicorn, however, had other ideas. It pawed at the ground while snarling at Fluttershy. The wound inflicted by Fluttershy on its face had healed already.

"... run..." Rainbow Dash choked out when the alicorn charge. Her warning was not needed when a nearby wall glowed purple, and flew out. The flying piece of wall broadsided the charging alicorn and slammed it into the opposite wall of the cavern. From behind the new cave opening, Twilight Sparkle stepped in, followed by Princess Luna.

=====================================================================

"Fluttershy! Where's... RAINBOW!" Twilight Sparkle quickly ran to the injured pegasus. She couldn't believe how Rainbow Dash still remained conscious in her state. Her mane and tail were gone, leaving only a blackened stubble near the roots. The sky-blue coat had charred to black. Angry red welts and burnt flesh covered her body. Worse were the two gaping wounds, likely large enough for Spike to stick his hand in without touching anything, that went all the way through her. Even the claws on her wing, which Twilight had seen capable of cutting through steel, were chipped and cracked. Rainbow Dash was staring at her, her eyes crossed and unfocused. Her mouth was moving, but the only sound that came out was a guttural groan.

"Don't talk." said Fluttershy, who had just joined them. "Just... rest. We'll get you out of here."

"Stay behind me!" shouted Princess Luna as a dark blue bubble surrounded them. Twilight Sparkle followed her piercing eyes and saw the alicorn had pulled itself out of the rubble. Its mouth open as it screeched. The sound was muffled inside Princess Luna's shield, but she could see dust and fragments falling down from the cave ceiling.

"So! Thou wishes for a shouting match?" said Princess Luna when the sickly gray alicorn stopped screeching. The dark blue bubble around them dissolved into thin air. "Then I shall happily oblige!"

Twilight Sparkle quickly threw up her own shield as Princess Luna drew in a deep breath. Even under her acoustic shield, both her and Fluttershy had to cover their ears when Princess Luna released her own scream. Her bones rattled as the ground vibrated. Large chunks of rocks fell from the ceiling as cracks started to spread. The gray alicorn's eyes was squeezed shut, its body shook like it was in pain when it turned tail and ran. Once the screeching died away, Twilight Sparkle dropped the shield as Princess Luna approached them.

"I guess..." said Princess Luna. Her voice a bit hoarse. "... the Royal Canterlot voice does have its uses." Princess Luna paused and looked around the cavern they're in. Twilight could see the reason why. The cracks in the wall were still spreading and section of the cave ceiling started to collapse. The rumbling noise had not subsided, instead grew louder by the seconds. On the wall, the many pustules burst one by one, depositing mutated diamond dogs at various stages of development to the ground.

"I fear I may have irreversibly damage the cave system. We must make haste. Stand close." Twilight Sparkle quickly levitated the injured Rainbow Dash onto Fluttershy's back as Princess Luna's horn started to glow. Moments later, a familiar soaring sensation washed through her as the collapsing cave fade to white.

The trip lasted for mere moments before Twilight Sparkle found her hooves back on solid ground in front of the Apple family's barn. Before she could even shake off the feeling of vertigo, she found herself spinning on her hooves again when Fluttershy rushed Rainbow Dash past her into the barn. Once her head finally stopped spinning, Twilight Sparkle followed the two pegasi in.

When she entered, Fluttershy had already deposited Rainbow Dash on one of the make-shift lab table in the barn. She was surrounded by the rest of her friends, plus the two unicorn professors.

"How in Celestia's name is she still alive?" exclaimed Scope as she examined the gaping wound in Rainbow's side. "Goodness gracious, I think I can see her ribs!" Beside her, Bubble Shake's quill was scratching away furiously on his clipboard.

"Ew! Gross!" said Rarity.

"Well yah two stop poking at her? We have ta help her!" said Applejack. "Although to be honest... I'm not sure where to start on that..."

"Applejack is right." said Princess Luna as she entered the barn. "Rainbow Dash's well-being is our first priority. Any scientific inquiries can wait. Professors, have you find out anything that may be of use?"

The two unicorns professors looked at one another before shaking their heads. "I'm sorry your highness." said Scope. "Our brief studies into their... situations are quite limited. We don't know the first thing how her body handle traumatic injuries such as that. In fact, I'm surprised that she's still alive..."

A loud groan drew their attention back to the injured pegasus. Applejack leaned her head down to Rainbow Dash, her ear next to the pegasus' mouth.

"Yah try to say something?" Rainbow Dash's mouth moved a little before Applejack straightened her head. "She's hungry."

"That would make some sense." said Bubble Shake. "Means of regenerations aside. She will need a lot of nutrients to repair any damage in the first place..."

"I'll get her something to eat then." said Applejack before trotting out with Fluttershy following close behind.

Minutes later, Applejack returned with a basket of apple on her back and dropped it off by the table. Before they could do anything else, Rainbow Dash pulled herself off the table and to the ground. Her head reached into the basket and started wolfing the apples down. The entire barn was silent, save for the loud chewing noise coming from the basket. The silence was less from politeness of not interrupting some-pony eating, but from the fascination of watching some pony devouring apples at a rate almost as fast as a parasprite. In less than a minute, the only thing left in the basket was Rainbow Dash's head.

"How ya feeling..." asked Applejack. As far as Twilight Sparkle could tell, nothing changed visibly about Rainbow Dash. Her wound still looked... horrible, which worried her greatly.

"A little better..." said Rainbow Dash. She pulled her head out of the basket and sat on her haunches. With some effort, she lifted her clawed wings and stared at the still open wound on her side. "... I don't think this is working well."

"Yah look better... a little." said Applejack.

Twilight Sparkle trotted over for a closer look. Applejack was right, some of Rainbow Dash's more minor cuts and bruises were healing, albeit very slowly. The two gaping holes and various burn wounds, however, showed no sign of healing any-time soon.

"Ooh! I know!" shouted Pinkie Pie while jumping up and down. "She needs to eat a diamond dog!"

All the ponies present just looked at her with a dumbfounded look on their face.

"You see! The first time Dashie got holes through her, she ate a diamond dog, and holes went away!"

"You're right." said Rarity. "Yesterday, when Rainbow got her wing... torn off. She grew it back right after she... um... assimilated that monster."

An uncomfortable silence descended on the barn. Each ponies mulled over the implication of those two events.

"So..." Princess Luna broke the silence. "... we need find one of those mutated diamond dogs? That may be a problem, considering that I just collapsed their lair."

"Maybe it doesn't have to be a creepy diamond dog." said Pinkie Pie, who was tapping her chin with her hoof. "Maybe just any diamond dog... or creepy things... or a dog... hey Applejack! Where Winona? Let's..."

"NO!" Applejack and Rainbow Dash shouted out unison. "YOU'RE NOT GOING TO FEED ME APPLEJACK'S DOG!" added Rainbow Dash.

"Wait what? No you silly." Pinkie Pie giggled. "I just want to see if Winona can track more of those creepy things down." Twilight Sparkle face-hoofed at the exchange while Applejack and Rainbow Dash just stared at the laughing earth pony with weary eyes.

"Oh! I'm sorry..." every pony turned around to see Fluttershy standing by the barn door. A tightly lidded basket resting on her back. "... am I interrupting something?"

"No." said Rainbow Dash in a flat tone.

"Oh good. I brought you something." said Fluttershy with a smile as she trotted over with the heavy basket.

"Ah don't think apples are working..." said Applejack. "... Ah who am ah kidding! Apples always works. You know what they say. An apple a day..."

"It's not... apples..." Fluttershy's voice trailed off as she said that. She dropped the basket, which landed with a wet thud, beside Rainbow Dash.

"Er... Fluttershy? What's in that basket?" asked Twilight Sparkle. She poked at the basket with her hoof, her curiosity piqued.

"It's... um..." Fluttershy hesitated for a moment before lifting the lid off. Twilight Sparkle fell on her haunch when a strong acrid smell assaulted her nose. Beside her, Applejack backed away, her nose scrunched up. "... fish."

"What in tarnation did yah get fish for?" asked Applejack. Her hoof trying to hold her nose shut. "And where did yah get dem?"

"I thought... that..." Fluttershy started pawing at the ground nervously. "... maybe Rainbow is a carnivore now... so I just... I didn't kill them!" added Fluttershy when she noticed the look of shock on her friends' face. "I just asked them nicely if they got some that's... already dead..." Fluttershy turned to Rainbow Dash. "So... fish?'

Rainbow Dash gave the basket of fishes a sniff, which made Twilight Sparkle wondered for a moment why she wasn't put off by the rotting smell. With some hesitation, Rainbow Dash took a fish from the basket in her mouth and swallowed it with a tile of her head. Twilight Sparkle, with her eyes fixed on Rainbow Dash, could hear Rarity making some sort of gagging noise behind her.

In a flash, Rainbow Dash picked up the basket and started pouring the content into her mouth. Twilight Sparkle heard Rarity made an audible retching sound before running out of the barn. At the same time, Pinkie Pie made some comment about having a new competitor in eating contests.

"Slow down Rainbow! Yah gonna choke." said Applejack. The warning was apparently not needed, as Rainbow Dash put down the now empty basket while licking her lip.

"I'm not sure what I should be more worried about." said Rainbow Dash while looking at the empty basket in front of her. "The fact that I just swallowed a basket of fish... or the fact that I actually don't mind the taste... WHOA!"

Rainbow Dash stood up suddenly. Her back arched with her wings, still as claws, fully extended. Twilight Sparkle watched in fascination as the numerous burns on her body started to recede. Her burnt-off mane and tail grew back at an astounding rate. The nicks and cuts in her wing claws disappeared. Black fibrous material crisscrossed the gaping wound on her side and pulled the wound close. In the span of mere seconds, all traces of injuries had disappeared from the pegasus.

"That felt... weird." said Rainbow Dash as she flexed her wings a few times before reverting them back to normal.

"How are yah feeling?" asked Applejack. Rainbow Dash trotted around in a circle a few times and looked all over herself.

"Good as new." said Rainbow Dash with a smile. Before Twilight could even blink, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie had squeezed Rainbow Dash into a hug.

"Good ta have ya back." said Applejack. Her hoof gave Rainbow Dash a light poke on the shoulder.

"Like I said, nothing keeps me down for long." said Rainbow Dash with a smug grin. However, it faded into a more sheepish grin as she continued. "Of course, if it wasn't for you girls... and your highness..." Princess Luna gave a quick nod to the acknowledgment. "... that thing might have put me down for good... wait, how did you know I was in trouble?"

=====================================================================

"You can read her thought?" asked Rainbow Dash, pointing her hoof at Princess Celestia to emphasize her point. Normally, any "nobles" would find such a violation of decorum to be an outrage, but regent of the sun wasn't one to care for such thing..

"Yes and no." said Princess Celestia, still sitting in the same spot where she was in the morning. The only difference being a fresh, blood-spot free blanket draped over her back. "I can see... fragments of what may be her thoughts. I first thought they were mere hallucinations due to my injuries. But on closer study, this... thing appears to have replicated, to some extent, the telepathic link my sister and I use. However, it either doesn't know, or isn't capable of turning it off. So it's broadcasting some of her thoughts to me." Princess Celestia's face darkened. "That's how I found out it was growing more powerful by... consuming its own kind, and how I discovered that it was planning to consume you too."

Rainbow Dash gulped at the revelation and turned to Twilight Sparkle. "So... how did you get there so quickly?"

"Teleportation spell." said Twilight Sparkle. "The distance was close enough that Princess Luna was able to teleport us there. However, she could only take a few other ponies with her before the spell becomes too unstable to use. So Fluttershy and I went. I think we managed to land just a few hundred feet from you."

Rainbow Dash nodded in understanding. "So... did you get that... thing?"

Princess Celestia shook her head.

"Unfortunately... no." said Princess Celestia. "It appeared that it had fled. From what I can... see, it is heading toward the frontier regions. In the area near Appleloosa."

"Appleloosa!?" repeated Applejack in alarm. "That thing is heading toward Appleloosa?"

"Yes. I'm afraid that there are some evidence that Appleloosa may be affected." said Princess Celestia. "I've asked Spike to look into any record in Canterlot regarding any anomaly regarding the frontier region. He had found out that five days ago, the bi-weekly train from Appleloosa never arrived."

"... cousin Braeburn..." muttered Applejack.

"So what do you need us to do?" asked Twilight Sparkle.

"I want you six to head for Appleloosa to find out what's going on there, and to track down that creature." said Princess Celestia with great reluctance. "I'm hoping that, based on what happened to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, that this disease does effect the wielder of the Elements of Harmony differently."

Princess Celestia watched as the wielder of the Elements huddled together. In almost no time, Twilight Sparkle broke away from the group.

"When do we leave?' she asked.

"As soon as possible, preferably tonight." said Princess Celestia. "I want you to send reports on anything you find. So I have sent for Spike to join you, along with a few guards."

Twilight Sparkle nodded, and the six wielder of Elements of Harmony left the cellar on their way to make preparation for the trip.

"Sister." said Princess Luna. "Do you think they'll succeed?"

"Have faith, my dear sister." reply Princess Celestia. "I'm sure that, with the power of their friendship, they can overcome anything."

I hope...

Day 4

Braeburn... I hope you're alright... thought Applejack as she watched the trees and train-track disappeared below the horizon. The steady rattling of the train and the cool night wind did nothing to calm her worries for her cousins. She had seen what those... things did to ponies, and she just couldn't stop thinking about what would happen if those things showed up in Appleloosa. In her mind, she knew that worrying about it won't help. But she just couldn't stop thinking about the citizens of Appleloosa falling to the same fate as Luna's guards.

Fortunately, a hoof on her shoulder broke her out of the dark thoughts.

"Hey Applejack, you alright?" asked Rainbow Dash. Applejack gave an appreciative smile at her concern.

"Yah I'm fine. Just... worried."

"Well, no use worrying about it now." said Rainbow Dash, mirroring the earth pony's own thought. "But when we get there, we can figure out what's wrong. And if it involves kicking a lot of flanks, I can take care of it."

"Like how you take care of that alicorn monster?"

Rainbow Dash's look of confidence faltered. "Um... oh, right..."

Applejack chuckled. "Don't yah worry. As long as we stick together, we can kick anything's flank."

"Right!" said Rainbow Dash. "Anyway, let's get back. The girls are wondering where you went."

=====================================================================

The trip back to the sleeping car didn't take long. Twilight's voice seeped through the door as Applejack and Rainbow Dash approached, and it sounded like she had finished filling in Spike on what happened when he was gone.

"Wow... I missed a lot when I was gone." said Spike.

"Yes you... PINKIE PIE!" shouted Rarity in annoyance. "Can you STOP playing with Fluttershy's... mane thingy?"

"But it's so... weird! Hey Rainbow! Applejack! You're back." said Pinkie Pie as the door opened. Applejack did not response. Instead, she simply stared at the odd scene in front of her. Fluttershy was laying on one of the top bunk. Her mane had twisted itself into a long, black fibrous tentacle, and was dangling over the side of her bed. Pinkie Pie, in the bunk beneath her, had apparently decided to use Fluttershy's transformed mane as a sort of thread, poking them through several apples in a row. "Check it out! Apple garland!"

"It's... um... nice..." said Fluttershy, nudging her transformed mane with her hoof.

"With apples?" Rarity gasped in shock. "My dear Fluttershy, apples are not the kind of accessories you put in your mane! You need ribbons. Red ribbon will look great against black... maybe some purple ribbons..."

"Or... maybe we should get some sleep." said Rainbow Dash, earning her a glare from Rarity. "It's getting pretty late, and we still got half a day of train-ride to go."

The ponies and dragon murmured in agreement and settled themselves into their respective bunk beds, blowing out their lamp as they went to sleep. In the dark, a slithering noise came from Fluttershy's bunk. Sounds of apples hitting the floor followed, or at least, most hit the floor.

"Aw!" yelped Pinkie Pie.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" said Fluttershy.

=====================================================================

Fluttershy found herself moving toward a double door. Her hoof reached out and pushed it open. It looked like a clinic, one similar to Nurse Redheart's. Instruments and medical pictures lined the wall, surrounding a single bed in the room. On that lone bed lay a mare with a pale blue coat. Her mane and tail was a dark brown color and short for a mare. Fluttershy didn't understand why, but somehow, she felt that this pony was very close to her. She moved closer, her hoof reaching up and shook the pony. Her head turned around, meeting Fluttershy's eyes with a pair of beautiful silver blue eyes. The eyes looked at her with surprise, then quickly turned to fear as red vein started to creep into those eyes. The mare opened her mouth, her teeth sharp as she screeched at Fluttershy.

Fluttershy bolted awake, sweat dripped off her mane. Her breath came out in short pants as she looked around. Morning sunlight shone through the window, lighting up the interior. She found her friends had all gotten up, all of them looking around in confusion. That was when she noticed the sound of metal screeching as the train started to slow.

"Ah we there already?" asked Applejack groggily. "Argh... my neck's killing me..."

"No." said Twilight Sparkle. One of her hoof was rubbing her own neck. "We still have about seven or eight more hours to go..."

"Then why are we stopping?" asked Rarity.

"I don't know..." answered Twilight Sparkle. The train came to a stop, and the sleeping car door opened. A unicorn guard, covered from head to tail with steel chain-mail, came into the car.

"Captain Night Light." said Twilight Sparkle as she trotted up to the armored captain. "What's going on? Why are we stopping?"

"It's the missing train from Appleloosa..." the captain hesitated for a moment. A pained look set in his face. "... we found it."

=====================================================================

In all her life, Fluttershy had rarely seen train. Her innate fear of speed and loud noises kept her away from places where train frequent. Because of that, she never had a chance to see a derailed train.

Now that she saw it, Fluttershy wished she never had to see one again. The train was piled up across the rail, now mere pieces of twisted metals. What's worse, however, were the four bodies of the train engineers still attached to their harnesses. All that remained were bones and some skin, all bearing the signs that they had been eaten. Pegasus and unicorn guards, all in full chain-mails, climbed over the wreckage.

"Well... at least we know what happened to the train..." said Rainbow Dash. "I'm going to go see if they need any help."

The ponies went through the wrecked train, looking for survivors. But with each car they went through, hope for finding living ponies faded. Dried blood coated the interior of the train cars, but few bodies remained, all of them of elderly ponies.

"Captain! I found something!" one of the guard shouted. Fluttershy ran toward the sound with the others. Near the end of the train, guards surrounded the caboose. One of the unicorn guard lit his horn, took hold of the door, and yanked it open.

"I WON'T LET YOU!" a yellow and green blur shot out the door and tacked the guard to the ground. When the dust cleared, Fluttershy saw a mare bearing three apple fritter as her cutie-mark on top of the guard, trampling him with her hooves. Dirt, grime, and dried blood covered her pale yellow coat and lime-green mane. Her green eyes were blood-shot and wild. A black circle surrounded her eyes, the kind that told Fluttershy the poor mare haven't slept for days.

"Apple Fritter!" yelled Applejack. The mare looked up. Her eyes were wide and haunted.

"Applejack?" said the mare while she stepped off the guard, who pulled himself up with a groan. Applejack swept the distressed mare into an embrace. The haunted eyes gave way to ones of hope. "Applejack! It is you! It is you!"

Apple Fritter started to laugh and cry at the same time. Her body shook as she sobbed for one moment, and again when she laughed for joy at seeing Applejack. A few guards entered the now open caboose.

"By Celestia! There are foals in here!" came a guard's cry from the caboose. Fluttershy galloped over, and with her friends, peeked into the caboose. The whole car smelled like an outhouse that had not been cleaned for months. Yet, in the dimly lit caboose, pairs of light of different colors twinkled from the nooks and crannies. Foals of different ages watched them with uncertain and fearful eyes. One of the guard tried to approach them. But the foals merely shrank further back into the shadows. The guards looked at one another, unsure of what they should do in the situation.

"It's okay." said Apple Fritter as she climbed in next to Fluttershy. Her voice still a bit shaky. "It's safe now. They're here to help."

The foals looked hesitant. But one by one, they walked out from the shadow. Fluttershy backed away with her friends, letting the guard escort the foal out one by one. Some foal she remembered seeing from the last time she visited Appleloosa, others were new, all of them filthy, tired, and scared. Fluttershy put her wing over one of the smaller foal, pain shot through her heart when he flinched from her touch.

"It's okay... you're safe now... you're..." a loud snort caused her ears to shot up straight. She looked to the source. On one of the low lying hill nearby was a single buffalo. Except, it was obvious to Fluttershy, that this one was one of those infected ones. Large patches of its hair was gone, exposing the skin that barely contained the enlarged muscle beneath. Whatever short neck the buffalo had was gone: the base of its head had merged into the body. The drooling mouth was barely visible under the enlarged head, but she could still make out the sharpened teeth that was stained with blood, likely pony blood. A pair of horns flanked the side of its head. Each had lengthened to almost the length of a pony, and shaped like two sharp blades.

The buffalo let out a bellow and charged down the hill toward them. A streak of rainbow shot past Fluttershy. Before long, Rainbow Dash drove one of her clawed wings into the beast and dragged it to the ground. Her other wing started driving its claw into the base of the buffalo's skull. At least, she was trying to.

"Oh come on!" yelled Rainbow Dash as the beast thrashed on the ground. Her clawed wings only managed to penetrate a few inches before stopping. Even so, the beast roared in pain as the clawed open up large gashes on its back. However, the beast managed to push itself upright for a few seconds, long enough for it to slammed the pegasus into a rock nearby.

"OOF!" Fluttershy wince when a series of cracks came from Rainbow Dash's body. Her eyes bulged out in pain. The clawed wing lost its grip when the buffalo bucked her through the air. Fluttershy winced again when Rainbow Dash crashed into another rock before sliding to the ground. The buffalo lowered its horns at the dazed pegasus. Its hoof pawing the ground, ready to charge.

Or it would have, if Fluttershy hadn't just stabbed it with her mane whip. "Hey! Pick someone your own size!"

The buffalo turned to her and snorted. Its horns now pointed toward her.

"FIRE!" came captain Night Light's command. Flurries of foot-long bolts whistled through the air and to the beast, which roared again in pain as the bolts entered it. Before it could even recover, Rainbow Dash was already on its back again, opening up yet more bleeding wounds on it. The guards took that distraction and fluidly swapped out their empty pack with a full one.

"Ma'am! We're going to hit it again!" yelled the captain. Rainbow Dash gave the beast a few more swipes before leaping away. A second swarm of bolts slammed into the beast. It let out a weak roar before its hooves collapsed under it and the monster toppled to its side.

"Is it dead?" asked one of the guard. He never got his answer when a pegasus guard shouted from the air.

===================================================================

"There's more of them coming!" the guard pointed over the hill the buffalo came from. And true enough, Applejack felt the ground started to rumble.

"No time to find out! Every-pony in the train now! Pegasus team! Setup the defenses! Unicorn team! Clear the tracks!" shouted Night Light. Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy went with the unicorn guards and started shifting the derailed trains off the track. Twilight Sparkle and the unicorn used their magic, while Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy used their enhanced physical strength. Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and herself helped Apple Fritter guide the panicking foals into the train cars.

In all the commotions, no pony saw the downed buffalo, still bleeding from numerous wound, getting up. Nor did any pony heard the weak snort from it as it got ready to charge.

Applejack did noticed something was amiss when she saw movement at the corner of her eyes. She saw, with pin-pricked eyes, that the buffalo had charged. It's blade horns parallel to the ground and aimed at the nearest pony it could find. Which, as it happened, was Apple Fritter. She was focused on getting the last foal on the train, and did not see nor hear the buffalo bearing down on her.

"Apple Fritter!" shouted Applejack as she broke into a full gallop toward her niece. "Get away from there!"

Apple Fritter turned, her eyes staring at her in confusion. With no other options, Applejack lowered her head and head-butted her own niece away. Before she could even react, she found herself slammed into the train car. Screams of foals and Apple Fritter filled her ear.

=====================================================================

Rainbow Dash felt her heart skipped a beat when she followed the scream back to the train. There, between the train and buffalo, was her friend Applejack. Blood dripped off her where the buffalo's horns had entered. The buffalo was struggling, its horns embedded into the side of the train. Apple Fritter bucked at the buffalo, yelling at it to release her sister. Rarity was bashing the buffalo's head with levitated rocks, while Pinkie Pie yanked on the buffalo's tail with her mouth.

"All of you! Get away from there!" yelled Rainbow Dash before jumping on the buffalo's head. Her front hoof on the train while her back pushed against the beast's head. Pinkie Pie and Rarity had dragged the struggling Apple Fritter away, who kept crying out Applejack's name desperately. Fluttershy flicked her mane whip around the buffalo and started to pull. With the sound of scrapping metal, the buffalo's horns popped out of the train, dropping Applejack to the ground.

"Rainbow Dash! Fluttershy! Get that thing away from the train." yelled Twilight Sparkle. The derailed train's engine hovered above her. Fluttershy kept on pulling the buffalo, who was trying to charge at the injured Applejack. Rainbow Dash rushed forward and gave it a quick buck. The impact sent the buffalo to the ground, which allowed Fluttershy to drag it away.

"Get away from it!" as Twilight Sparkle commanded, Fluttershy unwound her mane whip and backed away. The beast let out another guttural bellow before a train engine slammed on top of it. It sank a few more inches into the ground as Twilight Sparkle's horn flared, her eyes filled with rage. After the unicorn was sure that she couldn't push the engine down any further, she extinguished her horn and trotted over.

"Applejack! Applejack! Stay with us." said Rainbow Dash. Her hoof nudged the bleeding pony on the ground. Applejack looked to be conscious. Her eyes darted at the ponies around her before locking on Apple Fritter. Her mouth opened and closed wordlessly as her breathing grew more shallow and rapid.

"She's going into shock!" said Twilight Sparkle. "We need to stop the bleeding. Wait! We have to get her inside first. Rainbow, help..."

The sound of sword being drawn triggered a reflexive action in Rainbow Dash. Her clawed wing flared and her eyes narrowed. A unicorn guard stood in front of her, his sword levitated and pointed at Applejack.

"What are you doing?" yelled Rarity, putting herself in front of the unicorn. The guard took a step back, but his sword still pointed in the same direction.

"She's going to turn! We have to..." the guard said with a shaky voice.

"We don't know that!" said Twilight Sparkle. "She may not have caught it! Give her a chance!"

"But..."

"What's going on here?" barked Captain Night Light. The unicorn guard with the drawn sword turn to his superior. "Lieutenant Quick Draw! What are you doing?"

"She was gored by that... thing. We have to deal with her before she turns!"

"You don't know that! We don't know that! Just give her a chance!" begged Twilight Sparkle.

"Please!" added Fluttershy. Night Light looked at the gasping Applejack on the ground before turning his attention back to the group.

"And if she turns?" asked Night Light. His tone showed a genuine question rather then a condescending one.

"Then we'll take care of her ourselves." said Rainbow Dash without missing a beat. Night Light eyed her for a second before nodding.

"Good enough for me. Keep her away from every other pony. Every-pony in the train! We're leaving!" barked Night Light.

"Captain!" one of the pegasus guard landed in front of him. "They're too close, I don't think the train can pull away in time!"

"I'll try to slow them down!" shouted Rainbow Dash before galloping off.

"How?" asked Fluttershy who had already lifted Applejack on her back.

"I got a plan! Just go! I'll catch up!" yelled back Rainbow Dash. She saw the group rushed into the train as the steam whistle blew. The guards positioned themselves on the top and side of the train, their weapons at the ready. The train engineers strained as they pulled the train into a roll.

Rainbow Dash turned to the problem in front of her. Namely the hundreds of monstrously transformed buffaloes bearing down on the train. Her clawed wing may be able to take down a few, but definitely not enough to stop the horde from reaching the train. The goal was to slow them down. She needed a way to stop the stampede, and if she can't stop them by standing in their way, she will just have to take the ground out from under them.

With the tensions she built up in her leg, she launched herself high into the sky. Her wings flapped furiously as she tried to gain as much additional height as she could. Once at the peak, she spread her wing out as far as she could and started to glide. Rainbow Dash looked down, gauging the distance between her and the stampeding beasts.

And... NOW! Rainbow Dash dove, her wings beating rapidly as she pushed herself toward the ground. Powerful wind blasted against her face and mane. A cone of vapor started to form and tighten around her. This will be just like that time she helped demolish Applejack's barn. Except this time, she's much heavier, much faster, and her target was the stampeding horde of buffalo hell-bent on hurting her friends.

An explosion of rainbow burst forth where Rainbow Dash broke the sound barrier. But for the first time in her life, she wasn't concerned with it. She continued to accelerate for the remaining few seconds, and watched as her hooves disappeared into the back of a buffalo. The buffalo was instantly pulverized as ground erupted around her, sending dirt, rocks and nearby buffaloes into the air. Further out, the remaining buffaloes were thrown off their hooves as the ground rippled beneath them.

Rainbow Dash shook off the dust that had settled on her. A couple buffaloes near her were dead. Their body showed no sign of injury other than the blood flowing from their mouth. Those further out were on the ground, alive but dazed from the impact.

Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash discovered that the dazing effect also affected her somewhat. She managed to get her hooves to listen to her just in time to avoid being trampled beneath the stampeding buffaloes. She ran out of the dust cloud she had created, and groaned when she saw hundreds of buffaloes still stampeding their way toward the train.

One more time...

=====================================================================

"Looks like she did it." said Captain Night Light as he stood on top of the caboose. The initial surprise at the appearance of a Sonic Rainboom had wore off, and replaced by certain awe as the sky-blue shape arched through the air before dive-bombing the buffaloes below. Even without the multicolored light-show, the result was impressive. Dozens of mutated buffaloes were knocked down with each impact, which took out many more that came after.

"Captain!" he turned around and found a purple unicorn standing behind him. A baby dragon sat on her back. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"Let's see..." the captain had to drop to the roof of the caboose as the train shook. The buffalo horde was getting closer, and the earthquakes caused by Rainbow Dash was getting much too close for comfort. "... first, tell your friend to stop doing that. She's going to derail the train."

=====================================================================

"More towels!" yelled Fluttershy. Her bloodied hooves pressed on a stack towel on Applejack's side. The towel and the bed beneath Applejack were completely stained red with her blood. Rarity quickly returned with another stack of clean towels. Fluttershy tossed the blood soaked towels to the side and pressed the fresh stack against the open wound. The towels turned blood-red almost immediately.

"It's still not stopping." said Fluttershy with a note of despair. "Rarity! Hold it for me!"

"Oh... um... okay..." Rarity trembled as she put her hooves on the bloody towels. Fluttershy quickly dashed to her bunk bed and started rummaging through her bags.

"Oh dear Celestia there's so much blood!" cried out Rarity. "Fluttershy! Please hurry!"

Fluttershy didn't say a word as she dug through her medical supplies. In truth, she wasn't sure what she was looking for. Holding the wound shut was easy, she got enough bandages and medical tape to do that. But without stopping the internal bleeding, Applejack will still die. She had tried the blood-clotting powders, which had worked many times before when she needed to treat injured animal. But Applejack was bleeding so much that the powder got washed away before they could work. Now, she was just looking for anything that might work, anything.

"What the... Fluttershy! Is this normal?" yelled Rarity. "I don't think this is nor..."

Fluttershy froze when she heard a noise that sounded like a watermelon being punched through. She scrambled to the side of the bunk bed, and saw Rarity sitting completely motionless. Her pupils had contracted to a pin-prick. The pristine white coat on her face and chest was completely red and dripping. She was wondering just what happened when she heard a growl that sounded like Applejack.

"Applejack?"

=====================================================================

Twilight Sparkle read about cannons before. While Princess Celestia generally preferred more peaceful resolutions to conflict,s she accepted the fact in time conflict may be inevitable and that it was better for the Royal Guard Forces to be well equipped. Furthermore, some ponies had a propensity and knack in making destructive devices which had cause untold damages by accidents. So, as a solution to both problem, Princess Celestia employed those ponies as the Royal Armorer where they could practice their talents in a more or less safe environment. Of course, for centuries, most of the devices created were never used in combat. Although some of the devices do get adapted for more peaceful uses.

Originally designed by a pony appropriately named Big Boom just a few decades back. The cannon led to the creation of fireworks launchers and the party launchers, which Pinkie Pie called one of the greatest invention in Equestrian history. It had never been used against any living targets, but attempts were made to use it as a farming tool. However, the need to pick out metal shrapnel from the "tilled" farmland made it somewhat unpopular. Therefore, in the decade since, it was kept in storage and only worked on and tested occasionally.

Until now.

"Fire!" shouted Twilight Sparkle, her head poking just out of the hatch leading to the caboose' roof. Spike blew out a short spurt of flame lighting the fuse on the cannon before ducking back in the caboose. When the fuse burned down, a plume of flame and smoke blasted out of the muzzle sending a metal sphere over the stampeding horde. As she had calculated, the sphere detonated right above the front of the horde and released numerous smaller spheres that were scattered among the buffaloes. Seconds later, a cloud of explosion swallowed the stampeding horde.

Two unicorn guards quickly scrambled onto the roof and started reloading the cannon. Twilight Sparkle took the time and started looking for the next group of targets. She had studied about ballistic trajectory sometimes in a past, as a hobby to pass time. It was one of those skill she never expected to be practical. Yes, she may be able to calculate the perfect pitch to get the horseshoe to the stake, but without practice, she could never make that perfect pitch.

But here, the cannon was, for all intent and purposes, perfectly predictable. The same amount of black-powder always yielded the same velocity. The same elevation gave her the same angle of launch. Taking into account of the relative velocity of her and the target, plus some wind correction, meant that she could place that cannon ball exactly where she wanted. In this case, "where she wanted" was directly on top of the things that had tried to murder her friends.

Or had murdered her friend...
"Ready!" One of the unicorn guard shouted, snapping her out of her thought. Spike scrambled out to get ready while Twilight Sparkle used her magic and adjusted the various mechanisms on the cannon, aiming it toward the closest cluster of mutant buffaloes.

"Fire!" she shouted again. The cannon crashed again and the cluster of mutant buffaloes disappeared beneath the rolling cloud of explosion. She paid no mind to the few buffaloes that made it past. The airborne pegasus guards swooped in and unloaded their bolts into those. Anything that remained were taken down by a rainbow streak. Rainbow Dash may need a while to kill these things, but it took her no time to slow them down by dragging them to the ground.

"Ready!" Twilight Sparkle went back to her task. Her mind registered a cliff wall rising up to her right. But with her focus squarely on getting those cannon balls on top of buffaloes, she did not register the tactical implication it posed.

At least, until she was reminded of it when an airborne guard yelled out a warning.

"Watch out!" Twilight Sparkle looked up just in time to see a few dozen monstrous buffaloes jumping down. Many just crashed into the ground by the tracks, but a few managed to land on the train itself. One, in particular, landed right behind her.

"GAH!" Twilight Sparkle ducked into the hatch when the buffalo charged. The blue sky disappeared for a moment when the large beast ran over the hatch, followed by the sound of tearing metal. She poked her head back out and looked toward the back of the caboose. The cannon was gone. More important, so did Spike.

"Spike!" Twilight Sparkle jumped out of the hatch and frantically scanned her eyes across the roof. But the rooftop was empty. "Spike!"

"Over here!" came the response from the rear of the caboose. Twilight Sparkle trotted there and peered over. To her relief, Spike was dangling just beneath the roof, his claw hanging onto the broken support of the cannon. Twilight Sparkle levitated the baby dragon up and into her hooves.

"Oh thank goodness you're safe!" said Twilight Sparkle.

"Uh... I don't think WE are safe yet." said Spike as he pushed himself away with one claw and pointed behind the unicorn with another. Twilight Sparkle turned around and found another buffalo charging at them.

"GAH!" with no where to run, Twilight Sparkle ignited her horn. Moments later, she and Spike disappeared with a flash and reappeared behind the buffalo. The buffalo didn't seem to care that its target had disappeared and charged right off the train. Twilight Sparkle shook her head, trying to clear away the post-teleportation nausea.

"Twilight!" shouted Spike. Twilight Sparkle looked toward where Spike was pointed and found another buffalo making an attempt to impale both of them on its blade like horn. She lit her horn again to try to teleport, but the nausea was making it impossible.

"Behind us! There's another..." shouted Spike before his voice died away. "... huh?"

Twilight Sparkle turned around. At fist glance, she thought it was another buffalo thundering toward her. It had a pair of black horns like a bull. Each easily three feet long and sharpened like two double-edged swords. But unlike a buffalo, its form was smaller, about the size of a pony. In fact, it was a pony, a pony with an orange coat and a deep wound in her side. Her flank bore a cutie-mark of three red apples.

"Applejack?" uttered the two in disbelief.

=====================================================================

Her head hurts...
Her side hurts...
And she's pissed!

Applejack didn't know how she could even move, nor why she has a pair of horns sticking out of her head. She felt light-headed and a bit confused about how or why she was on the roof of the train. But right in front of her was Twilight and Spike, and they were in danger. For Applejack, that's all she needed to know.

Twilight Sparkle ducked when Applejack leaped over her. Her hoof thundered against the train roof as she landed and continued galloping toward the charging buffalo. She dropped her head and steeled her neck as the two closed their distance.

The force of the impact sent tremor through her body. The metal roof buckled behind her hooves. The sound of bone cracking echoed through the air, but Applejack knew it wasn't hers. Instead, the buffalo's head gained a distinct dent in it as it stumbled back from the impact. Not giving it time to rest, Applejack galloped forward to the buffalo's side. She slammed the left side of her head into the buffalo and drove the three feet long horn deep into the monster. The monster didn't even have a chance to react before Applejack jumped up, tearing her bladed-horn through the beast's spine. The mutated buffalo rolled on its side with a wavering bellow before Applejack landed on top of it. With another twist of her neck, she swiped her right-side horn through the base of the beast's skull and severed it from the rest of its body.

Black tendrils shot out from her and started to pull the dead buffalo into her. She felt the pain in her side and head faded and the wound in her side started to close up. After all traces of the mutated buffalo had disappeared, she turned to her unicorn friend, who had gotten up and was staring at her.

"Applejack... is that you?" asked the unicorn.

"Of course its me sugah cube!" Applejack found herself being squeezed by Twilight Sparkle.

"You're okay! You're okay!" cried one very relieved sounding unicorn.

"There there sugah cube..." said Applejack. Her eyes caught a group of guards having trouble with a buffalo in the distance. "Uh... maybe we should take care of these... things first."

=====================================================================

Lieutenant Quick Draw was not having a good day. He and his team had already fired off their spear pack and managed to take down a monster buffalo. But before they could even reload, another one showed up. They still have their swords, but they just can't cut through the thick hide on these things. Instead, they had been dodging the buffalo's charge.

Another crash shook the train car behind him. A second buffalo had landed behind him, trapping him between two blood-thirsty mutant buffaloes.

I'm screwed... thought Quick Draw as the two buffaloes pawed metal roof below. He levitated his sword high. If he's going down, he's going to go down fighting.

He never got a chance to make a heroic last stand when a battle-cry of a pony sounded from the back of the train. Quick Draw blinked in confusion as an orange mare flew over the buffalo that landed behind him. The very same mare he had tried to kill for fear of her turning. Her head tilted to the side as her horn... Horn?... sliced deep into the monster's back. It traced an arc from the monster flank all the way up to its neck. The pony landed and broke into a run. Behind her the buffalo simply split in half from the wound before sliding off the train.

His eyed followed the mare as she ran past him toward the charging buffalo. Impossible as it may seem, the mare stopped its charge with a headbutt. She locked her horns with the buffalo's, and with almost effortless ease, threw the beast into the cliff wall.

"Yah alright there?" it took Quick Draw a few moments to notice that she was asking him. He only managed a small nod in response. "Great! Keep up the good works!" With that, the mare ran further up the train toward another buffalo.

Quick Draw still had trouble understanding what just happened. But one thing he knew for sure, he was very, VERY glad he didn't kill that mare.

=====================================================================

Captain Night Light was deeply impressed. When the buffaloes managed to jump on the train, he had expected, grimly, that his guards would be taking casualties. Celestia's protege and some of her friends had turned the tide. The orange earth pony with the strange horns ran up and down the train, chopping up the monsters with frightening efficiency. The sky-blue pegasus with the rainbow mane had caught up and was dragging those beasts off the train with those claws of hers. Celestia's own protege, levitating a railway sign she ripped up along the way as a club, was whacking the buffaloes off the train like baseballs. Even the timid looking yellow pegasus was doing splendid work, her whip smashing and tripping buffaloes over the trains.

His guards had also changed tactic. Secured in the knowledge that the four ponies will keep them safe from any buffaloes that got near, they focused on reloading and firing their heavy bolts at any buffaloes that were pursuing or trying to jump on the train. Soon, the track started to pull away from the cliff-wall and back onto flat terrain. Captain Night Light was pleased to see that while the stampeding buffaloes were still numerous, their number had thinned out to the point that his guards should be able to keep them back.

As long as we keep up this speed... we should be fine.
His train of thoughts derailed when the train mare started swearing at the top of her voice.

=====================================================================

Twilight Sparkle threw the railroad sign she had been levitating away and sat down. The immediate danger had pass as the guards' heavy bolt launcher kept the mutant buffaloes away from the train.

A sense of relief washed over her. In part from the fact that one crisis was averted. But most importantly, Applejack was alive and seems to be doing okay. Better than okay, if the argument she was having with Rainbow Dash on who knocked the most monster off the train was of any indication.

"BUCK... BUCK... BUCK... BUCK..." Her ear turned to the source of the sound before her head followed and found Steam Whistle, the train mare, swearing up a storm. Bewildered, she trotted over and joined Captain Night Light and the train operator.

"What's going on?" asked Twilight Sparkle.

"The bridge! The bucking bridge is gone!" Steam Whistle pointed her hoof out toward a canyon in the distance. True enough, Twilight Sparkle could make out the long curving track that ended abruptly at the edge of the canyon lip. Pieces of wooden structure was all that remained of the bridge.

"So we're going to crash." asked Captain Night Light. The expression on his face looked like he was running through the options they have.

"Or we can stop..." said Steam Whistle. She took one glance at the horde of buffaloes still descending on them. "... you know what? Crashing sounds less painful than being eaten."

"We can try to fight them off." said Night Light to no pony in particular. "Odds are not good... but it's better than nothing."

Twilight Sparkle squinted her eyes to focus on the broken bridge. The distance didn't seem that great, and it looked like it simply collapse. There was a pretty good chance that most of the pieces were still in the canyon...

"I got an idea!" shouted Twilight Sparkle. "Steam Whistle! Keep the train running! Rainbow Dash... RAINBOW DASH!"

The pegasus stopped her argument with Applejack and half galloped, half glided over. "Yeah?"

"How much faster can you beat the train there?" asked Twilight Sparkle, her hoof pointing toward the broken bridge.

"Wait what?... Whoa! Is the bridge out?"

"Yes!" said Twilight Sparkle impatiently. "How fast?"

"Er... a minute, maybe two?" Rainbow Dash was a bit taken back by the forcefulness of Twilight's question.

"Good!" Twilight Sparkle quickly jumped on Rainbow's back and wrapped her front hooves around the pegasus' neck. "Take me there."

Rainbow Dash, still not exactly sure what just happened, decided to just follow Twilight's instruction. She jumped off the train and broke into a gallop the moment her hooves touched the ground. The sky-blue and purple shape quickly receded into the distance.

A confused Steam Whistle looked at the captain of the guard, who merely shrugged.

"I'd listen to her." said Night Light.

"Alright then..." Steam Whistle stuck her head out the side of the train engine. "My little stallions! Pound those little hooves of yours hard and fast!"

"Are you sure? You said the bridge is out!" came the reply from one of the train engineer.

"Well! That's what Celestia's protege's ordered! And if whatever she is planning didn't work, well, it's better then being eaten!"

=====================================================================

Rainbow Dash had seen Twilight Sparkle performed some very impressive magics. From juggling an Ursa Minor to swing a train like a club, she had learned to place her confidence in Twilight Sparkle when it came to extraordinary feats of magic.

But even then, she had doubts about this. Rainbow Dash peered over the canyon edge beside Twilight Sparkle. At the bottom of which laid the broken bits and pieces of the bridge, and from this height, looked nothing more than a pile of splinters. She looked up at the other side of the track, which was at least a few hundred yards away, and wonder how Twilight Sparkle could get the train there.

"Okay Rainbow. Tell me when the train is here." Twilight Sparkle closed her eyes. Rainbow Dash had to take a step back and shield her eyes as Twilight's horn flared up. She watched in awe as the wrecked bridge, now glowing purple, floated up and started to assemble themselves into place. Wooden beams moved to create the trusses that supported the bridge as bent rails straightened and laid themselves on top. In less then a minute, the canyon was spanned by a purple glowing bridge, even if said bridge looked like its going to fall apart at the slightest breeze.

Which was just as well, as the whistling of the train announced its imminent arrival.

"Twilight! The train is here!" Rainbow Dash thought it wasn't possible, but Twilight's horn glowed even brighter as the aura around the bridge gained a more tangible quality to it. The bridge started to shake ominously as the train roared past them and over it. Twilight Sparkle gritted her teeth under the strain. The ground started to crack beneath the unicorn's hooves. One of the train wheel dislodged with a crash, but the car managed to stay on. The screech of metal grinding against metal filled the air as the glow on Twilight's horn reached a new intensity. Rainbow Dash watched with her breath held as the end of the train got on the bridge. Then finally...

"They're through! They're through!" Rainbow Dash shouted at Twilight, whose horn fizzled out in an instance and the bridge collapsed once more.

"Good..." was all Twilight could manage before she passed out on the ground. A wisp of smoke rose from her horn. The shaking of the ground quickly reminded Rainbow Dash of the stampeding mutant buffaloes still behind them.

"Let's get outta here!" Rainbow Dash wiggled under Twilight Sparkle and lifted her. She broke into a run toward the edge of the canyon, and with as much power as she could manage, leaped. Her wings spread wide open as she started to glide toward the opposite edge.

That was when she realized her mistake. The canyon gap was such that, by herself, she could clear it easily with room to spare. But with Twilight Sparkle on her back, she found herself falling faster than she expected, with her trajectories taking her on a high speed encounter with the opposing canyon wall.

Then a second horrible realization dawned on her. She would likely survive the collision with the wall, but the unicorn on her back would not.

Ah crap! Ah crap! Ah crap! thought Rainbow Dash as she looked around frantically. She could try dropping straight down to avoid hitting the wall, but it was likely that the landing would also kill Twilight.

"RAINBOW!" Rainbow Dash looked toward the opposite canyon edge and saw a yellow shape on the ground darting toward her. "GRAB!"

A black and pink tendril shot past Rainbow Dash. Without a second thought, she grabbed it with her mouth and found herself being pulled ahead. With the added speed, she adjusted her wings to maintain a level glide as she angled in for a landing.

Her hooves hit the ground in a slide before plowing into Fluttershy. She felt the unicorn being thrown from her back as Fluttershy and her tumbled on the ground. When they finally came to a stop, Rainbow Dash took a moment to regain her bearing before she noticed that she was lying across on Fluttershy. Her mouth still biting down on Fluttershy's mane. Rainbow Dash spat out the mane and pushed herself to her hooves.

"Thank you... you okay?" asked Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy nodded in response as she got up. Rainbow Dash quickly trotted to where Twilight Sparkle had landed. Worries started to seep in as she noticed that Twilight wasn't moving.

"Twilight... Twilight! Can you hear me?" asked Rainbow Dash while she nuzzled the unicorn. "Please answer me."

"Mommy..." Her worries were washed away when Twilight Sparkle groaned. "... no more roller-coaster rides..."

Rainbow Dash looked up. The train had stopped. Among the guards standing on the roof, she could see the rest of her friends, all with their eyes on them.

"She's okay..." said Rainbow Dash before she raised her voice. "SHE'S OKAY!"

A thundering cheer rose into the air.

=====================================================================

"... then Rarity came in all covered all in blood looking for the little filly's room and told me Applejack's head exploded! And I was like no way! And then all the little ponies all started screaming. So I told them head exploding is good! It means all the bad nasty stuff got blown out!" Twilight Sparkle rubbed her head and groaned in exacerbation. How that pony managed to keep herself that high-strung all the time eluded her. The racket Pinkie Pie was making from preparing an "Applejack's Better Celebration" party didn't help her headache either. On the other hoof, Fluttershy seemed all too happy to assist in Pinkie Pie's endeavor. The pegasus had allowed her whip-mane to be threaded through apples and hung across the top of the bunk beds like garlands. Spike had been requisitioned for the task of popping popcorn. Rainbow Dash just watched the commotion from her bunk-bed. Applejack and Rarity had gone to help take care of the foals and had been missing for a good three hours. Twilight Sparkle was starting to wonder what's taking them so long when the train door opened and the two ponies in question walked in.

"Hey Applejack! Rarity! You're here!" yelled Pinkie Pie at the top of her lung while hopping her way toward Applejack and Rarity. "We can get started with the PARTAY! YA..."

Her voice was cut off mid-sentence when Applejack shoved her hoof into the party pony's mouth. "Pinkie Pie. Ah appreciate the fact that you're throwing a party for me. But there are little fillies and colts sleeping in the car next to us. So ah would appreciate it if yah keep it down."

"Mm hm..." Applejack pulled her hoof out of Pinkie Pie's mouth... "... yay..." who proceeded to let out a cheer that sounded just like how Fluttershy would cheer.

"Better." said Applejack.

"So, how did it go?" asked Twilight Sparkle.

"Well, we finally put them little fillies and colts to bed. It looked like they haven't slept in days... poor things..." said Applejack. "Of course, they would've gone ta bed earlier if miss clean and proper here didn't insist on giving them all a bath."

"It's prim and proper. And how do you expect them to get some good, rejuvenating rest if they're cover in muck and grime?" replied Rarity.

"Can't you wash them after they had some shut-eyes? One of them fell asleep in the tub!"

"I would have you know that quite a few of them were highly appreciative of the bath!"

Twilight Sparkle shook her head as the two argued their way to the bunk. However, their argument was halted when Spike let out a stream of flame with a burp and a package with a scroll attached dropped out from it. Spike picked it up and rushed to Twilight.

"What was that?" asked Rarity.

"Oh, I sent a quick report to the Princesses about what happened. It looked like they just replied." said Twilight Sparkle. "Wonder what's with the package..." she unrolled the scroll.

"Well, what did it say?" asked Applejack. Twilight Sparkle set the scroll to the side.

"Princess Luna went back through her record on falling star. She said that there were several meteors that landed in buffalo territories..." Twilight Sparkle paused for a moment. "... that would explain the monster buffaloes..."

The ponies nodded in agreement.

"What's in the box?" asked Rainbow Dash.

Twilight Sparkle finished the letter and opened the package. Two large syringes floated out of it under her magic. "... the researchers are asking for some samples from Applejack."

Applejack gulped as Twilight Sparkle advanced on her with the syringes.

=====================================================================

Applejack jolted awake with the sound of the train whistle. Just outside her bunk-bed window, the sun was hanging low over the horizon. The screeching noise of the train braking reverberate through the car as the train slowed.

Must have dozed off for a while... thought Applejack.

"Dear Celestia... it looked like... a war-zone or something..." said Rarity. Applejack trotted over to the unicorn's bunk bed, and gasped.

They had arrived at Appleloosa, that much was for certain given the railroad sign. But the town looked drastically different from when she last visited. Most of the building had collapsed. The few that remained standing was reinforced and fortified with logs and planks. Surrounded those buildings were tents. Some looked like they were hastily erected. The apple orchard looked sparse. Many of the trees had been reduced to stumps, likely turned into one of the many spikes that surrounded the town. Their sharpened end pointed outward to protect a town like the spines on a porcupine.

The town ponies didn't look any better. Or town-folks, as from the looks of things, a couple of buffaloes had taken up residence among them. Many of them carried some form of improvised weapons, with spear-like weapons being the most common. All of them looked tired.

But against a backdrop like this, Applejack could hear some of them cheering as the train pulled in. The cheering intensified as the royal guards disembarked. Some of the ponies looked like they were crying out of joy. With the rest of her friends, Applejack left the train. It didn't take long before a stallion with an amber coat trotted up to her.

"Braeburn!"

"Applejack!" said Braeburn. His eyes were filled with hope. "You came! You got our message right? Oh, who am I kidding, that's why you brought help! They made it! Oh thank Celestia they made it! How's Apple Fritter? Is..."

Applejack watched the hopeful looked in his eyes died away as he looked behind her. "Apple Fritter?"

"Braeburn..." Apple Fritter sniffed before throwing her hooves around Braeburn's neck and started to sob.

The joyous atmosphere disappeared as the foals left the train one by one, each finding their way back to their parents and guardians. At least those that still had one, the rest found themselves in different hooves as they cried for their lost parents.

"What..." Braeburn choked out. "... why..."

"We found their train on our way here..." said Applejack. Her eyes started to tear up. "... they never made it there..."

"Grandma and Grandpa Cider! Did you find Grandma and Grandpa Cider?" asked Braeburn in desperation. Applejack could only shake her head.

"I'm sorry." her tears started to fall. "I'm sorry..."

It just can't get any worse than this... can it? thought Applejack. She got her answer when a high pitched scream of a foal cut through the air. By instinct, she started galloping over, just in time to see a pale-blue stallion dragging a kicking and screaming foal out of a small tent.

"Let me go! Where are you taking me!? Let me see my mama!" the foal screamed as she struggled against the stallion.

"Hey! What in tarnation are yah doing?" yelled Applejack. The stallion dropped the foal out of surprise, who proceed to ran back into the tent. That was when she heard a second scream. This time it was the scream of a mare. Applejack trotted in and froze. Her mind refused to acknowledge what she was seeing.

An orange mare with green mane was on the ground. Her neck shackled there by a wooden neck-brace. Blood-stained bandages covered her flank, obscuring her cutie. A rope was tied around her torso and trailed across a freshly dug pit behind her to a stake in the ground. Above her head was a boulder suspended by a length of rope, which was wounded through a pulley and anchored to the ground by another stake a few feet to the left of the restrained mare. What made it more incomprehensible to her, was the fact that the mare wasn't even trying to get out. Furthermore, she was trying her best to get her own foal away from her.

"Why's she still here!?" the mare shouted. Panic filled her eyes. "Get her outta here!"

"What's going on here!?" Captain Night Light had walked in. Upon seeing the mare restrained on the ground, he turned to the stallion that had tried to to remove the foal. "What in Celestia's name is this!?"

"What are you doing!?" Sheriff Silverstar entered after Night Light. He was fuming as he pointed his hoof at the captain. The two was about to start a shouting match when the shackled mare screamed again.

"Hurry! It's getting louder! I... I can't...! HURK!" Applejack found herself frozen in place when the mare let out a gurgling noise. Red tendrils started to spread across the injured mare's eyes as they started to bulge out. Her lips started to rip back, revealing a row of teeth that started to grow. Applejack didn't notice Braeburn yanking the foal out of the tent, nor did she notice Sheriff Silverstar kicking the stake anchoring the boulder out of the ground.

The only thing she saw, was the orange mare's head being replaced by a boulder.

=====================================================================

Twilight Sparkle didn't remember how they got back to the train, nor why they were here.

She couldn't remember whether it was her who screamed. But she remembered the screaming. She remembered watching them pull the dead mare into the pit behind her. She remembered seeing the crushed and mangled head of the mare in the pit before the boulder was dropped into it, entombing the unfortunate pony. She remembered the hysterical cry of the foal not understanding why her mother was suddenly gone.

In what could be considered a small mercy, the train door closed with a sharp click and snapped Twilight Sparkle out of her trance. Captain Night Light had closed the door behind Braeburn, who sat down in front of them. His eyes just stared at the ground with a haunted look.

"What... what just happened?" asked Applejack. A numbed look on her face.

"She... she heard the cry..." said Braeburn. "She heard its cursed cry..."

"Can you tell us what happened?" asked Captain Night Light who had decided to just stand beside the train door.

"It started... two weeks ago." said Braeburn. His voice hollow and monotonous. "The buffaloes came to us for help. They spoke of a strange disease from sky rocks that had been killing the buffalo. It was a diseases we had never seen. Those it affected died within hours in tremendous pain. We did what we could to make their passing more comfortable."

"A few days later, one of the buffalo that was sick started to get better. It brought a glimmer of hope to the buffaloes that whatever this sickness was, it was starting to pass." Braeburn stared off into the distance. "But then he... started to change in horrifying manners. He became violent and attacked any body around him. It took many ponies and buffaloes to finally... bring him down."

"But the horror didn't end there. A few of the ponies and buffaloes he injured started to hear cries, feral and violent cries. We didn't realize what it meant until they too changed into monsters. We were lucky that time. They were all in the hospital. So we barricaded it and burned it down..."

"The remaining healthy buffaloes took refuge among us. Those of us able took up arms to defend the town. For the first few days, it was just one or two a day. We managed to drive them back without injuries."

"Then, a week ago, half a dozen of them came at once. We fought them off, but they managed to wound a few of us. Within hours, some of them heard the feral cries. They begged us to kill them, and we tried..." Braeburn's voice started to shook. "They suffered... oh Celestia they suffered for so long..."

He started to cry. Applejack willed herself to his side and placed her hoof on his shoulder. It took a few minutes, but Braeburn managed to stop his tears.

"So that... setup in the tent..." asked Night Light.

"It was the most... merciful way we can find to end those who heard the cries." Braeburn sniffed a bit before continuing. "Some of the buffalo scouts discovered that packs of those... monster now roamed the plain, and that It will be a matter of time before they attack the town."

"A decision was made to evacuate those unable to fight back to the cities. We loaded only the foals and elderly on the train. The hope was that once they reached the cities, they can get words of what happened here to Princess Celestia with the hope that she will send help..." Braeburn looked down to the floor again. "Each day, we reinforce our town better and become more skilled in combat. But their number grows larger each day, and our numbers smaller. For the past few days, we started to doubt that help would ever arrive. Some even thought that the princesses had abandoned us..."

"I'm sorry." said Night Light. "We would've come earlier if we knew."

Braeburn shook his head. "You're here now... that's all that mattered... but how did you find out in the first place?"

"Well... miss Twilight Sparkle here could probably knows the whole story better..." said Captain Night Light.

Twilight Sparkle suddenly found herself at the center of attention. She took a deep breathe to collect herself, and recounted the events of past couple of days.

Day 5

"Apple Bloom?"
Applejack found herself in a clinic, staring down at the still pony at her feet. She looked nothing like Apple Bloom. Her Apple Bloom didn't have a pale-blue coat, nor a dark brown mane that was cut-short like Scootaloo's. Furthermore, her sister definitely did not have silver-blue eyes.

Yet... Applejack couldn't help but see her as her sister. Her sister who lay motionless in a lake of blood with her back toward Applejack. Her silver-blue eyes, dull and covered in red-veins, stared right back at hers. That was when she noticed Apple Bloom's head was pointed at an odd angle.

With a sense of dread, she followed the head down. To her horror, she found that Apple Bloom's neck was bent at an odd angle, and her neck was sliced open. The open wound had long since stopped bleeding, but it explained the source of the lake of blood she now lay in. Without fully knowing why, she looked down at her own hooves.

They were covered in blood. In that instance, a terrible thought crossed her mind.

I killed her...

"... no..."

I killed her...

"No..."

I killed Apple Bloom...

"NO!"

Applejack flung herself out of her bunk bed and crashed into the ground with a thud. She struggled against the bed-sheet that wrapped around her and tore them to ribbons. Finally free from the bed-sheet, she wrapped her hooves around herself and rocked back and forth on the floor.

"Applejack?" came a gentle voice, followed by an uncharacteristic thump on the ground. "Oh... I really need to be more careful... are you feeling okay?"

Applejack looked up and found Fluttershy staring right at her. Her cyan eyes were blood-shot and streaks of matted hair ran down her cheeks. In the darkness behind the pegasus, three more pairs of eyes looked back at Applejack. A quick glance outside told her that she wasn't asleep for more then a few minutes. Memories of last night slowly came back to her. Twilight Sparkle had told Braeburn as much as she could. Of course, she left out the part where Princess Celestia got infected and the part where Princess Luna's wing turned into the alicorn they're now chasing. Twilight Sparkle talked about the changes that happened to Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and her. Braeburn actually looked hopeful when Twilight Sparkle mentioned that the Canterlot university was working to discover a cure with them. By the time Twilight Sparkle finished, it was late at night already. Braeburn left to take up his night shift. He was accompanied by Night Light, who wished to discuss some strategies on how to protect the town better.

Their biological clock soon caught up with them. Rarity had insisted that they all get some rest. Twilight Sparkle had agreed with her. She argued that having six very tired ponies won't do the town much good.

However, judging by the four pairs of eyes now looking back at her, that may have been a losing proposition.

"Ah'm... fine. Just a bad dream..." said Applejack. "Can any of you sleep?" One by one, the four ponies shook their heads. Rainbow Dash being the only one not present among them. "Ah guess Rainbow can sleep though anything then..."

"Actually..." said Fluttershy. "She left a while ago... said she needed some air..."

"Oh... maybe I'll go find her then..." said Applejack as she head for the door. "I need some air anyway..."

"I'll go with you..." said Fluttershy. "I'm not that sleepy..."

"Do you... *YAWN*... want us to go with you?" asked Pinkie Pie. Her eyes looked bleary and her normally fluffy mane looked like it lost some of its fluff. Applejack thought it over. She decided that at the moment, she just wanted some quiet time to think things over.

"Nah... just... get some sleep yourself." said Applejack.

"Okay." said Pinkie Pie before the three pairs of eyes disappeared in the bunk-bed. As Applejack left the car, she heard Pinkie Pie started to sing in a wavering voice. "What I was a little filly and..."

Applejack quietly closed the door behind her and walked away from the train. Fluttershy followed behind her without a word. Applejack walked through the quiet town pass burnt out campfires. Around them were clusters of tents, where buffaloes and ponies who no longer have a home slept. Once in a while, she could hear faint sound of foals and calves crying from them.

Applejack turned around when she heard a sniff behind her. Fluttershy walked with her head low. Drops of tear from her eyes left a trail of dark spots in the ground.

"Fluttershy?" Applejack stopped and watched the pegasus with worries.

"It's so... so horrible..." said Fluttershy. Her teary eyes met Applejack's. "She knew what's happening... She knew she was going to turn into a monster... She had to ask other ponies to kill her..." Fluttershy sniffed again. "It's... it's just... too cruel..."

Applejack listened in silence.
"And I can't do anything..." continued Fluttershy. "I can't help her... I can't do anything... I even hurt the Princess... I'm useless..."

"Stop it right there." said Applejack, her hoof jabbing at the pegasus. "You're not useless. Never say you're useless."

"But..."

"You helped!" said Applejack. "Without you, Rainbow Dash wouldn't be here now. Without you, Apple Fritter and the foals might be gone."

"But..."

Applejack sighed. "Look, you're not going to save every pony you come across... but you do the best you can... all of us will."

Fluttershy nodded. "We'll do the best we can..."

"That's right." Applejack started walking again and Fluttershy followed. "We do the best we can."

"We defeated Nightmare Moon." said Fluttershy.

"That's right! We did."

"We defeated Discord." a note of confidence filled Fluttershy's voice.

"Shure did."

"And we will defeat... this thing!"

"Together." said Applejack.

"Together." echoed Fluttershy.

The two soon found themselves near the edge of town, where ponies and buffaloes sat around campfire. The ponies had their spears on the ground beside them, while buffaloes had large machetes tied to their horn. The machetes pointed to their side with the sharp edge pointed forward, likely allowing them to injure or kill the infected buffaloes when they run past. Unicorn guards patrolled the perimeters accompanied by spear carrying town ponies. Against the starry sky, Applejack could make out the glimmer of the pegasus guards' armors as they circled above them.

Applejack also saw the apple orchard nearby, or what's left of it. Even now, she could see ponies harvesting the last of the apples from them before chopping them down. Off to the side, she saw ponies and buffaloes chipping the logs into sharp points. The sharpened logs were dragged to the perimeter wall to replace the broken spikes, a large section of which looked like they were damaged recently.

Amidst the ponies in the orchard, Applejack noticed the sky-blue pegasus among them. She quickly trotted to the orchard. When she got close, she could see that Rainbow Dash had transformed her wings to claws, and was using them to make deep gouges in the base of the tree.

"Rainbow, what are you doing?" asked Applejack. "Are you trying to cut down this tree?"

"Yeah..." said Rainbow Dash with a grunt as she swiped the tree against with her wing. "Thought... I... could... help... TIMBER!"

The tree creaked and fell over to the ground. A panting Rainbow Dash drove her claws into the trunk and started to drag them away. Applejack exchanged a look with Fluttershy.

"We'll help." said Applejack.

=====================================================================

The morning light shone into the sleep car, where three ponies were beginning to stir.

Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes to the rising sun, and blinked them to try to drive the sleepiness away. As she expected, she didn't get much sleep last night. While Pinkie Pie's singing did help distract her from the dark memories, every time Twilight Sparkle managed to fall asleep, her dreams were plagued by the sight of the doomed mare being crushed.

"Oh... I look terrible..." came the morose cry of Rarity. Twilight Sparkle looked over her bunk-bed and couldn't help but agree with the fashionista. She looked terrible. Her azure blue eyes were a bit blood-shot and surrounded by dark shadows. The shine in her normally sleek mane was gone and left her mane dull, curled and frizzled. "... and I feel terrible..."

"I feel great!" came Pinkie Pie voice. Twilight Sparkle couldn't believe her eyes. As far as she know, Pinkie Pie had trouble sleeping just like her, if by the frequent bouts of depressed singing through the night was any indication. Yet, here she was, bouncing up and down the train like she got energy to burn. "...I'm up and ready to go!"

"Pinkie Pie... how did you..." before Twilight Sparkle could finish, Pinkie Pie shoved a plate with a steamy mug on it right in front of her.

"Twi eet." said Pinkie Pie as the plate and mug wobble ominously in front of Twilight Sparkle. She levitated the mug and gave its content a sniff. Suddenly, the reason Pinkie Pie can still be that upbeat that morning was revealed to her.

Coffee.

====================================================================

Twilight Sparkle felt... better. Not great, but at least better was, well, better. While she preferred tea to keep her awake, the coffee provided a good kick to the flank to wake her up. However, the buzzing feeling was not exactly comfortable. In retrospect, she probably should have ate something first before chugging down that much coffee. However, she was worried about where the rest of their friends went. For as much as she could remember, those three never came back to the train last night.

She found her answer at the edge of town, where ponies and buffaloes were setting sharpened logs into the ground around the perimeter wall. The source of those logs, however, appeared to have come from just three ponies. In the apple orchard, which Twilight Sparkle swore had a lot more trees in it yesterday, were Applejack. She was using her bladed horn like an axe, except that a normal axe couldn't slice through a tree in single swipe. Even more impressively, Applejack caught the falling tree on her back, keeping it off the ground while Rainbow Dash proceeded to sharpen it like a pencil with her clawed wings. Fluttershy was there too, using her whip-mane to drag the spike to the wall, where a row of other spikes were waiting to be put into the ground.

"Applejack! That was the last one." Twilight found Braeburn shouting at her side. His mood appeared to have improved much since last night. "Good morning miss Twilight Sparkle!"

"You're... much happier today." stated Twilight Sparkle.

"Of course! Thanks to those three, we're almost done with the wall!" said Braeburn. His hoof pointed at the new fence that surrounded around town. "In the past, we never had time to finish it before a couple of those... monsters showed up and destroyed them."

Twilight Sparkle looked at the now sparse looking apple orchard. "But how about food? I think you just cut down most of your orchard."

"We got enough stockpiled to last a month..." said Braeburn. "... and given recent event, I think starvation is the least of any pony's or buffalo's worries."

"If it comes to that..." said Captain Night Light, who had just joined them. "... we can request Canterlot to send aid by air while the railway is being repaired. I'm sure the Princess will grant that request."

"Yo Twilight!" Applejack trotted up to them with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy beside her. "You're up! How ya feeling?"

"Better." said Twilight Sparkle. "So this was what you had been doing all night?"

"Yep!" said Applejack. "Dem monsters will have a mighty hard time getting in now!"

The sound of stomach growling behind Applejack caused her to turn around. Fluttershy's face had turned red as she shrunk back a little. "I'm sorry... but... um... I'm a bit hungry..."

=====================================================================

The atmosphere in the town square was more cheerful now. Rainbow Dash could see that while she stabbed an apple with her wing claw and tossed it in her mouth. It wasn't saying much considering how miserable it was yesterday. But never-the-less, the ponies and buffaloes looked happier, and Pinkie Pie was doing her best to keep it that way. The method she chose, however, was quite frankly, weird. Namely, she got the little foals to play jump ropes...

"Um... Pinkie Pie, dear, are you sure you're not bothering Fluttershy?" asked Rarity.

... using Fluttershy's whip-mane as the rope. The owner of which was still eating her plate of hay and ignoring the fact that the jump-roping was causing her head to bob up and down.

"Oh... I'm... fine..." said Fluttershy, her voice in sync with the bobbing of her head. "It's... kind... of... fun... like... this..."

Off to the side, Applejack finally relented to the demand of calves and foals around her and let her bladed-horn emerge. The crowd promptly went "Ooh" and "Ah" at the sight.

"Your horn's bigger then daddy's..." one of the calves said, to which a nearby buffalo snorted in indignation.

Rarity had setup a sewing station and offered any pony with a hat or vest that walked by a free repair. Judging by the pile of hats and the number of hat-less ponies nearby, quite a few took up her offer.

And by the town perimeter was Twilight Sparkle, who was deep in conversation with the buffalo's chief, Thunderhooves, and captain of the guards, Night Light. From what the unicorn told her, she was trying to find out if anyone saw the infected alicorn. It had appeared that Twilight and Night Light took a while to convince Thunderhooves that the alicorn they were seeking was in no way related to the princesses. While technically incorrect, Rainbow was sure that telling Chief Thunderhooves that the monster was created from Princess Luna's wing would make things difficult.

"Um..." Rainbow Dash felt a tug on her tail and looked back. A small group of foals stood behind her. "Excuse me... but are you Wolverwing?"

Rainbow Dash looked at them, back at her clawed wings, and then at the foals again. "No... I'm Rainbow Dash."

"Aw..." the foals looked disappointed for a moment before a look of realization dawned on one of them. "Oh! I got it!" He shouted. "That's just your secret identity... right?"

"Wait! No! I'm really..." Rainbow Dash couldn't get a word in when the foals swarmed around her, each asking for her autographs. As much as she loved attention and adoration, getting them by being mistaken for a fictional super-hero was not something she had in mind. "Okay! Okay! Every pony stand in line." said Rainbow Dash. She picked up a pen and started scribbling her signatures on them. After several minutes, the last foal in the group thanked her for the autograph and left with a wide smile.

"What was that?" asked Twilight Sparkle as she approached one annoyed Rainbow Dash.

"Oh, they wanted my autograph." Rainbow Dash saw a confused look on Twilight Sparkle. "They thought I'm Wolverwing in disguise."

"You don't look... happy about that." stated Twilight Sparkle. "I thought you like attentions."

"I like it when ponies pay attention to me because of me! Not because they think I'm some fictional pony." Rainbow Dash sighed.

"You made them very happy thou." said Twilight Sparkle, who looked at the excited group of foals that were comparing the signatures they got.

"I guess you're right..." Rainbow Dash smiled on seeing the sight. "So, what's happening?"

Now it's Twilight's turn to sigh. "No news. Chief Thunderhooves had sent out scouts to find the source of this... disease. But none of them reported seeing an alicorn."

"So... that's a good news?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"I don't..."

"Something is coming!" the cry of a pegasus guard cut-off Twilight mid-sentence. Almost in tandem, the two of them darted toward the sound. The rest of their friends followed close behind. They soon arrived at the western gate of the perimeter wall, where groups of ponies and buffaloes had their weapons at the ready. Braeburn stood on the watch-tower by the gate. His eyes squinted at the horizon.

"It's Little Strongheart!" shouted Braeburn.

Rainbow Dash squinted her eyes. True enough, there was the young buffalo Little Strongheart, who was running flat-out toward them. The reason became obvious as she got closer.

Right behind the young buffalo was close to a dozen infected buffaloes.

====================================================================

"For goodness sake! Open the gate!" pleaded Braeburn to Sheriff Silverstar.

"We can't! Those things will get in if we open the gate!" said Sheriff Silverstar. Applejack couldn't help but agree. Despite pegasus guards' effort to cover the young buffalo's escape with their bolts, it's apparent that they would only take down two or three of those monsters before they reach the heavily braced gate. But with her and Rainbow Dash...

"Just get that gate open!" shouted Applejack. "We'll keep them away! Rainbow, let's go!"

Rainbow Dash nodded. The two of them leaped over the fence and headed toward the young buffalo. Behind them, Twilight Sparkle started to help the town-ponies un-brace the gate.

"Rainbow?" Little Strongheart shouted as they approached.

"Just keep running!" Rainbow Dash yelled back before she launched herself in the air. She arched over the fleeing buffalo before landing on the back of a pursuing one. The force of her impact caved in the back of the monster and sent out a minor shock-wave through the ground, knocking the pursuing buffaloes off their hooves.

"Way to go Rainbow!" shouted Applejack. She locked her eyes on a buffalo that was still on its hooves and galloped head-on at it. At the last moment, she side-stepped to her left and let her horn gouge deep into the monster as she ran past it, killing it instantly. Without missing a beat, she headbutted another infected buffalo before hooking her horn under its head and decapitated it. Beside her, Rainbow Dash had stabbed out the eyes on one of the buffalo and was standing on its back with her claws in the monster. Her tactic became clear when she steered the blind buffalo into impaling its horn in another of its kind.

Applejack looked back and saw two buffaloes had made it past them. However, Fluttershy had used her whip-mane and dragged one them to the ground. The royal guards quickly turned the now stationary monster buffalo into a pin-cushion. A second one was dispatched when a trunk-sized spike, courtesy of Twilight Sparkle, skewered it.

"Applejack! Watch out!" Applejack turned back just in time to see a buffalo leaped into the air toward her. She caught the monster between her horns, and with a twist of her body, slammed it into the ground and sliced it in two. The corner of her eye caught a buffalo trying to run past her. Applejack reared up and slammed her front-hooves into the ground. Cracks appeared beneath her hooves and extended toward the charging beast. It face-planted to the ground as its hooves sank into it. She charged forward to the trapped beast, and with a single fluid movement, cleaved its body in half.

Within minutes, all the infected buffaloes lay dead on the ground. Rainbow Dash and Applejack made their way back to town to the whooping cheers of ponies and buffaloes.

"That was amazing!" said Braeburn as he trotted up to them. "I mean, I thought your friend was exaggerating..." Twilight Sparkle looked like she took offense at that. "... but I couldn't be more happy to be wrong about that!"

Applejack saw Captain Night Light said something to Twilight Sparkle before escorting Little Strongheart and Chief Thunderhooves into the town hall.

"Applejack, Rainbow Dash," said Twilight Sparkle. "We have a meeting in the town hall."

"What's happening?" asked Applejack.

"It's Little Strongheart." said Twilight Sparkle. "She found the source."

====================================================================

"... okay, please tell me you are really, really bad at drawing to scale." said Rainbow Dash as Twilight Sparkle examined the drawing on the table. It showed what looked like small bumpy mountain in the midst of a swarm of buffaloes. "That's thing is like... what? Thirty? Forty-feet tall?"

"It's more than a hundred feet tall." said Little Strongheart. She stood on the other side of the table beside Braeburn and Chief Thunderhooves.

"What else can you tell us about it?" asked Captain Night Light, standing with the six wielder of the elements.

"It looks like it was once a buffalo... or several, I'm not sure. But those... boils on its back..." Rarity made a disgusted face at the description. "... appears to be where it... make more of those monsters."

Just like in diamond dog's lair... thought Twilight Sparkle.

"It only make those things by day," continued Little Strongheart as she pointed to a short list of numbers on the side, "and it only made a few dozens of them everyday. But, yesterday it made a whole bunch, like close to a hundred or something."

"Yesterday we killed a lot of them on the train-ride here..." Twilight Sparkle looked up from the list of numbers. "Perhaps it knows when one of them was killed and will respond to it..."

"So you're saying that no matter how many we killed, it just keep making more?" commented Night Light. "This does not bode well..." he thought for a few moments before continuing. "You said it makes those thing by days, how about at night? Do they sleep?"

"By night, the whole pack moves." Little Strongheart bit her lip before continuing. "From the last few nights, I'm pretty sure it was heading here."

A worried look spread across the assembled ponies and buffaloes, but otherwise no one commented on that. Little Strongheart pointed to the drawing at the buffaloes that surrounded the towering monstrosity. "Those things appears to protect it. There's always a few hundred of them, with small packs leaving and returning constantly."

"They behave as one..." said Twilight Sparkle. "... like an ant-colony."

"It looks like we have to kill that thing..." said Night Light, his hoof tapping at the towering monster in the drawing. "... or face a never-ending stream of those monsters."

"No offense, captain, but y'all already had trouble dealing with a dozen of those monsters at the same time." said Applejack. "How do ya plan to deal with a few hundred of them at the same time? Or get close enough to kill that thing?"

Captain Night Light didn't look offended by the comment. Instead, he simply nodded in agreement. "True, that is a problem."

"We'll take care of it!" said Rainbow Dash, her hoof tapping against her chest. "Let's go!"

"Wait! I don't think having you three hitting it will work." said Twilight Sparkle. "It is very likely that that thing possesses similar toughness as the monster it creates. In that case, it may be nearly impossible to kill it just by slashing it with your claws, whips, or horns."

"So how do ya plan to do?" asked Applejack. She was slightly disturbed when Twilight grinned.

"We need a very... very big boom."

====================================================================

"Whoa nelly, dat's one big... um... buffalo." said Applejack as she peeked over a small ridge. Little Strongheart's drawing didn't even come close to illustrate the size of the beast. The blood-red flesh mountain looked like a massively engorged back of a buffalo, which loomed over the rest of the herd like a twenty to thirty stories tower. Hundreds of yellow, translucent, and pulsating mass covered it, some of them looked like they had recently burst open. She followed the side of the mountain down and saw no other distinguishing features on it. The whole thing just looked like a blob of blood-red meat covered in boils sitting on the barren plain. Applejack gagged as one of the sacs exploded in a shower of blood and released an infected buffalo from it.

"It's just like what happened in diamond dog's lair." said Rainbow Dash, who was crouched beside the earth pony.

"Okay, is dat always that... nasty looking?" asked Applejack. Rainbow Dash simply nodded in response.

"It's just like having babies..." said Fluttershy. Applejack and Rainbow Dash both went pale at the flash of mental image of a mare giving birth by exploding. "It must be in pain all the time..."

"Well... we best put her... it out of its misery..." said Applejack. "Do y’all think Twilight's plan will work?"

"Let's find out then." with that, Rainbow Dash went over the ridge and galloped toward the herd. Right behind her, Applejack and Fluttershy quickly followed.

====================================================================

A mile away, a stretch of railroad track ran across the rocky desert. The track was one of the few that extended out from Appleloosa deeper into the frontier. It was meant connect the town of Appleloosa to a future trading settlement near the Pony/Griffin border. However, the track, at the presented, was obstructed by a particularly large boulder. If one was to look closer, one would notice that the track seemed to have disappeared right into the boulder. And if any-pony were to look in that exact moment, they would noticed a purple dragon's head sticking out of said rock for a moment before disappearing right into it.

"Rock disguise is still there." said Spike. Rarity, with her horn still glowing, huffed in indignation. Her target was none other than Twilight Sparkle, who was standing on the train-engine with a clipboard in front of her.

"Honestly Twilight! Do you have such low confidence in my illusion spell?" said Rarity in exacerbation.

"Just have to make absolutely sure..." Twilight Sparkle stomped on the train-engine roof. The engine itself was emitting a faint whistle. "Pinkie Pie, engine check."

The earth pony poked her head out of the window. "Everything is good! The needle thingy is still in the yellow."

Pressure's still good... thought Twilight Sparkle as she checked off another item on the clipboard. She had gone through that checklist periodically for that past hour, checking and rechecking everything to ensure that when the right time came, everything will work perfectly. Twilight Sparkle examined the train itself. In front of the train engine the pilot was modified into a massive wedge, designed to allow the train to plow through the masses of buffaloes. All the rail cars were removed, saved for the caboose. Twilight Sparkle looked into it. The explosive cannon-ball, made useless by the destruction of the cannon, packed the interior with long fuses trailing out of them.

"Do you think this will work?" asked Spike, who made a point to stay away from the bomb-filled car. Twilight Sparkle looked toward towering monstrosity in the distance.

"I don't know..." She levitated a binocular to her eyes and saw a sky-blue shape arcing through the air. "We're about to find out."

====================================================================

The plan, to Rainbow Dash' surprise, was working almost exactly as planned. It had taken them a while. Her dive-bombs and Applejack's horns had killed a few dozens infected buffaloes between them. Fluttershy, while her whip was unable to kill any of the buffalo, was doing a fine job at harassing and drawing the buffaloes away from their target. The herd of monsters appeared to be as numerous as always, likely owing to the fact that with each one they killed, one of the sac on the flesh mountain would rupture and release another infected buffaloes.

However the plan was working, the towering form had let out a low groan and started to move away from them. The featureless blob squirmed and wobbled as it slide along the ground like a slug. Slowly and surely they drove it toward the track, leaving behind a trail littered with dead buffaloes. After almost half an hour, the monster had finally moved onto the track.

====================================================================

Inside the boulder illusions, Twilight Sparkle watched as the nest "queen" move onto the track.
It's now or never...
"Pinkie Pie! Now!" shouted Twilight Sparkle. She heard the sounds of whistling increased in volume and pitch as plumes of steam shot out from the stack. The wheel started to turn, spinning on the track itself as the train started to move.

Normally, one would not operate the train engine like this. Once cranked to full power, the heating crystals used to boil the water would be depleted in matter of hours. For longer trips, such as to Appleloosa, the train engine was mostly used to accelerate the train up to speed. After which the earth ponies will take over at maintaining that speed. But this trip would last but mere minutes. Twilight Sparkle stood on the train and felt the roof rumbled beneath her as the train picked up speed.

"Spike! Light it!" Twilight heard the whooshing sound of Spike's dragon-breath followed by the hissing of the fuse. She quickly jumped off the train behind Pinkie Pie and Spike before turning to watch the train race toward its target. With her binocular back to her eyes, she could see her three friends breaking off their attack on the herd.

That was when the flesh mountain erupted.

====================================================================

"What the hay!?" shouted Applejack as she watched in disbelief as the blood-filled sacs on the hive ruptured all at once, releasing hundreds of infected buffaloes to the ground. As a single mass, the new horde of buffaloes formed a solid wall on the track between the speeding train and the towering monster.

"There are so many..." said Fluttershy.

"You think Twilight's train can get through that?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"I don't think so." Applejack turned toward the train. She watched as the train plowed through several dozens buffaloes and knocked them to the side and into the air. True enough, it started to slow before being derailed by the sheer mass of buffaloes.

"Rainbow! Clear out dem monsters from the train!" shouted Applejack.

"Got it!" Rainbow Dash leaped into the air. Using her tried and true dive-bomb method, she knocked down and stunned a wide swath of buffaloes in the area. Applejack plowed her way through the rest and rammed into the bomb-filled caboose. Without fully understanding why, she found the caboose now glued solidly to the top of her head. Applejack took a quick running start before jumping into a somersault. With a quick snap of her neck, she launched the caboose in a long arch toward the towering monstrosity.

"RUN!" she yelled as she galloped away with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash ahead of her. Applejack noted a bright flash behind her seconds before a blast of wind picked them up and threw them to the ground.

The howling gust died down shortly after it begun. Applejack pushed herself up and found herself face to face with an excited Twilight Sparkle, who carried Spike on her back and was followed by a bouncing Pinkie Pie and a rather exhausted looking Rarity.

"You did it! You did it! It worked!" said Twilight Sparkle, her hooves pointing in the direction behind Applejack. She turned around saw what she meant.

The bomb car had blasted away a large chunk of the mountain-sized mass and exposed an interior filled with smaller yellow, blood filled sacs of various sizes. Their size seemed to vary based on how close they're to the center, with the smallest ones at the core and largest one near the surface. All around the damaged mass, infected buffaloes milled around aimlessly as if they don't know what they should be doing. A rumble wail reverberated through the air as the towering mass started to disintegrated. Boulder sized chunk of flesh and clusters of sacs started to break away and crash to the ground, where they began to melt. Then Applejack noticed a squirming shape that was unlike the yellow and red sacs that surrounded it.

"Twi, what is that thing?" asked Applejack. Twilight Sparkle already had her binocular up, and her mouth dropped open in shock.

=====================================================================

Twilight Sparkle didn't know, exactly, what she was seeing. Near the center of the dissolving mass was a buffalo. Except unlike any other infected buffalo she had seen, this one has a back that looked like a smaller version the flesh mountain they had destroyed. Small yellow sphere dotted its body, and as she watched, some popped out and dropped to the ground. Bundles of white fibers extend from its eyes and spread out all over the mass that enveloped it. Similarly, large veins exited from its underbelly and embedded themselves in the surrounding mass. Some of those veins had tore open and spewed geyser of blood out of the open cavity.

"That must be the actual queen..." muttered Twilight Sparkle. As she watched, the queen buffalo started to separate from the mass that once protected it. Its fall slowed by the white fibers and red veins, which tore and snapped one by one. With the fibers and veins that held the structure together breaking, the mountain split apart and collapsed in slow motion. Through it all, the buffalo screamed a tortured scream that chilled Twilight to the bone. Twilight Sparkle had only heard that kind of scream once before, on a late night horror movie about an insane mare who made cupcakes using living ponies. Thankfully, the scream died down to a racking moan when it finally hit the ground amidst the dissolving mass of flesh.

"I think we should do something..." said Fluttershy. Like the rest of them, she looked deeply disturbed by the sound the mutated buffalo was making. "... I know it hurt a lot of ponies and buffaloes... but..."

"No, you're right." said Twilight Sparkle. "More than likely, it was once just another buffalo... to let it be in so much pain is just... horrible."

"I hear you." said Rainbow Dash. "I'll take care of it."

Twilight Sparkle watched the pegasus broke into a gallop toward the buffalo queen. Rainbow Dash barely got a few yards away from them before her and the world vanished in a flash of white.

=====================================================================

Rainbow Dash groaned as she opened her eyes. The smell of ozone in the air irritated her nose and she could hear nothing due to the ringing in her ear. She pushed herself up with her unsteady hooves and found herself standing in front of a blackened patch of ground. Behind her, she saw her friends were also getting up, dazed but otherwise on harmed. The ringing in her ear started to fade away as she picked up her friends voices.

"Just what in tarnation hap..." Applejack stopped abruptly as her eyes widened to the size of saucers. Rainbow Dash followed Applejack's gaze and soon found her answer. There, sailing through the air toward the infected buffalo herd, was the gray alicorn she saw in diamond dog's lair. It landed right next to the dying queen buffalo, which started to struggle and looked as if it was trying to get away from the alicorn. But in its state, it couldn't move much at all. The alicorn turned its wings to yard long claws and drove one wing into the buffalo in front of her. Rainbow Dash could swore she felt a twinge of pain in her when the alicorn lifted the buffalo up with its wing.

Rainbow Dash had wondered what would've happened to her in diamond dog's lair if Fluttershy didn't get to her in time. That question was answered when the alicorn effortlessly tossed the buffalo into the air. The queen buffalo twisted and flailed as it flew up and fell. The alicorn gave a upward swipe through the falling buffalo, sending arcs of blood through the air. The buffalo never did hit the ground as black and red tendrils shot out from the alicorn's body and claws. The tendrils tore the buffalo apart in mid-air before assimilating them into the alicorn's body. Once the tendrils had subsided, the alicorn raised its head to the sky and let out a bone-rattling screech.

The effect was instantaneous. All the milling buffaloes stopped moving. Then as one, they all turned to face the six ponies and dragon.

"Um... girls, I think we got a big problem." said Applejack. Rainbow Dash growled as she pawed the ground. The alicorn locked eyes with Rainbow's and sneered. The herd of infected buffaloes, several hundreds strong, started to move toward them.

"Move!" Applejack shouted. The ponies and dragon ran off the track. Rainbow Dash turned around, fully expected to have to face down the herd of buffaloes. To her surprise, the herd thundered past, completely ignoring them. She turned to find the infected alicorn and only managed a glimpse of its retreating form.

"Get back here!" Rainbow Dash was about to give chase when a jerk on her tail stopped her.

"Hey! What gives?" she turned around. The first thing she noticed was Applejack holding her tail in her mouth, the second thing she noticed was the looks of horror on her friends' faces.

"Those things..." Twilight Sparkle pointed to the herd that was thundering past them. "... are heading toward Appleloosa."

====================================================================

Applejack felt sick to her stomach.
On any other day, she would've chalked it up to the amount of running she was doing, but not today. As a matter of fact, she was mildly surprised by the sheer speed and distance she had covered without being out of breath, even while carrying the rest of her friends. Pinkie Pie rode on Rainbow Dash, both bore a serious expression on their faces. A worried look was set on Fluttershy, while her passenger, Rarity, looked a bit green from the jostling as they ran. Applejack carried both Twilight Sparkle and Spike, the former of which had been going over her plan to defend the town.

The plan was what made her feel sick with unease.

Five to ten minutes. That's the amount of time, according to Twilight Sparkle, they would have to get the town ready for the oncoming horde behind them. They would fill the train cars with dirt and use them to form a smaller wall encircling the town interior. Rainbow Dash and her would stay outside said wall and try to take out as many as they could. The rest of the ponies and buffaloes would defend from the walls.

But with each stride they made toward Appleloosa, Applejack felt more and more unease with the plan. What if the wall couldn't hold? What if they couldn't set up the defense in time? What if...

"... oh no... look!" said Pinkie Pie with her hoof pointing forward. Applejack paid more attention to her front. In that moment, her world came crashing down around her.

Appleloosa was devastated. The wall that surrounded the town was torn apart, with just a few short section standing here and there. Bodies of buffaloes and ponies littered the ground. What little buildings were there were gone, all of them reduced to rubble. As they entered the town, the deafening noise of ponies and buffaloes surrounded them. Foals and calves cried over the body of their parents. Guards were yelling, trying to coordinate rescue of those still trapped under the rubble. Injured ponies and buffaloes wailed out in pain while their caretakers desperately tried to save their life. Some ponies and buffaloes simply sat there, their eyes blanked as if in shock. Amidst the chaos, Applejack managed to find a pair of familiar figures, one that of Braeburn, the other of Captain Night Light.

"Braeburn!" She yelled out, causing the two of them to turn around. Braeburn looked like he had building fell on top of him. His hat was missing while cuts and bruises covered his body. Captain Night Light didn't look any better. His plate armor had a deep gouge in it, and Applejack could make out some blood seeping out from it. "What happened?"

"Those things..." Braeburn pointed to one of the dead infected buffaloes. His eyes had those haunted looks again. "... attacked just a while ago."

"We managed to wipe them out... with heavy loses. Right now we're trying to rescue those still trapped under the collapsed buildings." said Night Light.

"Captain Night Light! We need some of your unicorn guards! Where are they?" asked Twilight Sparkle. The darkened expression on Night Light's told them the answer before he did.

"Most of them are dead, along with more than half of the town ponies and buffaloes, including Chief Thunderhooves... the few that are alive are either severely injured or are busy with the rescue effort... but..." he recomposed himself before continuing. "Why do you need them for?"

"We... we need to build a wall..." said Twilight Sparkle, her voice wavering. "There's more of them coming..."

"How many?" Night Light asked.

Twilight swallowed hard before she choked out. "Hundreds..."

A look of resignation washed over the two ponies' faces.

"We can't hold the town against that..." stated Captain Night Light.

"No! We still can!" shouted Rainbow Dash. "We'll just go out there and... and..."

"... and you can't stop them before they destroy the town." said Captain Night Light. His eyes looked toward the horizon, where dust cloud from the approaching horde was visible. "We need to evacuate."

"Applejack, do you think you can out-run those things while dragging a carriage?" asked Braeburn. Applejack nodded numbly. "Good, we still got a few carriages left. Go find Apple Fritter, she is in charge of keeping track of the foals and calves. Get them all on the carriage and get out of here."

"How about you?" asked Applejack, but she already knew the answer.

"We'll buy you some time to get away." said Captain Night Light, to which Braeburn nodded in confirmation.

"NO..." Applejack cried out. "... I'm not going to leave you here! Twilight, you got some spell right? Or a plan?"

Twilight Sparkle had look of guilt on her face. She took a step back, slowly shaking her head. "No... I... I got nothing... there's... nothing..."

"NO! There must be something! Something we can do! Something..." Applejack felt herself drawn into an embrace.

"You did your best... we all did..." Braeburn spoke right next to her ear. "But, like a pony once said, sometimes, you can't save every one." he pulled away and looked into her eyes. "This is one of those times."

"But... I..." tears of frustration rolled down Applejack's cheek as she sobbed into his chest.

"You did all that you could... for that, we're grateful." said Braeburn.

"Not all..." Applejack spun around and found herself looking at Fluttershy. Her eyes were shadowed by her mane, but she could swore that she saw something burning in them. Her normally timid yet warm voice was gone, replaced by a harsh and icy tone.

"Not... all..." she repeated before turning around and started walking toward the horde of infected buffaloes.

====================================================================

She could still remember them. She remembered seeing the derailed train, and the still bodies that reside within. She remembered the haunted look on Apple Fritter when they first found her. She remembered the feeling of desperation when she thought Applejack was going to die. She remembered the town's cries of mourning when they discovered the fate of their loved ones. She remembered the look on that mare's face right before her head was crushed by a boulder. She remember the cries of her foal, who didn't understand why her mother had to die. She remembered the haunted look on Braeburn face when he told them what happened.

Above all, she remembered the guilt. The guilt that she couldn't do more. The guilt that all she could do, was to shed her tears

"Y'all did all that you could..." Braeburn's voice echoed in her head as she walked out of town. In front of her, she could see the infected herd. In front of her was the cause of so much suffering. The same monster that was still trying to inflict even more suffering on a town that had already suffered so much. In that moment, her sadness and guilt evaporated, replaced by an all consuming rage.

"Not all..." Fluttershy repeated once more. Her mane started to stand on ends and twisted themselves into numerous tendrils.

You won't hurt anyone... as one, her mane of tendrils shot into the ground.

Because I'm here... her mane plume and arched as they grew at an astounding rate, forming into tendrils which burrowed deeper into the ground.

You won't hurt anyone... drops of tears hit the ground beneath her. Cracks started to form in the ground around the tendrils.

"Because..." Fluttershy whispered as the cracks started to fan out in front of her.

"... I won't let you..." She looked up at the approaching herd with fires burning in her eyes. The ground started to shake as the fissures widened and the earth around them buckled.

"... I Won't Let You..." She spoke through gritted teeth. The thunder herd ran over fracturing earth, unconcerned or unaware of the lone, small pegasus in front of them.

"I WON'T LET YOU!" Fluttershy screamed, and the ground erupted.

====================================================================

Complete silence descended on the town. Every pony, every buffalo stood completely still as they stared at the massive dust cloud that enveloped the horde of infected buffaloes. Twilight Sparkle stared alongside them, her eyes widen further as the dust started to settle.

A forest had grown where the infected buffaloes once were. Except instead of a forest of trees, it was a forest of giant spikes. Hundreds, almost thousands of black spikes rose from the ground reaching hundreds of feet into the air. Almost the entire herd of buffaloes were impaled on those spike, each perfectly motionless. The rest of the infected buffaloes lay on the ground, many in two pieces while others were simply torn to shreds.

In front of the carnage stood Fluttershy. Her mane and tendrils were still while her back rose and fell with her breathing. A loud crack cut through the air, followed by several more as one by one, the spikes shattered and collapsed to the ground. As the forest of spires fell, Fluttershy pulled her tendrils out of the ground and limped back toward them with her head low. The tendrils trailed behind her as they slowly split into pink hair, returning her mane to normal.

No pony nor buffalo spoke a word when Fluttershy stopped in front of them. She looked up at them with a pair of exhausted eyes.

"I won't... let them..." said Fluttershy in a weak voice before she toppled over.

====================================================================

The worst thing about this... disease was the waiting.
Rainbow Dash had learned that very quickly as she walked through the hospital tent, looking if there's any pony that needed her help. The gloomy atmosphere was oppressive to the extreme as injured ponies and buffaloes alike waited to see if they're one of the... unlucky ones.

The inside of a hospital was not a strange sight for a mare as daring, or death defying, as Rainbow Dash. Even thou untimely death was a rare event in Equestria, her frequent visit to the hospital had given her the unfortunate chance to see ponies passing from accidents or rare illnesses. The worst kind had always been the one that took a long time. She had seen ponies went completely mental from seeing their loved one slowly pass away.

This disease, on the other hoof, managed to make it even worse. Because this disease doesn't kill its patient. Instead it painfully turned them into monsters. Once the voice started, it forced the afflicted ones to decide when to take their own life. She had already seen it happened to the buffaloes. One of the nurses, whether buffalo or pony, would fetch one of the guards to a buffalo. The unicorn guards would leave with the buffalo, and return without one. Those with families would spend some last moments with them before leaving. Those with calves, however, were much more difficult. The calves, some too young to fully understand what's happening, would cling to their doomed parent and tried to stop them from leaving. It always took their other parent, or for those without, another buffalo to forcefully separate them. On occasion, the calves would see the guard return without their parents and proceed to wail on the guards with their tiny hooves. In almost all cases, the guards simply stood there and let the calves tire themselves off before their remaining parent, or another buffalo, took them away.

"It's going to be us soon..."
Rainbow Dash stopped and saw Braeburn standing beside her. The stallion had pieces of bandages covering him, but that was nothing compared to the one lying on the bed he's staring at. Rainbow Dash recognized the pony on the bed as Silverstar, the town sheriff. His eyes were closed, bandages covered his entire body, leaving only his head and hooves exposed.
"It always happened to the buffaloes first..." Braeburn continued. "... then us..."
Rainbow Dash remained silence while Braeburn turned to her.
"Saved my life... bucked me aside before a buffalo got me..." he chuckled a bit. "... bucked me right into a collapsing building, thou..."

Both Rainbow Dash and Braeburn jumped a bit when Silverstar coughed and opened his eyes.

"You complain too much..." said Sheriff Silverstar.

"Sheriff! You're awake!" stated Braeburn. "How are you feeling?"

"Like a buffalo ran me over..." he chuckled. "... oh wait, one did!"

Rainbow Dash quietly backed away to leave the two alone. When she turned around she almost yelled out in surprise when she suddenly came face-to-face with Twilight Sparkle.

"Geez!" said Rainbow Dash. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Sorry, I'm trying to get every-pony back to our tent." said Twilight Sparkle in a whisper, and to Rainbow Dash's confusion, the unicorn seemed excited. "Follow me."

"What's going on?" asked Rainbow Dash as the two made their way out of the hospital tent.

"There may be a cure for this."

====================================================================

"Blood trans... what?" asked Applejack. The six bearer of Harmonies sat in a circle inside a small tend. Although still pale and weak, Fluttershy was finally awake. They were joined by Spike and Night Light. The latter still wore his damaged armor, but the wound underneath had been bandaged.

"Blood transfusion, basically you give blood to another pony." said Twilight Sparkle while levitating a scroll bearing the royal seal of Princess Luna. "The university scholars did some test on Applejack's blood, and found that the infection she carried will target and destroy any other infections introduced in it. And since earth pony blood can be transfused to another earth pony..."

"Yah saying my blood can cure this thing?" asked Applejack. A look of excitement spread across the tent as Twilight Sparkle raised her hoof to interject.

"We don't know yet." said Twilight Sparkle, which dampened the excitement somewhat. "They never tested on whether it can cure an existing infection in another pony. However, Princess Luna said that it may be worth a try."

"Let's give it a try then." said Night Light. "How do you plan to do so?"

"Easy, we find the first pony that started to hear voices."

====================================================================

The first pony to show symptoms of being infected was a pale-yellow stallion named Lucky Clover. His name, however, was a cruel case of irony. As far as Twilight can see, his injury was just a minor scratch. It was likely that just a few inches further away he would've been unharmed. But as the case may be, he was the first to show the symptom. From the look on his face, Twilight could see that the stallion was still coming to term with the fact that he's infected.

Or... maybe he will get lucky with this cure... thought Twilight Sparkle as Lucky Clover lay down on a table.

"So, do you understand what we're going to do?" asked Twilight Sparkle. Clover nodded in response. Twilight Sparkle levitated the single syringe filled with Applejack's blood from a nearby tray. She took a glance around the room, where her friends watched nervously. With a deep breath to relax herself, Twilight Sparkle poked the needle into the stallion's flank. Clover drew in a shuddering breath as the content of the syringe entered him. Twilight Sparkle withdrew the empty syringe and returned it to the tray.

"I hope this works..." commented Twilight Sparkle as she took her place among her friends. She didn't have to wait long.

"It's gone..." muttered Lucky Clover, his voice rising with each word. "The voice! It's gone! It's... *HACK*"

The ponies gasped in horror as Lucky Clover fell off the table with a bout of hacking cough. Blood streamed from his mouth as his body convulsed.

"What's happening to him?" asked Applejack. Twilight Sparkle didn't know how to answer that. The convulsing stallion was making a gurgling noise that sounded like he was choking while more blood started to seep from his eyes, nose, and ears.

"Please... make it stop..." whimpered Fluttershy, her hooves covered her eyes. Before any pony needed to do anything, the stallion stopped shaking went completely still. Captain Night Light made his way to the immobile stallion and lowered his head to Lucky Clover's mouth. After a few seconds he got up, and shook his head.

"He's gone." pronounced Night Light.

=====================================================================

Twilight Sparkle sat at the corner of the hospital tent. Emotionally, she felt numb. The failure of the cure still weighs on her mind.

Twilight Sparkle had tried different treatments on a few more ponies. She tried varying the amount of blood injected, the rate of dosing, and the timing of the applications. But each time, it all ended in the same way. Either the treatments had no effect on the ponies, and they had to kill them, or the treatments themselves killed the ponies. She kept trying, even when her friends started to lose hope. But after she lost the twenty-seventh pony, who died by coughing up her lungs, she too lost hope.

Now, in the hospital tent, Twilight Sparkle found herself harboring a profound sense of guilt with each pony that was led, or carried, out. The rational part of her kept telling her that their death wasn't her fault. Nevertheless, the guilt was still there.

Twilight Sparkle saw Captain Night Light escorting Applejack, who was carrying Sheriff Silverstar, out when he slipped and fell to the ground. Twilight Sparkle sensed something was wrong when he didn't get up and rushed over.

"It looks like I will be joining them too..." said Captain Night Light. Twilight Sparkle exchanged a knowing look with Applejack before helping Night Light up. He leaned against her, his breathing labored. He paused for a moment when a look of confusion spread across his face.

"... that was... new..." commented Sheriff Silverstar.

"What's happening?" asked Twilight Sparkle.

"The voice... it didn't sound like anything they described..." said Night Light.

"That's fer shure..." said Sheriff Silverstar. "... its... warm... I could swear I heard dat somewhere... it almost... sounded like..."

"Your highness?" finished Captain Night Light as his eyes spaced out.

====================================================================

She could feel them. She could feel the disease slowly took hold of their body and enslaving them.

She could feel a dark force that seek to control them, to bend them to its wishes, and to corrupt them.

But these are her little ponies, and she won't let anything harm them.

With sheer force of will, she reached out to them. She drove away the darkness, and found herself in control. That was when she heard them.

Her little ponies were crying, crying out in fear, in pain and in despair. Above all, they were calling for help, for her help. In desperation, she reached out, trying to halt the disease that was consuming them. But she couldn't stop it, she couldn't stop the disease that was hurting them. A disease that was reducing them to mindless monsters. A disease that was enslaving them... for her.

She couldn't save them, she realized, but there's something else she could do. She called out to them, and one by one, their cries diminished as they recognized her. With a soothing voice, she re-assured them that all will be alright. With a gentle nudge, she lulled them into a calm and painless sleep. Then, with a heavy heart, she reached out and stilled theirs.

"Rest in peace... my little ponies..." said Princess Celestia as two steams of tears ran down her cheek. In the darkened room illuminated only by Princess Celestia's horn, Princess Luna silently watched as her sister wept.

Day 6

It's over... thought Rainbow Dash as she walked by the rows of funeral pyre, which had burned down to mere smoldering amber. There were no new cases of infection for a few hours, which, according to Braeburn, meant that there would be no new cases of infection.

While the always analytical Twilight Sparkle doubted that it was a spell, whatever it was that Princess Celestia did was a great mercy for the ponies. Instead of agonizing over when and how to take their own lives, they simply waited, surrounded by their friends and families until they fell asleep and passed away.

Unfortunately, the "spell" only worked on ponies, which naturally caused some resentment among the buffaloes. However, after everything the ponies and buffaloes had been through, an overwhelming majority of the buffaloes were at least glad that there will be less suffering for all. The worst that happened was a few heated exchange of words, and even those tend to end quickly when Chief Little Strongheart stepped in.

Yes, Chief Little Strongheart. In Rainbow Dash opinion, any buffalo that managed to outmaneuver her deserved to be a chief in her mind, having great leadership skill and being Chief Thunderhooves' daughter further cemented her place. Plus, it was amusing seeing the young buffalo berated older and much larger buffaloes into submission. Less amusing was the reason why she could be chief at such a young age: There's simply no buffalo left qualified enough to take over chiefdom.

The final count was depressing. Less than one in ten buffaloes, total, survived. Among the ponies, less than one in five. Most of the survivors were foals and calves, which, naturally, meant a lot of orphans. For now, the youngest of which were gathered in a make-shift nursery, cared for by Apple Fritter and some of the older foals and calves, which was where she's going.

The nursery was but a simple tent, just like everything else at the moment. It was hastily erected and plain looking, thou still pretty sturdy thanks to the buffaloes' experiences in raising tents. Rainbow Dash greeted the two pegasus guards at the entrance and walked in, pushing aside the tent flaps as she went. Once inside, she found herself looking through the crowd of foals and calves for her friends. It didn't take her long to find them.

Fluttershy was closest, holding and brushing the mane of a sleep foal who looked like she had just finished crying. Beneath each of her wings were two foals, also asleep at the moment. A bit further in was Pinkie Pie, who was arguing with Rarity on whether a plate-load of cupcakes were a health breakfast for young ponies and buffaloes. Neither of them seems to have noticed that the foals and calves were steadily emptying said plate-load of cupcakes.

"Fluttershy." whispered Rainbow Dash as she walked up to the yellow pegasus. Fluttershy looked up with warm yet sad eyes as she continued to stroke at the foal's back. "It's time to go."

====================================================================

Applejack stood by the track leading out of the town. One her back carried a pair of saddle bags which were bursting with supplies. Around her were the rest of her friends, each waiting for Twilight Sparkle to finish talking with Captain Quick Draw, Braeburn, and Chief Little Strongheart.

She should be staying... thought Applejack. Its a thought that constantly ran through her mind as they waited. She looked around the town, where scaffolds were being erected, many of which with her help. There's still so much things to do. There were homes that needed building. Walls that needed erecting. Most importantly, crops and apple trees that needed planting. They needed a lot of help, and it just won't be right to leave them right now.

On the other hoof, Twilight Sparkle was right. That... alicorn monster was still out there. As long as that thing was out there, Appleloosa... Equestria... heck, the world won't ever be safe. That thing needed to be stopped, and they're the ones with the best chance to do so.

Still, there's still a chance those monsters might come back. thought Applejack as she watched Twilight Sparkle trotting back to them with Spike on her back. Behind her followed the three individuals she were talking to.

"So, every-pony ready?" asked Twilight Sparkle. The rest of her friends all replied with varying degree of readiness, all except for her.

"... yes... um... well, no." answered Applejack.

"What's wrong?" asked Twilight Sparkle with a puzzled look.

"I'm just worried about the town..." said Applejack. "... what if more of those monster showed up?"

"Princess Luna will be sending more guards." said Twilight Sparkle. "They're also bringing some new weapons that may help."

"Beside, the scouting parties all reported that there were no more monsters in the immediate area." said Quick Draw. "Not that surprising, considered your pegasus friend here... Fluttershy, right?" Fluttershy nodded meekly. "... probably took out most of them."

"Okay... but that mean you'll need more food to..." continued Applejack.

"It's going to be close." interrupted Twilight Sparkle. "But I did an inventory of their food-store. According to my estimate, they will have enough food and supplies to last until they replant the orchard."

"We also know places to forage for additional food." added Little Strongheart.

"So don't worry about us, cousin. Let us worry about our own town and we'll let you worry about that monster." finished Braeburn.

Applejack stopped to think for a moment. Braeburn was right, worrying about the town won't help at this point. They need to focus on tracking down the one responsible.

"Alright, let's go then." said Applejack. "Where to?"

"Pestilence is heading north west..." Twilight Sparkle stopped when she noted the confused look on her friends' face, "... oh right. It's the name the princesses decided on that monster. Easier to refer to later. Anyway, they think that it is headed for Griffin countries."

"Griffin?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Why there?"

"Not sure, but Princess Luna did dig up some record that several meteors land there a few months ago. At the time she didn't think much of it... until recent events. Now that Pestilence is heading there..."

"We should hurry then." said Rainbow Dash with a note of urgency. Twilight Sparkle nodded in agreement.

"We can follow the track. Once we hit the end of it we'll head west. We should reach Applelachian Peaks in two day. Griffin countries will be on the other side."

"Alright, let's go!" with that, the six ponies galloped off. Applejack only made it for a few seconds before a strained voice cried out behind her.

"Hey! Wait for us!" Applejack stopped to notice that only Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were beside her. At a distance behind them, their three remaining friends were struggling to catch up to them.

"... forgot... about... your speed..." said Twilight Sparkle, slightly wheezing. "We need... to stick... together."

"Okay..." said Rainbow Dash before she turned her back to them. "Hop on."

====================================================================

For a kingdom that had gone through centuries of peace, the war room was an ancient relic, a reminder Equestria's more tumultuous past. It had been forgotten and neglected, left to accumulate dust in a remote corner of the Royal Palace.

Recently, however, the room had undergone a rapid transformation. Cobwebs and dusts were swept away. Lanterns, darkened for centuries, shone once more. New maps were brought in and hung along the wall. The largest was the map of Equestria and surrounding regions, which dominated an entire wall and was now covered in pins and flags of various colors.

"... and here..." said a unicorn stallion as a red pin floated through the air and embedded itself in the map. "... and... that's all." he walked back and joined the rest of his colleague at the long rectangular table that took up much of the room. His head turned and gazed intently at the lone, imposing yet tired figure at the head of the table.

Princess Luna stared at the map of Equestria with foreboding. The red pins that clustered around the maps were cases of reported contacts with infected monsters, be it diamond dogs, bears, manticores, or timberwolves. Many were clustered around confirmed nest sites, marked by red flags.

Twilight Sparkle's reports squared with what the guards were observing. Those nests appeared to control and coordinate the monsters near them. Destroy the nest, and the monsters around it became completely mindless and easy to deal with.

The hard part, of course, was destroying it. The nests seem to be able to recover from damage quickly. Only a single massive blow or a heavy and sustained attack could destroy it. The difficult task was made more so by the fact that unlike the one in Twilight's report, these nests were mostly deep underground. Many guards' lives were lost trying to escort cart-loads of bombs to the nests. A pang of dread washed through Princess Luna when she remembered the stacks of casualty reports waiting on her desk.

However, even with their valiant efforts, the number of nests were growing day by day. At the moment no attack on major settlement had occurred since Ponyville. That was due to the prompt evacuation of the smaller towns and village near the affected areas. However, as these infection spread, they were closing in on major cities, like Manehatten and Fillydelphia, where evacuation was no longer an option. An attack on one of those populated areas was just a matter of time. She turned her attention to the blue pins, which marked the positions of the guards, that formed lines between the cities and the cluster of red pins.

"General Light Brush, how's the guards deployment?" asked Princess Luna, directing her attention to a pegasus stallion in light armor.

"As well as we can hope for, your highness." said Light Brush. "We got enough guards to patrol areas near confirmed sightings and to perform some search and destroy. These... things possesses less threats to airborne pegasi, considering that their ability to strike at them was restricted to chucking large rocks, so most of them are tasked to keep the monsters under control. Unfortunately, the only things that can reliably kill these things and the nests they came from are the fire spears and bombs, and we're running short on those."

"Star Burst?" Princess Luna turned to a mare on the other side of the table, who wore a comically large pair of goggles that covered her eyes.

"We're making them as fast as we can. But do you know how long it takes to train unicorns not to use their magic when they're handling explosives directly?" Star Burst rolled her eyes. "Oh look! Let's use sparkly magic to move stuffs that goes boom when there's a spark! There are tools designed to do that ponies! Hoof tools designed NOT to cause explosions! Stop waving your damn horn around like you're compensating for... um..." her voices trailed off when she noticed the odd looks she's getting from other ponies in the room. Most notably was the bemused look on Luna's face. "As I was saying, we're working as fast as we can. The production should start to ramp-up by tomorrow once the converted factories start up."

"Very well, if there's any resource you need, just ask." said Princess Luna. "Anything else, General?"

Light Brush shook his head.

"Good. Next... Professor Scope, do you have anything for us?" asked Princess Luna.

"Yes and... no." said the unicorn mare with a microscope on her flank. "From the samples we acquired from Twilight Sparkle, we have a preliminary idea on the cause of the proposed... cure's failure." She shuffled a few paper around in front of her before lifting one in front of her. "The... strains that's present within the three wielders of elements, hereby referred to as Element strains, did successfully purge the Pestilence strains. However, the presence of the Pestilence strains appeared to have trigger the Element strains to try to infect the host pony, aggressively. The resulting stress on the host triggered massive organs failures." She put the paper back down with a dejected look on her face. "Unfortunately, that means we're now no closer to the cure than a few days ago..."

Princess Luna shared her sentiment. She had such high hope for the cure. When she got report that a large number of ponies in Appleloosa was infected, she actually felt happy for a moment that Twilight Sparkle would have a chance to test it out on them. A feeling that she felt tremendous guilt over, made worse by the subsequent report of the disastrous results.

"However, we're confident that we'll figure something out." added Scope.

"Okay, any pony got anything to report?" asked Princess Luna as she scanned across the room. After a few moments of silence, she continued. "Thank you all for coming. Meeting is adjourned."

All the ponies stood up and bowed as she got up to leave. Princess Luna left the room and started her way through the winding corridor leading up from the depth of the castle. As was usual for the past few days, Princess Luna felt exhausted. With her sister incapacitated, she had taken over the responsibility of raising and lowering the sun and moon. While her sister had centuries of practice with controlling both, she only had... just four days so far. Her lack of experience in raising the sun meant that she was left tired each morning from wrestling the the unruly sphere of energy into the sky.

To further add to that, she had to hold both the day and night courts. With the current situations, there were no shortage of problem to solve. Some were quite urgent, such as medical supplies to remote mining town cut off due to monster roaming on the road. Thankfully, most of the issues were already worked out by administration ministers and only needed her approval to carry out. However, that meant she had to deal with some... rather blood-pressure raising petitions.

One such petition was from a noble whose name she didn't particularly remember. His demand to drive the refuges, mostly from Ponyville at the moment, away from his vacation properties since they're "driving down property values with their... commonness", was quite memorably in the amount of rage it caused her. It took all her will power to stop herself from frothing at the mouth, but she still managed lower room temperature to near freezing. Fortunately for both of them, the noble took note of the sudden change in climate and high tailed it out of there before Luna could decide on what she should do to him.

How does Tia deal with... them? thought Princess Luna.

"Your highness?" Princess Luna looked up in surprise at the two guards standing beside a door with a sun-motif. She had arrived at her sister's bedroom and had apparently stood there for a while.

Princess Luna stared at the door. In truth, her sister was another reason why she was so exhausted. To prevent a panic, her sister's condition had been kept a secret from almost every-pony else. Excluding herself and the wielder of Harmony, the ponies that knew of Tia's condition numbered in the single digit. Not even Tia's own personal servants knew of her condition. It took a while to convince them that her sister was performing a complex spell to deal with these... monster, and that she must not be disturbed until the crisis was over. Instead, she had effectively moved into Tia's room to take care of her sister.

She slowly nudged opened the door and slipped in quietly. The living room was a mess, stacks of paper and documents scattered on the floor. The only clear spot on the floor was near a corner, in front of a cluttered desk that was her temporary work area. Taking care not to trip over the mess on the floor, she picked her way to the door leading to the bedroom and quietly pushed it open with her hoof.

The room was dimly lit, with illumination provided only by a few rays of sun-light that managed to shone through the closed curtain. The bedroom itself looked the same as ever, with one major exception. A large transparent box of reinforced glass was erected around her sister's bed. A small extension to the side, consisting of two sets of door, provided the only entrance into the otherwise air-tight cube. Its purpose was simple: To isolate its occupant from direct or indirect contact to anything on the out-side, at least until they could fully understand the capability and limit of the disease that had infected its occupant.

Within the sterile cube, lying on her bed, was Princess Celestia. Her coat, illuminated by the morning sun, was dull. The color in her mane looked washed out as it scattered over the blanket covering her back. But what surprised Luna was the missing glow from Celestia's horn.

"Tia?" Princess Luna called out as she walked towards her sister, letting the door click close behind her. She received no response. "Tia?"

Her ears twitched when she picked up the sound of labored breathing. Princess Luna quickly trotted up to the glass. On closer inspection, she notice Celestia was sweating profusely, a look of pain etched in her face.

"Tia!" Luna lit up her horn and raised a protective field around her before teleporting herself into the sealed box.
"Tia!" She tried again, but the only response from her sister was a whimper. Luna yanked the blanket covering her sister away, and gasped in horror at what she found. The infection had spread, forming clusters of blood-red pustule the size of bits. Tendril spread out from them as like spiderweb, covering a large portion of her flank. What made Luna even sicker, was that the horrifying growth pulsed with a heart-beat like rhythm.

"TIA!"

====================================================================

She was lying on something hard, and her flank felt like they're burning. She struggled to blink the fog away as muffled sounds of fighting echoed around her. With one last effort, she forced her eyes open, and was bewildered by what she saw.

She didn't know how or why, but she was in Manehatten. More precisely, she was in the harbor beside Manehatten. That much Princess Celestia was sure of. There was no where else in Equestria that had this many skyscrapers dominating the horizon.

But this Manehatten wasn't the bustling metropolitan she remembered. The city was burning, its building covered with webs of red masses. In front of that backdrop were groups of guards, all firing their fire-lance and bolts at an unseen target behind her.

Princess Celestia pushed herself to her hooves, fighting against the feeling of nausea as she did so. The ground was strange, bearing symbols that indicates its a runway, used by pegasus who carried heavy load to glide in for landing. Yet Princess Celestia couldn't remember Manehatten having one out at sea. After ensuring that she had solid footing, she turned around to see what her guards were fighting against.

The sight the greeted Princess Celestia rendered her speechless. The pony stood in front of her was nothing she had ever seen before. It was easily twice her size, its body swollen with bulging masses. Two wings rest on top of its misshapen body. One of the wings had transformed into a bulky limb with jagged blades where the feathers should be. The other wing looked tiny in comparison, its feather was simply gone with the wing itself mutated into a stubby blade-like protrusion. A single, twisted and crooked horn extended from its head. Half of its leering face looked like it had melted away, revealing carnivorous fangs.

But what surprise her even more was what's on that "pony's" flank. Even when distorted by the uneven bulges beneath and marred by three open sores, it's a cutie mark that she recognized. It's a stylized sun that looked identical in every-way to hers.

Princess Celestia turned her head and looked to her side. She was stunned to find that her coat had turned black as coal. The feathers in her wings were gone, replaced by rows of slick claws that looked like steel blades. The radiant sun of her cutie-mark was still there, except with one change: The rays that pointed toward her tail had turned red and stretched out, forming a stylized wing by the sun.

What am I? thought Princess Celestia as the mutated alicorn advanced toward her. Is that thing... me?

It's what you will become... a voice echoed in her head. ... if you do nothing...

The monster swung its massive clawed wing down at her. Princess Celestia jumped back, barely missing the claws that embedded itself into the ground. She dropped into her fighting stance, her wings spread out behind her.

That's not me... thought Princess Celestia as she watched the monster trying to free its clawed wing from the ground.

That will not be me! Princess Celestia let out a battle-cry and charged. The monster only managed to catch a momentary look at her before her wing claws sliced into it. Wounds opened up on its body, spraying blood into the air. It pulled out its massive claws and swung it at her, who ducked and let the claws sailed harmlessly over her. With the monster off balance from the wild swing, she spun around and bucked out with her hing-legs. The pair of hooves slammed into the monster, sending it rolling and tumbling along the length of the runway.

"I WON'T BE LIKE YOU!" She bellowed and charged at the mutated alicorn. Then the monster did something peculiar, while leering at her, the monster rose its claw into the air before driving it deep in the ground. Princess Celestia didn't understand why it did that, but if its going to make itself a stationary target for her, she's not going to complain. With her attention completely focused on the monster in front of her, she failed to notice a small bulge in the ground traveling toward her.

Princess Celestia did notice and felt the impact when spikes erupted from the ground beneath her, impaling her and lifting her to the air. They retracted just as quickly as they appeared, dropping her painfully to the ground. She gasped for air as she tried to get back up, only to yell out in pain as a set of claws drove into the ground through her. She looked up, and found the monster's face mere inches away from her. She tried to struggle, but each movement sent renewed pain through her.

"Tia..." came Luna's voice again. With whatever strength she had left, she snapped her head up and drove her horn into the monster's eye socket. It reared back and roared as blood spewed out its ruined eyes. Princess Celestia screamed as the monster's claws, still embedded in the ground, twisted around inside her. After mere seconds, the monster slammed its hooves back down beside her head and let out a guttural growl at her. Its remaining good eye glared at her with a mixture of hate and hunger, before it opened its mouth, lined with razor sharp fangs, and snapped them shut around her neck.

Panic filled Princess Celestia as the monster started thrashing its head with her neck in its mouth. She tensed her neck muscles, trying to fight the monster attempt at tearing her head off. But the pressure was growing stronger by the second as she found breathing getting progressively more difficult.

"Tia... Hang on..."

I... can't... she felt her strength leaving her as her neck started to creak.

I'm... sorry... Her vision started to go dark.

A bright light filled her vision, driving away the darkness. A loud crack followed, accompanied by a searing pain. The fangs left her neck, letting her head fall back to the ground with a thud. The monster looked to be in pain as smoke rose off its back as scent of ozone reached her. It didn't take long for Celestia to guess what happened, and her guess was confirmed seconds later. Bolts of lightning landed on the beast on top of her, each flash blinding her and sending a fresh wave of pain through her. The monster roar grew higher in pitch with each bolts until it's a near continuous screech. Through out all this, she could hear Luna calling out to her.

"Tia! Wake up!"

====================================================================

"AH!" Celestia woke up screaming. Her hooves kicked against the bed, launching herself into the reinforced glass before meeting the ground in a painful crash.

"TIA!" Celestia scrambled to her hooves, the twitching of her muscle made it difficult to her to keep her footing, but she managed anyway. She saw Luna coming around her bed with panic in her eyes. "The spells!The spells!"

It took her a few moment to figure out what Luna was saying. She quickly lit her horn and recast the collection of spells she was using to keep the infection at bay. Once that's done, she took a moment to collect herself before taking in her surrounding.

She's back in her room, or more precisely in her glass box. Two guards stood just outside the transparent enclosure, both wore a look of shock on their faces. Her bed was covered in scorch marks, and smell of ozone and smoke hung in the air. Among the acrid smell was a distinctive scent of burnt hair and... flesh. Princess Celestia looked at her side, and was taken back by what she found. Large portion of her flank was charred, but even with the extent of her injury, she could make out the red tendrils beneath, which had spread to cover most of her side.

"Luna... what... what happened?"

"You fell asleep!" cried out Luna who looked to be on the verge of tears. "And that... thing started spreading... I couldn't wake you... I didn't know what else to do... I thought it would help if I... I'm sorry..."

"No... you did what you had to... I'm okay now..." said Celestia. Inwardly, she was starting to worry. She had not slept in four days. Never before had she stayed awake this long without taking a short nap in between, let along sustaining multiple spells at the same time. While it was true that there were spells she could, and did, use to try maintain her wakefulness, those came at a cost of weakening her physical body. That meant more power and spells were needed to help her body keep the infection at bay, which further added to her mental exhaustion.

It's a vicious cycle, one that she was in danger of losing control of.

====================================================================

They must be breaking some sort of speed and endurance records... the thought ran through Twilight Sparkle's mind as she watched the terrain zoomed past. The dried yellow earth had given way to gravels which crunched beneath three sets of hooves. The mountains of Applelachian Peak rose high into the sky in front of them, which looked more imposing and terrify the closer they got.

Outside a few sighting of infected buffaloes, which were quickly dispatched by either Rainbow Dash or Applejack, their travel had been fairly uneventful. Few words were exchanged throughout the journey, although that didn't mean the trip itself was quiet. Not when Pinkie Pie was around.

"Whee!" shouted Pinkie Pie as she slid along the ground on a sled behind Fluttershy. How she managed to bring or find a sled was beyond Twilight, but nevertheless, she did. Pinkie Pie didn't bring a rope, however, opting to wrap Fluttershy's whip manes around her two front hooves as a pair of reins. Twilight could swear that Pinkie Pie was just trying to find an excuse to get their three "gifted" friends to show-off their abilities. She already tried that getting Applejack to cleave a watermelon, again from source unknown, in half by throwing one at her. Said earth pony instead opted to simply duck to avoid the watermelon, to the misfortune of her passenger, Rarity.

Unlike Pinkie Pie, Rarity looked pretty miserable. Her face was green with nausea from being bounced up-and-down for the past hours, and had actually threw up a few times already. Applejack had tried to keep her gallop as smooth as possible, but the uneven terrain made it nearly impossible. Applejack had tried to get the group to slow down, but Rainbow Dash adamant refusal meant that option was not available.

Twilight Sparkle turned her head forward again and stared at the back of Rainbow Dash's head. The pegasus had been silence for almost the entire trip, instead have her attention focused on galloping as fast as she could. Her eyes were fixed directly ahead with a look of determination and a hint of worry.

Twilight Sparkle could guess what the pegasus was worried about. Despite the falling out nearly a year ago, Rainbow Dash and Gilda were still friends once upon a time. As much of a bully as Gilda was, Twilight Sparkle was willing to bet that none of them wanted what happened to the buffaloes and ponies in Appleloosa to happen to the griffins.

A sudden drop in temperature caused Twilight Sparkle to look up. The rising mountains had obscured the sun. From this distance, the mountain range look truly imposing. Their snowy peaks rose high past the cloud and cast their own shadow over them, creating a pattern of stripes over the scattering of clouds.

"Rainbow, we should stop and make camp." said Twilight Sparkle.

"Why?" without any hint of slowing down, Rainbow Dash turned around to look at her. "It's still early."

"Yes, but it's going to take us more then a few hours to find our way through the mountains." answered Twilight. "It will be dangerous if it gets dark while we're on it."

"No we won't." said Rainbow Dash before she turned back. Twilight Sparkle could swear that the pegasus was running faster. "Just hang on tight."

"Rainbow! What are you..." Twilight looked up and saw a sheer cliff approaching rapidly and instinctively tighten her grip on the pegasus. She felt a sharp pain on her back as Spike dug his claw into them.

"Rainbow! Where are you doing?!" came Spike's voice. Twilight Sparkle's eyes went wide as the cliff wall came within yards of her, before she felt a sudden shift in weight and found herself staring at the sky.

"What the hay?" shouted Applejack which caused Rainbow Dash to finally slow to a stop. After gathering her nerves, Twilight Sparkle looked back, or more specifically, down. She found herself a couple dozen feet off the ground, where her friends were staring at them with wide-eyes.

"We can make it over the mountains before the sun-set. The longer we wait, the further ahead that... Pest thing gets." said Rainbow Dash. Applejack walked up to the cliff face and placed her hoof against the cliff. Twilight Sparkle noticed small black tendrils extend out from her hooves and anchored themselves into the wall.

"No no no no no no no no... don't you DARE... AHHH!" came Rarity panicked cry when Applejack took a few step up the cliff, with a terrified unicorn clinging on her back.

"Cool!" said Pinkie Pie as she proceeded to push Fluttershy to the cliff and up on it. Fluttershy found herself glued to the cliff and stared at the black tendrils anchoring her hoof to the rocky wall. Fluttershy pulled one of her hoof away and watched as the tendril receded. She gingerly placed her hoof down again and meeped when tendrils shot out once more and anchored her hoof to the surface.

"Twilight, what do ya think?" asked Applejack. Twilight Sparkle, still clinging on to Rainbow Dash to dear life, levitated her map out and roll it open in front of her.

"Okay... um... assuming we can... um... cut through the mountain in a straight line... accounting for the up and down slopes... I say we will make it to the other side before sun-down." said Twilight Sparkle before she tucked the map back in her saddle pack. "I guess it might be better to try to cover as much ground as we can each day..."

"Alright, dat sounds like a good plan." said Applejack.
"Wait! What if I fall off?!" yelled out Rarity, who looked like she had wrapped herself around Applejack. Rainbow Dash looked thoughtful for a few second before turning to Applejack again.

"AJ, got some ropes?" asked Rainbow Dash.

====================================================================

Princess Celestia was stable. That's everything the doctors could tell her.

That's... probably the best thing to hear right now... thought Princess Luna as she watched her sister through the reinforced glass enclosure. Celestia was once again sitting with her legs tucked beneath her. A fresh white blanket that covered her entire back, hiding the infected growth on her side. Her mane, a tangled mess of pastel pink, spread over her back and onto the bed like a waterfall. Her eyes were closed in deep concentration while her horn gave off a steady glow. Beside her bed stood a metal stand where a few bags of clear fluid hung. Plastic tubes extended from them and disappeared under the bed-sheet, where they fed the content of the bags directly into her sister bloodstream. Most of those bags were vitamins that help keep her sister healthy, or as healthy as possible given the circumstance. The rest contained drugs with names she had no idea how to even pronounce them, but she was told that the content would help Princess Celestia maintain her focus.

Princess Luna fought the urge to tap on the glass wall separating her from her sister. The rational part of her mind understood that letting Celestia focus on the task at hoof gave her the best chance of beating it. However, seeing the frail state of her sister, the thought that every second may be her last chance of talking to Celestia lingered in her mind.

"Princess Luna?" a voice behind her pulled Princess Luna from her thoughts. She turned around and found Professor Bubble Shake standing just outside the bedroom door.

"Yes professor?" answered Princess Luna.

"There's something you might want to see."

====================================================================

Princess Luna had never seen the Canterlot Hot Lab before. In the time before her banishment, the concept that disease caused by tiny little living things, instead of curse, was not even considered. In fact, she found herself occasionally refer to them as curses out of habit. According to her study to catch up to modern times, the knowledge of that was apparently quite recent in the history of Equestria. Even more recent was the creation of these "hot labs", which deals with some of the more dangerous of diseases. It was something she only knew through cursory examination, and never did have the chance to visit one.

However, now that she's visiting one, she vowed never to do so again.

"Is all this... really... necessary?" asked Princess Luna as she found her raised right hoof being squeezed into the leg of a rubber suit.

"Of course! No pony enters the lab unless FULLY suited!" said a white unicorn with a cutie-mark of what looked like a sparkling toilet scrubber. "What happen if those things can travel through air? Left front."

"I'm pretty sure these thing..." said Luna as she did as told, "... aren't... what's the word... airborne. If it was, a lot more pony would have been effected by it."

"Just pretty sure, eh? Wanna know what happened to the last pony who said that? Right rear."

"What happened?" asked Luna, lifting the requested appendage to be stuffed.

"Hoof and mouth disease, your highness, hoof and mouth disease. Left rear."

Princess Luna shuddered. She had read about that, which was quite unfortunate for her as she was eating dinner at the time.

"Your highness. Like Squeaky Clean said, this is just a precaution. We don't want your majesty catching this thing." said Professor Scope, who, apparently having done this many time, was suiting up by herself. Beside her was Professor Bubble Shake, who was doing the same.

"Still... HEY!" Luna cried in indignation as she felt her tail being forcefully bunched up and shoved into a bag attached to the rear of the suit. "Can't you be more gentle about that?"

"Sorry, but..." Luna had to suck in her stomach as Squeaky Clean pulled the zipper on the suit shut. "... we just don't have any suit that fit your size."

Are you saying I'm fat? thought Luna. "Are we done yet?"

"Almost." Before Luna could protest, she found herself blindfolded by something rubbery. Her head was forced through the rubber tube which pressed her mane uncomfortably to the back of her neck. After some seconds of muffled protest, her face and snout popped out out of a small opening at the end. She didn't even have the time to register her complaint when Squeaky Clean jammed what looked like a fishing bowl on her head. On closer inspection, Luna could swear that it was an actual fishing bowl. "Done."

Thank Celestia! thought Princess Luna as she looked over herself through the glass bowl. The protective suit appeared to be one continuous piece of silver-coated rubber, which was stretched taut over every inch of her. She tried flexing her wings, but found it impossible due to the tightly fitted suit. Luna looked toward Scope, who had finished donning her suit, and noted with mild envy that her protective gear fit loosely and comfortably around her. She also noted that her partner, Professor Bubble Shake, was staring at her with his mouth slightly agape.

"Professor?" asked Princess Luna. The unicorn stallion didn't seem to notice her inquiry.

"Professor Bubble Shake?" Princess Luna repeated with a more authoritative tone. The stallion in question didn't seems to response. However, the mare beside him did. She shook her head and face-hoofed before giving the enthralled stallion a quick buck to the flank.

"Ow! Hey!" Bubble Shake managed to catch himself before he fell over. "What was that about?"

Scope raised a hoof toward the night princess, drawing the stallion's attention to her. He seems to have remembered what he was doing as his face flushed red.

"Ah... I'm sorry your highness..." Bubble Shake stammered as he tried to avoid the princess' gaze. "I was... um... CHECKING! Yes, just checking your suit, and it is se... crap... sealed! Right! Sealed..."

Princess Luna maintained her indifferent look at the stammering unicorn. Inwardly, however, she found the situation to be quite amusing, and flattering in a way.

"... stallions..." muttered Professor Scope as she rolled her eyes. "Shall we proceed, your highness?"

"We shall." replied Luna. She followed the two professors through a pair of heavy steel door and into a small room. The room itself was also made out of steel, with nozzles lining the floor and walls. On the opposite end of the room was another set of steel doors. A noise of metal grinding behind her caused her to look back. Squeaky Clean's horn was glowing as the metal gate closed behind them with a clang.

"Oh! By the way, did Squeaky Clean warn your highness about the fire?" asked Scope in a tone of alarm.

"What fi... FIRE!" Luna screamed when jets of flame shot out from the nozzles.

====================================================================

"We're very... VERY sorry your highness!" Professor Scope apologized profusely as Luna walked stiffly into the room. The blast of flame lasted mere seconds, and since it was designed to merely sterilize her suit, did not caused her any harm. However, the same could not be said for her dignity, shattered when she screamed like a little foal and tried to gallop back out of the chamber. She didn't succeed in getting out, but she did manage to confirm two things: One, the fishing bowl was made out of a shatter-proof material. Two, an alicorn's horn was tougher than said material and steel.

"Let's just... get down to business." said Luna, trying to move on from the embarrassing spectacle.

"Of course." Bubble Shake and Scope cantered toward a large freezer on the opposite end of the lab. While the two got to work pulling out different trays, Princess Luna took a look around the laboratory. If there's one word to describe the place, it was sterile. The entire room was illuminated by dim blue lights, provided by rows of glowing crystals suspended just under the ceiling. Tables covered in various instruments lined the walls to her left and right. Above them were cabinets, each with a lamp beneath them casting stark white light on the tables.

"Your highness, over here!" Luna turned to Scope, who was standing beside a table with a cluster of petri-dishes on it. She trotted over, and noted that each glass container held a mass of blackened... flesh. In fact, they looked just like the burns she inflicted on her own sister.

"Are all these... from my sister?" asked Luna. To her surprise, both Scope and Bubble Shake shook their head.

"Just this one..." said Scope, pointing to the sample closest to her. "The rests are samples from other infected ponies."

"What happened?" asked Luna.

"We really don't know," answered Bubble Shake, his hoof scratching the bubble dome on his head. "We were doing some experiment this morning when all our pony samples, and only the pony samples, started to... well... burn."

"To be more precise, it was around the time when your highness... um..." Scoped paused, looking as if she's trying to find the right word.

"... attacked Prin..." Bubble Shake, however, was much more straight forward. Scope stopped him with a glare before continuing.

"... when Princess Luna performed an emergency surgery on Princess Celestia with a lightning spell." finished Scope.

Luna blinked in disbelief as she darted her eyes between the samples and the professor.

"You mean to say that... I did this?" both professors nodded.

"The two event occurred, as far as we know, simultaneous." said Bubble Shake. "The damage sustained by all the samples are identical, barring varying degrees of severity. Plus, the Specter's Spell Spectral Scanner confirmed that the residual spell on the samples from Princess Celestia matches the residuals ."

"The Specter... what?" Luna tried to remember if she had come across that word before, but drew a complete blank.

"It means that the spell that you used on Princess Celestia was the same spell that damaged our pony tissue samples." said Scope.

"How is that possible?" asked Luna.

"We're not sure exactly." answered Scope. "The current hypothesis is that the mental link this infection creates between Princess Celestia and infected ponies can conduct magic energy through it. Preliminary report from other labs indicate that the effect may have a range limit, and with more information we may pin down effect of range. Furthermore, with the current samples, we may be able to further analyze whether there are any differences between a direct application of spell versus those conducted through this link. Depending on what we find, we may... um..." Scope stammered as she averted her eyes away from Luna's.

"We may...?" echoed Luna, trying to get Scope to continue.

"Well... not to get our hopes up too much... considering what happened yesterday..." muttered Scope. "... but based on everything we know so far, we suspect that a similar link exist between Pestilence and some of the other infected. Furthermore, it appears that it was attempting to establish such a link with other group of infected."

"That would explain its movements." Luna mused. "It is targeting the infected meteors..."

"It would seem that way. Of course this may be advantageous for us." said Scope.

"How so?" asked Luna. "I do not believe allowing that thing to gain control of all the monster would... oh..."

If it established the same link to all the infected... then...

"If Pestilence do gain control of all the monsters, and the link has the same property, we may have a way to wipe out almost all the infections in a single strike." concluded Scope.

====================================================================

"And... here we are!" said Rainbow Dash as Applejack and Fluttershy stopped behind her. In front of them was the griffin territory: A vast and empty tundra, where only a hardiest of plants survived on its inhospitable surface. The sun hung low on the horizon, casting long shadows over the barren plain. "Told ya we get here before..."

"LAND!" yelled Spike. Twilight Sparkle winced as the dragon's claws were pulled out of her back as he scrambled to get to solid ground. "OH SWEET SWEET LAND!"

Twilight Sparkle undone the rope that was tying her to Rainbow Dash and gingerly slide herself off the pegasus' back. She shared Spike's sentiment. Her own hooves shook beneath her as she tried to remain standing, fighting every urge to just throw up right then and there.

The trip over the mountains had been nothing short of terrifying. They had traveled up, down and sideways on vertical cliffs. Flew over gaps that no normal ponies should be able to jump across. Once or twice, they were even traveling up-side down below some overhang. The latter one was particularly terrifying, since Rainbow Dash and Applejack had to stop to convince Fluttershy to follow them. That left Rarity and her dangling a few thousand feet in the air. Spike reaction was particularly painful, who by instinct, had his claws dug into her for almost the entirety of the trip. The had left behind some very visible and painful claw marks on her back. It might be something of a blessing, considering that the pain may have distracted her from sheer terror of the situation.

"Aw it's not that bad Spikey!" said Pinkie Pie as she practically bounced her way toward Spike, who was kissing the ground itself. "It's actually pretty fun! Beside, I don't hear Rarity complaining!"

One look at Rarity told her why the prim and proper unicorn was completely silent. Her mane and tail was windswept with strands of hair curling up in odd places. As impossible as it seems for a white unicorn, she looked pale. Her eyes had shrunk to a single dot and bulged out like they're about to pop out from their socket. Still clinging to Applejack like her life depends on it, Rarity made no move to undo the rope tying her to the earth pony.

"Rarity, it's over. You can get off now." said Twilight Sparkle. Rarity snapped her head in Twilight's direction and gave a quick shook of her head. Twilight Sparkle noted a look of fear in her eyes. "Why not?"

Rarity didn't respond. Instead, she gave off a whimper and clung more tightly to Applejack.

"Um... can you girls give us some privacy?" said Applejack, who looked extremely nervous. "There had been an... um... accident."

"Accident?!" said Fluttershy, who immediately trotted over in alarm. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"No, everything is just... fine..." said Applejack as she stepped back, trying to keep her distance from them. At the same time, Rarity looked like she tried to nod and shake her head at the same time. Fluttershy froze suddenly and looked down at her hoof. Twilight Sparkle followed her gaze and noted a small puddle below Fluttershy, where Applejack once stood. It was then she noted a faint acrid smell in the air. Twilight slowly looked back up to Rarity, who looked to be on the verge of tear.

"Rarity... did you..." Twilight Sparkle didn't even get to finish before Rarity started bawling.

====================================================================

The sun had gone down, and the barren tundra, illuminated by the moon and stars, gave off a pale blue glow. The only other source of light came from a cave at the base of the Applelachian mountain. A light that soon disappeared as a boulder rolled over to cover the entrance.

From inside the cave, Twilight Sparkle extinguished her horn and took a step back the recently moved boulder, satisfied that the entrance was secured from any outside dangers. Behind her, Applejack idly chewed on a mouthful of straw with a bored expression while Rainbow Dash lounge beside the campfire. Spike had fallen asleep in the corner while being tucked in by Fluttershy.

"JUST GO AWAY!" Rarity's wail echoed from the depth, drawing every pony's attention. "And let me wallow in my all consuming shame!"

Twilight watched as Pinkie Pie emerged out from the darkness. The unicorn couldn't quite wrap her head around Pinkie's outfit. She was wearing diapers on her hip and head while sucking a pacifier like a baby. More inexplicably, she was covered, from head to hoof, in flour.

"No use?" asked Fluttershy as she walked back to the campfire. Pinkie Pie spat out the pacifier shook her head in response.

"No... I mean how's that possible?! That always worked on the Cake babies!" said Pinkie Pie, earning her an incredulous look from the rest of the ponies.

"So now what?" Rainbow Dash turned to Twilight. "You tried reasoning with her. Applejack tried to tell her it's not a problem. Fluttershy made tea for her. Pinkie Pie tried... whatever that was!"

"I guess it's best to leave her be for the night." said Twilight Sparkle. "Hopefully she will feel better in the morning."

"You know what I think?" said Rainbow Dash. "She should face it head-on! It will be like tearing off bandages! Just get it over with quickly and it will be less painful."

"Rainbow, I don't..." before Twilight could finish her sentence, Rainbow Dash had flew off into the depth of the cave.

"Hey! Rarity! Come out from under that rock! It's not that bad that you..."

"... chimicherry or cherrychanga..." Rarity's growl echoed from the darkness.

"Ooh... good question! I don't think we ever found that out..." said Pinkie Pie, who was half-way through removing the diaper from her head. "Ah... the many strange mystery of Dodge Junction..."

"So... ah guess Rarity hasn't forgive Rainbow for ditching her there..." said Applejack.

"Huh?" came Rainbow's confused voice.

"... chimicherry... or... cherryCHANGA!"

"What are you talking ab... OOF!" a streak of rainbow shot out from the depth and slammed into the wall with a loud crash. When the dust cleared, Twilight Sparkle found Rainbow Dash embedded in the cave wall with a broken sewing machine lying on the ground beneath her. "Ow..."

"Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy rushed over to the Rainbow Dash, who slowly topple out of the pegasus shaped indentation and collapsed on the ground. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah... on second thought..." groaned Rainbow Dash as she was helped to her hooves by Fluttershy. "... tomorrow sounds good."

"Are ya sure yah alright?" asked Applejack. "Yar wing looked funny."

True enough, her left wing was bent at an odd angle. Rainbow Dash saw it too, and didn't seem particularly bothered by it. Twilight cringed when Rainbow stretched her damaged wing out and it straightened out with a loud crack.

I guess once you can recover from having holes drilled through you, a broken wing isn't a problem... I wonder if Rarity knew that when she threw that sewing machine...

"Not a problem anymore." commented Rainbow Dash nonchalantly. "So, Twi, what's the plan tomorrow then?"

"Let's see..." Twilight Sparkle levitated a scroll out of her saddle and unrolled it in front of her. On it was, as far as she knew, the most up-to-date map of the Griffin countries. A long stretch of land that followed the coast, first heading west before curving north, creating a crescent-shaped area. The entire region was like a bowl, a vast flat plain in the middle surrounded by mountains and hills on all side. Settlements dotted the mountain ranges that ran along the coast.

"Okay, so we're here." said Twilight Sparkle as she pointed to the mountains on the eastern tip of the crescent region. "Our best course of action is to head south west a bit and follow the coastal mountains. We will visit the settlement along the way and see if they know anything."

"I hope they're okay..." muttered Fluttershy. All the ponies looked like they shared the same sentiment.

"Well, we'll find out tomorrow." answered Twilight. "Let's all get some rest."

====================================================================

Where... am I? The thought ran through Fluttershy's mind as she found herself standing on the edge of the building. It's not the tallest building in the area, which was quite obvious with the towering sky-scrappers that blocked out most of the skies around her. However, it was still high enough that Fluttershy couldn't help feeling nauseous when she stared at the distance street below her.

Her attention was quickly diverted from how high up she was when sounds of fighting reached her. Further down the street, a pegasus guard was surrounded by a horde of infected ponies and diamond dogs. Judging by the look of things, the guard wasn't doing too well. His armor was torn in places, revealing numerous bleeding wound that left streaks of black against his gray coat. His left wing was broken, bending at an odd angle. The tube launcher beneath it was also smashed beyond recognition. A few still ponies clad in broken armors laid nearby, likely all that remained of his squad.

He was completely alone, up against dozens of infected creatures bearing down on him. Yet he stood his ground, facing the swarm with a look grim determination. Using his only remaining launcher, he let loose bolts after bolts into the horde, cutting down infected ponies and diamond dogs one after another. However, there were simply way too many, and his launcher soon ran out of bolts with a click. He cried out in frustration before ripping off the launchers by the harness. He swung the depleted launchers at a pouncing diamond dog. The metal launcher catching the monster in its face and sent it tumbling to the side of the road.

"BRING IT!" the guard yelled at the monsters around him. Using the clipped-on blade on his only good wings, and fueled by his rage, he cut down the infected beasts like a scythe through a cornfield. Those that his blade missed either had their head bashed in with his steel helmet or trampled to a pulp under his hooves. In less than a minutes, the lone, blood-covered guard stood atop a hill of bodies, glaring around him like daring anyone to challenge him.

"IS THAT ALL YOU GOT?" he yelled, and as if to make his point, he crushed a dead diamond dog's head under his hoof. The street remained silence, save for the sound of his heavy breathing. Seeing as there's no more enemies nearby, the bloodied guard limped to the side of the road before he collapsed.

I need to help him! Fluttershy leaped off the building toward the injured guard. Even with her wings spread out, she only managed to glide a short while before slamming into the ground on all four a few yards away from him. Her landing drew the guard's attention, who eyes were wide with surprise before twisting into one of... hate?

"You!" he growled and pushed himself up. However, his injury was too severe and he collapsed to the ground.

"Please stay still! I'm going to help..." called out Fluttershy, who soon recognized that she wasn't making any sound. Fluttershy jumped when a tendril shot out and lifted the injured guard by the neck.

"Stop! Don't hurt him!" cried out Fluttershy, trying to will herself to release the hold. But it was as if her body had a mind of her own, she couldn't do anything but watch.

"Come on... just kill me already..." the guard choked out as a second tendril came into view. Fluttershy stared in horror as the tendril sharpened itself into a needle spike with blood dripping off the tip.

"Wait! What? No! Don't kill him! DON'T!" Fluttershy watched helplessly as the sharp tendril buried itself into the guard's chest.

====================================================================

Fluttershy woke up in darkness. Her breath came out in shallow pants as her eyes darted left and right. She got up and stumbled around in the dark, trying to figure out where she was when she heard scratching sound behind her.

"Ah!" Fluttershy broke off into a run in panic. She didn't know where she's going, but all she cared was to get away from whatever it was that was making the noise. But no matter which way she ran, the noise followed right behind her.

"Please go away, please go away, please go..." her words were cut-off when she ran head-first into a wall, causing stars to burst out in her eyes. Fluttershy quickly shook them away before backing up against a wall and let out a whimper. She could no longer hear the scratching sound, and as her eyes grew accustomed to the darkness, she found herself more at ease.

Faint pinpricks of light shone through the rock wall Twilight Sparkle constructed. The light offered just enough illuminations for her to make out her friends sleeping around a long burnt-out campfire. Most importantly, there's no monster anywhere near her, except for a snake-like shape on the ground.

Fluttershy gasped and held her breath as she followed the shape with her eyes. It didn't take long for her to noticed that the shape was connected to the back of her neck. With a gulp, she willed it to returned. Almost immediately, the same scratching sound that spooked her before echoed in the cave as the tendril retract toward her.

Okay... it was just my mane... rope... thingy... Fluttershy breathed out in relief as the tendril retreated back into her mane. She got up and trotted back to the campfire and lay down with her friends. She didn't managed more than a few seconds of shot eyes when a scraping sound caught her attention, causing her to bolt back up.

"Hello? Who's there?" Fluttershy called out, her ears swiveled on her head trying to pin-point the source of the sound. There was no response save for a few more scraping sound.

It's... coming from outside! Fluttershy turned toward the boulder that was blocking the entrance.

"Hello?" Fluttershy called out again. She was met with silence once again, followed by more sounds of scraping. This time, the scraping didn't stop and she could see flickering of moonlight starting to seep through the bottom of the boulder. Gripped with fear, she twisted her mane into a coiled tendril, pointing at the growing hole.

"Girls..." whispered Fluttershy as her mane twisted themselves into a single tendril. "Girls... wake-up... something is trying to get in here..."

Fluttershy glanced around, and noted with a slight twinge of fear, that none of her friends were waking up. The scraping sound grew louder as the hole beneath the boulder grew deeper. She could see a pair of bird like claws digging away at the hole.

A griffin?

"Um... mister... or missus... or miss griffin... if you are a griffin and... well... don't want to eat us... please say something..." whispered Fluttershy. The digging stopped almost immediately. Just when she thought it had given up, a griffin head forced itself through the hole. As far as Fluttershy could tell, it looked like a griffin, but something just seemed wrong about it. Glinting off the moonlight, its eyes were a solid shade of yellow, with a web of blood-red veins crisscrossing them. There were bald spots on its head where the feathers had fallen out, with the rest looked like they're just barely clinging on. What scared her the most, however, was its beak, which appeared to be lined with shark like teeth.

Fluttershy held her breath when the griffin caught her in its eyes. A pair of soul-less eyes that told Fluttershy that whoever this griffin was, he or she was no longer there anymore. The griffin gave off a screech as it started forcing its way through the small hole.

"I'm sorry..." Fluttershy sniffed before lashing out her tendril. The griffin' screech was silenced when the tendril pierced through its head with a squelch. Its deed done, Fluttershy gave the tendril a sharp tug, dislodging it from the corpse as it flew back to her. She sat down, staring at the dead griffin beneath the boulder and wondering how many others met the same fate.

I should wake the girls up... they need to see...

Her thoughts were interrupted when sounds of scraping began anew. Except this time, it sounded like there were more than one, a lot more. Flickering beams of moon-light shone from the rim of the entrance as claws slowly chipped them away. Her eyes widened in fear as she saw the boulder started to shift.
[Added] May 3, 2012
"GIRLS!" Fluttershy screamed out with her eyes focused on the intruding griffins. She counted no less than a dozen of them, all trying to dig around the boulder, which was shifting as the infected griffins tried to pry it out. Fluttershy took aim at the one that almost made it through and launched her whip at it. The griffin happened to be screeching at her, which resulted in the whip entering its mouth and out the back of its head. "WAKE UP!"

"Wha..." Rainbow Dash's eyes flitted open, followed by Applejack's.

"What in tarnation is all this rack... WHOA!"

The two jumped up when Fluttershy buried her whip into another griffin who had managed to force its body half-way through the hole it dug.

"What the... what is happening?" asked Rainbow Dash, her eyes darting between the griffins digging through the boulder. "Are those... griffins?"

"Yes!" yelled Fluttershy, her eyes locked onto another griffin was almost through before she dropped it with her whip. However, there were simply way too many of them. Before she could even retract her whip, two griffins managed to pull themselves all the way through, one from under the boulder while the other from the top. The two let out menacing growls as they advanced on her.

"We got this!" shouted Rainbow Dash as she and Applejack charged at the two griffin with their claws and horns out. The griffins seems to have noticed the two galloping ponies as they shift their attention to them, not that it helped them any. The first griffin tried to took a bite out of Rainbow Dash, only to get a mouthful of razor-sharp claws shortly followed by another set of claws into its neck and back. The second griffin reared up and swiped at Applejack with its bird-like claws. It managed to drew some blood out of the earth-pony, leaving behind three deep gouges. Applejack returned the favor with her blade-like horns and turned the griffin into two halves of a griffin.

"Applejack! You okay?" asked Fluttershy.

"Yeah! It just stings a bit." the three wounds on Applejack's back fused shut quickly as if they weren't there in the first place. "No problem."

"Hey! Anypony! A little help?" yelled out Rainbow Dash. It took Fluttershy a short while to find her, who was buried under several griffins, four to be exact. With a yell of frustration, Rainbow Dash flared her wings out and jumped, sending the griffins hurtling everywhere. On her way down, she smashed her hooves down on the head of one of them before jumping on another and shredded it with vicious swipes. The two remaining griffin flipped themselves up. One didn't have a chance to do anything else when Fluttershy's whip pierced through its neck with enough force to decapitated it. The other, however, got ready to pounce at the preoccupied Rainbow Dash.

"Ah'm coming Rainbow!" cried out Applejack before she lowered her head and charged. The griffin pounced toward Rainbow Dash, and was rammed aside by Applejack. She carried the screeching griffin forward a few more feet before slamming it into the boulder, crushing its torso and killing it. The impact however, turned out to be the additional force needed to dislodge that already loose boulder. The two stories tall boulder started to shift and roll away from the cave entrance.

"Hayseed! I'm sorry!" exclaimed Applejack. Fluttershy quickly shot her whip out toward the boulder and buried it into rolling stone. Using her whip like a rope, she dug her hooves in and pulled. A series of sickening crunches caused her to wince as the boulder roll back, crushing several griffins that tried to used the opening to squeeze through. Fluttershy gave her whip some slack, only to have to pull it taut again as the boulder shifted once more. In the meantime, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were fighting off a small crowd of griffins that managed to make their way through in that short period of time.

"What's going on? What with all the noise?" came Twilight Sparkle's groggy voice. Fluttershy darted her eyes to the formerly sleeping unicorn and saw her getting up with a confused look on her.

"Are we... having a late night party?" asked a sleepy Pinkie Pie, who was rubbing her eyes with her hoof.

"Twilight! We need some help here!" shouted Rainbow Dash. "Griffins are attacking us! Monster ones!"

"Griffins? Where?" yelled back Twilight Sparkle as her ears swiveled left and right, trying to locate the source of the noise, but the echoing in the cave made it impossible. "I can't see a thing!"

"What are you talking about!? They're right here!" replied Rainbow Dash in bewilderment.

How could she not see? It's clear as day... thought Fluttershy as she watched Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie stumbled around...

"OW!"... and smacked their head against each other.

"Oh fer Luna's sake! Just use yer horn Twilight!" shouted Applejack.

"Oh right!" with that Twilight Sparkle's horn flared up. In that moment, Fluttershy wished the unicorn hadn't done that. Her eyes stung from the sudden increase in brightness as her world turned white. She rose her hooves to try to block out the light. The next thing she knew, she felt herself being pulled through the air by her mane.

===================================================================

Twilight Sparkle blinked in surprise when Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Fluttershy all yelled out in pain the moment she ignited her horn and covered their eyes with their hooves.

"GAH! TURN IT OFF!" cried out Rainbow Dash.

"I'm sorry!" answered Twilight. But before she could extinguish her horn, she saw something that made her heart stop. The boulder was rolling away, and with Fluttershy's whip still attached to it, was pulling the hapless pegasus along for the ride.

"Fluttershy!" Twilight Sparkle ran after the rolling boulder shouting at the top of her lung. Even on a fairly gentle slope, it was gaining momentum rapidly as it rolled and tumbled down. A yellow and pink blur streaked along its surface, accompanied by an intermittent screams from Fluttershy. Twilight Sparkle redoubled her effort to pursuit the boulder, at the same time trying to ignore and avoid the mangled corpses of griffins who was unfortunate enough to be in its path.

"OW!" came Pinkie Pie's yelp behind her. Twilight Sparkle turned around, slowing her gallop to a trot. Pinkie Pie had stopped behind her with her eyes staring at her flank, where a dart with red feather on its end was embedded in one of the balloon of her cutie-mark. Twilight Sparkle heard a quiet whistle followed by a sharp pain in her own flank. Looking down, she found the same kind of dart embedded in her side.

"Uh... oh..." uttered Pinkie Pie as she wobbled on her hooves for a few moments before toppling over. A wave of drowsiness hit Twilight Sparkle like a ton of brick. She felt her hooves giving out from under her as her mind started to shut down. The last thing she felt before her consciousness left her, was the sensation of being hoisted through the air.

Day 7: Part 1

"Dang it... Twilight! Fluttershy! Pinkie! Where are you?" yelled out Rainbow Dash as she fumbled around. The sudden flash of light from Twilight's horn had blinded her. When she finally regained her sight, everything was dark once more, save for the faint illumination provided by the moon and stars. While her night-vision had not fully recovered, she could still make out the stumbling forms of griffins, all of them behaving like they're still blinded. Although a few looked like they got their senses back, judging by the way they're growling at her.

"Still wanna play, huh?" Rainbow Dash growled back before the griffins attacked her once more. She caught one of them mid-pounce with her clawed wings, and using its momentum against it, flipped it over and slammed the monster into the ground. With her other claws, she sliced into the monster's exposed belly, sending blood and guts pouring out to the ground.

No far from her, Applejack was dealing with her own group of griffins. In the enclosed space of the cave, the griffins didn't have much room to maneuver, which made them easy target for Applejack's blade-like horns. Their number dwindled quickly as the earth pony slice through them like scythe through hays.

"Applejack!" called out Rainbow Dash while her claws remain focused on the task of separating a griffin's head from its body. Said griffin had tried to tore out the back of her neck with its beak, which was interrupted by two sets of claw in its own neck. It didn't took her long to tear its head from the rest of its body. "Where are they?"

"Ah saw them went after dat boulder!" answered back Applejack. "Ah think Fluttershy was stuck on it!"

"What? They're out there?" Rainbow Dash looked out out the cave and noted a depression in the ground leading away from them. Worries plagued her when she noticed that she couldn't see the light Twilight's horn normally cast when she uses magic. "We need to go help them!"

"Just give me a sec!" she turned back to see what's holding up Applejack. One of the griffin managed to latch onto Applejack's back, where her horn couldn't reach. However, the earth pony was far from helpless. She reared back and slammed the griffin into the wall. The impact sent chunks of rock falling from the wall and caused the griffin to lose its grip. Before it could even hit the ground, Applejack bucked out and crushed its head against the wall. "Let's go!"

The two galloped out the cave, leaving behind griffins who was just starting to recover from their daze. They followed down the depression, keeping their eyes out for their three pony friends. Their hooves trampling over the crushed and mangled corpses of the griffins, each rose fresh worries as to the fate of Fluttershy. As they got closer to the boulder, Rainbow Dash felt a twinge of panic when she saw no sign of any of them.

"Twilight! Pinkie! Fluttershy!" called out Rainbow Dash as she reached the boulder. She did a quick trot around the boulder and met up with Applejack on the other side of the resting rock. "You see them?"

Applejack shook her head.

"Rainbow?" came a muffled voice that Rainbow Dash instantly recognized as Fluttershy's. "Is that you?"

"Fluttershy! Where are you?" Rainbow Dash looked around her trying to figure out where the voice came from.

"...down here..." Rainbow Dash jumped a bit when the boulder shifted a bit. "... I'm stuck... help... if it's not too much trouble..."

"Ah got it!" Applejack butted her head against the boulder. With effortless ease, she tossed the boulder away, revealing Fluttershy lying in a pony-shaped indentation with her legs spread out and her snout and face buried in the ground. Rainbow Dash took Fluttershy's tail between her teeth and pulled her out of the ground.

"You alright?" asked Rainbow Dash as Fluttershy gathered her hooves beneath her and pushed herself up. Fluttershy winced when her body made a series of crackles and pops. Her wings, crooked in places, straightened out almost instantly.

"I'm... fine..." mumbled Fluttershy. Her ears shot up as her eyes met Rainbow's in a panic. "The girls! They..."

"Ah! Hayseed!" cursed Applejack, wearing a scowl on her face while her back arched in a fighting stance. "Here they come!"

Rainbow Dash followed suit. Swarm of griffins had took to the air, leaving the cave they were just attacking, and were flying straight toward them. Rainbow Dash readied her wings, its deadly claws locked and ready to bury itself into any attacker. The swarm approached rapidly, their unnatural screeches blended into a cacophony of hair-raising noise. Soon, the swarm was on top of them...

... and past them.

"What the hay?" exclaimed Applejack as she watched the dozens strong griffins flew off toward the horizon. They didn't seems to have noticed them, or if they had, didn't even try to attack.

"Looks like we kicked their flank so hard they don't want round two." said Rainbow Dash with a grin.

"Ah don't know... something is... off..." commented Applejack.

"GAH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Rarity's scream cut through the air, causing the three ponies to snap their attention back to the cave. "BACK YOU... BEAST!"

"Buck it! Forgot about Rarity!" swore Rainbow Dash as she galloped back to the cave with Applejack and Fluttershy close behind her. A fluctuating, pale blue light emanated from the dark depth of the cave, casting moving shadows along the cave walls. Sound of scuffling and the griffin's screech echoed from the cave.

"UNHOOF ME YOU MONSTER! GET... AH! HELP!"

"I got you Rarity! I got... WHOA!" came Spike's voice. The light grew brighter rapidly until its source came into view. Rarity flew through the air being carried by a griffin. Its claws held firm to the squirming unicorn even while being assaulted by a floating cloth iron. Right behind her was Spike, who was hanging on to Rarity's tail. "Rainbow! Help us!"

"Hang on you two!" shouted Rainbow Dash. She felt the familiar sensation of tension building up in her legs as her eyes locked on the griffins flying through the cave toward them. Then, right at the moment the griffin was about to exit the cave, she launched herself into the air. Using her wings, Rainbow Dash adjusted her glide through the air. The griffin, who was apparently distracted by the screaming and squirming unicorn in its claws, didn't notice the pegasus moving to intercept it.

It did notice when Rainbow Dash landed on its back, and its reaction was instantaneous. It pulled itself into a steep climb, sending Rainbow Dash tumbling. She managed to on by biting down on some hair on the griffin's back. Wind buffeted against her hair as they soared higher and higher into the night sky. She glanced down and found the ground receding away rapidly. Whoa... this thing is fast!

"Rainbow! Is that you?" shouted Rarity in a terrified screech. "Do something!"

"AH'M TWYING!" yelled back Rainbow Dash through gritted teeth. At this altitude, she couldn't kill the griffin, at least not without turning Rarity and Spike into two bloody smears on the ground. Even with her trying to slow them down, their combined weight would mean that the impact would still be hard enough to kill her friends.

That left her one option: get the griffin to fly lower.

Still holding onto the griffin with her teeth, Rainbow Dash maneuvered herself so that her back was toward the griffin.

"Get dawn!" growled Rainbow Dash as she started kicking the griffin in the head. The griffin screeched, whether from pain or annoyance, Rainbow Dash didn't know, nor did she care. "Jus... get... dawn!"

The kicking had an effect, but not one that Rainbow Dash was hoping for. The griffin started to twist and turn in the air, trying to throw off the offensive pegasus on its back. But no matter how much it threw Rainbow Dash around, her bite on the griffin's hair held firm.

Said griffin's hair, however, didn't. To Rainbow Dash shock, the hair ripped away from the griffin. Acting on pure instinct, Rainbow Dash used her wing claws and stabbed into the griffin's back and stopped herself from falling off. That's when the corner of her eye caught a brown shape zooming past her and she noticed that they're losing altitude... fast. One look at the griffin told her why.

In her desperate attempt to hold on with her claws, she had sliced off the griffin's right wing.

Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! CRAP! What do I do?! What do I do?!

"We're falling!" yelled out Spike.

"RAINBOW!" came Rarity's terrified cry.

Think... think... think! all the while, the griffin was screeching like a banshee. "Shut... UP!"

Rainbow Dash drove her wing claw into the neck of the griffin and silenced the griffin. Tendril shot out from her, disassembling and pulling the griffin into her. In a few seconds, only Rarity and Spike were in her sight. The dragon and unicorn looked at her, then at each other, before the two clung together and screamed.

Without wasting another second, Rainbow Dash grabbed Rarity just under her elbow and flapped her wings as hard as possible. She shut her eyes as the ground rose up rapidly to meet them, not wanting to see what happen when they hit the ground. All the while, Rarity and Spike kept on screaming.

Then a strange sensation came over Rainbow Dash. She felt her wings started catching more air as the familiar feeling flight wash through her. The wind blew against her face, instead of under her. Rarity's and Spike's scream had died away, leaving only the howling wind in her ear.

"Whoa..." sounded Spike. With great trepidation, Rainbow Dash cracked open one of her eyes, before opening both wide when she saw what happened.

She's flying. It wasn't a glide, but an actual flight. The stubborn hold of gravity on her for the past few days were gone. She was free, free to take to the sky as she had before.

Rainbow Dash looked to her side and found the answer to her freedom. Her wings had grown to a majestic size, easily three to four times longer and wider than a pegasus wing. In fact, Rainbow Dash could swear that her wings were about the same size as Princess Celestia, perhaps even larger. More importantly, they felt... powerful. She gave them a light flap, which was all that's needed to send her soaring high into the sky.

"Woo-hoo!" yelled Rainbow Dash at the top of her lung as she pulled into several somersaults. "I'm flying!"

That was when she noticed the screaming. Screams that sounded like Rarity and Spike. Rainbow Dash quickly leveled off. She glanced down and found two pair of eyes staring back: a fearful pair belonging to a dragon, and an enraged pair belonging to a unicorn.

"Put... us... down..." growled Rarity.

"Eh... heh... sorry..." said Rainbow Dash, feeling somewhat sheepish. She looked around and found Applejack waving at them with Fluttershy hopping up and down beside her. She turned in a wide arch and flew toward them. Once she got close, Rainbow Dash slowed to a hover, her wing beats sending up cloud of dust around her. She lowered Rarity and Spike to the ground, who were a bit slow at releasing each other, before landing herself.

"Rarity! Spike!" Fluttershy quickly trotted toward them. "Are you two alright?"

"Yeah... I'm fine." answered Spike.

"I'm... okay. Just... had a bit of a scare" Rarity turned to Rainbow Dash. "You saved my life... again!"

"Well, I hope that makes up for ditching you at Dodge Junction." replied Rainbow Dash with a grin. "That and getting hit by a sewing machine."

"Oh it certainly did! And more! I don't know what to say other than... thank you." said Rarity, who looked a bit guilty. "And... um... sorry about the sewing machine. I wasn't myself last night... after the... um..."

"Hey, don't sweat it. Didn't hurt me any." said Rainbow Dash.

"Ah must say. Dat's some huge wings you got there." commented Applejack, who had spent the last few moments staring at her wings.

"Yeah, pretty sweet huh?" said Rainbow Dash as she gave her wings a short flap, which sent dust and rock flying into Applejack's face. "Oops! Sorry!"

"Might wanna keep it tucked away before ya hurt some pony." said Applejack, who was trying to spit the dirt from her mouth. "... come to think about it, how do you fold that away?"

Rainbow Dash stared at her own wings for a while before she tried to just fold it. Under the ponies fascinated stares, black and red tendrils covered her wings as it shrunk back down to a more normal size as she folded them against her side. She spread them out again, and they grew back into the enormous wings that granted her flight.

"I guess like that!" Rainbow Dash repeated the motion a few more times before leaving it folded against her. "This will so come in hoofy for tornado day! Mare... think about how much wing power I can generate!"

"Wait, where's Twilight?" asked Spike, his head turning this way and that. "And Pinkie Pie? Where are they?"

"Oh my goodness! I almost forgot!" gasped Fluttershy. "I saw those scary griffin took them!"

"What?" Fluttershy's shrunk back a bit at the sudden outburst from her friends.

"I only had a few quick look while I was... rolling on the boulder. But I'm pretty sure that those monster grabbed them and flew away."

"Horse apples! Let's go! We need to catch them!" Rainbow Dash turned around to take off. However, a sharp tug on her tail quickly stopped her. She looked back and saw that Applejack had pinned the pegasus' tail under her hoof.

"Just where do ya think yer going?"

"I'm going to find Twilight and Pinkie! Now let go!" Rainbow Dash gave her tail an annoyed tug, but the earth's pony hoofing was solid.

"And how do ya think yer going to do that?" asked Applejack. "Do ya even know where to start?"

"Well... no." Rainbow Dash stopped trying to free her tail from Applejack and sat down.

"Thought so." Applejack, seeing that Rainbow Dash wasn't going to take off any time soon, took her hoof off the pegasus' tail. "We can't just charge around and hope we bump into them. Those monster could have taken them anywhere. Beside, we don't even know the land that well, it will be like finding a nail in a haystack."

"Needle, Applejack, it's needle in a haystack." correct Rarity. "But Applejack is right. As much as I... we worry about Twilight and Pinkie, we can't lose our head and run around willy-nilly. We need a plan."

"Okay. What's the plan then?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Ah say we do what we planned last night." said Applejack. "Head for the griffin villages, see what we can find out."

Rainbow Dash thought it over. At least it's better than flying around randomly.

"Let's do that." Rainbow Dash got back up and spread-out her wings, which grew back to the immense size that could support her in flight. "I'll scout ahead."

"Alright, Spike, get on." Spike nodded and quickly scrambled on Applejack's back. "Fluttershy, you take Rarity."

Rarity looked fearfully at the thought of riding on them again.

"Come on Rarity, we don't have all day!" shouted Rainbow Dash. With some trepidation, Rarity climbed onto Fluttershy's back and circled her hooves around her neck and flank. With the unicorn finally settled in, the group left for the setting moon.

====================================================================

"Ugh..." Pinkie Pie groaned as she opened her eyes and blinked away the drowsiness. She stared at the familiar ceiling of her bedroom, trying to see if the mild headache that was bothering her would go away.

Wow... that was a strange dream...

After she confirmed that the headache won't go away on its own, she rolled out of her bed and hit the ground on all four. Pinkie Pie slide her front hooves out, arching her back and sighed happily as the tension in them disappeared with a few pops. She felt even happier when she felt an itch running up her back.

Hey! Itchy back! It's going to be my lucky day! Pinkie Pie bounced twice before her headache got to her. Ugh... first, coffee, then lucky. Ooh, that rhymes! Coffee... Lucky... Coffee... Lucky... cof... ugh... pain... coffee... now.

Pinkie Pie dragged herself down the stairs to the shop floor. The familiar scent of cake baking wafted into her nose. She took a deep breath, breathing in the aroma, before letting it out with her second happy sigh of the day.

Hm... chocolate? No... strawberry? No... cherry? No... Hm... a new flavor? thought Pinkie Pie as she pushed open the swing door into the kitchen. "Good morning Mr. and Mrs. Ca... huh?"

The Cake couple was nowhere to be seen in the kitchen. Instead, on one side of the kitchen was Fluttershy, who was tending to the coffee machine. On the other side was... another Pinkie Pie, sporting straight manes and tail, watching over the oven.

"Good morning Pinkie Pie!" the two said in a chorus. Pinkie Pie trotted into the kitchen, staring at her other self with interest.

"Wait a minute... you are me!" commented Pinkie Pie. "Weird! I thought you only appear in my imagine spot."

"Of course I do! You're still dreaming." answered the other Pinkie Pie.

"Coffee?" asked Fluttershy, holding a steaming mug of coffee in her hooves.

"I am? Oh, thanks Fluttershy." Pinkie Pie took the mug and chugged it down in one go. She placed the now empty mug on the table, which was quickly taken away by Fluttershy. "Cool! I never got to talk to you before. I mean, I was always singing when I imagined you, so I never did imagine you talk, Pink... wait, is your name Pinkie Pie? Or did I give you some other name?"

"Pinkamena." answered the pink pony. Her eyes never left the oven.

"Hey, that's my name when I was little! So, are you like..."

*DING*

"Cupcakes are ready." said Pinkamena, who grabbed a mouth mitten before she opened the oven and pulled out a tray of cupcakes. Pinkamena kicked the oven door close with her hind-leg and carried the tray to the counter before depositing it there. "Have some."

"For me?" asked Pinkie Pie. "You never baked me cupcakes before."

"Fluttershy helped. Actually, she did most of the work." replied Pinkamena. Pinkie Pie turned to Fluttershy in surprise.

"You did? I know you cook, but I never knew you do baking too!"

"Um... I still don't know much about baking, so I'm sorry if they taste bad... but I put a lot of heart into those cupcakes." said Fluttershy.

"Yes, she really did." added Pinkamena.

"Aw thank you Fluttershy!" Pinkie Pie drew Fluttershy into a big hug before turning to the tray. The cupcakes looked like one of those red-velvet cupcakes, with chunks of cherries in them. "They look delicious! I'm going to try one!"

She took a bite out of one of the cupcakes. Fluttershy was right, she probably have never baked before. She could tell that Fluttershy probably added way more salt than just a pinch. Plus, as far as she could tell, Fluttershy forgot to add something sweet, but nor did it taste sour. Yet, it didn't taste bad, instead it was more of a very unique flavor, one that she couldn't quite put her hooves on.

"Shay Floo..." Pinkie Pie swallowed the cupcake. "Say Fluttershy, what did you put in the cupcake?"

"Oh, like I said, I..."

"Oops! Looks like it's time for you to wake up!" Pinkamena spun Pinkie Pie around and started pushing her out the kitchen. "Let's go, your friend need you."

"But wait! I want to know what's in those..." with a hard shove from Pinkamena, Pinkie Pie found herself floating in an foggy expanse of swirling red and black pattern. Behind her was the kitchen door she came from, seemingly floating in midair. She saw Pinkamena waving goodbye seconds before she started falling. "AHHHhhhh...!"

Pinkamena watched as her more bubbly personality plummeted into the fog before turning to the yellow pegasus beside her. "Okay, now, just how did you get in?"

====================================================================

On any other days, this would have been nice run. The salty breeze blew in Applejack's face as she galloped over a terrain sparsely populated by vegetation. To her left, an endless expanse of blue extended from the cliff edge all the way to the horizon. Sound of crashing wave and churning sea provided the only other sound beside the rustling of their hooves against the short, sturdy grass that survived the cold climate. The early morning sun warmed her back and drove away the chilliness in the air. All in all, it was a perfect day for a good run, if any of them had the mood to enjoy it.

Of course, none of them were in the mood to do so. Fluttershy galloped beside her and held an expression of constant worry. The same expression shared by her passenger, Rarity. Spike, on the other hoof, had been quite vocal about his worry, speculating progressive more horrifying fate for Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie until he hyperventilated, which required them to stop to calm him down. Since then, he had been relatively silent for the remaining trip.

Far ahead of them and high in the sky was Rainbow Dash, who flew in a wide circle on her massive wings as she surveyed the terrain ahead. Occasionally she would fly back to check up on them, but otherwise she just kept watch from her vantage point.

Rainbow Dash suddenly stopped and hovered. A few seconds later, she flew toward them.

"What did ya see?" asked Applejack as Rainbow Dash flew alongside them.

"Village ahead." answer Rainbow Dash with a note of uncertainty in her voice.

"And?"

"It doesn't look good..."

====================================================================

"Oh Celestia..." commented Fluttershy as they trotted into the griffin village, or what's left of one. Silence permeated the village, broken only by the sound their hooves crunching against the charred grass. Blackened stone houses scattered along the the road. A few lucky ones looked intact and retained the charred wooden frames for its thatched roof, but the rest were completely burnt down, with many just piles of broken stone where the walls once were.

The worst part, however, was the bodies. Burnt so badly that Applejack thought they were just logs, at least until she noticed that said log have beaks.

"What... just what in Celestia's name happened here?" asked Rarity, who made a point to avoid the burnt "logs" as she followed them.

"Fire." answered Applejack, earning her an annoyed look from Rarity. She knew that the answer wasn't helpful, but her mind was preoccupied at trying to figure out what happened here.

Did they set the fire themselves, trying to flee from the monsters? Or were they all... killed, and the fire burned out of control?... or...

The sound of beating wing drew Applejack's attention to the sky, where Rainbow Dash was coming in for a landing.

"Find anything?" asked Applejack. Rainbow Dash answered by shaking her head.

"No." she said. "It looks like it was like this for a while."

Applejack looked around some more and decided that Rainbow Dash was right. Among the charred landscape, fresh shoots of grass had started to grow. Of course, this only mystified her more as to what happened to the village.

"I don't think we'll find anything useful here." said Applejack. "Let's keep moving."

====================================================================

"Ah!" Pinkie Pie kept on screaming as she fell through the impenetrable fog of swirling black and red. After what seemed like an eternity, Pinkie Pie stopped out of boredom and exhaustion.

"Wow... just how far am I supposed to fall before I wake up?"

Her answer came quickly, in the form of her tail being yanked upward abruptly and she found herself dangling upside down.

Hey! What's going on? the world grew dark around her and she started to hear other voices.

"... so... what do I do with this one?" a deep, gruff voice reached her ears.

Who are they? Pinkie Pie cracked open one of her eyes just small enough to see out of them. Judging by how the blood was rushing to her head, and how everything was upside down, Pinkie Pie guessed that someone was grabbing her by the tail. From her inverted vantage point, Pinkie Pie guessed that they were in some sort of laboratory, with designs that looked straight out of horror movies. In the center, illuminated by a harsh lamp, was a single bed covered with restraining straps made from animal skins. Dried bloodstains streaked down the bed legs onto the floor, forming pools of dark-red splotches around the base. All along the walls were shelves, upon which jars upon jars of dark-red fluid rested, many with random organs stuffed in them.

She glanced to her side, and had to forced down a gasp that almost escaped her throat. Right beside her was the unconscious form of Twilight Sparkle, who, like her, was dangling upside down by her tail.

"Just throw her in the cage." said a lab-coat wearing griffin. His eyes were obscured by goggles and his claws were covered in rubber gloves. Gray feathers covered his head and neck. Down his body, the feather gave way to olive green hair. "Bring the unicorn here."

Oh no! They're going to cut up Twilight! horrifying thoughts ran through Pinkie mind as the griffin holding her headed for the entrance and past the griffin who had Twilight. Without thinking too much about it, Pinkie Pie twisted her body and snapped her teeth around the griffin's tail.

"GAH! IT GOT ME! IT GOT ME!" the griffin dropped Twilight head first to the floor as he started running around. Pinkie Pie kept her teeth sunk into the screaming griffin's tail, not letting up even as her captor tried to pull her away by her tail. The tug of war lasted mere seconds when her teeth suddenly snapped together. She flew backward before her back slammed into something soft, accompanied by a strangled cry of a griffin behind her.

"My tail! My tail!" Pinkie Pie got to her hooves, although unsteady from the residual effect of whatever drug those griffon gave. She was surprised to find that her teeth was still latched onto the griffin's tail, one that's no longer connected to any griffin. Pinkie Pie spat out the dismembered tail when she noticed that Twilight Sparkle was stirring on the ground.

"Ptoo..." Pinkie Pie spat out the dismembered tail when she noticed that Twilight Sparkle was stirring on the ground. "Twilight! Wake up!" shouted Pinkie Pie. "Wake..."

Pinkie Pie suddenly felt an impact on her cheek that sent her flying again. This time there wasn't anything soft to stop her from slamming into the hard stone wall. Stars swam in her eyes as she crumbled to a heap on the ground.

"Why you little!" the griffin with the missing tail walked up to her. His claw grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up before pinning her to the wall. His eyes glared at her with murderous rage as he raised his other claw, getting ready to strike at her.

"Pinkie... Pie?" Pinkie Pie looked over the griffin and saw Twilight's eyes flitted open. The unicorn looked confused at the situation she woke up in, but the confusion soon faded when she saw Pinkie Pie. "Pinkie Pie!"

Before Twilight Sparkle could get up, one of the other griffins tackled her to the ground. Twilight Sparkle writhed on the ground, trying to free herself from the griffin. More griffins piled on, trying to stop the struggling unicorn from moving. As she was slowly pinned down, her desperate eyes met Pinkie Pie's, and turned into ones of rage.

"Let... her... GO!" Twilight's voice dropped an octave on the last word as her eyes glowed a bright white. Purple aura erupted around her, blasting the griffins on her into the surrounding walls and shelves. Sounds of shattered glass filled the room as the impact sent jars crashing to the floor, spilling their crimson content all over the floor. The tail-less griffin released his hold on her, dropping her to the blood-soaked floor as his claws shielded his eyes from the light. Arcs of raw magic shot out from the hovering unicorn, exploding glass jars and collapsing shelves. Griffins ducked for cover as broken shards of glass and timber spiraled around the room, propelled by the whirlwind formed by Twilight Sparkle's magic.

Then, just like some pony hitting the light switch, the bright light disappeared, leaving behind a confused unicorn seconds before she dropped to the floor on all four. A familiar dart with a tuft of red hair was stuck in her side.

"Pinkie..." was all Twilight Sparkle managed before she collapsed to the ground.

"Twilight!" Pinkie Pie scrambled back up, ignoring the pain and dizziness in her head. With great difficulty owing to the wet slippery stone floor, she galloped toward the unconscious unicorn.

Okay... get Twilight! And... her thought was interrupted when she was tackled to the side.

"Get off me!" shouted Pinkie Pie as she twisted and bucked against the griffin. A sharp pain in her flank, however, told her that her struggle was to be in vain.

Oh no! Not again! Pinkie Pie fought against the wave of drowsiness that overtook her. She tried to keep her eyes opened, but it felt like they were made out of lead. As her vision fade, she felt a claw seized her by the neck and started to choke out her breath.

"I'm going to gut you like a fish!" said a voice that Pinkie Pie remembered belonging to the griffin who lost his tail. A shiver ran down Pinkie's spine when she felt a claw running along her stomach.

"NO!" another voice called out. "Lord Seth wants them alive. Both of them. He will have our hides if something happened to them!"

"But..."

"Talk to him if you have a problem with it! Otherwise shut your trap and take her to the cage! Damn... I hope they're not contaminated..."

"... ARGH!" Pinkie Pie felt herself dropped to the floor unceremoniously. Shortly thereafter, she found herself upside down once more as she was picked up by her tail again.

"What do we do with the unicorn?" asked a different voice, one that was growing faint and distance as she lost her fight to remain conscious.

"Take her..." was the last words she heard before sleep forcefully claimed her.

====================================================================

Please be okay... please be okay... thought Rainbow Dash as she flew up, having informed Applejack of another village ahead of them. According to Twilight's map, the village was called Featherhorn, home to the Whitetail griffins. They had passed two more villages not an hour ago, and both were just like the first, utterly destroyed and razed to the ground.

That's why she felt some relief when she noted that, at the distance, the village looked unscathed. It was built on top of a narrow peninsula that jutted up and out to the sea, surrounded by sheer vertical cliffs along the coast. In her opinion, it looked like a giant unicorn horn had lifted the earth from below. A massive and long stone building dominated the tip of the landmass, its gabled roof gave off a golden glow from the morning light. From there, a prominent path followed the slope down the peninsula, flanked on both side by smaller houses until it flatten out near the base. Even more impressive, she could see more wooden structures braced against the cliff wall itself.

What gave her mood a lift, was the griffins. Normal looking ones walked and flew around the village, going about their businesses.

"Hey guys!" shouted Rainbow Dash as she flew down to the rest of her friends. "Good news! There are griffins in this one!"

"Normal griffins?" asked Applejack. Rainbow Dash nodded in response. "Great! Looks like we'll finally get some answers."

The group made their way to the village. Some of the griffins turned to watch as they approached, but all soon returned to whatever they was keeping them busy. In fact, Rainbow Dash observed, every griffin in the village were either hurrying somewhere or hard at work. A great contrast when compared to Ponyville's more relaxed atmosphere.

"Oh my, they sure are a busy lot." commented Rarity. Rainbow Dash looked around, and stepped in front of a griffin carrying a large basket of fish on his back.

"Hey! Outta my way!" grunted the griffin. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

"I'm sorry, But we need to ask you something." said Rarity.

"Sorry, no time. If you wanna talk, talk to the lady." he replied.

"Okay, where can we find her?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Mead hall, up the hill." he replied. "Now outta the way."

Rainbow Dash stepped to the side and let the hurried griffin pass.

"How rude!" said Rarity.

"Well, at least he told us where to go, come on." said Rainbow Dash as they weaved their way through the busy village toward the large building at the top of the slope. As they went, Rainbow Dash noted that the village, despite all the activity, were quite empty. Most of the griffins were near the base of the peninsula, which was mostly occupied by workshops of various kind. While on the slope, where stores and houses were located, there was few griffins around outside of the occasional young griffins staring at the passing ponies. By the time they reached the great building, there was no griffins they could see around them.

"So... should we knock?" asked Applejack. Rainbow Dash stared at the building in front of her. Up close, the building's size was truly impressive, easily larger than any single building in Ponyville. Its thatched roof was, as Rainbow suspected, made out of dried hay. The wall itself was made out of stone blocks, reinforced by wooden beams. The pair of doors that guarded the entrance was as impressive as the building itself and covered in elaborate runes.

Twilight could probably translate that... thought Rainbow Dash. She raised her hoof and gave the roof a few raps.

"Give me a sec!" The door swung open, and a griffin backed her way out. Her head feather was white with a hint of gray at the tip of the feather and her eye-shadow. Her coat was a pale gray color, which matched the color of her tail except for the tuft of hair on the end, which was dyed white. Around her neck was a necklace, or more precisely a chain, from which a clipboard, quills, and a watch hung. A pair of glasses rested precariously on her slender beak, making her eyes looked larger than normal.

Whoa... egghead vibe... thought Rainbow Dash as the griffin turned around, wearing a smile on her face.

"Welcome back Lady Amelia, I'm sorry I didn't know you need help with the d... door..." the look of happiness quickly turned to one of disappointment, followed by one of uncertainty. "Who are you?"

"Hi! I'm Rainbow Dash. This is Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Spike. Yes, he's a dragon, but don't worry, he doesn't bite." added Rainbow Dash upon seeing a flash a terror on the griffin's face. "So... who are you?"

"Hi... I'm Galena... what are you ponies... and dragon, doing here?" she asked.

"We wish to talk to this lady Amelia." asked Rarity. "Is she not here?"

"I'm sorry ma'am, she's not here." said Galena.

"Where is she?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Fishing." answered Galena.

"Fishing?" repeated Rainbow Dash.

"Yes, you know, for food?" added Galena. She suddenly looked agitated and started flipping through the papers in her clipboard. "Do you have an appointment?"

"Er... no?" replied Rainbow Dash. "It's sort of an emergency... is that a problem?"

"YES!" shouted Galena with enough volume to force Rainbow Dash to step back. "There's no room left in my schedule!"

"So she's busy the rest of the day?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"No, she will be free after four." answered Galena, her eyes never leaving the clipboard. "Okay... maybe I can move the inventorying for cured fish..."

"Er... then what's wrong with the schedule?"

"I'm not free at that time!" said Galena, getting more agitated by the second.

"And?" Galena blinked at Rainbow Dash, as if surprised that the pegasus didn't know... whatever it was that the pegasus should know.

"I'm her record keeper!" said Galena, earning her a stare from the clueless ponies. "One of my job is to keep a record of every meeting. But I don't have room in my schedule to attend the meeting and... who are you?"

"Er... I'm Rainbow Dash. This is..."

"No no no no no... what's your official capacity?"

"O-fish... wha?" asked Applejack. Rainbow Dash shrugged, and Fluttershy looked a bit confused at the exchange.

"I think she means what we're doing here." said Rarity.

"Oh wait!" Spike rummaged through the saddle bag that belonged to Twilight Sparkle and pulled out a scroll bearing Princess Celestia's seal. "Does this help?"

Galena took the scroll from the young dragon and unrolled it. Her eyes went wide seconds later.

"YOU'RE SPECIAL ENVOYS FROM THE PRINCESS OF THE SUN!?" the griffin started to hyperventilate. "And you have been standing outside! I'm so sorry! Please come in! Where are my manner!? Welcome to Featherhorn, home of the Whitetail tribe..."

The ponies entered, or a better description was pushed into, the door by the babbling griffin.

"Oh... my..." voiced Rarity as she saw what's inside. The interior was a single massive dining room, occupied primarily by two long tables running along the entire room. A shorter table at the end joined the two long ones, creating a shape that resembles an elongated horseshoe. Bales of hay lined the tables for seating, with the ones at the far end looked like they're covered in... animal skin.

Ugh... I hope Fluttershy don't see that... thought Rainbow Dash. Oil lamps hung at regular intervals along the wall, all were extinguished at the moment. Instead, sections of thatched roofs were anchored open at regular spacing to let in natural light. Brilliant tapestries lined the wall, many depicted griffins battling some sort of monster or another. Fluttershy let out a small meep when she saw one showing a griffin fighting off a dragon in mid-air.

"... you want anything? Juice, fish soup... oh wait, ponies don't eat fish... you eat hay, right? We have hays on our roof... I can take a few bundles down and..."

"Er, don't worry, we brought our own food." said Applejack.

"Oh... okay..." the griffin stared at them for a while, her mind churning away trying to work out what to do next. She took a quick glance at her watch before she started panicking again. "Oh no! I'm going to be so behind on the inventorying. I have to go! Please, make yourself comfortable. I'll tell Amelia that you want to see her once she get back. Please don't go anywhere."

Before anyone could get in another word edgewise, Galena had slammed the door shut. After a long period of silence, Rainbow Dash opened her mouth again.

"Is it just me, or did we just meet a griffin version of Twilight?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Ain't just you, pardner." answered Applejack. The sound of a stomach growling echoed through the dining hall, causing all the other ponies and dragons to turn to Rarity.

"I'm starving..." said Rarity, her face red with embarrassment.

====================================================================

Hours later...

"So... bored..." groaned Rainbow Dash as she straddled the beam supporting the ceiling, her legs dangling lazily off the sides. Her eyes stared out of the skylight toward the distant ocean with longing. "How much longer do we have to wait?"

"Be patient Rainbow. She said Lady Amelia will be back at four." said Rarity, her eyes scanning at the five poker cards floating in front of her. "I never met a griffin lady before, I wonder what she'll be like... Fluttershy, do you have any nines by chance?"

"Um... go fish?... sorry..." replied Fluttershy, who was glanced up from the three cards in front of her apologetically.

"Like we keep saying Fluttershy, it's part of the game, you don't have to apologize all the time." Rarity looked at the pile of cards between them before levitating one up. A disappointed look on her face when she saw that it was not one she wanted. "Ugh, bad luck... your turn Fluttershy."

"Um... okay... Applejack... could I have your princesses..."

"Hey guys! Check it out!" shouted Rainbow Dash, causing Fluttershy to shot her wings out in surprise, creating a gust of wind that scattered the cards all over place.

"I'm sorry!" cried out Fluttershy as she trotted around trying to gather the cards back up.

"Don't worry about it darling, I'll take care of it." said Rarity. The scattered cards glowed a light blue as they arranged themselves back into a stack.

"Rainbow! Just what the hay was that about?" Applejack shouted back.

"Just come check it out!" Rainbow Dash had stuck her head out of the sky-light. Using her recently discovered ability, Applejack ran up the wall and poked her head through a skylight next to Rainbow Dash.

"Rainbow! What are you yelling about?" Rainbow Dash pointed her hoof out to sea and Applejack turned to followed it. "Whoa."

Against a backdrop of clear blue sky and sea, were griffins, hundreds of them. All skimmed close to the ocean waves as they flew back to their home. Applejack was quick to discover that there was a reason for them to fly so low to the sea. Behind each pair of griffins was a canoe, which carved out a frothy white wake in the water as they were towed by the griffins with two length of ropes. A single, triangular sail was anchored to the front of the canoe, controlled by a third griffin riding near the back of the canoe with more ropes. Between the griffin and the sail, were a mountain of fish, filling the canoe to the point that Applejack wondered why the canoe hasn't sunk yet.

That's a lot of fish... thought Applejack as the fleet of canoes approached the beach, where more griffins were waiting. Like a well-oiled machine, the instant a canoe touched the shore, two more griffins joined the three canoe pilots and helped them drag the canoes under one of the crane that lined the cliff . They latched the hooks, two on each side, onto the canoe and reeled it up. Up on the cliff, griffins unhooked and dragged the canoe away to unload its cargo of fish.

"I think that's her!" called out Rainbow Dash, pointing down the main road. Applejack looked down, a pair of griffins were coming up the road. One of them she recognized was Galena, who was talking to the griffin next to her at a mile a minute. The other griffin was new. Female, by the look of it. Her coat was light brown, almost yellow in color. And like the rest of the village, the tuft of her tail was painted white.

I'm guessing that's Lady Amelia As they drew near, Applejack and Rainbow Dash ducked back in.

"They're coming." said Rainbow Dash. The ponies and dragon quickly sat down at one of the side table and waited.

"... in summary, at the current rate of production, we should have enough to meet the quota." came Galena voice as the door opened.

"I wish it was that easy, our fishing ground is starting to deplete..." the griffin with the pale brown coat walked in. "... and if..." she froze when she saw the four ponies plus dragons in the room. "Galena, who are they?"

Galena, who had just entered door, turned her attention to the ponies. Her expression turned from confusion, to surprise, then finally to sheer terror.

"I FORGOT!" cried out Galena, "... how could I forget... how did I..." she flipped through her clipboard, finding the letter from Princess Luna before shoving it in front of the griffin beside her. "Lady Amelia, these are the special envoys from the solar princess..." The words came out of her mouth in a rapid-fire. "... envoys, this is Lady Amelia... oh, did I screw that up?..."

The griffin called Amelia scanned through the letter while Galena rambled on. After a while, she looked up at them and put her claw on Galena's shoulder.

"Galena." said Amelia. Galena stopped talking immediately and turned to Amelia.

"Yes my lady?" Galena's voice came out in a higher pitch than Applejack remember.

"It's okay, I got this. Go ahead and return to your work." said Amelia with a smile.

"Oh... okay..." Galena took another glance at them before backing herself out. Amelia waited until she no longer hear the flapping of the griffin's wing before turning back to them.

"I apologize, Galena tends to be a bit... excitable." she said.

"You're telling me..." Applejack heard Rainbow Dash muttered.

"I hope she did not cause you much trouble." continued Amelia.

"Oh, certainly not, your ladyship." answered Rarity.

"Good to hear, now, where are my manners." Amelia let out a chuckles. "I'm Lady Amelia, leader of the Whitetail tribe. And as belated as it may seem, welcome to Featherhorn."

"Ah, I'm Applejack, pleasure to meet you ma'am."

"I'm Rarity, it's an honor to meet you."

"Spike."

"I'm Rainbow Dash."

"... Fluttershy..."

"It is good to meet you all, and..." Amelia frowned and turned her attention to Rainbow Dash. "... you're Rainbow Dash?"

"Ah... yes?" the pegasus answered. In that instant, the griffin's look darkened.

====================================================================

Rainbow Dash gulped as the griffin walked toward her, piercing her with an icy glare.

"Tell me... Rainbow Dash... did you befriend any griffin before?" asked Amelia, her tone was unnaturally level and cold.

"Um... yes?" replied Rainbow Dash, starting to slowly back away from the advancing griffin. "... a few..."

"Any from... Junior Speedster Flight Camp?" Rainbow Dash suddenly felt like the air just got colder around her. She only managed a nod.

"Name?" Amelia narrowed her eyes at her.

"Er... Gilda..." replied Rainbow Dash. Sweat beads starting to form on her head. "Is she..."

"I see..." the pegasus suddenly find herself butting head with the griffin, their eyes mere inch from each other. Next thing she knew, the griffin exploded. "SO YOU ARE THE ONE!"

"I'm the one what?" replied Rainbow Dash as she tried to back away faster. However, Amelia kept up with the pegasus' scrambling.

"YOU ARE THE ONE WHO HURT GILDA!" Rainbow could see fire burning in Amelia's eyes. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH PAIN YOU CAUSED HER?"

"What? How?" babbled Rainbow Dash. With her back pinned against the wall, she had nowhere else to retreat. Instead, her eyes darted toward her friends for help. However, the stunned look on them told her that help wasn't coming.

"For weeks, she locked herself in her room and refused to come out. She barely ate. She won't talk to us, and the only thing she..."

"WHAT DID I DO?!" shouted Rainbow Dash.

"YOU DUMPED HER!" Amelia roared.

"I..." stammered Rainbow Dash before she realized what the griffin said. "WHAT?"

"Oh my... Rainbow, I did not know you're into... that kind of thing." uttered Rarity with her hoof to her mouth.

"Why ya never told us about this?" asked Applejack.

"Um... what's going on?" asked Fluttershy in a whisper. Sitting beside her, Spike simply went slack-jawed.

"NO!" cried out Rainbow Dash. "I'm... was never that way with Gilda!"

"Well! My DAUGHTER certainly didn't think so!" Amelia snarled. Her whole form heaved from heavy breathing as her eyes bore into Rainbow Dash.

"Your... daughter? Gilda... is your daughter?" asked Rainbow Dash, suddenly very worried for her own safety. While she had survived injuries far worse than she believed was survivable for anything alive, but against a mother who believed you hurt her child? Well... "... Please just let me talk to her... It's all a big misunder..."

Her friends gasped, and Rainbow Dash cringed when the enraged griffin lifted her claws to the air with a growl. But the strike never came, instead, Amelia merely held her claw in place, glaring at the terrified pegasus beneath her. Seconds later, the griffin's breathing started to slow as the rage in her eyes faded into weariness.

"... wouldn't have changed anything..." she mumbled, lowering her claws back to the ground and walked away with a slump. Amelia made her way to one of the leather covered haystack and sat down on it. Rainbow Dash took the chance to peel herself off the wall. The pegasus made her way back to her friends, still a bit shaky from a confrontation with an angry mother.

Gilda fancied me... that way? the confusing thought ran through Rainbow Dash as she stared at the deflated griffin. It was impossible for her to imagine Gilda, a griffin that prided so much on being cool, to suffer like that when Rainbow broke of her friendship with her. Even if she was being a jerk to all her other friend, Rainbow Dash couldn't help but feel sorry for her former friend. When no pony spoke a word, Rainbow Dash hesitantly opened her mouth.

"Um... where's Gilda?" Rainbow asked. Amelia flicked up toward her, a short flare of anger within them that quickly faded.

"Not here." she said with a hint of sadness before returning to stare at the ground.

"What happened... AW!" Applejack gave her a painful jab to the side, giving her a look that told Rainbow Dash to stop talking. No words were exchanged for a while, until Amelia gave a loud sniff and looked up.

"My apology, envoys, for that outburst." said Amelia. "The past few weeks had been quite stressful."

"And we're sorry for intruding on ya at this time... of course, if there's anything we can help." said Applejack. Amelia simply shook her head.

"No, it's just some politics amongst griffin tribes. It does not concern you." said Amelia, ending it in a tone that said they should not pursue it any further. "I will aide you in whatever way we're capable of. After that, please leave."

"Okay... well, ya see, two of our friends were..."

At that moment the door slammed open and Galena came tumbling in.

"My lady! It's them!" she shouted.

"Argh! Why now?" growled Amelia before she got up and trotted to the door. "Stay here, all of you."

With that, Amelia followed Galena out and close the door. The ponies looked at each other in confusion.

"What... just happened?" asked Rarity.

"Don't know." Rainbow Dash looked around and noted one of the sky-lights was above the main entrance, which should give her a good view of the village itself. "I'll go take a look."

"Wait for me." called out Applejack, the two quickly scaled the wall until they can peek out the window.

====================================================================

"Whoa... those griffins are huge..." commented Rainbow Dash. Beside her Applejack had to agree. There, in the middle of the village, were three new griffins standing side by side. By the look of their beak, two males and one female, each with a distinct shade of black on the tip of their wing feathers. Beneath those wings, Applejack could see that each of them was carrying a crossbow, along with two satchels with what looked like more weapons. Their claws were reinforced with metal talons. What's more striking, however, was their size. Towering over their host, Amelia, these griffins were easily two or three times the size of any griffins.

Despite the distance, Applejack found that she could still make out what they're saying if she concentrated toward them.

"What do you want Damian?" demanded Amelia. "Your weekly 'ransom' isn't due for another two days."

Ransom? Applejack turned to Rainbow Dash, who looked back and shrugged.

"My my..." the one in the middle strode out and started to circle the smaller griffin like a predator circling a prey. "Still as feisty as ever."

"I asked, what do you want?" repeated Amelia, sounding more wearied this time. "I don't have time to play with your game."

"Aw, but I like games." said Damian in a mock child-like voice. When Amelia didn't respond to it, he snorted out of annoyance and dropped the tone. "Fine. Down to business. We're looking for some ponies."

"And you come here because?" responded Amelia in a bored tone.

"I have it on good authority that they were here... am I right Lilith?" Damian turned to one of the other two griffins.

"Ya," she answered absentmindedly. "I saw them entering the village."

"And what do you want with them?" said Amelia.

"What WE want with them is none of your concern!" snapped Damian. "Now! Where are they?"

"I'm warning you, Damian, those ponies are special envoys from the solar princess, if anything..." in a flash, Amelia was on her back, pinned to the ground by a set of talons.

"Listen here you pony-loving peasant." Damian growled. "I don't care who or what these ponies are. Nor do I care that some fruity princess sent them. I do care about where they are, right now. And in case you have forgotten, we have your husband and daughter. So for yours and their sake, you better start telling me where those ponies are!"

"Rainbow! Did ya hear what..." Applejack felt a gust of wind to her side. The next thing she knew, a rainbow blur was streaking through the air toward the griffins.

====================================================================

Rainbow Dash did not like bullies. In truth, she disliked bullies even more than she disliked losing. But these griffins were beyond being bullies, they were something else, something that Rainbow Dash discovered she despised even more. These griffins were thugs, and she was going to teach them a good lesson.

"GET YOUR CLAWS OFF HER!" Rainbow Dash shouted. Damian looked up in surprise at the shape barreling toward her. With a quick flap of his wings, he managed to get out of the pegasus' path. Rainbow Dash slammed into the ground where Damian once was, and skidded a few feet before coming to a stop, leaving behind four trenches trailing behind each of her hooves.

"Ah... I guess you're in luck Amelia." said Damian smugly, recovering quickly from the initial shock of the sudden appearance of Rainbow Dash. "... looks like our quarry decides to turn herself in."

"Envoy! What are you doing?" Amelia hissed from behind. However, Rainbow Dash didn't respond, her attention focused on the three griffins in front of her.

"Rainbow!" came Applejack's distant cry as she gallop down the path toward her. Right behind her was Fluttershy and Rarity, the latter of which having a lot of trouble keeping up with the others.

"Ah, so there's the rest... wait... Rainbow... Rainbow... You're Rainbow Dash?" asked Damian with a note of disbelief.

"Yeah..." Rainbow Dash glowered at the griffin.

How does he know my name? Rainbow Dash watched with unease when the side of Damian's beak twisted to a manic grin.

"Tell me Lilith..." said Damian. "... there's another pegasus right?"

"Ya..." the female griffin squinted toward the slope where Applejack and the rest of her friends were. "Yep, a yellow one."

"Good!" said Damian. "Go get them! Make sure take the yellow one alive."

"Hey!" shouted Rainbow Dash as Lilith and her other companion took off. "Don't you touch my friends!"

She turned around to give chase, but was unable to when her hind-leg was immobilized with a dull pain. Looking back, Rainbow Dash found a three hooves long metal bolt in her leg, pinning her to the ground.

"Oh no no no no no..." chortled Damian, holding a crossbow in his claw. "... YOU are staying here! I'm going to enjoy killing you! Slowly..." he said as he pulled back the string and clicked another bolt in place.

"Fat chance!" retorted Rainbow Dash. With a sharp tug, Rainbow Dash tore her immobilized leg free. The wound quickly closed up in a mass of black and red tendrils. Her wings warped into claws, which had grown to be the same size as her flight wings. Rainbow Dash grin in an odd satisfaction as she noted the look of shock on Damian's face. His response was almost automatic. He pointed the crossbow at the pegasus and fired again. It proved to be ineffective, as Rainbow Dash simply gave her clawed wings a quick swipe and knocked the bolt to the ground.

"Surprise! Jerk!" shouted Rainbow Dash before she pounced.

Day 7: Part 2

"Heavens to Betsy! That varmint just shot Rainbow!" cried out Applejack, urging her own hooves to run faster. Worries for Rainbow's well-being soon evaporated when she saw the griffin soaring into the air, followed close behind by a rainbow blur. "Oh, never-mind... she's okay..."

... forgot about that quick healing thingamajig... thought Applejack. However, the scream that followed came from a pony that definitely did not have that luxury.

"AH!" Applejack spun around at the cry and saw Rarity stopping mere inches from a metal bolt in the ground. At the same time, Fluttershy dove to the side, barely missing the pair of outstretched metal talons swooping down on her.

"Applejack! Behind you!" called out Rarity. Applejack caught movement at the corner of her eyes and stepped to the side by reflex, narrowly avoiding a second metal bolt slamming into the ground. Applejack looked up as the second griffin passed over her and saw them circling back around.

"RUN!" yelled Applejack. The three of them quickly galloped away as two more bolts landed nearby. Applejack rammed her head into a cart she came across, and with a quick snap of her neck, launched it toward their pursuers. One of them, Lilith, avoided the flying vehicle without any effort. Her companion, on the other hoof, flew right into it. However, to Applejack's surprise, the griffin only tumbled in mid-air for a bit before catching himself.

"DIRT PONY HIT BLAKE!" roared the griffin. "BLAKE BREAK YOU!"

Oh appleseed! Applejack darted down a side street as the griffin gave chase. The narrow path prevented the griffin from flying down to her and the overhanging roof provided some cover. However, that didn't stop the griffin from firing blindly down at the earth pony. Bolts after bolts landed around her, a few even grazed her, which stun a bit even if they didn't cause any permanent harm. The side street wasn't very long, and soon, Applejack found herself turning down an open road, where bewildered griffins stared at the pony galloping down it.

"GOTCHA!" roared Blake as he let loose another bolt, which again missed, but came dangerously close to a nearby griffin. That was enough to send all of them running and flying away in a panic. As bolts continued to fall around her, Applejack figured out two things.

One, this Blake fella was a very, very lousy shot.

Two, there were a lot of innocent bystander around her.

Need to get this idiot out of the village. with that goal in mind, Applejack galloped toward the nearest exit she knew of.

====================================================================

Rarity skidded to a halt inches away from the cliff edge at the end of the alleyway. Her heart thumped painfully like a jackhammer in her chest. Wheezing and gasping, Rarity gulped down as much air as she could while she pressed her back against. She looked around frantically, looking for a way out, a way to get away from...

... nothing.

Rarity looked around her. The alleyway was empty and the sky above was clear. There was no sign of the griffins that were chasing her, which was a relief. However, the fact that she couldn't see her friends was starting to worry her.

That worry turned to outright fear when Fluttershy's scream echoed nearby.

====================================================================

Get idiot griffin out of village... done. assessed Applejack as she galloped out onto the open field by the cliff. Behind her, Blake followed her in the air without showing any sign of stopping. In fact, the griffin was getting more and more determined to kill her.

"STOP RUNNING DIRT PONY!" roared Blake as another one of his bolt landed where Applejack had been just a second ago.

"Well! Stop trying to kill me!" shouted back Applejack.

"DIRT PONY HIT BLAKE!" the griffin fumbled around in his satchel before he, as impossible as it seems, got angrier. "DIRT PONY MADE BLAKE USE ALL SHINY POKEY!"

Oh good! He's out of weapons.

"DIRT PONY MAKE BLAKE USE BOOM APPLE!"

Er... what? Applejack looked back. In the griffin's metal talon was a round metal sphere, with a short length of string that was sparking on the end. He hurled the metal sphere at the earth pony, who quickly ran to the side away from it. The bomb detonated a good few dozen hooves away from her, but was still close enough to knock her to the ground and shower her with red hot shrapnel.

"DIRT PONY LIKE APPLE?" mocked Blake in a gleeful tone.

Nope... Applejack pushed herself up, spitting out dirt and grass from her mouth. She could feel the shrapnel poking through her skin as her body struggled to eject them. It was a strange and uncomfortable feeling, like dozens of ants crawling through her.

"DIRT PONY WANT ANOTHER?" Applejack snapped her attention back to the griffin, who had another those bomb out. She took off galloping once more as Blake lit the fuse by the sparks from clicking his metal talons together. "DON'T RUN! IT'S JUST APPLE!"

Applejack kept an eye on Blake, who held the lit bomb in his talon. When the fuse was almost gone, the griffin chucked the bomb at her once more. Applejack dodged to the side again, but as before, the bomb detonated just off the ground, catching her within the explosion and sent her tumbling head over heel. This time, Applejack found herself hurtling toward the edge of the cliff.

She managed to dug her hooves in just in time to stop herself from flying over the edge. Instead, Applejack found herself dangling just under an overhanging section of the cliff. She took a moment to catch her breath and to work the additional shrapnel out of her body. Her eyes caught the griffin, Blake, flying down the side of the cliff. He didn't notice the earth pony clinging to the cliff wall just below the overhang, obscured by the shadow it provided. Instead he was searching the bottom of the cliff, apparently convinced that she had fallen to her death amidst the waves that crashed against the jagged rock below.

Big mistake! thought Applejack as the blade-like horns emerged from the side of her head. She galloped down the side of the cliff, her eyes tracking the circling motion of the griffin below. Blake was starting his turn back when she launched herself off the cliff straight at the unaware griffin.

One thing Applejack didn't count on, however, was the sheen on her near razor sharp horns. The flash of light reflecting off it when her horn caught the sunlight was enough to warn the griffin of the incoming attack. A single flap of his wing was all that was needed to get himself out of the flying pony's path. With the griffin out of her view, Applejack found herself falling toward the sea itself.

Got a bad feeling about... Applejack never did finish her thought when she plunged into the foaming wave. To her shock, she found herself drowning almost the instant she was submerged underwater. Flailing her legs about, she struggled to find purchase as the undercurrent swept her away. As luck would have it, the current brought, or slammed, her right into a rock. Applejack quickly dug her hooves into it and launched herself out of the water. using the brief respite in the air before she dropped back into the sea, she found a small section of beach nearby. With another powerful kick against the jagged rocks, she launched herself toward dry surface.

Applejack splashed down near the water's edge, where crashing waves kept on washing over her. She quickly crawled the rest of her way onto the sandy beach before collapsing into a heap. She took the moment to collect her thought as she tried to catch her breath.

What the hay was... a hissing sound quickly derailed her train of thought. She looked to her side, and found a lit bomb laying in the sand right next to her.

Oh Clop! Applejack swore mentally as she tried to scramble away from the explosive device. She barely just got to her hooves when the bomb went off, sending her plowing through the sand. She came to a stop at the base of the cliff, amidst piles of fallen boulders.

"DIRT PONY LOVE THAT APPLE?" Applejack glared at the griffin mocking her as she pushed herself upright. She spat out mouthful of sand and winced from the pain of her body trying to force bits of metal shards from the bomb out of her. However, the griffin wasn't about to give her any rest when he pulled out two more bombs and lit them. "HAVE TWO MORE!"

Applejack didn't move. She knew that in her current state, any attempts at avoiding those explosives would be futile at best, if it wasn't so before. Instead, she needed at plan.

She didn't manage to form a plan when Blake hurled the bombs at her. Out of pure reflex, Applejack closed her eyes and braced herself, hoping beyond hope that she could endure this.

The bombs detonated right at her sides. But strangely enough, she wasn't thrown about, and neither could she feel the shrapnel lashing into her. Sure the explosive jolt did shook her a bit, but otherwise she remained solidly planted to the ground. Applejack opened her eyes and saw the strangest change that had came over her.

She was black. Not that her hair and mane had turn to black, but a solid, bone-like mass had covered her entire body. As she took a closer look, Applejack could see pieces of shrapnel, just barely embedded in the mass, falling off them.

It's an armor... of sorts... thought Applejack as she tried to move her body. While the hard carapace was making movement a bit restrictive, but there was no doubt that she could still move. ... nice...

"What... how..." stuttered Blake, which drew her attention.

"Well, I guess yer 'apple' ain't so great now, is it?" said Applejack. That had the effect enraging the griffin once more.

"NO!" Blake pulled out two more bombs. "MORE APPLE GOOD!"

He lit the two bombs in his talons, and in his rage, threw them immediately. It was a small mistake, but one that Applejack quickly recognized. She spun around and bucked the two incoming explosives right back. Blake's expression turned from rage to one of surprise before the twin bombs detonated next to him, engulfing in a cloud of smoke him.

"Now! How do ya like dem apples!" called out Applejack as the smoking griffin plummeted to the ground. Blake, however, was not dead yet. Although seriously injured, he still managed to crawl to his feet, wearing a look of rage on him.

"Dirt pony is going to..."

Both Applejack and Blake suddenly noticed a loud hissing noise. Applejack traced the sound to one of Blake's satchel, which was giving off a copious amount of smoke. Something that Blake also realized shortly thereafter. Dumbfounded, he looked back up at Applejack, who quickly backed up and reform the armor around herself.

"... Oh... this is ba..." Blake's voice was cut off when his satchel exploded. Even in her armored form, Applejack was pushed back by the force of the explosion. When the smoke finally cleared, all that remained of the griffin was a crater in the sand, one that was quickly filled in by sea water.

====================================================================

The gravel crunched beneath her hooves as she galloped down another alley. Fluttershy had long lost track where she was, nor did she really care. She had been running for a while, trying to escape from the griffin that was pursuing her.

"Gah!" screeched Fluttershy when a metal bolt landed right in front of her. She turned and galloped down a different path. But in the back of her mind she knew that no matter how hard she tried to escape, the griffin would always find her. The griffin never reveal herself, instead the only time Fluttershy knew she was found was when a metal bolt landed right in front of her. Fluttershy was growing hysterical from the sheer panic of not knowing where her pursuer was.

Without warning, the walls that surrounded her dropped away and the sky opened up. Fluttershy dug her hooves in, stopping herself from running head first into a wall. She looked around in panic, and found herself sitting in the middle of a small clearing surrounded on all side by rock walls. Fluttershy turned around, trying to escape from the alleyway she came from, when another metal bolt landed right in her path.

"Please stop please stop please stop please stop..." whimpered Fluttershy as she shuffled back against the wall.

"Aw..." came Lilith's voice. "... come on, keep running, I was just starting to have fun."

Fun? the thought triggered something in Fluttershy. You were scaring me... for fun?

Fear turned to anger as Fluttershy shook. "... no..."

"What did you say?"

Fluttershy took a deep breath. "No. I'm not running any more."

"Aw... come on..." Fluttershy flinched when another bolt landed, this time much closer to her. However, she managed to suppress her urge to start running. "... the game was just getting started."

"Then I'm not going to play." said Fluttershy, trying to keep herself from shaking. She glanced around nervously, scanning the thatched roof and the cloudy sky for any sign of the griffin.

"Fine, be that way." Fluttershy didn't even have time to react when she felt an impact in her right side. Almost immediately, her hind-leg gave out under her. She looked to her side, and found a red-feathered dart embedded next to her cutie-mark.

A rustling sound to her right drew her attention. On the roof, silhouetted against the low hanging sun, a griffin took off into a small glide before landing just a few yards away from her. Lilith stood there, casting a bored look at Fluttershy while holding blowgun in her metal talon.

"Tsk... I was hoping to have more fun with you..." she said. Fluttershy tried to drag herself away with her still usable fore-legs. At the same time, she was fighting against the sudden urge to fall asleep.

"Hm... odd, they say these things should drop your kind fairly quickly." said Lilith as she took out another dart from her satchel and stuffed it into the blowgun. "Oh well, two should do the trick."

Fluttershy redoubled her effort to get away when Lilith pointed the blowgun at her. The griffin took aim and started to inhale when a blur smashed against the side of her head, causing her to drop her weapon to the ground. Lilith held the side her head, where rivulet of blood was dripping down, and swore loudly. Fluttershy soon found the reason for the griffin's behavior, a bloody brick lying on the ground next to Lilith.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" in walked an enraged Rarity. Her horn glowed, levitating several pieces of rocks and bricks next to her. "YOU RUFFIAN! BRUTE! HOOLIGAN!"

With each word, Rarity chuck the hovering projectiles at Lilith. The griffin raised her right wing to protect her head from the projectile while, as Fluttershy watched, drew out her loaded crossbow from under her left wing.

"... Rarity..." Fluttershy choked out, still trying to fight off the sedative effect of the dart. "Rarity!"

"What Flutter..." Rarity turned to her. In her moment of distraction, Lilith whipped out her crossbow and took aim.

"... watch..." forced out Fluttershy, but the rest of her warning was stuck in her throat when Lilith squeezed the trigger.

*CRACK* Fluttershy watched in horror as Rarity's head snapped to the side, throwing her into a spin before she collapsed to the ground.

... Rarity... no... tears welled up in Fluttershy as her gaze was frozen on the still unicorn. ... no...

"Dammit... that hurts..." complained Lilith, who glanced toward the unicorn with a snarl. "Well... Damian never said we needed a unicorn."

The griffin strode toward Rarity and glared down at the motionless unicorn. "Hm... I wonder what unicorn tastes like... hope Damian doesn't mind..."

... you monster... Fluttershy shook as red haze clouded her vision. The drowsiness quickly fade away along with the paralysis in her legs.

"Nah, you snooze, you lose, I say." said Lilith as she examined her metal talon before reaching out for the unicorn.

"... you monster..." growled Fluttershy. Black and red tendril crisscrossed her mane as they started to morph and shift, twisting themselves into a jagged spear.

"Huh?" Lilith froze and turned her head toward her at the sound. For a moment, she had a perplexed expression on her, before quickly turning to one of fear.

"YOU MONSTER!" roared Fluttershy. A solid bundle of tendrils, thick as a tree trunk, shot out from her mane. The griffin didn't even have time to blink before the solid mass smashed into her. The tendrils continued on, carrying the impaled griffin with it until it slammed her into the wall. For a few seconds, the tendril kept Lilith pinned to the wall while the griffin's eyes wobbled in shock and pain as she stared back at the pegasus. Then, the bundle of tendril retracted, shrinking and fraying apart until it reverted back to Fluttershy's pastel mane.

With rage burning in her, Fluttershy's body shook as she marched toward the griffin with deliberation. Lilith was, as impossible as it seems, still alive. Blood pooled inside the gaping hole through the middle of her torso as she gasped desperately for breath. Sheer terror filled her eyes as she watched the pegasus approached.

"... If you try to hurt my friend..." snarled Fluttershy as she reared back. "... I'll make sure you meet your END!"

The last thing Lilith saw was a pair of hooves descending on her head.

====================================================================

"Hey! Get back here!" shouted Rainbow Dash as she swooped past Damian. She had to give the griffin some credit, he knew how to fly. While her wings gave her the speed advantage, her added momentum due to her mass meant that she couldn't outmaneuver the griffin. It was something that was starting to irk her as Damian once again dodged her ramming attempt. Rainbow Dash quickly rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding a metal bolt sailing past her. She banked around and watched as Damian took off away from her.

They had been doing the same dance for almost ten minutes, Rainbow Dash reckoned. And so far, the number of times she managed to hit the griffin was precisely zero. Damian, on the other hoof, managed to land a few metal bolts right in the pegasus. Of course, while it did stun something fierce having a bolt of size tearing through her body, as far as she knew, it didn't cause much damage. The fact that she always recovered quickly after getting hit so many times was freaking out the griffin in a major way.

"GET AWAY FROM ME YOU MONSTER!" yelled Damian as Rainbow Dash continued her pursuit.

"Hey! Who are you calling a monster? Jerk!" shouted Rainbow Dash. "And what did you do to Gilda!"

Rainbow Dash didn't really expected a response, and she didn't get one. Putting more powerful strokes into her wings, Rainbow Dash surged toward Damian. Even with her inability to land a hoof on the flighty griffin for the past... oh, a few dozen attempts, Rainbow Dash hoped that in one of the pass the griffin would make a mistake. Something that Damian didn't make in this pass as he snapped away from her.

"Gah!" yelped Rainbow Dash as a metal bolt slammed right at the base of her left wing. She plummeted for few second before her body eject the bolt and she regained use of her wing. Grunting in annoyance, Rainbow Dash she turned back to track the fleeing griffin, made somewhat difficult against the glare of the sun.

Wait! The sun! a planned formed in Rainbow's mind. She pushed herself higher as she followed Damian, who had an eye on her watching her every move. Here I go!

She dove down toward the watching griffin like she had done many times before. Just as she expected, Damian quickly changed direction. With a deft twitch of her wings, Rainbow Dash rolled to the side and avoided the flying bolt. Another quick adjustment in her wings, Rainbow Dash soared up, up toward the sun.

"STOP DOING THAT YOU MON... AH!" Rainbow Dash grinned in satisfaction as Damian was forced to cover his eyes. She looped over the top of the climb and broke into a dive. The griffin struggled to see in her direction. When Damian managed to catch a glimpse of a shape diving toward him, he gave his wings a hard flap, trying to change his direction. Although by then, it was already too late for the griffin.

Rainbow Dash's right wing impacted its counterpart on the griffin with a sharp crack. After leveling off to prevent an intimate encounter with the ground itself, she looked back with immense satisfaction as Damian spiraled down to the village. Circling around, Rainbow Dash followed the griffin as he crashed into the village's main road, where villagers were starting to gather around the downed griffin.

Well, time to end this. thought Rainbow Dash as she descended and hit the ground in a gallop. Her wings, no longer needed for flight, morphed into two sets of menacing claws. She didn't intend to kill the griffin, just to scare him into telling her what happened to Gilda. Plus, Rainbow Dash had a feeling that this creep would know where Twilight and Pinkie were. Her hooves thundered along the sparse plain as she charged into the village. Damian was already up, battered and bruised, with his right wing bent at an odd angle and dragged uselessly on the ground. When he saw the pegasus barreling toward him, he did something that Rainbow Dash never expected.

Damian pounced into the surrounding and pulled a griffin, which Rainbow Dash recognized immediately as the egghead Galena, into a choke-hold and jammed the loaded crossbow at her temple. Rainbow Dash quickly dug her claws into the ground and screeched to a halt.

"Stay back or she gets it!" warned Damian.

Hayseed! "Hey! Let her go you coward!" shouted Rainbow Dash, growling at the griffin as she pulled her claws out of the ground.

"Nuh uh..." Damian shook his head. "Like I'm going to listen to you FREAK! BACK OFF!"

"... please... let me go..." pleaded Galena when her captor dragged her back a few step.

Rainbow Dash snorted in anger, her right hooves scrapping at the ground, but was otherwise unable to do anything.

"Galena!" called out Lady Amelia as she trotted in. Her eyes glanced toward Rainbow Dash, or specifically her clawed wings, before turning her attention back to Damian. "Damian! What do you think you're doing? Let her go!"

"So... conspiring with the enemy, eh?" said Damian with a nasty snarl. "I should be the one asking IF you know what you're doing..."

"I..." stuttered Amelia. Her eyes darting between Rainbow Dash and Damian.

"Rainbow! I saw you..." Applejack skid to a stop next to Rainbow Dash, her eyes staring at the scene before raising her volume. "HEY! Yer no good, stinking cheater!"

"Ain't cheating if it gets the job done." answered Damian with a smug look.

"And what what are ya going to do now?" challenged Applejack. "Can't exactly do anything dragging her around like dat."

Damian's looked around him. It was clear to Rainbow Dash that the griffin had no idea what he's going to do next.

"It looks like you need some help, Damy.." Applejack looked up in dismay at the source of the voice. Lilith was gliding down toward them before she flared her wings out and landed in a short trot next to Damian.

"Where's the yellow one?" asked Damian. Lilith seemed unsure, glancing at Rainbow Dash and back to Damian. A sudden sense of dread descended upon the pegasus.

"I'm sorry..." said Lilith, looking ashamed at herself. "She put up quite a bit a fight... and I may have... accidentally..."

No! Rainbow Dash screamed inwardly as her wings went slack from shock. Beside her, Applejack was frozen with her eyes wide in disbelief.

"Argh! Father needed a pegasus!" cried out Damian in frustration. His outburst snapped Rainbow Dash back to the situation at hoof.

"How about this?" Lilith gave Damian a flirtatious grin as she ran her talon through his neck feather. "I'll take this little griffin and keep her... situated so you can go give that pegasus..." Lilith gestured toward the Rainbow Dash. "... a good thrashing before we deliver her to your father."

Damian went contemplative for a few seconds, catching Rainbow's seething glare before letting out a malicious smile.

"Sounds like a grand idea." said Damian as he pushed Galena into Lilith. He immediately started advancing on Rainbow Dash, flexing his metal covered talons. "I'm going to enjoy hurting you."

Rainbow Dash, however, did not pay attention to the approaching griffin for long. Instead, she stared in bewilderment as Lilith whispered something to Galena before simply letting the bookish griffin go. Then, without Damian noticing what's going on, Lilith pulled out her crossbow and followed after him.

"Hey! What the hell are you all looking at?" asked Damian, noticing the two ponies were looking at something behind him. He never did get a chance to find out what it was. The instant Lilith reached Damian, she reared up, wielding the crossbow in both her talon and swung. The crossbow introduced itself to the back of Damian's head, which snapped forward into the ground and dragged the rest of the body with it.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack stood slack jawed, their eyes flicking between the unconscious form of Damian and a very surprised looking Lilith.

"Uh... wha..." uttered a bewildered Applejack. That appeared to have caught Lilith's attention, who looked up at them with a mixture of fear, confusion, and surprise. Before long, however, all those went away when she started crying.

"... we did it..." sobbed Lilith. "... all those villagers... we killed them... oh Celestia..."

A collective gasped spread across the gathered griffins as black and red enveloped her form as she started to shrink. Her coat and wings lightened to a yellow color as pastel mane grew out from her neck. The lion-like tail split apart into pink colored strand. Her metal talons popped out as the uncovered talons fused into two hooves. When the transformation was finally complete, the tendrils disappeared, leaving behind a weeping Fluttershy.

"Fluttershy!" called out Rainbow Dash and Applejack as they rushed to Fluttershy's side, ignoring the murmur from the griffin crowd around them. Fluttershy looked up at the two ponies with flooded eyes.

"Rainbow... Applejack... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." said Fluttershy in between sobs.

"No... it's okay Fluttershy..." said Applejack, putting her hoof on the sobbing pegasus' back. "Ya dun nothing wrong."

"... we got Twilight..." choked out Fluttershy. "... and Pinkie... and I didn't do anything... I wanted to do something... but I couldn't... I'm sorry..."

Applejack and Rainbow Dash exchanged a surprised and worried look. However, a fresh wail convinced Rainbow Dash that Fluttershy needed them right then and there. She took the crying pegasus' shoulder by her hooves and pull her from the ground to eye-level.

"Fluttershy, look at me." said Rainbow Dash. When Fluttershy didn't respond, she gave her a small shake. "Look at me!"

Fluttershy did as she said. Rainbow Dash had to forced down the urge to cry with her when she saw Fluttershy's tear-streaked face.

Be strong for Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash knew to some extent what Fluttershy's going through. It's the same with her when she first... absorbed the diamond dog back in Ponyville. The flood of memories and emotion was painful, and that was from a diamond dog what had partially turned and whose worst act was, as far as she knew, conking another diamond dog in the head. But for Fluttershy, she had... consumed a griffin, whether she was in control of herself at the time Rainbow didn't know and didn't care. What's important to her was that the normally kind and meek pegasus in front of her had just witness memories of unspeakable horrors.

"Fluttershy, listen to me. That's not you." said Rainbow Dash forcefully.

"But..." choked out Fluttershy as she tried to look away. Rainbow Dash gave the pegasus a quick shake and got her to look back.

"It's... Not... You..." emphasized Rainbow Dash. "It's not you that did all those things. They are just memories, memories of a really, really bad griffin."

"... but..." Fluttershy didn't finish whatever she was trying to say when Rainbow Dash wrapped her forelegs around her. So instead, Fluttershy buried her face in Rainbow Dash chest and wailed her heart out.

====================================================================

Ugh... my head hurts... groaned Pinkie Pie. Her mouth felt like sandpaper and her nose was filled with stench of blood. Of course, those concern were secondary to the screeching sound of metal on stone that was making her headache worse.

"Oh great... the annoying pink one is awake." Pinkie Pie's ears shot up. It was a voice she recognized a long time ago, if almost a year was a long time.

The party pony opened her eyes. She was lying in a cage, a fairly large in her own opinion. From the chilliness she felt against her head and the sheen it gave off, the floor was made out of metal, just like the three metal walls and ceiling that surrounded her. The only side that was not a solid wall was covered bar bars of steel with a small door set in it. It was pretty well lit by a row of gas lamps just outside the bars of the cage. Which was enough light for Pinkie Pie to see a sorry looking griffin, who was dragging a heavy looking metal tub, inside the cage with her.

"... Gilda?" Pinkie Pie stared at the griffin in front of her. It was Gilda, that much Pinkie Pie was sure of, even though she looked completely different from how Pinkie Pie remembered. The air of superiority that defined the griffin was gone, replaced by a cloud of depression and defeat. There were injuries all over her, some new, some old, with a very prominent black bruise around her left eye.

"Oh good..." muttered Gilda as she dragged the tub to Pinkie Pie. The screeching of metal on metal sent her mane standing on end. "... Stinkier Pie remembers me."

"Hey! I'm not..." Pinkie Pie paused and examined herself. Dark reddish brown gunk and stains had soaked into her coat and mane. She gave herself a whiff, and gagged when a strong scent of rust and something rotten invaded her nose. "... okay, I guess I do stink. Good one!"

"Whatever..." Gilda wearily said. She walked up to Pinkie Pie and grabbed her by her mane.

"Hey!" ignoring the pony's cry of indignation, Gilda chucked her into the water filled tub where she landed in a splash. Pinkie Pie's head broke through the water surface, spitting water out of her mouth. "What was that about?"

"Giving you a bath." said Gilda. "The guards were complaining about how much you smell... ugh, you smell even worse than that unicorn..."

... unicorn? it took Pinkie's groggy mind to work out who Gilda's referring to.

"Twilight!" Pinkie Pie stood up in the tub, her draped over the side of the tub so she could lean out. "You saw Twilight?"

"Who?" asked a perplexed Gilda.

"Is she purple?" asked Pinkie Pie. "And a mare? That's kind of important... and a unicorn! You know, the one with the horn? Is she a purple mare unicorn? Oh... that's a mouthful..."

"... yes..." Gilda turned and rummaged through a bucket that held assortments of cleaning supplies. "... I guess you know her, or something..."

A pair of hooves grabbed Gilda's shoulder and spun her around. The griffin found herself face to face with one very worried pony.

"What's happening to her?" asked Pinkie Pie. "What are they doing? Zombify her? Turn her into a robot? Baked her into cupcakes? Please tell me they didn't bake her into cupcakes! Because pony cupcake tastes nasty, not that I tried one before... actually, what do MMPH!"

Gilda had reached up and clamped Pinkie's mouth shut with her talon.

"If I tell you... will you shut up?" asked Gilda sounding very exhausted.

"Mm-hmm." Pinkie Pie nodded. Gilda eyed her for a few seconds before releasing her talon.

"As far as I know, they didn't do anything to her... other than keeping her asleep..." said Gilda. "... for now, anyway."

"Oh..." muttered Pinkie Pie while Gilda started pouring liquid soap into the tub, causing the water to foam up with bubbles. "... so... what are they doing to us?"

"Heck if I know..." said Gilda. "... learned not to ask too many questions around here."

"Why?" asked Pinkie Pie. Wordlessly, Gilda pointed her talon at her bruised eye. "Oh... so... where are we?"

"Don't know." said Gilda, pulling out a long-handled brush.

"Who are they?"

"Blackwings." answered Gilda as she dipped the brush into the soapy water before she started scrubbing Pinkie Pie on the head.

====================================================================

Rainbow Dash was lying on the ground beside Fluttershy, who had worn herself out from the crying. For the moment, she settled next to Rainbow Dash with her head beneath Rainbow's wing, letting out an occasional sniff.

They're back in the mead hall and were resting in the far back corner of the massive room. Next to them was Spike, who was wrapping some sort of tape around Rarity's horn. The unicorn was lucky, the crossbow bolt had hit her horn almost dead-on, which stopped the bolt from going into her head. The impact however, was hard enough to chip her horn and gave her one heck of a migraine. So for the moment, Rarity lied on her side with her head on a pillow while Spike worked on bandaging her horn.

Not far from them was Applejack, who was in the process of explaining to Amelia and Galena just what happened to them. More specifically, what they had become. The two griffins sat in rapt attention, listening to every word that came out of the earth pony's mouth. Rainbow Dash caught occasional gasps from them when Applejack talked about monstrously mutated creature they encountered, and even more so when she mentioned about the infected griffins they encountered.

On the opposite end of the room, by the door, were four griffins, two on each side. Guards by the looks of it, although it didn't look like they're very good guards. Their chain-mail armors were worn and rusted. The weapons they carried looked like they were made in a hurry, ranging from a kitchen knife tied to a stick to a piece of wood with nail driven into it. The only weapons that looked remotely like a weapon were the two crossbows they took off those... thuggish griffins.

The most telling part, was the fact that none of the guards appeared confident in their role. They did try their best to look fearless and imposing, but Rainbow Dash could clearly see the fear in their eyes as they look at her. She did understand their reaction, considering that almost the entire village had witness a pegasus who turned her wings into giant claws and another who could perfectly mimic the form of a griffin. Rainbow Dash wondered if they knew Fluttershy could only do that after killing and eating said griffin, and if not, what their reaction would be if they found out.

Probably something drastic... thought Rainbow Dash. She watched as Amelia, Galena, and Applejack all got up. The griffins headed for the door while Applejack came to join them.

"So... what's happening?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Well, they..." Applejack gestured toward the two griffins that were just leaving. "... believe us when I said we are not a danger to them, and they're going to try to convince the rest of the villagers of that." said Applejack.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Rarity.

"Well... apparently quite a few villagers think we are some sort of monsters..." said Applejack.

"That bad?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Yeah..." Applejack ran her hoof over her mane. "... from what Galena told me, there's a group of villagers outside with pitchforks and torches."

"That's... not right!" cried out Rarity. She winced from pain when she tried to get up and was forced to lay her head back down. "You are not monsters..."

"No..." sniffed Fluttershy. "... they're right... I am a monster."

"No, you're not! Don't say that." said Rainbow Dash.

"It's true..." Fluttershy looked up at them, her reddened eyes threatened to tear up once more. "I killed her..."

"Fluttershy." Rarity spoke in a soft voice. "That thug tried to kill me. If you hadn't stopped her, she would have killed me for real."

Fluttershy shook her head. "You don't understand... I couldn't control myself... I hurt her, bad, and she's dying already... but I didn't stop... I was so angry..." Fluttershy stared down at her own shaky hooves. "I just... raised my hooves up... and just stomp on her... even when she's dead... even when her head was just a... bloody pulp... I kept hitting her... again... again... and again..."

Fluttershy looked back up with eyes starting to well up in tears. "I'm scared... What if I lost control again? What if I hurt one of you? I don't want that to happen... "

"It won't happen." said Rainbow Dash.

"But if I lost control around you..."

"Then we'll stop you." said Rainbow Dash. "Just like how you stopped me from hurting our friends back in Ponyville. Of course, I don't have your Stare thingy, so it might have to be a bit more... um... physical..."

"Ah don't know Rainbow..." said Applejack while looking at Rainbow Dash with a furtive grin. "Remember last time when ya tried to get her to watch dem dragons migrate? She gave ya a good stomping."

"Hey! I was just surprised that's all!" answered Rainbow Dash in indignation.

"Don't ya worry Fluttershy." said Applejack, ignoring Rainbow's outburst. "If it ever comes to that, I will help Rainbow on that!"

"Wait, hold up there, are you saying that you'll help Rainbow Dash with... what, beat up Fluttershy?" asked Spike looking thoroughly confused. The ponies exchanged an awkward glance at each other.

"... Ah was thinking something less... painful, like holding her down or tying her up..." said Applejack.

"We're talking about Fluttershy, right? The same pony who took down a castle-sized hydra by turning herself into a giant porcupine and stuck hundreds of bulked up buffaloes on those... spikes like marshmallows on sticks?." deadpanned Spike.

... good point... the thought ran through Rainbow Dash as she watched Applejack trying to think of something else.

"... or drop a boulder on her, that seems to work..." continued Applejack, sounding more unsure by the second. "... or just knock her out..."

"That's... fine..." mumbled Fluttershy.

"Fluttershy!" Rarity gasped in shock. "You're actually... okay with being treated in such a brutish manner?"

"If that will stop me from hurting my friends." said Fluttershy. "I'm... fine with it."

"Beside, we can take a lot of... er... smacking around." chimed in Rainbow Dash. "I mean. Look, Fluttershy survived being eaten by a hydra and a boulder crushing her. Applejack survived having a giant hole punched through her. I survived being skewered, burnt, and a sewing machine to the stomach. It's not going to be a big deal if we, or you, had to get a bit... forceful if we get out of control."

"Oh... wow... I can't wait to see what the friendship report will be." said Spike. "Dear Princess Celestia. Today I learn that part of being a good friend is to stop them from doing something they'll regret. Even if it meant crushing them under a boulder or beating them senseless."

Silence descended on the group for a short while before Applejack let out a snicker. Rainbow Dash couldn't help but join in. It wasn't long before the two started laughing their heads off. Even Fluttershy and Rarity weren't immune as they started giggling. As for Spike, after running what he said through his mind a few time, also chuckled a bit at the way it sounded. The laughter continued for a few minutes before the ponies and dragon had to catch their breath.

"So..." Rainbow Dash was the first to speak. "... Fluttershy. If you ever, EVER lose control of yourself, we'll make sure you won't hurt any of your friends, got it?"

"Got it." Fluttershy nodded with a smile. "Thanks."

"Are we... interrupting something?" Amelia's question drew the ponies and dragon's attention. The griffin walked up to them, followed closely by Galena, both wore a perplexed look on them.

"Ah, no yer um... lady... ship." said Applejack. "Just done working out some issues, that's all. So, how did it go?"

"Fairly well." said Amelia. "In fact, those that see you as... well, monsters are in the minority. Most just needed my assurance that you are no danger to them. There's even a small group that believes you're super heroes of sorts, mostly the younger ones."

"I guess that's good to hear." said Applejack. "So... just who are those griffins that attacked us, and why do they have two of our friends?"

"Those are the griffins of the Blackwing tribe." said Amelia as she sat down next to them. "As for how or why they have your friends, I do not know. In fact, none of us had ever seen these... deformed griffins you spoke of."

"How about Damian?" asked Applejack.

"He's still out, and as much as we tried, we cannot wake him at the moment." said Galena.

"Wait a second!" piped up Rainbow Dash. "Fluttershy, do you know anything about this?"

Fluttershy shook her head. "I'm sorry... I... can only see bits and pieces... nothing about strange griffins..."

"Her... memory?" asked Amelia, looking perplexed along with Galena.

"Oh... yeah... about that..." said Rainbow Dash. "... apparently, whenever one of us... um... 'ate' someone, we get their memories."

Both Amelia and Galena looked aghast at the revelation. For Amelia, however, the horrified look quickly changed to one of desperation. Fluttershy suddenly found herself in the grip of the lady griffin.

"So do you see anything about Gilda? Leo? Are they really alive? Are they well?" asked Amelia with desperation in her eyes.

"I... I don't... GAH!" Fluttershy jerked back out of the griffin's grip before she collapsed on the ground. Her hooves pressed against the side of her head as she writhed and screamed in pain.

"Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash and Applejack quickly rushed to the pegasus' aide.

"What... what did I do?" uttered Amelia in bewilderment. "Did I hurt her?"

Before anyone did anything else, Fluttershy's scream stopped abruptly and was replaced by exhausted groans. Her hooves left her temple as she slowly pushed herself into a sitting position.

"Are ya okay, Fluttershy?" asked a worried Applejack.

"I'm... fine..." came Fluttershy's strained reply. "... I just... saw more of her memories... and it hurts a bit when that happened..."

"I'm most sorry if I caused you harm." said Amelia.

"It's okay, I..." Fluttershy looked straight at Amelia, who looked back expectantly. "Your daughter and husband are alive, and..." Fluttershy's eyes suddenly swelled to the size of saucers. "... GILDA IS MARRIED TO DAMIAN?"

====================================================================

If there's one new thing Gilda quickly learned about the pink pony, beside general annoyance and frustration the equine caused her, was how talking this pony was. She didn't know how Pinkie Pie got going. It started with just a few question by the pink pony about her, all of which Gilda refused to answer. It ended with Pinkie Pie pretty much regurgitating everything that happened to her and her friends since Gilda's... humiliating departure. The griffin had tune most of it out, only catching a word here and there. Things like party, Fluttertree, gum party, boring party, chocolate rain, costume party, sister party, big dragon, babies, baby party, fake wedding party, real wedding party...

Okay, maybe two new things about the pink pony, the second one being how much said pony loved to throw parties. Of course, that's assuming the pink pony was telling the truth. The more recent series of Pinkie Pie's rant had pretty much convinced Gilda that the pink pony was just pulling her leg. Things like shooting stars that turned everything into blood thirsty monsters was already hard enough for her to believe. What sealed it was when Pinkie Pie claimed that Fluttershy, who Gilda remembered from the pony's description as the meek and weak crybaby, managed to destroy a hydra and horde of monster buffaloes, if monster buffaloes were even real in the first place. Then there were things that Rainbow Dash did...

Rainbow Dash... the name ran through Gilda's mind. Truth be told, she missed the pegasus. Rainbow Dash was, as far as Gilda knew, the closest friend she ever had. Which made it hard when she remembered how she blew the one chance she had to reconnect with her.

In her musing, Gilda had not realize that it was quiet around her. When she did notice, she stopped scrubbing and looked down at the tub, and saw a pair of cerulean eyes staring back.

"What?" asked Gilda.

"I asked. What happened to you?" answered Pinkie Pie with her eyes staring at her expectantly. Gilda rolled hers in response.

"Already told you, don't want to talk about it." replied Gilda.

"But you promised!"

Gilda eyed the pink pony in surprise. "I did not!"

"Yes you did!" said Pinkie Pie. "When I asked if you will tell me what happened to you if I tell you what happened to me, you said 'Sure'."

Gilda racked her brain for when she said that, and the closest she came up with was her off-the-cuff remark of "Yeah, sure, whatever."

"I didn't mean that." said Gilda.

"But I told you everything..." said Pinkie Pie. "... it's not fair if you don't tell me."

"Well... life isn't fair..." answered Gilda dejectedly as she resumed scrubbing Pinkie's back. When she heard something like a cross between a whine and a whimper, she stopped and turned her attention back to the pony's face. Pinkie Pie was looking up at her with wide, glistening eyes while her mouth was stuck out in a pout and quivering. Gilda groaned inwardly.

"Are you going to cry now?" asked Gilda.

"I... I don't know..." answered Pinkie Pie. All the while she maintained her best impression of a puppy dog pout.

"Ugh... look, if I tell you, will you promise not to do that again?" asked Gilda. Her response had the desired result of cheering the pink pony right up.

"Uh huh!" Gilda leaned back to avoid the splashes of soapy water caused by Pinkie's vigorous nodding.

"Fine..." sighed Gilda, rolling her eyes as she did so. At least she won't be talking for a while...

====================================================================

"How the hay is Gilda married to that... that JERK!" fumed Rainbow Dash. "Or even better question, WHY?"

"She's not married to Damian." said Amelia.

"But how come I... she..." Fluttershy spoke with a stutter, her mind trying to make sense how to refer to her memories. "Lilith... think that she's married?"

"Because she was supposed to..." continued Amelia.

"Say wha?" Applejack, along with the rest of the ponies plus one dragon, gave Amelia a puzzled look.

"My lady," started Galena with slight hesitation, "it might be easier if we tell them... considering that they're about as involved in this as it is going to get..."

"I guess it couldn't hurt." said Amelia after a few moment. She took a deep breath to gather her thought, and took another look at the assembled ponies. All of whom were looking at her with rapt attention.

"How much do you know about the griffin tribes?" asked Amelia. That got her a collective shake of heads from the ponies. "Guess I will have to give you a crash course on that."

"As you probably know, despite this entire region being called the Griffin Country, the griffin tribes are, more or less, independent from each other." started Amelia. "We have no leader that governs all the tribes, unlike you ponies and your princesses."

"Dispute among tribes are quite common, mostly involve territorial boundaries. To resolve those issues, the griffin tribes will send delegates to form a Council, where the delegates will discuss and vote on how to resolve the disputes."

"What happens if one of the tribe don't like the decision?" asked Applejack.

"They can go against the decision and start a war to get what they want." said Amelia. "In fact, it was the most common way griffin tribes resolve their disputes centuries ago. At least until Princess Celestia stepped in."

"Princess Celestia?" exclaimed the ponies.

"Yes," said Amelia with a faint smile, "after the Great Griffin War, Princess Celestia managed to gather all the griffin leader together. It was under her watch that the First Council was formed. One of the first agreement among the council members was that members of the council are obligated to enforce the council's decision, by force if necessary. There are other minor details, but the important thing is that it's a strong deterrent for tribe seeking to go against the council's decisions. If they do try, they'll find themselves at war with nearly every other tribes on the council."

"Okay, it's a... nice history lesson." commented Rainbow Dash, getting slightly impatient. "But what does that got to do with Gilda?"

"I'm... getting to that." said Amelia. "Since council decision was made based on majority vote by tribal delegates, it is prudent for tribes to form alliances to protect their interest. There are many ways an alliance can form, one of which is..."

"Marriage..." blurted out Rarity. "Gilda married that... ruffian so your tribes can be allies?"

"Yes... at least she was supposed to..." said Amelia. "At first I was opposed to it, but our tribe was not one of the more influential tribes, and there were disputes brewing among the coastal tribes regarding fishing territories. We needed the alliance with some powerful tribes, and Blackwing was among the most powerful and influential."

Amelia hung her head, as if in shame. "... so, two years ago..."

====================================================================

"... my parents arranged for me to marry Damian." said Gilda.

"So... is he nice?" asked Pinkie Pie.

"What do you think?" scowled Gilda.

"That bad, huh?"

"You have NO idea. It took me just minutes to work out that he's a narcissistic ass who actually cared for no-one but himself." growled Gilda, rolling her eye to the ceiling. "Every time we go out, he would complain about how plain and weak I looked..."

"... aw..." Pinkie Pie muttered as the brush pushed harder against her back.

"... You feathers are so messy! Why don't you dye your wings, pretty yourself up some? Smile in front of others! You are making me look bad!" Gilda kept raising her voice as she continued to rant.

"... aw... aw..." Pinkie Pie yelp of pain grew louder as the hard bristle dug into her back.

"Then there were the 'dates'..." Gilda air quoted with her free talon, while still grinding the brush into Pinkie's back with her other talon. "... if you could call them that! He would lead me around and show me off like some sort prized pet! And then gets angry whenever another guy tries to hit on me! He even told them I'm his, like I'm just a piece of... argh!"

"... aw... aw... aw..."

"He even had the gall to hit on other chicks when I was standing right next to him! It was like I wasn't even there!"

"... aw... aw... AW!" Pinkie Pie screeched out when the brush, tangled in her coat, tugged painfully on it. Gilda stopped talking and looked down.

"Um... sorry..." said Gilda.

"It's okay." muttered Pinkie Pie. "Wow... he sounded like... a big meanie." commented Pinkie Pie, earning her a dejected sigh from Gilda.

"You have no idea..." said Gilda. "... I knew that it was important for the tribe, and I didn't want to disappoint my parents... but I just couldn't take it anymore... so I..."

====================================================================

"... just a week before she's supposed to get married... Gilda ran away." said Amelia.

"Geez, I can't imagine why!" quipped Rainbow Dash, who immediately regretted it when Amelia glared at her.

"Says the pony who broke my daughter's heart!" growled Amelia.

"But, your ladyship, how do you know that Gilda... harbor's such feeling for Rainbow?" asked Rarity.

"I don't know, perhaps the fact that she wrote about Rainbow all the time while she was at the flight camp. Or the fact that in her runaway note she said she was going to look for her. Or the fact that Damian came here, demanding to know who's this Rainbow Dash individual that Gilda said she rather marry than him!" Amelia said with a snarl, barely keeping her temper under control. "Speaking of which... JUST WHAT IN TARTARUS DID YOU DO TO MY DAUGHTER?"

====================================================================

"So... did you really fall in love with Rainbow?" asked Pinkie Pie, causing Gilda to freeze for a moment as she processed the question.

"I... don't really know." answered Gilda. "Maybe not like that... maybe something more like an awesome tag team flying duo or something... do you... understand why I'm trying to say?"

"You want to be BBFF with Rainbow?" answered Pinkie Pie.

"What?" blurted Gilda in confusion.

"Bestest best friend forever."

"Er... yeah, I guess that was it..." Gilda went silent as she started to rinse off Pinkie Pie.

"So... after you ran away, what happened?" probed Pinkie Pie after Gilda stopped talking for a while.

"Oh right, moving on. Of course, I had no idea where Rainbow Dash was. So I pretty much just wandered around Equestria, taking an odd job here and there." said Gilda. "Then I saw Rainbow Dash on paper, something about a Sonic Rainboom, and found out she lived in Ponyville. So... I went there and... well..."

"Rainbow Dash broke up with you for being a big meanie." said Pinkie Pie, finishing up Gilda's sentence for her.

"Yeah..." muttered Gilda dolefully.

"Why?" asked Pinkie Pie.

"Why what?"

"Why were you so mean to every pony? I mean, Rainbow Dash would still be your friend if you weren't so... crabby." said Pinkie Pie.

"I..." Gilda started hesitantly. "I thought Rainbow Dash was still the same old Rainbow Dash: Good with prank, love a good stunt, and totally cool..."

"Still is." interjected Pinkie Pie.

"...I thought that if I'm not cool anymore, she won't want me as a friend." concluded Gilda with a sigh. Pinkie Pie stared at the downtrodden griffin for a few seconds before she figured out what to say.

"Silly Gilda, being cool doesn't mean being a big meanie grumpy mean-meanie-pants to her friends." said Pinkie Pie.

"I sort of got that when Rainbow broke off with me..." said Gilda, looking more down and miserable at the recollection.

"Why didn't you say sorry back then?" asked Pinkie Pie. "If you did, I'm sure Rainbow Dash would have forgiven you."

"She would?" asked Gilda in surprise.

"Sure!" Pinkie Pie nodded her head vigorously, sending droplet of water flying everywhere. "That's what friends do!"

"I..." Gilda hesitated for a moment. "... I guess I was too stubborn to see that... or just didn't think about it..." she said. "I didn't know what to do, hanging out with Rainbow Dash was my entire plan. But try as I might, I just couldn't bring myself to go back and say I'm sorry... Instead, I went back to drifting around... until... something convinced me to go home."

"What?" asked Pinkie Pie.

"A shooting star."

====================================================================

"... and that's what happened." concluded Applejack. "We never see her again after that."

Amelia sat there in silence, staring at the ponies in front of her. She raised her talon to her forehead and rubbed it with a groan.

"Oh Gilda... why did you do that to yourself..." said Amelia morosely.

"Lady Amelia..." whispered Galena, her talon resting on Amelia's shoulder.

"So... what happened to Gilda?" asked Rainbow Dash, who's getting a bit impatient at finding out just what happened to Gilda.

"Four months ago..." resumed Amelia after collecting herself. "Gilda came back. And she..." Amelia sniffed. "... I've never seen her like that. She was... just... hollow, both physically and mentally. I tried asking her what happened... and the only thing she told us was that... you broke up with her."

"She locked herself in her room. Despite being skin and bone, she barely ate. Every night I could hear her crying." sighed Amelia. "I tried reaching out to her, but... I didn't have much chance to do so before... before..."

"... before?" echoed Rainbow Dash.

"... a few weeks after Gilda's return, Damian showed up with a couple his thugs and demanded that our tribe pay them tributes in return for their... 'protections'." Amelia scowled as she said the word. "It was simply outrageous, the amount they're asking would put us in near starvation. Obviously, my husband refused on the spot. Our fighters out-numbered them five to one, and we thought that Damian won't be stupid enough take on us with that kind of odd. Unfortunately, as you all probably noticed, they've somehow managed to... make themselves stronger, unnaturally strong. I watched them shook off bolts and blades that would've killed any griffin. In the end, more than half of our fighters were killed, and the rest, including my husband, were captured. He was going to execute my husband for fighting back..."

"Wait!" interrupted Rarity. "I thought your husband is still alive!"

"He is." said Amelia. "Against Leo's wish, Gilda begged Damian not to kill her father. Damian agreed to take her father and the captured warrior alive as prisoner instead of killing them. In exchange, Gilda would be his prisoner... since then, our tribe had been sending food to the Blackwings as tribute."

"We were... lucky, all things considered. Most of the other tribes that fought back were completely wiped out, and a few tribes that were considered... worthless by them suffered the same fate. The more fortunate griffins among them were captured."

"That's terrible!" exclaimed Rarity. Fluttershy nodded in agreement, wincing as she tried to suppress the memories.

"If I get my hooves on those... Blackwings jerks, I'm gonna..." fumed Rainbow Dash.

"Wait, if yer sending food to them, you must know where they are." commented Applejack. Amelia shook her head.

"The tributes are picked up by Damian and his thugs." answered Amelia. "As far as I know, they've abandoned their previous home and I have no idea where their current one is."

"Then we will just have to wring it out of him!" stated Rainbow Dash, her hooves making a violent twisting motion.

"Well... you're going to have that chance." said Galena as she walked toward them from the door. "The guards had informed me that Damian just woke up."

====================================================================

"... and that's how I ended up here." concluded Gilda while she was pouring the bloody and soapy water from the tub down the drain in the cell. "... as Damian's very own personal pet... pathetic isn't it..."

Pinkie Pie, who was drying herself off, poked her head out of the towel she was using. She stared at the depressed griffin, who's dragging the now empty tub toward the cage door.

"No it isn't." said Pinkie Pie, cracking a small smile at Gilda. "I mean... you did save your dad!"

"Only for now..." muttered Gilda. "... as long as Damian think it's still fun to humiliate and torment me. Once he gets bored... well... it's just a matter of time..."

"Cheer up Gilda!" said Pinkie Pie cheerily. "My friends will save us!"

"Huh?" Gilda turned and gave the pink pony an incredulous stare.

"Yeah! Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Fluttershy are looking for us, I'm sure of it! Don't know how they're going to find us... but when they do, they're going to open up a can of whoop..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." Gilda waved her talon dismissively. "... whatever."

"You don't believe me?" asked Pinkie Pie. Gilda stopped walking, but did not turn around.

"Whatever silly fantasy you have in that bubbly head of yours to keep you going, that's fine." said Gilda. "But leave me out of it."

Before Gilda could resume moving to the door, Pinkie Pie raced in front of her and plopped herself down in front of the griffin. With her hooves outstretched, Pinkie Pie stopped Gilda in her track with her hooves on the griffin's shoulder.

"It's not a filly fantasy. My friends will come. They will save us. I'm sure of it. In fact..." Pinkie Pie took a step back while maintaining a serious look at Gilda.

"Okay... I've never done this before... since it's not exactly my promise to keep... but I give you my Pinkie Promise, that we will get out of here. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Pinkie Pie concluded with her hoof over her closed eyes.

"My... my... my... that's quite a thing to say..." a voice from behind Pinkie Pie caused her to jump. Gilda's expression turned to one of fear. Pinkie Pie turned around and found herself backing into Gilda out of reflex from the towering form.

Easily twice or thrice as tall as Gilda, the new griffin cast an ominous shadow over them. His coat is a jet black, contrasting his almost pure white head feathers and wings. What made the new griffin looked even more intimidating, was a yellow eye staring out from behind a metallic mask that covered the left half his face. It looked even more off-putting when compared to his right eye, which was blue.

"Lord Seth..." Gilda spoke with a fearful tremor in her voice. The griffin, however, did not seems to have heard her. Instead, his attention was focused on the pink pony.

"Well... it looks like you'll have to break that promise of yours..." he said with a leer.

====================================================================

The walk to the dungeon was a short one. The entrance was set into the side of the cliff, down along a set of stairs carved into the rocky wall. Amelia was ahead of them, while Applejack trailing close behind one impatient Rainbow Dash. With a quick turn at the bottom of the stair, they traveled down a dark tunnel illuminated by burning torches along the wall. It took them no time to reach the end of the tunnel, where a steel door was set in the wall, flanked by two nervous looking guards.

"Let us in." order Amelia. The guard on the right nodded in response. He fished out a set of key from his satchel and unlocked the steel door.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack followed Amelia through the steel door. The clanging sound echoed in the enclosed space as the guard shut the door behind them. It was a small dungeon, consisting of just a single room. Like the tunnel outside, it was lit with a few torches along the walls. They provided enough light for Applejack to see that against wall opposite to the entrance was none other than Damian. A metal band surrounded his torso, pinning his wings to his sides. Heavy shackles on each of his limbs anchored him to the floor, allowing only limited movement within the already confined space of the dungeon.

Yet, despite his state, Damian was smiling when he saw them enter the dungeon. A smug, condescending grin that took Applejack all her willpower to stop herself from giving Damian a good beat-down.

"Finally!" said Damian in mock exasperation. "I was just wondering when room service will show up."

However, Rainbow Dash did not have that kind of self-control.

"Why you!" Rainbow Dash charged forward, or she would've if it wasn't for Applejack keeping a firm hoof on her tail. The pegasus didn't seems to care that she isn't making any progress. "I'm going to cave your head in!"

"Whoa! Rainbow! We kinda need his head... well, not caved in." said Applejack.

"That's right. Don't want to do anything stupid now do we?" Damian glanced at Amelia in a threatening manner. "Unless you want to doom your family and tribe."

"Where are they, Damian?" asked Amelia, her voice low and level. "Where's my family? And the ponies you took?"

"You know, I really hate that about you." commented Damian, rolling his eyes as he did so. "Always business, never fun."

"I will ask again." said Amelia through gritted beak. "Where's my family?"

"And our friends." added Applejack. "Ya best tell us quick, else I just might let my friend here..." Applejack gesture with her free hoof toward the seething Rainbow Dash. "... have her way with ya."

"Ooh... kinky." said Damian with a grin. "Never did it with a pegasus before."

"What are you... WAIT! NO! EW!" blanched Rainbow Dash. "Let me go! I'm gonna teach that jackass a lesson!"

"Remember Rainbow..." said Applejack. Although a part of her really wanted to just let Rainbow Dash go nuts on the griffin. "... head not caved in."

"ENOUGH GAMES!" roared Amelia. "IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIFE, YOU WILL TELL ME WHERE MY FAMILY IS!"

"Ooh! I'm scared." Damian let out a chortle after an obviously fake shiver. "What? Do you actually think you can threaten me?"

"In case you don't understand your situation." growled Amelia, her voice carrying an acidic edge to it. "You are in MY prison. You..."

"No!" interrupted Damian. "It is you who don't understand YOUR situation."

"What?" asked Amelia, a hint of surprise in her icy voice.

"I'm getting a bit tired of having to remind you, constantly." said Damian with an annoying air of superiority. "I still have your family. In case you haven't notice."

"And we have you." replied Amelia.

"True, but you see..." continued Damian. "... my father knows I'm coming here. If I don't go back... by, say, tomorrow morning, my father will lead his army to come look for me..."

"Not if I kill you first..." Amelia shook in anger as she said that.

"... then my father will kill you and every single griffin in your tribe... and your husband and daughter." Damian returned with a nasty grin. "That is if he is feeling particularly merciful. If he's not... well... he knows ways to ensure that you'll wish you're dead."

Amelia didn't answer, instead she just kept her death glare locked on Damian.

"Now, it doesn't have to be that way." said Damian. "Here's my... proposition. Let me go, and everything will go back to the way things were."

Applejack swore she could see steam coming off Amelia, who's trembling out of rage.

"You... you..." spat out Amelia, barely in control of her rage. Applejack could hear a creaking sound of as Amelia ground her beaks together.

"Oh, give it up." said Damian in a bored voice. "It's not like you have any other option."

"Actually..." Rainbow Dash spoke in a tone that made the mane on Applejack's back stand on end. "... we do have another option."

"Rainbow, what are ya..." Applejack didn't finish her sentence when a pair of hooves slammed into her, sending her crashing through the steel door of the dungeon. Shaking off the daze, Applejack quickly pulled herself up, just in time to see Rainbow Dash, with her wings in clawed forms, descend on Damian.

=====================================================================

Pain. It was a sensation that Rainbow Dash remember, back in Ponyville when she attacked that monstrous Diamond Dog. But this one, for the lack of a better word, felt more potent. Thoughts, memories, visions, and voices that did not belong to her rushed into her mind.

"Damian! My son!" an image accompanied the disembodied voice, a griffin, an older adult, the right half of his face was covered by a mask. "Just the griffin I'm looking for."

"Who are they?" came Damian's voice. The image flickered and abruptly changed, revealing two griffins, each with a pony slung over their back: one pink, one violet.

"Test subjects." excited tone from the father.

"Care to tell your only son what you're doing?" annoyed voice from Damian. "Or even better, what you're doing back there?"

Image flickered again, showing massive steel gate.

"I'll tell you when it's ready." said the father, dismissive. "Now, this is what I need you to do..."

Her view pulled back rapidly, through twisting tunnels. Before her vision went white, she was presented with the sight of a mountain with smoke billowing out the top.

The intense pain receded along with the visions and voices. Rainbow Dash wrenched open her eyes and found herself lying on the ground, staring back at three terrified griffins, Amelia and the dungeon guards, plus one stunned Applejack.

"What... what have you done..." Applejack mouthed.

Rainbow Dash pushed herself up, a sense of triumph filling her.

"I just found out where they are." started Rainbow Dash with a grin.

====================================================================

"Well... it looks like you'll have to break your promise..." said Lord Seth as he leered down at the pink pony.

"Hey! I never break my promise!" shouted Pinkie Pie. "Especially not the Pinkie Promise!"

"I find your... naivety to be most... what's the word... comedic..." replied Seth in a condescending manner. The three griffins that followed him, each as large as Seth, snickered. Pinkie Pie recognized one of the griffin from his missing tail, who lost it due to her earlier... attempt to rescue Twilight. "Do tell me, how do you even intend to fulfill that... promise of yours?"

"My friends are going to come here, and they're going to save us!" declared Pinkie Pie.

"Your... friends?" asked Lord Seth barely suppressing his own chortle while the griffins behind him broke down in laughter. "The weak little ponies?"

"They're not weak!" shouted Pinkie Pie. "They have... powers beyond your imagination, and they're going to use them to kick your flanks! ALL OF YOUR FLANKS!"

"HA!... Hey, you..." Lord Seth pointed his talon at Gilda, barely able to talk from his laughing. "... pony-lover... do tell me you actually believe her..."

Pinkie Pie spun around to see Gilda's response. The captive griffin looked terrified, but something else in Gilda's eyes caused Pinkie's heart to sink. A look of guilt and pity.

"I... I don't..." stammered Gilda.

"But Gilda, I'm telling the truth! Rainbow..."

"I'm sorry..." Gilda looked away, not daring to make eye contact with Pinkie Pie.

"But it's the truth!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie, her hooves shaking Gilda by the shoulder. "I made a Pinkie Promise on that!"

"Look on the bright side, pony." said Lord Seth. "At least when things didn't turn out as you promised, she won't hold it against you."

"I don't break a Pinkie Promise." growled Pinkie Pie.

"You don't exactly have a say in that." snarled Seth, who had stopped laughing. "And guess what? As of now, I have three of my best warriors hunting for your friend. If they're lucky, they all get captured. If they're not... well, my son would probably get a chance to find out what a pony taste like."

"I never break a Pinkie Promise." hissed Pinkie Pie, her eyes scanning around her.

"Pinkie Pie?" whispered Gilda who watched her with worried eyes.

"Well, there's first time for everything." snarked Seth. Pinkie Pie found what she was looking for and dived for it.

"PINKIE PIE! NO!" shouted Gilda, but she was half a second too late. Pinkie Pie grabbed the bucket filled with cleaning supply in her mouth and charged through the unlocked cage door. With a quick hop, she launched herself into the air and swung the bucket at the leering face of Lord Seth. The steel bucket smashed into the masked half of the griffin's face and broke away from the handle, sending it and its contents scattering on the stone floor.

"I NEWAR BWEAK MY PWO... wha..." Pinkie Pie's jaw went slack from shock, releasing the bucket handle which clattered to the floor. What shocked her was not the fact that Seth wasn't fazed by a heavy bucket to the head. It was what's beneath his mask which was dislodged by the bucket's impact. A cloudy yellow eye surrounded by pulsating red, almost glowing, veins that spread out like the roots of a tree. The same kind of veins that Pinkie Pie saw on the infected creatures.

"You... you... HURK!" Pinkie Pie gagged when the tailless griffin, who took advantage of her momentary distraction, grabbed her by the neck and slammed her to the ground.

"Boss! You alright?" asked the tailless griffin.

"I'm fine." said Seth, picking up the deformed mask from the ground and set it on his infected eye. Then he turned to the immobilized pony with a sinister smile around his beak. "So... that promise of your is that important... right?"

Pinkie Pie could only gasp in response, trying to draw breath against the tight grip on her throat.

"I will take that as a yes..." remarked Seth as he turned around to leave. He paused long enough to remark to the tailless griffin. "Bane, help this pony... keep her promise."

"Er... boss?" questioned the Bane. Pinkie Pie couldn't see how the half-masked griffin responded, since her view was blocked by the massive form of the griffin above her. However, she knew it was something bad when Bane grinned in response and Gilda screamed.

"NO!" came Gilda's cry, followed by sound of metal gate slamming shut and rattling as someone struggled to open it again. "DON'T DO IT! SHE'S JUST BEING STUPID!"

"What..." choked out Pinkie Pie, her eyes darting around in panic before fixing on Bane's cruel smile. "... what are you..."

"Let's see, what was it that you said... oh right!" said Bane. "Cross your heart and hope to fly... well, we don't want you to fly just yet... so... stick a cupcake in your eyes..."

Bane raised his metal clad talon in front of her and flexed it. "Say hello to Mister Cupcake."

It took a second for the meaning to click in Pinkie's mind. Her heart skipped like a hummingbird as the metal claws approached her eye. Pinkie Pie started to struggle, but the grip on her was as solid as ever, and her hooves scrapped uselessly against the smooth stone floor.

"Wait! Wait!" Pinkie Pie squeezed her eyes shut, but it was no use. The sharp claws dug into her left eyelids and pried them open. "Please! I'm sorry! It's about the tail and the smacking your boss thing right? I'll make it up to you! Anything!"

Tears started to form in her eyes from the prickling pain around her left eye. Her iris was shrunken into a dot from sheer terror as she stared up at the merciless griffin.

"Please... don't..." pleaded Pinkie Pie, her whole body shook as she started to hyperventilate. "... please..."

"I'm going to enjoy this..." said Bane with relish.

"Please no... no... No... NO... NO... NO... NGAHHHHHHHH..."

Day 8: Part 1

"You idiot." Pinkie Pie snapped awake at the harsh voice. Darkness greeted her in all direction as she looked around frantically trying to find the source of the voice.

"... Pinkamena?" whimpered Pinkie Pie. She had a lingering feeling that somehow, she had made her alter-ego mad.

"You... idiot..." her straight maned alter-ego walked out from the shadow. Her face, with a pair of empty socket where her eyes used to be, was contorted pain and rage as she approached, causing Pinkie Pie to shrink back out of fear. "You freaking IDIOT!"

"What did I do?!" asked Pinkie Pie, shuffling back as her alter-ego butt head against her and pushed her back. "What... happened... to..."

"What did you do?" Pinkamena looked like she's about to explode. "WHAT DID YOU DO? WE ARE BLIND BECAUSE OF YOU!"

"I'm blind?" as she said that, the black expanse flickered like a broken movie projection, with blurred and distorted images of talons descending toward her. Her ears flopped down as she recalled the unpleasant memories. "I'm... blind..."

"So now you remember." snarled Pinkamena as she backed up and started pacing around her.

"I'm blind..." tear rolled down Pinkie's cheek. She raised her hoof to wipe them, and to her horror, felt the empty sockets where her eyes used to be. "My eyes..."

"Yes, your... OUR eyes are missing... because you couldn't leave your STUPID PROMISE WELL ENOUGH ALONE!" shouted Pinkamena. "What did you think was going to happen, huh? Or did you even think at all in that BUBBLEGUM BRAIN OF YOUR!"

"I'm sorry..." pleaded Pinkie Pie as she looked toward her alter-ego.

"I'm fine with you being in control most of the time, because you managed to keep us sane and happy... I'm even fine with having to shield your fragile, insecure mind from some... idiotic things you've gotten yourself into. But this?" Pinkamena stopped trotting and waved her hoof at the emptiness around them. "This... never in a thousand years could I imagine you to be THIS STUPID!"

"I'm sorry..." repeated Pinkie Pie.

"Sorry? SORRY?" in a flash, Pinkamena was once again pressing her head against Pinkie's as she shouted right into her face. "IS THAT ALL YOU COULD SAY? WE'RE BLIND! FOR THE REST OF OUR LIFE! AND ALL YOU COULD SAY IS YOU'RE SORRY?"

"... well..." stammer Pinkie Pie, trying her best to crack the thinnest of smile from her uncooperative lips. "... we will get to play pin-the-tail on the pony... all the time... without blindfold..."

The incredulous Pinkamena's mouth hung open a bit for a few seconds before baring her teeth as she started to shake in rage.

"... grr... RAH!" with a forceful shove, Pinkamena knocked Pinkie Pie to the ground. Pinkie Pie saw her alter-ego rear up and quickly raised her own hooves above her head. She trembled as she waited for the blows to come, but the hooves never came. Instead, a loud cracks reverberated beside her. Pinkie Pie lowered her hooves hesitantly, but enough to see the receding back of the straight-maned pink pony.

"Pinkamena?" called out Pinkie Pie.

"I can't deal with this..." answered Pinkamena dejectedly as she continued to walk away.

"Pinkamena! Please! Don't leave me!" Pinkie Pie got up and tried to follow when a sharp pain through her head dropped her like a brick. The pain grew more intense as her vision darkened. Helpless from the pain, Pinkie Pie watched as her alter-ego started to fade. "Please... don't leave me..."

=====================================================================

The last of the bloody water had spiraled down the drain. Setting the bucket down beside her, Gilda looked around the spotless cage, a cage that just hours ago was covered in blood. As she finished up her sweep, her eyes settled on the source of all those blood.

Pinkie Pie laid in the dark corner of the cage. Her deflated mane and tail fanned out on the floor. Many passerby would believe her to be dead, judging by the stillness of her body and the blood soaked rag wrapped around her head. Only an occasional rise of her chest indicate that she was still alive. In truth, the fact that Pinkie Pie was still alive was something Gilda have difficulty believing.

When they tossed Pinkie Pie back into the cage, it was a sight of nightmare. Both her eyes were missing, leaving a pair of gaping holes in her head that were bleeding profusely. Her body was twitching and her mouth remained open as if trying to scream, but all that came out was gurgles. Gilda was frozen on the spot, staring at the broken pony before her while the guffaws of her tormentors echoed in her ear.

Gilda had considered leaving the devastated pony behind. She knew that there was no hope for her. Even if she, by some miracle, survive, it won't have made a difference. She had seen enough ponies, captured during earlier times, passing through these cages to know their eventual fate. Many were killed, whether through mistreatment or sport, then eaten, at least the luckier ones did. Quite a few skipped the "killed" part.

But something stopped her, and she didn't quite understand why. Perhaps because this pony was related to Rainbow Dash. Or perhaps it was guilt, since the pony got this way because she was trying to cheer her up, to bring her hope. No matter the reason, Gilda found herself going to Pinkie Pie's aid. She took the rags from her bucket and pressed them against the gaping wounds. When the bleeding finally stopped, she tore another rag to strips and tied them around her eyes.

"... don't... leave... me..." Gilda flicked her ears when Pinkie Pie muttered. It sounded strained.

"Pinkie Pie?" Leaving her cleaning supplies where they were, Gilda made her way toward the stirring pony.

"Please... don't leave me..." muttered Pinkie Pie, louder and more desperate.

"Pinkie Pie?" repeated Gilda. Pinkie Pie's ears twitched.

"Who... who's there?" Pinkie Pie asked and reflexively drew herself together out of fear.

"It's me. Gilda." Gilda stopped just within leg's reach of Pinkie Pie.

"Gilda?" Pinkie Pie's ear shot up. "Gilda!" she tried to gather her hooves beneath her, but in her weakened state, all she managed was slipping and shuffling on the ground.

"Where are you?" Pinkie Pie pleaded weakly. Gilda reached out and wrapped her front-legs around the pony's neck and pulled her in.

"I'm here." she said with her cheek against the pony's. Gilda felt a set of hooves wrapped around her torso and squeezing her tight.

"Please don't leave me." sniffed Pinkie Pie. "Please don't leave me..."

"I won't." answered Gilda.

=====================================================================

Dawn was breaking as three ponies hid behind a particularly large boulder. An immense, mountain towered over them, casting them in its shadow. Black smoke billowed out the top of the mountains.

"It looks... scarier than I remembered..." muttered Fluttershy. "... from Lilith's memories, I mean." she added.

"I know right? That just says evil all over the place." commented Rainbow Dash. "Reminds me of Daring Do and the Dungeon of Dread... although I sort of expected a more... I don't know... impressive looking entrance?"

Applejack nodded absentmindedly. There was a fairly good sized cave entrance situated just a short distance up the mountain. However, next to the four super-sized griffins guarding it, the entryway looked... underwhelming. In fact, Applejack swore that each griffin looked nearly a head taller as the three griffins that attacked them back at Featherhorn.

"Is it just me, or do those griffins looked... even bigger?" asked Applejack worriedly.

"I'm pretty sure they are." answered Rainbow Dash. "Damian is fairly small compared to the rest."

"... small?" echoed Applejack in disbelief. "Just how big do they get?"

"Bear sized." said Rainbow Dash. "Several dozens of them. Plus another couple dozens around Damian's size."

Applejack sized up the griffins guarding the entrance, her mind trying to imagine a bear-sized griffin.

"So... what do we do?" asked Applejack, still sizing up the four griffins.

"Normally, I would say we charge right in and slice and dice them all up." said Rainbow Dash. Her voice carried a hint of savageness. "But knowing what they do and that they got Twilight, Pinkie, Gilda... and other hostages, I say we have to sneak in and get them first before starting the slicing and dicing."

"So, how do ya plan to get our friends?" asked Applejack, turning to face Rainbow Dash. To her surprise, she found Damian standing there, grinning at her. Fluttershy had a surprised look on her as she stared at the griffin.

"You're going to need some rope." said Damian, grinning widely, with Rainbow Dash's voice.

=====================================================================

I hope this works. the nervous thought echoed through Rainbow's mind as she, disguised as Damian, glide closer to the guarded entrance of the Blackwing base. Tied to her back was one particularly unhappy Applejack, who, in the earth pony's own word, was trussed up like a turkey in serious need of psychological care. Behind the two flew Fluttershy, disguised as Lilith, who visibly wore a nervous expression that grew more obvious as they approached the griffin guards below.

Here we go... Rainbow Dash gave a nervous swallow as she landed in a short landed before the guards.

"Welcome back Damian." greeted one of the guard in a bored tone. Rainbow Dash recognized him from Damian's memory as Stamper, the leader of this group of guards. "How goes the hunt?"

"See for yourself." Rainbow Dash, or Damian, turned aside to reveal the tied up Applejack, who was doing her best to looked pissed off. The guard took a closer look at Applejack before frowning.

"I thought you were hunting for a pegasus..." commented the guard.

"Yeah..." answered Rainbow Dash in a drawn out tone.

"I thought pegasi have wings."

"No kidding." deadpanned Rainbow Dash, rolling her eyes at the most obvious of statement. "I didn't get the pegasus."

"And you were so confident about catching that..." the guard tapped the side of his beak thoughtfully. "What was it that you said? Flying pest?"

Flying pest? Rainbow's left eye twitched in anger.

"Listen here. Why don't you try catching the most awesome of pegasus in Equestria yourself?" snarled Rainbow Dash. It took her just a second to notice that she acted out of character.

Oh crap oh crap oh crap...

"Er... I mean..." stuttered Rainbow Dash, starting to panic as she noted the growing suspicions in the guards.

"Oh Damian, you poor thing." Lilith, or Fluttershy disguised as one, strode up to her and ran her talon over Damian's cheek. "Are you still dizzy from the explosion?"

"What explosion?" asked Stamper. Lilith wrapped her foreleg around Damian's neck affectionately, causing Damian's cheeks to flush crimson uncontrollably, before turning to the questioning guard.

"Blake tried to help Damian catch that damn pegasus." replied Lilith, who sounded like a stereotypical clingy mare-friend complaining about injustices done to her lover. "Of course, being Blake, he blew up my poor Damian instead. So he's a bit... confused right now."

"That... sounded like Blake." commented Stamper. "I don't see him, what happened?"

Whoa... she's good... thought Rainbow Dash as the guards' suspicions evaporated in an instant.

"Blew himself up." answered Lilith offhoofedly. "Not sure how he did it, but he managed."

"That... also sounded like Blake."

"So could you please let us in so my poor Damian can get some rest?" asked Lilith, doing her best pouting expression with her eyes and beak. Stamper regarded them for a while before motioning the guard to step aside.

"Fine, head on in."

Without wasting another second, Damian and Lilith quickly trotted by them into the cave.

"... must had been one heck of an explosion..." Rainbow Dash overheard what one of the other guard said before their voices died away as they turned into a side tunnel. Once she was sure that no one else was around, Rainbow Dash turned to Fluttershy.

"How did you... act so natural?" asked Rainbow Dash incredulously. Fluttershy shrugged, her voice returned to her more timid self.

"I just... kind of let the memories take over for a while." answer Fluttershy.

"And ah say that's a mighty fine act you did back there." said Applejack. "A bit sappy, but might fine act."

"Um... thanks..."

"So, can ah get down now?" asked Applejack, wiggling her bound hooves to make her point.

"Not right now, what if another griffin sees us?" answered Rainbow Dash. Applejack noticed a faint smirk on the disguised pegasus' beak.

"Ya enjoying this, aren't you?" deadpanned Applejack.

"Maybe a little." said Rainbow Dash. "But I'm serious about another griffin seeing us."

"Ya got a good point there." sighed Applejack, resigning to her uncomfortable state. "So, where are we going?"

"Damian's room." said Rainbow Dash.

"Why?" asked Applejack with a frown.

"He keeps Gilda there." answered Rainbow Dash. "It's close, and Gilda probably knows where they're keeping Twilight and Pinkie."

=====================================================================

The trip to Damian's room was much easier than expected, owing impart to Damian's... intimidating size and reputation. Most of the griffins they encountered were a tad smaller in size, who were quite happy to just stay out of their way. The few griffins that were similarly sized as Damian mostly minded their own business, with a few greeting here and there. What was unusual, were the lack of those bear-sized griffin. The ones that, in Damian's memory, would give him a condescending due to his inadequacy and occasionally gave him some trouble. Of course, Rainbow Dash won't complain about the easy trip, other than the fact that...

"She's not here." stated Rainbow Dash as she noted open steel collar chained beside the door. Closing the door behind her, she dropped Applejack off her back before morphing back into her pegasus form. The moment she saw the rest of the room, she regret coming here. She had forgotten about Damian's... macabre taste in decoration. Numerous skulls lined the walls: griffins, minotaurs, dragons, and...

"Is this... a unicorn skull?" asked Applejack in wide eyes at the bleached white skull with a unicorn horn in front of her. Backing away out of reflex, her back bumped into the circular bed at the center of the room. She turned around, and was greeted by a bed that was covered in pelts of varying hues of rainbow covered the surface. What made Applejack nearly lose her stomach, was that some of those pelts have cutie-marks on them.

"Are those... are those..." stuttered Applejack, darting her eyes in between Rainbow Dash and the ghastly bed. Her mouth open and close, but no further word came out as she sat there, stunned.

"... those poor things..." whispered Fluttershy. Her voice shook with grief.

"... who are they..." asked Applejack in near catatonia.

"Traders, travelers, vacationers..." replied Rainbow Dash, her voice low and subdued. "... just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time..."

"Dis ain't right..." said Applejack slowly shaking her head while her eyes were fixed at the horrors in front of her. "Dis is.. just ain't right..."

"Do you think... Twilight... Pinkie..." asked Fluttershy with a look of horror on her.

"I think they're still alive. But we do need to find them..." Rainbow Dash transformed into Damian mid-sentence, with Fluttershy taking the cue and morph into Lilith. "... fast."

"... ain't right..." mouthed Applejack. Seeing that Applejack wasn't about to move, Rainbow Dash wiggled herself under the earth pony and lifted her up. Applejack did not protest as she was draped across Rainbow's back as they left the room.

They didn't go far before a griffin, about the same size as Damian but had a gauntly look about him, stopped them.

"Hey Damian! Fancy seeing you... here..." the griffin greeted, his words trailing off into a slur. A faint scent of alcohol waft from the griffin. Rainbow Dash tried to recall who this griffin was. As she came to expect, a short stab of pain ran through her head. The name Skinny surfaced in her mind, followed by flashes of memories that showed her the reason of his name, and it wasn't because he was thin. "You... feeling alright?"

"Yeah... just fine... Skinny..." answered Rainbow Dash through gritted, trying to not murder the griffin in front of her right then and there. At the corner of her eyes, she saw the same expression of suppressed rage on Lilith's features. Thankfully, the drunken griffin didn't seem to notice.

"Well... I'm surprised... pleasantly I mean... hic... seeing you here." slurred Skinny. "Well... I guess... being boss' son... didn't matter much..."

"What are you talking about?" asked Rainbow Dash, getting a control of her emotion while trying to get some information out of the inebriated griffin.

"You didn't know?" said Skinny in surprise. "The boss... took some of the... beefier griffins... for a little... show and tell..."

So that explains the missing griffins... thought Rainbow Dash as the griffin continued with a sigh.

"... I guess that's life... being small... it's just not... HEY!" Rainbow Dash flinched and took a step back when Skinny suddenly advanced to her side with an excited look in his eyes. "You got a pony!"

"Er... yeah, my dad wanted another one." said Rainbow Dash. A shift in weight on her back told her that Applejack had noticed the attention.

"Another dirt pony?" questioned Skinny, who appeared to have sobered up the moment he saw Applejack. "I thought your father wanted a flying one."

"Yeah?"

"And you said I can have any non-flying ones you caught." he added.

"I..." Rainbow Dash stopped herself.

Damian did make that promise... thought Rainbow Dash. A second, much darker thought entered her mind. Applejack do need a disguise...

"I did say that, didn't I?" continued Rainbow Dash with a smile that carried a hint of malice. Again, the griffin didn't notice since he had his attention on Applejack.

"Perfect! Bring it to my room!" Skinny clapped his talons together with glee before skipping his way into a nearby room. Both Lilith and Applejack gave her the What are you doing? look.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." whispered Rainbow Dash as she followed Skinny into the room. The instant she entered she heard two faint gasps from Applejack and Fluttershy. Even Rainbow Dash, with Damian's horrid memories to prepare herself, couldn't help but gag a little at the stench of blood that permeated the room.

Comparing Damian's room to Skinny's would be like comparing Fluttershy's cottage with... well, Damian's. Racks of bloody wooden frames were set along the left wall, several with griffin and pony pelts stretched out over them. Along the right wall were metal hooks, all stained with dried blood, but thankfully, lacking the carcasses from Damian's memories. At the far end of the wall sat a wooden table that, like the metal hooks, was stained with blood. Metal shackled were bolted into the bench, arranged to keep its victim spread out over it. Hanging from nails driven into the wall above the table were instruments that could only come out of the most depraved of horror film. Saws, knives, and other instruments of unspeakable designs lined the wall, their sharp edges gleamed with the dim lights of the lanterns scattered in the room. Skinny made a beeline to the wall and hummed happily as he browse through the deadly instruments.

With the griffin preoccupied with his... toys, Rainbow Dash close the thick wooden door shut behind her. It closed with a heavy and solid thunk.

"That's one thick door there." commented Rainbow Dash as she winked at Applejack, who was trying to figure out what the disguised pegasus was up to. "Perfect for keeping certain... noises from getting out, I guess."

A look of realization dawned on Applejack as she turned to the oblivious griffin with narrowed eyes.

"Yeah..." sighed Skinny, picking a curved blade off the wall and inspected it. Apparently satisfied with his choice, he picked up a sharpening steel and ran it along the blade's edge. "Some griffins just don't appreciate a good slaughter. Like I always say! The more they scream, the better they'll taste! Beside, it's easier to skin them while they're still alive."

Applejack slid off Rainbow Dash's back and landed with a soft clatter, which went unnoticed by Skinny due to the noise of scraping metal. The earth pony shook visibly with rage as she stalked toward the busy griffin.

"So how do you want this? The usual 50-50?" Skinny turned around with the honed blade in claw... "Of course, you get the... pelt..."... and saw Applejack halfway between him and Rainbow Dash.

"You... you..." snarled Applejack, baring her teeth as she did so. "You will pay for this!"

"Ooh! This one got some fight in her!" giggled Skinny with a warped look of glee on him. "I like it!"

"Let's see how you like THIS!" Applejack charged against the cackling griffin. The grin on Skinny's face melted away when he saw the pair of blade like horns grew from Applejack's head.

"What the..." shaking out of his shock and gathering his wits about him, Skinny tried to jump aside the charging pony. With his right claw, he raised his knife in front of him, ready to catch the rapidly approaching horn.

It was a futile attempt, which was made apparent to Skinny who watched in horror as the edged horn sliced effortlessly through his puny knife. Without slowing down, nor changing its direction, the tip of Applejack's horn entered just below his rib-cage, tearing a long gash through his right side before leaving just above his right flank.

"GAH!" Skinny's scream was punctuated by the thundering crash from Applejack as she plowed right into the wooden table. Her impact sent tremor through the room, causing the knives from the wall to fall.

"Damian! Help me!" cried out Skinny. His claws pressed against the bleeding gash in his side, where coils of intestine were hanging out like some grotesque streamers. The looks of horror turned to one of abject terror when he saw Damian and Lilith, the former wearing a sneer while the latter a cold indifference, transformed back to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.

"SHE won't be helping you!" Skinny snapped his head to the demolished table, what greeted him was something that came straight out of a horror show. Amidst the wreckage stood Applejack, her eyes filled with a thirst for vengeance. Several of his prized knives had buried themselves in Applejack's side, but none seem to cause her any trouble at all. At worst, it merely annoyed her a bit as she tore the knives out of her one by one, the wound healing instantly in a swarm of black tendrils.

"Who... WHAT ARE YOU?" cried out Skinny. Despite his seriously injured state, he was still as lively as ever. He tried to put as much distance between him and the enraged pony. But with his talons busy holding his guts in and the ground slicked with his blood, his only accomplishment was spreading the pooling blood wider and wider. "HELP! ANYONE! HELP!"

"No one can hear you." Rainbow Dash coldly stated, flicking her head toward the door behind her. "Soundproof room, remember?"

Skinny's mouth opened and closed like a fish. His mind whirled as he tried to find a way out of this nightmare. "Please... spare me..." he begged.

"Did the ponies you killed beg like that?" snarled Applejack, her fiery gaze bore into the terrified griffin. "Why should I let you live when you didn't let them."

"I... I..." stammered Skinny. "I... I never killed them!" blurted out Skinny as he nodded vigorously. "Yes! I never killed them, they're already dead when I got them. I only..."

The lie was both blatant and transparent, more so given the memories they came to possess. Something that Fluttershy made absolutely clear to the doomed griffin.

"You're lying." stated Fluttershy. Her head low to the ground as she hid her face behind the pastel mane, but Rainbow Dash could hear the anger behind those word.

"But... But... I'm telling the..."

"I saw it." Fluttershy cut off Skinny's protest. She shifted her head up a little, just enough for her right eye to peek past her mane and straight at the cowering griffin. It wasn't the domineering Stare that Rainbow Dash remembered, but something else that looked far more terrifying. "I saw... the horrible things you did to them..."

Skinny's eyes flicked between the three ponies, the look of panic in those eyes grew as his breath quickened. His feature grew pale, some from blood loss, but mostly from abject fear. Finally, he broke down into a wailing sob.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry for everything!" he begged hysterically. "I won't hurt anyone again! Please! Just let me live! I'll give you anything! What do you want? Gold? I got plenty of gold in my safe! Or gems? I got those too!"

"I want justice..." growled Applejack, causing whatever color that was left in the griffin's face to drain away. "... and I would like your face WITH IT!"

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy turned away from Applejack tore into griffin. Her head thrashing left and right as her horns dismembered the screaming griffin. In seconds the screams turned to gurgles before they were silenced, replaced by the distinct squelch of Skinny's remains being absorbed by his executioner.

=====================================================================

A mare was tied to the table on her back. Her four hooves were shackled to the corners of the table by heavy cuffs, exposing her vulnerable stomach to the air. She was sobbing, but otherwise looked resigned to her fate.

"Give up already?" Applejack heard herself said in Skinny's voice. "No screaming, no begging... not like your mate."

A grimace flashed across the mare's face, coupled by images of a bloody, skinless pony hanging from a hook forcing their way into Applejack's mind.

"Just get on with it." the mare spat out. "I won't give you the satisfaction... you monster."

"Oh, you will." said Skinny as he walked toward a curtain. Another flash of memory told Applejack what's behind it before Skinny pulled the curtain away. The mare gasped.

"Licorice!" the mare cried out. A young colt dangled upside down below a metal hook, which was hooked through the rope binding the colt's hooves together.

"Mom!" the colt called back. His body swung as he struggled against the tightly bound ropes. "Mom! What's happening?"

"What's he doing here?" demanded the mare, glaring at Skinny.

"Oh! He's going to be... our audience." the griffin answered with glee while waving a hooked blade in his talon.

"YOU MONSTER!" the mare strained and pulled against the shackles. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS!"

"But I'm doing him a favor." replied Skinny sounding like he was offended. At the same time he approached the mare with a sadistic grin. "He's about to get a valuable lesson in pony anatomy!"

"Licorice... close your eyes... whatever happened, don't open them." choked out the mare as Skinny let the tip of the blade hover just below her sternum.

"Oh, you best hope he keeps his eyes open." crooned Skinny. "Or I'll make sure to drag this out for a very, very long time."

"Mom..." the young colt whimpered.

"First lesson!" announced Skinny with a cackle.

"Just close your eyes!" the mare cried out. "Mommy will be fine! Just keep those eyes closed! No matter..."

Spray of blood filled her vision as the colt's scream drilled into her ears. The vision and voices warped and melded together into incomprehensible blur before the head-splitting pain in her head faded away. Applejack blinked a few times as her sights cleared and the cacophony in her ear died. Her eyes remained fixed at the bloody ground for a few seconds before she lifted her head. She felt tears rolling uncontrollably down her cheeks while Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy watched her with concern.

"He... he made her kid watch..." sobbed Applejack. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy was on her a second later, each wrapped their hooves around her in support. "He made her kid watch when he... he..."

"It's going to be okay." cooed Fluttershy, nuzzling Applejack in the neck. "It will get better soon."

Just as Fluttershy said, Applejack found the memories grew more detached and foreign by the second. The flood of emotion that threatened to overwhelm her ebbed away as her thoughts cleared. The wave of sorrow was soon replaced by a barely suppressed fury.

"They'll pay for this..." spat out Applejack. "We'll make them pay for this..."

"Yes we will." affirmed Rainbow Dash. "But first, we need to find our friends first."

Vision of corridors flashed through Applejack's mind, before it ended with a cage containing a pink pony.

"I know where Pinkie is." said Applejack.

=====================================================================

Pinkamena Diane Pie ambled her way aimlessly through a rocky plain. It's a place she was familiar, the Pie family's rock farm. Although being in her dream, and with the unusually dark mood she was in, the farm looked even more desaturated and washed out than she remember.

"That idiot... and her stupid promises..." grumbled Pinkamena with a scowl as she kicked a small rock in front of her out of her way. To say that she's angry with her more bubbly counterpart was an understatement. Because of her, she is blind. There no word in Equestrian dictionary Pinkamena could think of that was sufficient to describe the idiocy of her bubble-headed alter-ego. Not that she's going to stop trying.

"Nincompoop..." she growled. A hoof-sized rock rolled to a stop in front of her. She stared at the seemingly self propelled rock for a second before a filly walked up and rolled the rock away. Pinkamena quickly realized that the filly was her. The filly's mane was straight, with a blank look of boredom on her as she rolled the rock into a small pile of other rocks. It took her another second to realize which memory this was.

The ground shook violently, followed by the a powerful blast of wind that turned her mane and tail into a puffy mess. Like her filly-self, Pinkamena Diane Pie couldn't help but stare at the ever expanding circle of rainbow-colored light that washed over the sky.

This was when she showed up... thought Pinkamena. Right on cue, a ghostly echoed rang out around her.

"Oh my goodness that's so pretty! It's all like BOOM and WHOOSH and ZING and RING and... and WOW! I feel so... so... Is this what happy feels like!? I like this! Everyone should feel like this!"

What followed was a blur to her. She was like a bored spectator, watching herself frantically zipping around the unused rock silo like a pony possessed. Literally possessed by something else she didn't quite understand at the time. She watched herself threw a party to her normally up-tight and stiff families, who seems to be won over by her antics.

The night after the party was when she first met her air-headed alter-ego.

"Ooh! Hello there! Who are you?" asked the hyperactive pony, bouncing up and down in front of her with her snout merely eyelashes lengths away from her.

"Pinkamena..." answered Pinkamena, slowly and a bit confused. "... Diane... Pie."

"Hey! Me too! That's so weird!" the pink pony jabbered excitedly. "But I feel like a Pinkie, not Pinkamena... ooh! I know! You can call me Pinkie Pie! That way we won't get confused! You look kinda like me! Actually if I could make your hair all poofy... or I make mine straight-ish... Ooh! You're going to be my first friend that's not my family! This is so exciting! Or maybe you're technically still family... like a new sister! Or..."

Ever since that fateful encounter with, what she later learned, the sonic rainboom, it had become a strange sort of existence for her. Her memories of her waking moments were a haze, and sometimes she didn't even remember what happened during those time. At night, it became a sort of frequent event where she would meet Pinkie Pie in her dream, who would regale to her the interesting happenings of her day. Although occasionally, the pink pony would behave as if they have never met before and treated her as if she's a new friend with all the enthusiasm that typical of Pinkie Pie.

The fact that she's, apparently, no longer in control of her own body doesn't bother that much at first. She considered that her life up to that point had been a mindless routine with a sprinkle of crushing boredom, not having to live through that day by day was a plus. However, as time went on, she found herself missing more and more time between her short period of consciousness while she was awake. At the same time, the frequency at which Pinkie Pie forgot about her in her dream became near constant. It had gotten to the point that she would lose consciousness at the end of a dream, listening to the ever chattering Pinkie Pie, and "wake-up" in another dream days later with the same Pinkie Pie asking who she was. She begun to fear for her existence. Fearing that one day, she would disappear forever in her own body. Her depression grew worse and worse as time went on. Until one day, she snapped.

They were in some sort of a candy-land, where lollypop dotted the ground like flowers and the trees were made of marshmallow and grew candied apples. A table made of chocolate stood nearby, covered with more candies and treats and a chocolate fountain. It was sunny, with a scattering of cotton candy cloud. However, nothing could alleviate the depression Pinkamena was in.

"What's wrong?" asked Pinkie Pie with concern. A traffic cone rested on top of her head like an oversized party hat.

"Why do you care?" answered Pinkamena bitingly, turning her head to avoid seeing Pinkie Pie face-to-face.

"Because you're my friend, and I care about you." said Pinkie Pie.

"Friend, huh?" scoffed Pinkamena. "Tell me, do you remember us meeting before?"

"No..." answered Pinkie Pie, cocking her head with uncertainty. "... at least... I don't remember."

"Really?" Pinkamena gave Pinkie Pie a sarcastic grin. "Because I remember us meeting like this for many, many times!"

"We did?" asked Pinkie Pie nervously.

"YES!" Pinkamena stood up and swung around, putting her front hooves on Pinkie's shoulder. The traffic cone toppled off Pinkie's head as she flinched from the sudden motion. "ENOUGH TIMES FOR ME TO LOSE COUNT! AND YOU KEEP FORGETTING ABOUT IT!"

"I... I did?"

"EVERY... SINGLE... TIME! IT'S LIKE YOU NEVER KNEW ME! WHY? IS IT BECAUSE YOU HATE ME?" Pinkamena was on the verge of tears. "IS IT BECAUSE YOU WANT TO FORGET ME?"

"I... don't..."

"You don't want me..." Pinkamena released Pinkie Pie and sat down again. Her head hung low as tears started to flow. "Of course you don't... I'm the old you... somepony you don't want to be reminded of..."

"I... I don't hate you..."

"... I don't want to disappear..." Pinkamena sniffed and hiccuped as she sat. Her back heaved with sobs as the idea of vanishing from her own mind completely took hold. Pinkie Pie was silent for what felt like a long while to Pinkamena, which gave her a start when Pinkie Pie put her hooves on her shoulders gently. Pinkamena looked up in surprise at the pony who's looking back at her with a faint smile.

"I won't let you disappear." said Pinkie Pie reassuringly. "I promise."

"Huh?" Pinkamena stared back in confusion.

"I promise that I'll always remember you, and I will do everything I can to make sure you don't disappear." said Pinkie Pie.

"No you won't." replied Pinkamena, turning her head aside. "You'll just forget about your promise... just like you forget about me..."

"Nuh-uh." Pinkie Pie shook her head. "This is a Pinkie promise, from one Pinkie to another... technically from one Pinkie to a Pinka... or Minnie... Let's just go with Pinkie. Anyway, I promise you, no pony will break a Pinkie promise, ever!" Pinkie Pie released her and stepped back. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!"

Pinkamena watched her alter-ego jab her right hoof into her closed eye at the end of the strange chant. She knew that there's no reason why simply calling a promise by another name would make it a better promise. She knew that Pinkie Pie would forget about her and her promise. Yet, perhaps it was the ridiculousness of her alter-ego's behavior, or that secretly she believed it would work, she couldn't stop herself from cracking a small smile.

"You smiled! You smiled!" Pinkie Pie whooped as she hopped around Pinkamena in a circle. "Your first smile! I think... THIS DESERVES A PARTY!"

Whatever doubt she had about Pinkie's promise, to her pleasant surprise, never came true. True to her word, Pinkie Pie never forget about her again after that. While there were still occasions where she forgot her name, or that they've talked before, or that she really didn't like the nick-name "Minnie", Pinkie Pie always remembered her existence. Gone were the nights where Pinkie Pie treated her as somepony she just met. Instead, most nights were replaced by parties. Some were wild, others were just surreal, as in a beach party on a beach of sugar and ocean of chocolate.

And it wasn't just their shared dreams that saw changes. Ever since that promise, she found herself more and more aware of the time when she, or Pinkie Pie, was awake. Most of the time it was like movie, where she would watch Pinkie Pie go through her daily life. Sometimes, she would find herself as an imaginary actress of sorts in one of Pinkie Pie's impromptu song and dance. There were some rare moments where she took control of their body, but it was always the result of some sort of... "tragedies" that cause Pinkie Pie to sink into a depression. For example, that one time when Pinkie Pie thought her best-est friends stopped liking her.

Pinkamena couldn't help but face-hoof at the memory of her trying to make new "friends" for Pinkie Pie to cheer her up... friends made of rocks, a bag of flour, some turnip, and even lints.

Probably should leave the friend-making to the bubble head...

But even if she wasn't in control most of the time, Pinkamena was happy. Through Pinkie Pie, she got to experience the joy of friendship. Thanks to Pinkie Pie, she no longer fear that she would one day vanish from her own mind.

Because Pinkie Pie made a Pinkie promise to her.

A promise that she would never break.

The very promise that she just called stupid.

Pinkamena froze with a start as the world around her, recollections of her time with Pinkie Pie, shattered like glass before sinking into the inky floor. The world around returned to a gray foggy expanse of nothingness as the revelation dawned on her.

"How could I have forgotten..." muttered Pinkamena as she sat down in shock. She smacked her hoof to her forehead and hung her head in shame. "You... idiot..."

"I'm sorry..." came Pinkie's voice. Pinkamena looked up. Just a few paces in front of her, the gray fog parted, through which she could see Pinkie Pie. Seemingly illuminated by a spotlight, she lay there with her head under her forelegs, sobbing into the ground.

"Pinkie Pie?" called out Pinkamena as she closed the distance between. Pinkie Pie looked up from under her legs. The two holes where her eyes used to be was filled with tear, which drained out in two rivulets down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Pinkie Pie pushed herself up to a sitting position. "Please forgive..."

Pinkie Pie's cries was silence when Pinkamena reached out with her hoof and placed it on Pinkie's mouth.

"No..." Pinkie's ear and shoulders drooped at the response. "... I am the one who should be sorry."

Pinkie's ear shot back up out of surprise. Pinkamena removed her hoof from Pinkie's mouth before continuing.

"I... I've forgotten about the promise..." said Pinkamena. "The promise you made to me... so that I can be here... for that I'm sorry..."

"So... you're not angry anymore?" asked Pinkie Pie in hopeful disbelief.

"How could I be angry if I'm the one saying sorry?"

"But I... we are blind because of me..." sniffed Pinkie Pie.

"Okay... maybe I'm still a bit angry about that..." said Pinkamena with a faint smile. "How about this? I'll forgive you for making us blind if you'll forgive me for calling your Pinkie Promise stupid?"

Pinkamena reached out toward Pinkie Pie with both her forelegs. Pinkie sniffed once more before cracking our a wide smile.

"I forgive you!" shouted Pinkie as she threw herself into a hug. "Thank you..."

"No... thank you..." answered Pinkamena, wrapping her hooves around Pinkie Pie. They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity. Until Pinkamena noticed that her alter-ego was fading away.

"I think its time for you to wake up." said Pinkamena. She felt Pinkie Pie's nod against her shoulder.

"Thank you." mumbled Pinkie Pie moments before she disappeared in her hooves completely. Once again, she was alone, or so she thought.

"I'm happy for you two." Pinkamena turned to find Fluttershy, wearing a gentle smile and gaze, walking toward her.

"Yeah..." answered Pinkamena. She looked at the empty space where Pinkie Pie was moments ago with a sense of regret. "I just wish that we have more time."

"What do you mean?" asked Fluttershy with concern.

"In case you didn't, we are imprisoned by a bunch of sadistic maniacs. Who, by the way, already tore our eyes out for shits and giggles." Pinkamena sighed. "I just don't think we will live for much longer.

"Oh... that!" the sudden flippant tone from Fluttershy caused Pinkamena to look toward the pegasus with surprise. Fluttershy returned her look with a secretive and conspiratorial grin. "I won't worry about that too much."

Day 8: Part 2

Sound of talons clicking against the rough stone floor echoed in the empty hallway as Gilda made her way down it. Behind her, traveling on a squeaking wagon hitched to her back, were two metal pails filled with fishes of varying sizes. Some were half eaten, other had barely any meat left on them. All of which, to be kind, looked a bit stale with swarm of flies circling and crawling over them. However, the grimace on her face was not because of the stench from the slightly rotten fishes. Instead, it was what stood by the pair of steel gates that came into view when she rounded a bend in the tunnel.

Two burly griffins, each a full head taller than Gilda, stood guard by the gate. The two guards noted her presence, and both sneered at her as she stopped in front of them.

"So... what's this?" asked the guard to her right condescendingly. "Take out the trash day?"

Here we go again... thought Gilda bitterly.

"Nah!" snorted the guard to her left. "I think those are for the prisoner... and her daddy."

"I guess it's fitting." commented the guard dismissively as he picked up one of the half eaten fish. He gave it a sniff before pulling it away. "Trash for trash."

Gilda resolutely kept up an impassive look, even while she was screaming out strings of obscenity in her mind. Everyday, it was the same. The guards always took joy from making insult, whether veiled or direct, at her, her tribe, or her father. Of course, it gave them great satisfaction if she snapped back. For no other reason than it gave them a reason to use her as a punching bag, as her blackened eye could testify.

"What? Not going to say anything?" asked the guard who just implied that her tribe and father were trash.

"Could you please..." said Gilda, doing everything in her power to keep the anger out of her voice. "... let me through so I can finish my round?"

To Gilda's satisfaction, however minor, the guards exchanged a disappointed look before they unlocked the steel doors.

"Just get that... thing away from me." ordered the guard to her right. Without saying another word, Gilda made her way through the gate with her cargo.

"You have thirty minutes! Don't let me catch you dawdling!" yelled the guard as soon as she was clear. The gate shut with a resounding clang behind her. The ringing cleared after a short while, and was replaced by hushed groans and moans.

All along the the corridors were cages, each holding a single griffin within them. There were many such corridors, formerly mining tunnels, abandoned after its riches had being exploited by the last griffin tribe who sought it. The Blackwing had bolted down cages in an isolated section of the mine and re-purposed it as their prison. It made navigation somewhat difficult and confusing, but Gilda had long since remember her route. She made her way down the myriad twists and turns in the tunnels, passing griffins of different tribes as she passed out the content of the metal pails to the imprisoned griffins.

There was one thing the guards were right about. The food she was giving them were trash, leftover from the near nightly feast where the Blackwings gorged themselves on the "tributes" from the enslaved tribes. Every morning, she would pick through the rotting remains leftover from last night. Fortunately, the Blackwings were quite a picky lot in terms of food, some were discarded whole for being too small, while others were simply half-eaten before being discarded for reasons unknown. However, despite such waste, it wasn't enough, considering the sheer number of griffins trapped here. For that reason, all of them were in a pitiful state from malnourishment.

Having said that, the problem with malnourishment may soon solve itself, as Gilda noted the occasional empty cages that once held a griffin. Some she knew died during those lavish feasts, where the Blackwings will on occasions force a couple of prisoners to fight to the death for their entertainment. Those who survived were in a state of catatonia, spending most of their time whimpering and sobbing in the cage.

The rest, on the other wing, simply disappeared. Long sections of cages laid empty, their former occupants forcefully removed as one and marched elsewhere, at least according to the prisoners that remained. Gilda had no idea where they went, but she could guess that they're probably dead too, or worse.

She made another turn, and felt relief when she noted that the cages here were occupied. For within the third cage on her right laid the sleeping form his father, Leo. His coat was a dull amber, lacking the radiance that Gilda remember from just weeks ago. His similarly colored wings rested against the cage floor with clumps of feathers missing, partly from battle wound, and partly from the rough treatment by the guards.

"Father?" called out Gilda as she stopped by the cage. The form stirred, and paused for a second before turning around. His tired eyes brightened up almost instantly when the two met.

"Gilda. It's good to see you." Leo reached out through the bar and exchanged a brief embrace with each other.

"You say that every time." said Gilda with a rare smile.

"Doesn't make it any less true." said Leo while Gilda dug a somewhat edible looking fish from the pail. "So, how are you doing?"

"Pretty well..." said Gilda as she reached into the cage and deposited her father's dinner into his metal bowl. "... and Damien is gone for the day, so I guess today is going to be... fairly good. How about you?"

"Same old, same old." chuckled her father in a tired tone. "The guards are, probably, starting to get got tired of picking on little old me."

The two stood there for a few seconds, waiting for the other to talk about anything else. In truth, there wasn't much to talk about in this place, at least nothing positive. Finding nothing else to say, Gilda pressed her face up against the bar.

"I love you, dad." she said. Her father reached out with his forelegs and wrapped them around her.

"I love you too." he replied, and Gilda returned the gesture by wrapping her forelegs around her father. It was this moment that kept Gilda going. A precious moment where she could convince herself that they would make it. A moment where she could forget about the Tartarus she's living in.

A moment that's always over far too soon. Gilda reluctantly pulled away.

"I have to finish the round." said Gilda. Her father nodded with understanding as Gilda resumed her route. But before she could make a few steps away...

"Gilda! Wait..." Gilda turned around, and froze at what she saw.

The corridor was gone, along with the cages of griffin that lined said corridor. The sole exception being her father's cage, which appeared to be suspended in mid-air.

"Dad?" stuttered Gilda.

"There's... something I wanted to tell you." said Leo. Gilda moved toward the suspended cage, but found that she wasn't getting any closer..

"I... I'm sorry... about everything" Leo continued, seemingly oblivious to the strangeness that happened around him.

"Dad... what are you talking about?" said Gilda as she increased her pace. But instead of her closing the distance, the cage retreated further and further away. In the distance, a gateway that gave off an ominous glow drew near.

"I should've protected you... from all this... horrors..." said Leo, looking ashamed. "... and I failed."

"Dad! I... I told you already! I don't blame you! Why do you keep saying that?" shouted Gilda as she broke off into a run. Yet, she couldn't make any progress. The gateway loomed as an intense heat accompanied by the sinister orange glow. Above it, hanging like a guillotine, was an enormous slab of metal, creaking as if it was about to fall at any moment.

"Forgive me Gilda..." continued Leo.

"I forgive you! I forgive you, dad!" cried out Gilda, urging herself to run faster. "I forgive you for everything! Just please! Come back!"

Her efforts were in vain as the cage retreated into the gateway. The metal slab give way an instant later, rumbling as it descend.

"DAD!" screamed Gilda, moments before the cold, steel gate slammed down in front of her.

=====================================================================

"... dad!" a gray, rough wall greeted Gilda as she woke with a start. Her breath was quick and short, and her eyes darted about rapidly as she tried to make sense of her situation. She looked down, and saw a sleeping, pink-maned pony cradled in her forelegs. A piece of rag, soaked through with dried blood, wrapped around the pony's head and covered her eyes, or the empty socket of her eyes as Gilda quickly remembered what happened last night.

"Pinkie Pie..." muttered Gilda, gazing at the sleeping pony beneath her. She had stayed with the pony, who clung to her like she was her last friend in the world. Although given the circumstance, the pony's belief might not be too far off. In any case, she had planned to stay until the pony had fallen asleep. But by the look of things, the stress from last night must have taken a toll on her.

... how long had I been sleeping? thought Gilda. The constant illumination from the gas lamps made it impossible to tell the time. But if Gilda had to guess, based on her biological clock, it was sometime near morning. More specifically, time for her to delivery the captive griffins' one and only meal of the day.

With care, Gilda laid Pinkie Pie on the ground before making her ways to the barred door. Making as little noise as possible so she wouldn't wake Pinkie Pie up, Gilda left the cage. As she closed the door behind her, she took one last look at the sleeping pony.

"... good luck..." muttered Gilda.

"Hey pony lover!" she jumped when a steel clad talon slammed into the cage bar in front of her. Gilda turned to her left, and to her dread, found Bane standing there leering down at her. Dread turned to revulsion when she noticed the necklace around Bane's neck, from which dangled two cyan eyeballs. Bane noticed Gilda's gaze and smiled.

"Admit it, they look nice, don't they?" asked Bane as he dangled the eyeballs in front of Gilda, who pulled away in disgust. "Yep, look much better on me than that dirt eating pony."

"What do you want?" asked Gilda, desperately trying to get away from the revolting griffin.

"Looking for you, what else?" Bane gave her a lopsided grin.

"Well, you found me." answered Gilda, trying to edge her way past the griffin.

"I must say." continued Bane stood in Gilda's way, blocking her escape. "I know your kinds are pony lovers, but never in a million years would I have imagine that you would sleep with one. What would your father say?"

"Please, just let me through." said Gilda, who tried to head another way. But to her shock, Bane grabbed her by the neck and slammed her against the solid ground.

"Why the rush?" asked Bane with barely contained glee as he lorded over her. "Don't want to have your precious daddy starve? Well, it's not like he's going to need it... at least, not for long."

"... what... what are you..." choked out Gilda as fear gripped her.

"Oh, didn't you know?" said Bane with a widening grin. "Lord Seth has some... surprises planned today, every griffin who's any griffin is going! Now, I'm not sure what IT is, but I know it involves all you pony-lovers... and I'm pretty sure it's not going to be... survivable."

"He can't do this!" shouted Gilda. "We had a deal! We..."

"YOU had a deal with Damien." interrupted Bane. "Not me, not Lord Seth, but his scrawny little son Damien. And guess what? He never came back last night. So I guess he can't help you now, not that I believe he would..."

"No!" Gilda struggled beneath the leering griffin, lashing out with her talons. "You can't do this!"

One of her claws found their mark in Bane's face, leaving behind three thin welts. Bane chuckled before slapping Gilda across her face with the back of his free claw. Stars exploded in Gilda's eyes as the crack of metal talon against beak reverberated through the corridors.

"Ooh a little fight! I like that!" growled Bane at the stunned griffin beneath him. His grip tightened as his voice dropped low and threatening. A lecherous grin plastered across his face as he leered at her. "You know, I'm gonna do you a little favor before you... reach the end of your line. I'm gonna let you know what it feels like to ma..."

"Gilda?" an inquisitive cry interrupted Bane. "Gilda? is that you? I heard you screaming, are you okay?"

Gilda blinked out the stars in her eyes and found Pinkie Pie sitting upright within her cage. Her head swiveled left and right as Pinkie Pie tried to locate her.

"Well, well, well, it looks like we're going to have an audience." declared Bane. Pinkie Pie's ears twitched toward them before her head followed suit.

"Hey! I know that voice!" called out Pinkie Pie, her right hoof pointing out in an accusing gesture. "You're that bad griffin! What did you do to Gilda? If you hurt her! I'll... I'll..."

"You'll... what?" taunted Bane, never releasing his grip on Gilda's neck.

"I'll... I'll kick your flank!" shouted Pinkie Pie, stomping her hoof to the ground. Bane looked stunned for a second before breaking out into a cackling laugh.

"Kick... Kick my flank?" asked Bane as he struggled to catch his breath.

"I mean it! If you hurt Gilda, I'll kick your flank!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie.

"If I... hurt Gilda?" asked Bane malicious as he got control of his laughter. Gilda let out a series choking sound when the grip around her neck tightened. "You mean like this?"

"HEY! STOP HURTING HER!" shouted Pinkie Pie, who was visibly alarmed at the gagging sound Gilda was making. She got up and tried to gallop to her, but the only thing she accomplished was slamming her head against the unyielding bars of the cage. Pinkie Pie recoiled from the impact and collapsed to a heap on a ground.

"Please... stop hurting her..." pleaded the pony as she pushed herself back up. Her hooves resting against the bars.

"Let me think..." Bane grinned as he relaxed his grip on Gilda, who drew in a deep breath and coughed. Bane scratched his beak with his free claw before his grin widened further. "... you did promise this weakling here that she will be okay..."

"... yes..." uttered Pinkie Pie in a wispy voice.

"Well, maybe if do that promise again, I'll decide not to hurt her again."

Gilda stared in confusion. But she didn't have time to make sense of Bane's statement before the grip around her neck tightened and she started choking again.

"Promise to her that she'll be fine." said Bane, snarling at Pinkie Pie. "THEN... maybe... I'll stop hurting her."

Gilda soon found herself struggling, and failing, to draw breath due to Bane's increasingly vice-like grip on her. She clawed at the talons around her throat while desperately trying to kick the leering griffin off her. But the vast difference in size and strength meant all her efforts were for naught. Her vision started to darken as the lack of oxygen took its toll and her struggle began to wane.

"Gilda..." Pinkie Pie started with a shaky voice. "... I... I promise..."

Almost immediately, Gilda felt the choke-hold on her loosened up. She gasped, drawing a deep breath of the life-giving air.

"... I promise that we'll make it out of here..." continued Pinkie Pie with her ears drooped. Her voice were shaky as if she was trying to stop herself from crying.

"... cross my heart... and hope to fly..." she made a halfhearted crossing motion with her right hoof in front of her chest.

"... stick a cupcake... in... my..." Pinkie Pie hesitated for a moment and sniffed, before putting her right hoof over her heavily bandaged right eye. "... eye..."

"Hm... not bad... not bad..." commented Bane with feigned seriousness. "But, there's something missing... what is it... Oh RIGHT!"

Bane took a deliberate glance at Pinkie Pie's eyeballs on his chest before continuing with a grin.

"How do you 'stick a cupcake in your eye'..." Bane hopped off Gilda, dangling the necklace of Pinkie's eyeballs between him and the pony they belonged to. "... if I got your eyes right here!?"

Bane roared with laughter. He stumbled to the side, leaning against the wall opposite of the cage for support as he howled and cackled. Gilda averted her eyes from the griffin with disgust before setting her sight on the pony with pity... then with confusion.

"Pin... kie?" Gilda blinked at Pinkie Pie. The pony's ears were perked up as if out of curiosity while her right hoof jabbed at the bandage a few more times. Then, to Gilda further surprise, Pinkie Pie smiled.

"Hey! Maybe... you can... find somewhere... else... to stick... that cupcake..." said Bane as he tried to talk in between his fits of laughter. "I... can suggest... a few..."

"Nope!" answered Pinkie Pie with an impossibly cheery voice, which caught Bane's attention. With her right hoof, she pushed bloody bandage off her head. Her mane seems to inflate back to its former fluffiness as it passed through the wrappings. Then...

"Ta-dah!"... she opened her eyes.

Gilda and Bane were rendered speechless. Sparkling by the flickering flame of the gas lamps, a pair of bright, cyan-blue eyes that exuded happiness stared back at them from the pony's formerly empty eye sockets.

"What... how..." stuttered Bane as his own eyes darted between the ones that were in Pinkie Pie and the ones in his talons.

"I've got my eyes back! I've got my eyes back!" shouted Pinkie Pie in a sing-song as she hopped in a circuit around the cage. Once she's facing them after her round, she sat back down and jabbed her right hoof against her closed right eye. "Now I can stick the cupcake in my OWN eye! How do you like THAT? Pft..."

Pinkie Pie pulled down her right eyelid and blew a raspberry at Bane, or at least she tried. Faster Gilda could blink, something long, slimy, and black with a hint of pink shot out of Pinkie's mouth and wrapped itself around Bane. Gilda barely had the time to register the surprised look on Bane when he suddenly vanished, accompanied by a gust of wind and a sharp, metallic crash. All that's left was a trail of floating feathers that were slowly drifting down. Gilda followed it with her eyes, and found it leading toward Pinkie's cage.

A few bars near the center of the cage were slightly bowed in and to the side with blood and feathers smeared on them. The trail of hovering feathers ended just in front of Pinkie Pie, who looked like she had been gorging herself. Her stomach was comically inflated to a size that, Gilda quickly realized, was the same size as that of Bane. Pinkie Pie blinked back at her with equal measure of surprise and confusion.

"Ooh!" the looks of surprise on the pony turned into one of realization as her stomach began to shrink and her form started to change.

=====================================================================

"Bane." a voice, deep and imposing, boomed and echoed.

"Yes, my lord." answered Bane. His voice was quieter in comparison, but confident.

"Come forward." commanded the voice. A griffin swam into view. The left-half of his face was covered in a metal mask from which peaked a yellowish eyes that contrasted with his uncovered blue right eye.

"Do you swear to serve me, and no one else but me, in order to further the glory of the Blackwings?"

"Yes, Lord Seth." answered Bane. Seth lifted a bowl from the ground in front of him. A bowl that contained what looked like a pile of glittering red dust within it.

"Then accept this gift of the red star, and become one with the Blackwings!" declared the masked griffin before he blew the red dust into Bane's face.

A red fog obscured the screen as Pinkie Pie noticed herself staring at it. Taking a quick look around she found herself sitting in a small and featureless room. A bright light shone from the back of the room and projected images to a screen in the front, which provided the only source of light in the other pitch-black room. A plush looking sofa rested between her and the screen.

"... where is..." uttered Pinkie Pie, and as if in response to her outburst, the screen froze and a pony poked its head out from behind the sofa. The pair of cyan-blue eyes, the only feature Pinkie Pie could make out of against the bright screen, regarded her for a while before hopping off the sofa. The pony briskly trotted toward her and away from the harsh glare of the screen, allowing Pinkie Pie to recognize who it was.

"Hello, Pinkie Pie." greeted Pinkamena with a smile.

"Pinkamena!" called out Pinkie Pie excitedly as she hopped up and down on the spot. "We got our eyes back! We got our eyes back!"

"Yes, yes, I've noticed." said Pinkamena, who waved her right hoof at her to calm her down. She obliged and stopped bouncing, but that didn't mean she's going to stop talking.

"And I think I swallowed that... jerk that took our eyes." continued Pinkie Pie. She blinked a few times, glancing toward the flickering screen. "Ooh! So is that his memory or something?" Pinkie Pie raised her right hoof and pointed at the screen.

"Yep." answered Pinkamena with a nod.

"Ooh, so that's what it looked like... Can I watch it with you?" asked Pinkie Pie excitedly.

"Maybe later." said Pinkamena. "Who else is going to control our body if you stay here?"

"Oh that's right!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie. "My friends still need me! Oh well, I'll just take a rain-check then!"

With that, a door opened for a fraction of a second in the back of the room, just enough time for Pinkie Pie to dash out before closing and vanishing into the wall itself. Now alone in the room once more, Pinkamena climbed back into the comfortable sofa.

"Fluttershy!... or whoever... or whatever you are, hit it!" Pinkamena made of spinning motion with her hoof in the air, and the light flickered once more as the film started rolling again. Without her eyes leaving the screen, Pinkamena took a mouthful of popcorn out of the bowl on the side table.

"Wow... that's REALLY messed up." commented Pinkamena as she chewed on the popcorn and watched Bane participate in his first slaughter against another griffin tribe.

=====================================================================

Gilda stared with wide eyes and open beak as she watched the groggy looking Bane pushing himself up within the cage. He rubbed his head a few times with his right claw a few time before pausing, as if he's confused. Moving both his claws in front of her, Bane examined them with great interest as he flexed his metal covered talons and clicked a few together.

"Cool...!" uttered Bane. He looked up and saw Gilda staring at her. "Hi Gilda!" said Bane with a suspiciously familiar happy tone.

"Pin... kie Pie?" asked Gilda with uncertainty.

"Yep! It's me!" said Bane cheerfully. He looked at himself over again before turning back up to Gilda with a sheepish face. "Oops, forgot. Hang on."

Just when she felt like her beak couldn't open any wider, it did as black and pink tendrils enveloped Bane. He shrunk rapidly until he was the size of a pony. The flesh-like coils vanished, revealing a sitting Pinkie Pie with a wide smile on her face.

"But... but how?" stuttered Gilda. The pony's "wild" stories from last night came back to her, stories about her friends exploits and fanciful description on what they were capable of... "Wait! Those... those stories about Rainbow Dash... about your friends... were real?"

"Of course! Why would I lie about that? Now, enough chit-chat, let's bust out this joint! But how..." Pinkie Pie tapped her right hoof against her head with her tail tapping the floor as she went deep in thought. Gilda could see the problem. Even with the damaged state of the bars, they still looked pretty solid. And despite the bent in the bar that was caused Bane's forced passage in between them, it still wasn't wide enough for Pinkie Pie to get through.

A heavy thump and crack from somewhere behind Pinkie Pie caught their attention. They exchanged a look before checking behind the pony. To further Gilda's confusion of the situation, she found herself staring at Pinkie's tail, or what was Pinkie's tail. The formerly puff of fluffy and curly pink hair had transformed into a solid, sack-like mass composed of black and pink tendrils. It started out narrow where the tail meet the body before growing into a bowling-ball sized mass near the end. Beneath the mass, the spider-web like cracks spread across the stone floor.

"Hey, what's this?" questioned Pinkie Pie as she lifted her tail, or the fleshy mass that's now her tail, off the ground. Then, she dropped the mass back to the ground, which crashed into the ground with sharp crack and created more spider-web cracks from the point of impact.

"Cool!" Pinkie Pie did it again, except this time she slapped her tail to the ground harder. On impact, the ball of hardened flesh threw chunks of rocks out as it made a crater in the rough stone floor. "I know how I can get out of here!"

Pinkie Pie stood up and faced the door. She planted her hooves into the ground as she started to spin her transformed tail above her like a flail. "Gilda, you might wanna move away a bit."

Seeing the mass that, just recently, demonstrated being capable of breaking rocking flying in the air with ever increasing speed was all that's needed to convince Gilda to take the pony's warning seriously. She quickly scrambled to the side, away from the cage itself and watched. The spherical mass spun faster and faster until it was nothing but a black and pink blur.

"WHEE!" the fleshy mass surged forward, dragging the cheering pony along with it. The cage door, solid and unyielding at first glance, proved to be no match for the flying projectile. With the bang of metals snapping, Pinkie's transformed tail hammered through gate, tearing it off its joint as if they were made out of toothpicks. It continued on its trajectory until it slammed into the stone wall opposite of the cage with a thundering crash. Gilda ducked and covered her head with her forelegs as the impact sent fragments of rock flying towards her. Pieces of rock pelted her harmlessly as she felt a cloud of dust settled over her.

"Woo! That was fun!" cheered Pinkie Pie. Convinced that it was safe, Gilda uncovered herself and took in the aftermath. Amidst the settling cloud of dust, Pinkie Pie dragged her club like tail out of a pony sized crater in the wall. The cage door, bent and warped, was embedded within the hole as if it had became part of the wall itself. Chunks of rocks continued to break away, adding themselves to the small pile of rubble that settled beneath the crater.

The sound of destruction didn't go unnoticed. From the corner not too far down the corridor of cages, the sound of metal talons clattering and the guards shouting grew closer and closer by the second. For a short while, a reflexive flash of fear and panic gripped Gilda. But those feelings were soon blown away by a gust of pink. With her flail-like tail swinging above her again, Pinkie Pie charged down the hallway, just in time to meet the four griffins that guarded this section of the prison.

"Hey! Wha..." one of the guard shouted, but he never did finish his sentence. Pinkie Pie's tail, dragging its owner along, smashed into the griffin's face. The rest of the guards stared, wide-eyed, in shock and confusion as they watch the black and pink mass crushed their comrade's head against the wall in a spray of blood and brain matter. The moment of shock proved to be fatal for two of the guards. With a fluid pivot on her front legs, Pinkie Pie yanked her mutated tail out of the wall and straight into a second griffin, flattening his rib-cage against the cage bars. Another quick twitch of her rump connected her organic flail to the lower beak of one of the remaining pair of griffins. His head, and only his head, flew up and smashed itself to into the stone ceiling. The last remaining griffin quickly turned tail and ran, but it was an act of futility. A long and fleshy mass shot out Pinkie Pie's mouth, and just as it did to Bane, wrapped itself around the fleeing griffin. Gilda didn't even have time to blink before the griffin vanished, just as Bane did, and Pinkie Pie's stomach swelled up for a second before it shrunk back to normal just as quickly.

"Come on! Gildy! We still got more joints to bust!" called out Pinkie Pie as she paced excitedly on the spot. Gilda, her mind still reeling from all that happening, galloped after the pony as if her body was moving of its own accord. A jumble of emotions swirled within Gilda, the strongest of which being fear: Fear for her own, fear for her tribe, and, above all else, fear for her father. But as she ran past the bodies of the griffin guards, part of her former tormentors that she once believed to be invincible, one emotion surfaced above all else.

Hope.

Day 8: Part 3

Pinkie... Twilight... Gilda... Please be okay... thought Rainbow Dash as she, along with Fluttershy, followed Applejack at a brisk pace down the many corridors. Despite being deep within enemy territory, their passage was unhindered. While there were occasional curious glances from the griffins they ran past, their perfect disguise and her disguise's... status as the son of Seth meant that no one dared to stop them.

No, the difficult part wasn't the griffins, but the memories they triggered. Each new faces brought to fore new memories from Damien. Dark memories of the cruel and terrible things these griffins had done to others, and she wasn't alone. Applejack appeared to suffer the same as she was, with twinge of grimace whenever they recognize griffins of varying... infamy.

Fluttershy's behavior, however, made Rainbow Dash quite nervous. Ever since they left Skinny's... torture dungeon, Fluttershy had wore an impassive expression on her. But in her eyes, Rainbow Dash could see the a barely suppressed fury burning within them, the same look that she gave Skinny before they let Applejack... consumed him. And if there's one thing Rainbow Dash knew, it's never a good idea to get on Fluttershy's bad side, especially with her new found abilities.

"Isn't that Gilda?" asked Applejack in a hushed voice. Rainbow Dash looked forward and squinted it. Even in the dim light, Rainbow Dash could recognize Gilda, who was pacing down the corridor ahead of them next to another griffin.

"Gilda!" called out Rainbow Dash. She saw Gilda took a quick look back and, to her surprise, whispered something to the griffin she was with before the two quickly darted down a side path. "Hey! Stop! It's me! Rai..."

Applejack gave her a quick shove to shut her up. Rainbow Dash was about to retort before stopping herself. She realized that without knowing how many other griffins were in shouting distance, announcing that they're in their base was probably not a good idea.

Rainbow Dash knew the griffin Gilda was with. Bane, a griffin that, to Damian's dislike, became one of his father's favorite warrior on account of him being bigger and stronger. Known for his excessive cruelty and violence, even Damian was a bit afraid of him. But none of the explained why Gilda was, apparently, running away from them. Sure, Gilda hated Damian, but even she won't dare to disobey his orders. Unless...

"She's cheating on me..." muttered Rainbow Dash, earning her a shocked look from Applejack and Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash returned a confused look before her, or Damian's, cheeks reddened when she realized what she just said. "No! I mean she's cheating on Damian... wait, no, Damian thinks that Gilda's cheating on me... wait... I... argh, you know what I mean... let's just go get her."

Applejack and Fluttershy didn't say another word as they continued their way down the corridor. As the trio approached the side tunnels Gilda disappeared into, Rainbow Dash ran through several ideas in her mind. Ideas that, hopefully, could get Gilda to come with them without giving away their disguise to Bane.

Or, just kill Bane... thought Rainbow Dash as they were about to turn into the side tunnel. That was when all hell break loose.

It started with a familiar sounding battle-cry that caught her by surprise, followed by a pink blur that went flying out the corner. It caught Applejack in the side and slammed her into the opposing wall. The shock wave shook the tunnel, sending gas lamps rattling along the wall as dust and debris fell from the ceiling.

"What the..." the words were stuck in her throat when someone, or in this case somepony, leaped out of the cloud of debris. It was Pinkie Pie, whose tail looked like it had some kind of black, bony flail at the end of it. The pink pony landed on the ground and gave them a savage glare.

"HIYA!" without missing a beep, Pinkie Pie launched herself toward them. Her flail-like tail sweeping a wide arch as she spun in midair.

"Pink..." Rainbow Dash quickly ducked to avoid having her head knocked off by Pinkie Pie's flail-tail. Fluttershy, still disguised as Lilith, wasn't so lucky. The bony mass smashed into the her head and sent her crashing next to the wall that Applejack was embedded in. Pinkie Pie landed where Fluttershy once was and gave Rainbow Dash a sinister looking smirk.

"Wait! It's me! Rain..." before she could even finish her sentence when something slimy and rough wrapped itself around her body and her mouth. Rainbow Dash only caught a quick glimpse of the black and fibrous mass connecting her to Pinkie's tongue before her whole world went dark.

=====================================================================

Something was wrong.

Gilda knew that seconds after Pinkie Pie... swallowed Damian. Unlike her previous victims, Pinkie Pie's stomach remained inflated, which kept her hooves off the ground.

"Huh. This never happened before." commented Pinkie Pie as she slowly rolled to the side until her right hooves touch the ground.

"Pinkie Pie! Are you okay?" asked Gilda with worries as she trotted over. Pinkie Pie gave her a shrug.

"I think there some... uh... technical difficulties." answered Pinkie Pie as she gave Gilda a sheepish smile.

"Ugh... what da hay?" Gilda snapped toward the sound in panic. To her surprise and fear, Skinny stumbled out from the pile of rubble that he created, and other than appearing a bit dazed, there was no sign of any injury on him. Instinctively, Gilda pulled out a crossbow she... acquired from the pulverized corpse of a victim of Pinkie Pie and pointed it at Skinny.

"Stop right there! Don't..." Gilda stopped abruptly when the crossbow in her claws jumped. She looked down, and blinked at the unloaded crossbow that she remembered as loaded just seconds ago. Slowly but deliberately, Gilda looked back up and found the metal bolt embedded in Skinny's chest. Skinny, who had his eyes on her, followed her gaze to the same metal bolt.

"Ow." uttered Skinny, who looked back up at Gilda with annoyance. "That hurts! Why da hay did ya do that for?"

We're screwed! We're screwed! We're screwed! We're screwed! the thought repeated in Gilda's mind as panic washed through her.

"Hey! You sounded just like Applejack!" commented Pinkie Pie cheerfully.

Okay! All hope not lost yet. with as much discretion as she could, Gilda slowly reached for the dagger by her side. The dagger that once belonged to the same owner as the crossbow. I can just...

"What are ya talking about? Of course Ah'm Applejack." said Skinny.

... What? Gilda stopped reaching for her dagger as she blinked at Skinny with disbelief. Skinny didn't see her staring, as he seems preoccupied at examining his own side.

"Oh... right, forgot." said Skinny with an embarrassed look. As soon as he said that, mass of black tendrils enveloped the griffin as his form shrunk rapidly. Seconds later, the tendrils merged into an amber colored earth pony with three red apples as her cutie mark. For the second time today, Gilda's jaw dropped.

"Hey! It IS you!" said Pinkie Pie cheerfully as she slowly turned herself around by digging her right hooves against the ground.

"Yep, its me!" said Applejack. At the same time, a yellow pegasus with three butterflies as her cutie-mark came stumbling out from the crater. The same crater that, as Gilda remembered, was caused by Pinkie Pie knocking Lilith into it. The pegasus was still a bit wobbly on her hooves, but she recovered quickly with a quick shake of her head.

"Hey Fluttershy! You're here too!" Pinkie Pie let out a gasp before continue. "Wait! That means I attacked you! I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay." answered Fluttershy in a near whisper.

"No problem! Yah didn't know... by the way, what happened to ya? And where's Rainbow?" asked Applejack, who was perplexed at the condition Pinkie Pie was in.

"Applejack? Pinkie Pie? What's going on?" came Rainbow Dash muffled cry. It took Gilda just a few seconds to realize that it came from Pinkie's inflated stomach. Both Applejack and Fluttershy appeared to realize the same thing as they stared at the pink pony with their mouth open in shock.

"Hi... uh... Rainbow..." said Pinkie Pie sheepishly. "I... uh... might have swallowed you."

"You did what?!" came more muffled shouts. "You... you swallowed... EW! IT'S ALL DARK AND SLIMY AND WARM AND..."

"Don't worry, I will fix it! Hang on!" Pinkie Pie started heaving, as if she was trying to throw up. In fact, Gilda was sure that it was what the pony was trying to do.

"Hey! What's going on? What's happening?" came Rainbow Dash's muffled cries as Pinkie's stomach rippled.

"Just... a... sec..." grunted Pinkie Pie. As soon as she finished saying that, a blur of rainbow shot out from Pinkie's mouth.

"Whoa!" Applejack ducked, barely missing the streak of rainbow sailing over her. The rainbow blur smashed into the wall with a wet splat, revealing one dazed Rainbow Dash face-planted against the solid surface. "Rainbow! Are ya okay?"

"Ugh..." groaned Rainbow Dash as she slowly peeled away from the wall, leaving behind a distinct pegasus-shaped impression in the hard rock as she collapsed on the ground.

"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!" cried out Pinkie Pie as she scampered over. "I didn't know I'm going to do that! I thought I could just... you know... throw you up or something."

"Yah sure did throw her up... and away." commented Applejack.

"Are you feeling okay?" asked Fluttershy as Rainbow Dash pushed herself up gingerly.

"I'm okay... but..." Rainbow Dash shuddered. "... let's not speak of this, again, ever."

"Okie dokie loki! Ooh! Before I forget!" Pinkie Pie zoomed next to Gilda and put her foreleg around the back of Gilda's next, startling the griffin. "Hi everypony, this is Gilda. Gilda, meet my friends and rescue party! I think you know Rainbow Dash already." Pinkie Pie pointed to the rainbow maned pegasus with her free foreleg. "This is Applejack." her foreleg shifted to point to the orange earth pony. "... and Fluttershy." she finished with her hoof pointing at the yellow pegasus.

Rainbow Dash she knew, obviously. As for the other two, Gilda didn't recognize the earth pony Pinkie Pie gestured to, but she did recall the yellow pegasus that she... terrorized back in Ponyville. All three were looking at her with a hint of pity in their eyes.

"Um... hi..." said Gilda hesitantly. She looked to Fluttershy, feeling a bit guilty at the way she terrorized her. "I'm... sorry about what happened last time we... uh... met."

"It's okay." said Fluttershy in a soft voice. "It's nice to... um..." the pegasus paused as she stared at the griffin. Gilda knew she must looked terrible with all the bruises, both new and old, all over her. The worst was probably the fact that her front was covered in blood, something Rainbow Dash quickly noticed.

"... uh, Gilda? Who's blood is that?" asked Rainbow Dash, her hoof gestured at Gilda's chest.

"It... its..."

"Ooh! Me! Me!" answered Pinkie Pie before Gilda could continue. "It's mine! At least most of it is."

"All that's your blood?" exclaimed a wide-eyed Applejack. "What in Celestia's name happened to you?"

"Well... it's a long story..." Pinkie Pie gasped. "And we don't have much time!"

"Pinkie Pie is right, story can wait. Beside, you're okay now, right?" asked Rainbow Dash, to which Pinkie Pie answered with a vigorous nod. "Good. Now we just have to get Twilight first and then..."

"Except we don't know where Twilight is." continued Applejack.

"I know! I know where Twilight is!" said Pinkie Pie with a few quick hops. "But we have to get Gilda's dad first!"

"Why? Won't it be easier if we get Twilight first?" questioned Applejack. "Her magic will help us get the griffins out."

"There's no time!" urged Pinkie Pie. "They're going to do terrible stuffs to Gilda's dad!"

"What stuff?' asked Rainbow Dash, alarmed.

"I don't know! But Bane is really happy about it! And when Bane's happy about something, it's bad!" answered Pinkie Pie. Gilda saw the the ponies exchanged a quick, worried glanced at each other.

"We better get Gilda's family first then." said Rainbow Dash.

"But how about Twilight?" questioned Applejack. "Without her, I don't think we can escort all the griffins out safely."

Rainbow Dash tilted her head in thought before turning to Pinkie Pie.

"Pinkie, how fast can you get to Twilight?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Hm... thirty minutes." stated Pinkie Pie.

"Okay. Here's the plan. Applejack, you go with Pinkie Pie to get Twilight." said Rainbow Dash, pointing her hoof at the two earth ponies in turn.

"Okie doki!" was Pinkie's reply before she started hopping back down the corridor they just came from. Applejack quickly followed.

"Fluttershy, you're with me." called out Rainbow Dash. "Come on Gilda, let's go save your dad."

=====================================================================

"I'm bored." grumbled Blaze. A griffin with a dull gray coat and a similarly toned brown head feathers sat by a pair of metal gates. His head rested on his folded forelegs, which was in turn supported by the butt of a loaded crossbow anchored on the ground.

"Geez... what else is new?" replied Hackett, the griffin to his right, in a sarcastic tone. His partner was running the tip of his machete up and down his back as he tried to scratch an itch.

"Doesn't make it any less true." said Blaze. "I mean, why are we even here? It's not like they..." Blaze pointed his thumb claw at the steel gate behind them. "... are going to go anywhere... especially at night."

"Lord Seth's order." answered Hackett flatly. "Don't ask me why. But if you want to not end up like Skimpy..."

Blaze shuddered. If there's one thing Lord Seth was known for, it was his... imaginative ways in making griffins beg for death. He shook his head to clear away the disturbing memories.

"At least our shift is almost over." said Blaze before turning to Hackett. "So, what do you have planned after the..."

"Hello there." a sultry voice echoed through the corridor, causing the two griffins to jump. Blaze's crossbow toppled to the ground and fired off its bolt. It ricochet off the ground beneath with a sharp ping, missing his... private part by a mere fraction of an inch before embedding itself in the wall behind him. Hackett did an impromptu juggle with his machete before grabbing hold of it and quickly shove it back into its sheath. The two of them turned to their left to find Lilith striding toward them with a flirtatious look.

"H... Hi Lilith." forced out Blaze.

"Hello to you too... " said Lilith as she brushed her tail under Blaze's beak as she walked past. "... handsome."

Warning bells went off in his head. This is Lilith, Damian's chick, even thinking about her could invite Damian's wrath. And at that moment, Blaze was starting to have thoughts about her. Thoughts that could get him brutally murdered by Damian.

"What... are you doing here?" asked Hackett, who looked a bit uncomfortable as Lilith stopped in front of him.

"Well... Damian had gone to see his father, leaving me all alone." Lilith pouted as she threw her left foreleg over his back and drew circles on Hackett's chest with her right claw. "So..."

Blaze swallowed hard as he felt something stirring within him. Shades of red filled Hackett's cheek as he glanced back and forth nervously.

"So... what do you... want?" asked Hackett in a slight pant.

"Well... before I tell you... I need to know... if we're alone in this place..." asked Lilith seductively, as she walked her talon up Hackett's neck.

"Ye... yes. It's just... the two of... us..." answered Hackett, staring at Lilith with a wanton look. "What do..."

"That's..." said Lilith as her claws wrapped around Hackett's beak to shut him up. "... just..." her left claws crept up until she was holding the back of his head. Hackett closed his eyes as Lilith pulled his head toward her. "... PERFECT!"

A flash of rage flared in Lilith's eyes as she pulled back, prompting Hackett's own eyes to open in shock. With a motion so fast that it was just a blur, Lilith snapped Hackett's head around in a full 180 degrees turn. The sharp crack of the griffin's vertebrae shattering echoed through the tunnel as Hackett collapsed to the ground.

"WHAT THE!" exclaimed Blaze as he stumbled backward. His eyes nearly popped out in terror as webs of black, flesh like tendrils shot out and began to pull Hackett's body into Lilith. Out of reflex, he raised his crossbow and took aim, only to notice that it was unloaded. Before he could even let out a panicked swear, a jolt of pain flared up in his side. He slowly turned his head, trying to see what happened, but could only catch a glimpse of rainbow before three sharp claws filled his vision.

=====================================================================

"Are you two okay?" came Gilda's voice. Fluttershy opened her eyes and saw the concerned griffin standing there with a worried look. The pain in her head from the in flood of memories faded just as quick as it began, leaving behind a vague sense of disgust and sadness at what she witnessed in those memories.

"Yeah...." said Rainbow Dash, still wincing a bit from what was, without a doubt, another trip down nightmarish memories as she took on the form of Blaze. "I'm... oh HAYSEED!"

"What's wrong?" asked an alarmed Gilda.

"It's your dad! They took him." answered Rainbow Dash in frustration. "He's not here!"

"Where is he?" asked Gilda.

"I don't..." Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and winced a bit. "I... I think I know where they took him." her eyes snapped open. "We have to hurry."

Rainbow Dash hurried down the tunnel Gilda close behind. However, Fluttershy remained where she was.

"Fluttershy!" called out Rainbow Dash. "Let's go!"

"How about those griffins?" asked Fluttershy, pointing toward the steel gate beside her with her disguise's right claw. "We can't leave them."

Rainbow Dash tilted her head in thought for a second. "Okay, you stay and get those griffins out."

"Got it." answered Fluttershy as she watched Rainbow Dash and Gilda disappeared down the passageway. Turning to the steel gates, Fluttershy reached into the satchel by her side and fished out a set of keys. With the right key in claw, she insert it into steel gate and turned. The gate unlocked with a dull clang and slowly swung open on creaking hinges. When the sound of creaking metal stopped, It became quiet, saved for the sound of barely suppressed whimpers.

Fluttershy made her way through the threshold and toward the first cage. As she drew close, the whimpering intensified, in addition to some hushed voices. When Fluttershy got close enough to see what's in the first cage to her right, she found the source whimpering.

The cage contained two young griffins, a brother and a sister by the look of it. The brother, the older of the two, saw Fluttershy approaching. Despite the intense fear in his eyes, he shifted his body in front of her younger sister.

"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you." said Fluttershy as she reached out with her talon, only to recoil back when the younger sister started wailing. Behind her, a female griffin launched herself at the bars of her cage.

"Please don't hurt them!" she cried, her claws holding on to the bars that separate her from Fluttershy. Desperation and despairs filled her eyes.

"I'm not going to hurt them." said Fluttershy. She looked around at the griffins peering at her from behind the bars. The effects of Blackwing's brutal treatment of them were visible. All looked malnourished and barely holding on. Some were covered in horrific injuries, with a few missing one or more of their limbs and wing. What made it worse, however, was the fact that Fluttershy knew how most of them received those injuries. Each new faces brought painful memories flashing through her mind.

... This is... too cruel... thought Fluttershy as she was on the verge of tears as she recalled the memory of one of the griffins forced to kill his own friend.

... now is not the time, Fluttershy... they need your help... with a fresh resolve, Fluttershy pushed the memories back and blinked away the tears.

"I'm here to help." called out Fluttershy. Gasps of surprised traveled through the griffins as Fluttershy transformed back into her pegasus form. Her mane twisted itself into a sharp tipped tendril. She turned her attention on the cage that, Fluttershy guessed, contained the two young griffin's mother. "Stay back."

The griffin, looking every bit as confused as every other griffins, pushed herself as far away from the cage door as her cage would allow with fear in her eyes. The pegasus' tendril pointed itself directly at the lock on the cage door as mass started build at the base of the sharp tip. Seconds later, the tendril shot out like a crossbow bolt. It whistle through the air at lightning speed before embedding itself in the lock with a metallic crunch. Fluttershy gave her tendril a sharp tug with a quick snap of her head, and accompanied by the sound of wrenching steel, the barred metal gate tore away from its lock and hinges.

The female griffin blinked, finding her way out cleared, she stared at Fluttershy with a mixture of fear and confusion.

"Who... what are you?" asked the stunned griffin.

"I'm... Fluttershy." she answered as she picked up the ring of keys she dropped when she transformed from the ground. "Take dis."

The griffin took the keys in her right claw and kept on staring at the pegasus in confusion.

"Help get the griffins out of their cage." said Fluttershy, mustering as much of a commanding voice as she could. The griffin nodded silently and set off to the cage holding her children. Fluttershy turned her attention toward another cage nearby as her whip-like mane coiled up once more.

=====================================================================

"Pinkie Pie..." said Applejack, still disguised as Skinny, in a hushed voice. She was standing beside an ordinary looking entryway alone with Pinkie Pie, who still looked like Bane. She paused to muster up an innocent smile as another griffin walked by them. The griffin gave her perplexed look, but moved on through the entrance without another word. "... you know where Twilight is, right?"

"Yep." said Pinkie Pie with a nod.

"So why are we..." Applejack poked her head around the entrance. It was a fairly decent sized room with tables and pelt covered chairs scattered here and there. In the far end of the room was a long table, holding kegs and kettles of varying size and plates of... meat, the source of which Applejack would rather not know. About a dozen griffins were spread out across the room. A few sat alone at the table, nursing their drinks, with the rest milling around and occasionally chatting up with one another. It would've been a relaxing atmosphere, if it wasn't for the fact that Applejack knew the horrifying things most of them did to pony and griffins for fun. "... at the break room?"

"They're keeping Twilight behind two super-duper heavy looking doors." answered Pinkie Pie. "Only the guards on the other side can open it."

"So what? We can just smash our way through it." stated Applejack. Pinkie Pie shook her head in response.

"The doors are super-duperly big and heavy. It will take awhile to smash it."

"So how do we get through then?" asked Applejack.

"They have this list of griffins they'll let through. I just need to find the right griffin, and then they'll let us through." concluded Pinkie Pie in a chippy tone.

"So... find the right griffin, and then..." Applejack shuddered a bit. "... eat them?"

Pinkie Pie nodded. "But we need to be sneaky. If they figure out something is wrong, they won't let anyone through."

"And how do we do that?"

"Just let me do my... thingy. You act natural." chirped Pinkie Pie before trotting straight in. Applejack followed her in, still wondering what's Pinkie Pie's going to do. She found a table near the corner, far away from any griffins, and plop herself down the felt covered seat next to the table. From there, she had a good vantage point of everything that's happening in the room. Her eyes followed Pinkie Pie, who, still disguised as Bane, walked up behind a pale brown griffin in a completely casual manner, glancing left and right as she did so. What happened next made Applejack's jaw drop to the floor. Bane's mouth stretched open to as wide as he was. At the same time a black fleshy appendage shot out from his mouth and wrapped itself around the griffin in front of him. The expression on said griffin didn't even change before he turned into a blur heading straight into Bane's mouth. Black and pink tendrils rippled over Bane's form, which took on the form of the griffin he just... consumed. The whole event took less than a fraction of the second. The newly transformed griffin turned to her, and gave her a small wink.

... did she just... Applejack glanced around in a slight panic as the griffin, or Pinkie Pie, started looking for her next prey. To her relief and considerable surprise, no griffin appeared to have noticed that there's now one less griffin in the room. ... how did she...

"Hey I know you!" the feathers stood up behind Applejack's neck at the sudden voice that appeared next to her. "Skinny, right?"

"Er... yeah..." answered Applejack who found herself looking at a slightly inebriated female griffin. She wore a white lab-coat stained with splatters of dried blood.

"Hi, name's Gallow." the griffin reached out with her right claw for a shake. "Big fan of your shows."

"My... show?" replied Applejack in confusion. The moment she said that, flashes of memories ran through her mind. Memories of ponies and griffins being... tortured in various ways.

"Are you... okay?" asked Gallow, having noticed Applejack's, or Skinny's, grimace.

"Yeah, I'm fine." answered Applejack. She took another quick sweep across the room, noting that there were a few more griffins missing.

"So, what brings you here?" asked Gallow, who took the liberty to plop herself down across the table from Applejack.

"Well... I..." stuttered Applejack, trying to think of an excuse.

"Wait, don't tell me. You're here for the unicorn, right?" said Gallow. "Trying to use a unicorn for your next show?"

Did she mean... Twilight?

"Uh... yeah... Yeah! That's it!" shouted Applejack. Suddenly every griffins stopped talking and turned to stare at her. Applejack went very quiet, trying her best to look... well, normal.

"Sorry..." said Applejack as she scratch the back of her, or Skinny's, head with her talons as she laughed nervously. Pretty soon all the griffins went back to what they were doing, but not before Applejack noticed a griffin in the far corner disappearing and another griffin nearby took his shape.

"Well, if you want to get the unicorn... you're shit out of luck." said Gallow.

"What do you mean by... shit out of luck?" asked Applejack, trying to keep her voice low and steady to prevent another outburst.

"It's Lord Seth. He had some sort of... interest in the unicorn and the earth pony. Only Doctor Oliver is allowed to work on them." said Gallow in a depressed voice. "And to think... she could have been the perfect subject for my experiment..."

"Ex... experiment?" Applejack felt a chill crawling up her back. Somehow, she knew that she wasn't going to like the answer.

"I work on unicorn magics." said Gallow with barely suppressed pride. "I'm trying to figure out how unicorn magic work, and see if we can replicate it."

"Uh huh." voiced Applejack. "And... uh... how do you do that?"

"Well, you see, from what I gathered, unicorn cast their magic with their horns. So I've been dissecting a lot of unicorn horns. It's... so fascinating. I can't believe how much nerve structures there are in that tiny little horns."

... wonder how many unicorns died for that... thought Applejack, trying her best to keep her facial expression neutral.

"Of course, most of my samples came from unicorns that are dead for a while. It's simply inadequate to study, for all I know, horns that could no longer cast magic on account of its host being, well, dead. So I've been developing a new procedure, and knowing your... hobby, you're going to like this." said Gallow.

No, I won't... thought Applejack, still maintaining her neutral look.

"You see, I've been working on perfecting a new process on vivisecting a unicorn horn."

"... vivisecting?" asked Applejack with a strong feeling of disgust.

"Live dissection. I'm working on a process to dissect a unicorn horn while the unicorn is still alive." answered Gallow with a dismissive wave.

Applejack's, or Skinny's, eye twitched a bit out of shock and anger. But she remained still and kept her mouth shut while Gallow continued.

"You cannot believe how difficult it is to vivisect a unicorn horn. Remember those nerve system in the horn? Apparently some of those nerves are sensory nerves. So it actually hurts when I start slicing their horn into nice little round disk for study. Can you even comprehend how difficult it is to do that when they're all squirming and screaming?"

A grinding sound reached Applejack's ear. It took her just a second to realize that she was grinding her beaks together. She quickly stop herself before Gallow could notice.

"The screaming was easy enough to deal with." Gallow went on. "A good pair of earplugs then POOF, screaming gone. The squirming took me awhile, but I believe I've perfected a method to keep the damn unicorn still yet fully conscious. Sadly, my last test subject was a bit... old. Died halfway through the procedure from heart-attack."

"That's... unfortunate..." said Applejack through gritted beak. She took a glance behind Gallow, and noted that the room was nearly empty. In fact, the only griffins that remained was her, Gallow, and another lab-coat wearing griffin with a spiky mane.

"I know right? It's a pity." Gallow kept on talking, oblivious to the griffin that's approaching her from behind. "This unicorn looked pretty healthy, and from what I heard pretty powerful. Think of what we can learn from her if the 'esteemed' doctor Oliver would let me experiment on her."

"I don't know what WE will learn from Twilight." said the spiky-mane griffin, prompting Gallow to look around. "But I know what I learned just a while ago."

"Doctor Vlad?" Gallow blinked in confusion as she looked around. "Where's everyone? And who's this... Twilight?"

"Hey! AJ! Guess what?" the griffin named Vlad looked past Gallow toward Applejack. His talon pointing toward the griffin between them. "She's on the list!"

"AJ?" repeated a perplexed Gallow. She turned back, just in time to see Applejack standing on the table in the middle of transforming back to her normal form. The look of confusion in Gallow's eyes slowly turned to one of terror. "Who... WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU?"

The rage filled Applejack answered by tackling the griffin to the ground. Before Gallow could even plea for her life, Applejack smashed her foreleg into the griffin's head.

=====================================================================

"Whoa, that just... looks creepy." said Rainbow Dash as she found herself exiting what's apparently a side-tunnel into a wide open cave. It was what she remembered from Damian's memory, and where she guess the Blackwing took Gilda's father. But even Damian's memories failed to convey the enormity of the gate itself, especially with it opened like that. The entryway itself was easily twice as wide and tall as the entrance into the Canterlot castle. The gate itself, which looked like one solid piece of metal, was hanging halfway up the entrance. An amber glow shone through the opening, giving the gateway an ominous glow.

... at least no griffins here... thought Rainbow Dash as she continued her way toward the glowing entrance with Gilda in close behind.

"Is it just me, or is it getting warmer?" asked Gilda. Rainbow Dash also noticed the wave of heat from the gate as they got close to it. The why soon revealed itself when they ran into the glowing gateway.

"By Celestia!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash. It looked like something out of Daring Do's adventure. They were in a massive cavern, a cavern that contained an equally massive lake of lava a couple hundred feet below them. Across from the cavern was an obsidian castle that looked like it was set into the cavern wall. The only way to the castle Rainbow Dash could see was the mason bridge they were traveling on, which ended just before a pair of large and blackened gate. Pillars ran along the side of the bridge, carrying four gigantic set of chains that ran from four holes in the solid rock above the entrance behind them into the castle itself. It appeared that the chains were responsible in keeping the enormous slab of metal behind them raised. "That... just says evil lair all over the place."

"HALT! Who goes there?" a shout came from above as Rainbow Dash and Gilda reached the closed gates. A couple hundred feet above them, Rainbow Dash found a griffin looking down at them with his head poking out of a window. "Damian?"

"Yep! It's me! Let me in!" shouted Rainbow Dash. The guard, however, made no indication that he's going to open the gate any time soon.

"What are you doing here?" he asked in return. "And why's your pet with you?"

My... pet!? Rainbow Dash snapped inwardly, but didn't let it show.

"I need to see my father!" called back Rainbow Dash. "And what business is it of yours who I bring with me?"

The griffin paused for a moment before retreating back behind the wall. Seconds more, he poked his head back out.

"I can't let you in!" he called back. "Lord Seth's orders!"

"I'm his son!" answered Rainbow Dash in shouts. "Let me in this instant or my father will hear of this!"

"I'm sorry! It's your father's order!" answered the griffin. "We're not to let anyone in! Even you!"

With that, the griffin withdrew back into the window.

"Hey!" shouted Rainbow Dash in indignation. "Show your face! I'm not done talking to you!"

However, there was no sign that the griffin was going to have any more conversation with him.

"What do we do now?" asked Gilda with a slight hint of panic. Rainbow Dash looked up with gritted beaks and growled in annoyance.

"Stay here. I'll take care of this." answered Rainbow Dash. With a single bound, she was running up the side of the castle wall. As she approached the window, she noted that it was too small for a griffin such as Damian. However, it's definitely big enough for a pony. With a grin, Rainbow Dash transformed back into her pegasus form and leaped through the window.

She was greeted immediately by four surprised looking griffins. The one closest to her, the same one that just had a shouting match with her, was the first to speak up.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" he demanded and started toward her with a threatening look. However, Rainbow Dash didn't answer, at least not verbally. Instead, she made her intention known by morphing her wings into a pair of claws.

"What are..." the griffin didn't get to finish his words before Rainbow Dash was on top of him.

=====================================================================

*CLANG*
Sounds of steel hitting the ground added themselves to the now noisy prison as Fluttershy tore away four more cage doors with her mane-whips. She wasn't alone in freeing the griffin. Despite only having a single set of keys to open the cages with, several griffins had fashioned makeshift crowbars from the cage bars Fluttershy tore out and went to work freeing their fellow griffins.

With each newly freed griffin, more and more families were reunited. At the same time, there were griffins still running around, looking for the families they haven't seen for a while. Families that, Fluttershy knew from the memories she acquired, they no longer have. Sadness and grief threatened to overwhelm her, but the memories and knowledge also fanned a different emotion within her. Like throwing oil onto a burning flame, the fire of rage within Fluttershy burned brighter and brighter.

An abrupt change in the noise that surrounded her quickly caught her attention. Realizing that it was coming from the prison entrance, Fluttershy made her way towards it, pushing through griffins that were blocking her way. Within seconds, she reached the scene of the commotion and gasped at what she saw. On the ground was a griffin, an adolescent male by Fluttershy's guess. A crossbow bolt sticking out of his left thigh. Rivulets of blood ran down his leg, forming a small puddle on the ground.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." the griffin repeated as another griffin, an older female, cradled his head in her claws.

"What happened?" asked Fluttershy to no griffin in particular.

"He and a buddy of his went looking for weapons." spoke one of the griffin nearby. "Ran into some guards."

"We managed to get one." added another griffin. "But the rest of the guards got away."

As if on cue, a distant horn started to blare, growing louder and louder by the second until it's a constant wail. The assembled griffins exploded into shouts and clamors.

"They know!" came one griffin's cry.

"We're doomed!" came another.

Voices bombarded Fluttershy on all side. Some were panicked cries, others were calling for a fight, while several spoke of barricading themselves within the prison.

"What are we going to do?" The griffin Fluttershy first freed asked her. Her two children stood next to her with fear. Fluttershy glanced at the doors that lead out of the prison. The same doors that lead to the Blackwings, the cause for all these sufferings. With that thought, Fluttershy's gaze hardened.

"Payback." growled Fluttershy.

Day 8: Part 4

"How did ya do that?" asked Applejack shortly after she and Pinkie Pie, disguised as Dr. Gallow and Dr. Vlad respectively, left the break room and headed for the high security section of the laboratory wing.

"Did what?" asked Pinkie Pie without stopping.

"What you did in there." clarified Applejack. "Eating all the griffins without anyone noticing."

"It's my Pinkie sense..." said Pinkie Pie with a note of uncertainty. "... I think. I just know when someone's watching."

"Ah guess... that makes some sense." said Applejack. "But what about those memories?"

"What about them?"

"How can you... go through their memories without it bothering you?" asked Applejack. She shuddered as she recalled the horrible memories. With her eyes downcast, she continued. "All those horrible things they did..."

"I don't! I have somepony else go through them for me!" answered Pinkie Pie.
"Huh?" Applejack blinked. Her eyebrows raised at the strange revelation. "What? Who?"

"Shh... quiet." whispered Pinkie Pie as they approached a heavy metal door with a sign that says Authorized Griffins Only. "Time to get our acts together."

I guess if it didn't... bother her... thought Applejack as she shut her beaks together. At the same time, she glanced at Pinkie Pie with a slight uncertainty. Is she really okay with it?

Pinkie Pie, or Dr. Vlad as she's disguised as, stopped in front of the bulky looking door and gave it a few sharp raps. Seconds later, a small viewing slot set in the door slid open, revealing a pair of grayish red griffin eyes.

"Who's there?" asked the griffin from behind the door.

"Hi Pierce! It's me! Vlad! And this is Gallow!" answered Vlad cheerily. Upon hearing the guard's name, Applejack suddenly had a sickening feeling in her stomach. She quickly forced down the emerging memories and maintained her neutral composure.

"Yes, I know." There was a long pause as the griffin guard eyed the two of them with a slight note of suspicion. "Password?"

"Oh! Right!" Pinkie Pie tapped her lower beak with her talon a few times. "Let's see..."

=====================================================================

Pinkamena sat in her reclining chair with her forelegs crossed in front of her. The chair was identical to the one Rarity used for her over-the-top dramatic fainting, except it was a dark shade of pink instead of red. A small round table stood next to the chair, covered in a table cloth of a similar shade of dark pink with a bowl of popcorn resting on top.

That's one of the perk of being, well, Pinkie Pie's subconscious. Everything she could possibly imagine, she could create in here. Her former sofa, to its credit, was adequate for the most part. But sitting on it for too long gave her tushy and back a nasty cramp. Considering her current... job of going through all the memories her alter-ego, Pinkie Pie, had acquired, she needed something that's more comfortable, hence the reclining chair.

The setup to view those memories, however, had stayed mostly same. The memories were projected like a movie on the white screen situated between two large oval windows. Said windows showed what Pinkie Pie's eyes were seeing at the time. The only change being the projector. It had been moved from the projection booth in the back to a wooden table to her left.

"Wow... that one is just... sickest thing I've ever seen." commented Pinkamena as the screen turned into a simple mass of white. A soft, rhythmic clicking noise echoed around her as the dangling bit of film spun around on the reel.

"At least this one won't hurt another pony again." Pinkamena poked her head out to see the owner of said voice past the projector. Fluttershy, or Flutter as Pinkamena came to call her, was sitting in a reclining chair similar to the one Pinkamena presently occupied. The only difference was the color scheme, which was a shade of reddish brown that looked suspiciously like dried blood.

This pegasus was a great mystery to Pinkamena. Ever since they first met, Pinkamena knew that this pegasus, like her, was a facet of Pinkie Pie's unique psyche. How she was created, Pinkamena had no idea, although she suspected that it has something to do with Pinkie Pie's... new found abilities. It's a good theory, considering her knowledge on how all this... memory things worked. In fact, it was Flutters who set up this whole system to allow Pinkamena to process those absorbed memories without subjecting Pinkie Pie to their horrors.

Another mystery was why this personality decided to take on the exact form of Fluttershy. This caused some minor headaches, considering that for a while Pinkamena didn't know how to refer to this facet of Pinkie's mind other than "Whoever or whatever you are" and calling her Fluttershy just seemed... wrong. However, the pegasus seems okay with the name Flutter, so Pinkamena stuck with that. It also got a bit easier for Pinkamena to not call her "Fluttershy" on reflex when she had her mane cut short. According to Flutter, she had to cut it due to some... accidents with the projector back when it was in the projection booth, which did explain why it looked like some dragon had taken a bite out of it.

So far, Flutter had been more than helpful to her and Pinkie Pie, so Pinkamena wasn't particularly worried about those mysteries. Plus, she kind of enjoyed having somepony beside Pinkie Pie to spend time with. The fact that said somepony else was a lot quieter was just an added bonus.

"I guess you're right... any more of those?" asked Pinkamena. Flutter glanced down at the pile of film reels beside her chair and another glance back before simply shook her head. "Good, I think I've seen enough... slasher films to last me a lifetime."

"Nuts! I need password! What's the password?" came Pinkie Pie's echoing voice. Pinkamena looked to the oval, and recognize where Pinkie Pie was.

"Swordfish!" yelled Pinkamena to the ceiling, which seems to be the only way for her alter ego to hear her.

"Thank!"

=====================================================================

"It's swordfish!" answered Vlad in a chippy manner. "Did I get it?"

"Hold on." the guard slid the viewing slot close. Moments passed, and there was no response.

Did we get it wrong? thought Applejack. A few more moments passed before the something happened. A series of clicks and clang sounded from the door. With a metallic creaking moan, the door swung open.

"Come in." said Pierce as he held the door open. "Sorry for the wait, just got to check the password log."

"No problem!" answered Vlad as he trotted in. In the time it would normally take for Applejack to blink, Vlad had wrapped his tongue at the griffin by the door, dragged said griffin into his mouth, swallowed him whole, transformed into the consumed griffin, and kept on walking after a mere moment of pause as Pinkie Pie adjusted to the new body.

"Alright, let's go get Twilight." said Pinkie Pie, now disguised as Pierce. At that moment, there was a distance blare of a horn. Applejack quickly realize that it was the warning sound of a prison break. Which meant that Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were on the move.

"Ah guess we best hurry then." said Applejack, prompting the two of them to break into a gallop.

=====================================================================

Pinkamena looked back as another film reel came rolling out of the darkness toward before clattering to the ground. Flutter floated off her chair and picked it up between her front legs.

"If I remember correctly... this is Pierce the Plower, right?" asked Pinkamena as Flutter loaded the film into the project. Flutter merely nodded, to which Pinkamena responded with a sigh. "Alright, it's not like there's such a thing as too much slasher films."

With a click and a whirl, the projector started up once more. While Pinkamena worked her way through the memories of a demented, and arguable perverted griffin, she noted an interesting pattern.

"Um... Flutter, did you notice..." started Pinkamena.

"Hmm?" voiced Flutter with a puzzled look.

"... that beside all the... nasty things they did." continued Pinkamena as the a cloud of glittering red dust covered the screen. "They all had memories of snorting this... red powdery thingy."

=====================================================================

Butcher is going to like this.

In fact, Butcher was sure that he was going to enjoy this.

That was the thought on Butcher's mind as the griffin lead his squad of twelve griffins, consisting his best and most bloodthirsty warriors, toward the prison.

He, like many other griffins who were not part of Lord Seth's... prized warriors, had the unfortunate pleasure of being part of the pool of guard duties. The mind-numbing task was bad enough, but he had the further misfortune of drawing the early morning shift... in the prison section, far from the comfort of the barracks. At least he's made the leader of the prison section, something that took quite a lot of effort, mostly involving beating down other griffins who dared to challenge his claim to authority. With said title, he had the luxury of assigning himself to the choke-point between the prison and barrack. It is about the only guard post that's closest to the barrack, which had the advantage that if he wanted, he could just send his underling to get him some refreshments. Plus, he got to send some his least favorites in more isolated and mind numbing area of the prison. Still, guarding the prison was mind-numbing work.

But this morning, it looked like fate had decided to smile upon him in the form of a prison break. It wasn't just a small prison break, if the cowardly guard that came running was telling the truth. How the breakout happened, Butcher had no idea. Although he guessed that the previous guards, like him, got bored and decided to orchestrate a prison break for fun.

Obviously, it got way out of control, which was perfect! It gave him a solid excuse to go on a slaughter-fest despite Lord Seth's order to keep them alive! He reckoned that he could kill a few dozen griffins before those weaklings gave up on their dreams of freedom, then execute a few more to make "examples" out of them before locking them back up. He would be rewarded for stopping a prison break without being the responsible party of starting one!

Butcher could feel the anticipation building up within him. With each step he felt his trusty machete bouncing against him just under his left wing. A goofy grin was plastered on his face as he recalled the feeling of his blade cutting through griffin flesh.

"Huh..." the sudden utterance from one of his squad as they turn a corner snapped him out of his daydreaming. He stopped, and found himself looking at a yellow winged pony a few yards down the tunnel. She was walking toward them at a slow and deliberate pace. Her head was low, letting her pastel mane fell over her face and concealed her eyes.

"Well, well, well... what do we have here?" commented Butcher as he flew ahead, drawing the machete out of its sheath before landing right in front of the pegasus. "A lost little pony? Or should I say... a lost little snack?"

Butcher chuckled a bit as his own joke as did his squad behind him. A strange muttering sound came from the pegasus.

"What was that?" Butcher leaned in, trying to catch what this pathetic looking pony was babbling about.

"... you... pay..." was all he could understand. He snorted a looked back over his shoulder.

"This pony wants us to pay her for having her for snack!" called out Butcher to his squad, which earned him a hearty laugh from them. "How much do you think we should pay her?"

Butcher snickered as the griffins threw out one wild idea after another. However, the chatter rapidly died away as Butcher noticed the look of growing terrors on their faces. Their collective eyes seems to be locked toward the pegasus. That was when Butcher felt an impact in his chest.

"Wha..." he looked down at his chest. To his bewilderment, he saw a black, pink, and organic looking pole stuck in his chest. He followed the pole with his eyes, and found it attached to the yellow pegasus' head. Then, he saw the eyes that belonged to said pegasus.

The last emotion he had, was a terror greater than anything he had felt before.

=====================================================================

"So... what do you think is happening in there?" asked a griffin guard, who's leaning on the barricade in front of him with his foreleg folded underneath his beak.

Flake threw a sideways glance at his squad-mate. "I don't know, probably getting slaughtered." he answered in snark.

"You think so?" asked the same guard. Flake rolled his eyes.

"Of course not!" said Flake in exacerbation. "They're probably having fun in there, hunting and tracking the escaped prisoners while we're stuck here."

"Well, some of them might slip through..." his squad mate watched the empty corridor just in front of the barricade with envy.

"Yeah... I wish..." said Flake dejectedly.

"Quiet you two!" barked Captain Sharp from behind from on top of a head-high rock. The reason his captain gave for being on said rock was because it gave him a better vantage point. Although Flake suspect the real reason being that said captain wasn't that imposing looking in the first place. "I hear something."

Flake shut up. True enough, a steady rhythm of clip-clop echoed from the hallway they're guarding. The two dozen griffins scattered around the cavern all heard it, and as one pointed their crossbow at the entrance.

"See! Think positive." said Flake's squad-mate in excitement. However, Flake was a bit puzzled. The footstep sounded nothing like the clicking sound griffins make when they walk. Instead, it sounded like... hooves? Flake squinted toward the tunnel, but the downward curve in the tunnel just a few dozen steps in meant that he could only see the ceiling. However, the flickering shadow on the ceiling was enough to tell him that something is there.

"Someone's coming." muttered Flake, readying his crossbow. The echoing footsteps grew louder as the shadow expanded. Then, a shape emerged.

"Hey..." voiced his squad mate, who lowered his crossbow just a fraction at the sight. "... isn't that... one of those winged pony?"

Likewise, Flake was a bit surprised. Within the tunnel, making its way toward them, was a pegasus. Flake would have no way of knowing, nor would he have cared, that the pegasus' name was Fluttershy. What he did know, or thought, was that this pony must have a death wish. Despite having no less than a dozen crossbows aimed at her, the pegasus showed no sign of stopping. Perhaps she didn't see them, due to her pastel mane covering her eyes. A small murmur of conversation spread through the griffin rank at the strange sight.

"I've heard that Lord Seth captured some ponies for... experiments." commented Flake. He had heard rumors about it, but nothing else beyond that. "I guess that's one of them."

"No matter." said Captain Sharp. "Our order is to stop anyone from leaving, and it's been a LONG time since I had myself some pegasus meat."

Captain Sharp leveled his crossbow at the approaching pegasus. With a savage grin, he squeezed the trigger of the crossbow and let loose a foot long metal bolt. It whistled over Flake's head and...

*THUD*

"Good shot, boss." commented Flake's squad-mate. The bolt had entered the pegasus's cheek, and had apparently traveled through her head as Flake noted several inches of the metal bolt sticking out the back of her head. The pegasus had stopped, and... that's pretty much all she did.

"Huh?" voiced Flake in confusion. No one, not especially a pony, should've survived that. Yet this pegasus simply stood there instead of dropping dead on the spot. Then, the pegasus' jaw started to move. A dead silence descended upon the cavern as a strange sound of grinding metal echoed through it.

*CLANG*

The sharp noise startled Flake, but that's nothing compared to what the pegasus did next. Casually, the pegasus spat out a severed section of the bolt. The piece of the bolt slammed into ground, embedded itself into it. The pegasus craned her neck, and the remaining bolt that was stuck to the back of her head slide out effortlessly and clattered to the ground. With the offending ammunition now cleared from her head, the pegasus looked up and revealed her eyes to them.

A primordial fear grabbed hold of Flake's entire being at that moment. Flake thought it was impossible, but glaring back out of this tiny, weak looking pegasus' cyan eyes was the embodiment of pure rage. It was a look of concentrated fury. It was a look of pure wrath that echoed just one meaning to him: You... Are... Going... To... DIE.

"... fi... fir..." in his terrified state, Flake almost missed the stuttering of his captain. "... fire... FIRE! Someone SHOOT IT!"

The panicked order snapped every griffin out of their trance. Flake quickly leveled his crossbow and squeezed the trigger. The crossbow jolted in his claws as the bolt lurched forward. The volley of sharpened metal descended on the pegasus. Some missed their marks completely, bouncing off the floor and walls before flying uselessly down the corridor. Most did find their mark and embedded themselves in the pegasus, turning her into a pony-shaped pincushion. For one very brief second, Flake thought it had worked. But to his horror, the barrage of steel had about as much as effect as pelting her with wadded up paper. The pegasus just kept on walking as the crossbow bolts slid out of her one by one. At the same time, her mane morphed into a blackened pastel whip that began to twist itself into a tightly wound coil.

'Fire! Fire again!" shouted Captain Sharp. Flake lowered his crossbow and pulled the bow string in place. With claws shaking out of panic, he fished out a new bolt out of his satchel, fumbling a few in the process. After what felt like an eternity, he got his crossbow loaded and took aim at the still approaching pegasus. Before he could even squeeze the trigger, a strange sensation washed over him.

He was flying, which was strange considering that Flake didn't remember jumping or flapping his wings. Everything seems to be moving in slow motion as he tumbled through the air. The ground spun into view, and he was greeted by a strange sight.

Nearly a dozen statues of headless griffins were scattered around the cavern floor. The statues were remarkably life-like, disregarding the missing heads. In fact, one of them looked just like him, with coat and feather of the same hue. A loaded crossbow rested in its claws, looking as if it was about fire.

As he continued to slowly spin through the air, an odd shape caught the corner of his eyes. To his horror, he found himself staring at his squad-mate. Or to be precise, the floating head of his partner who had this look of shock and incomprehension carved into it. It was at that moment the realization dawned on Flake. The statues on the ground were of him and the rest of his squad, all being decapitated.

Time sped back up, and Flake found himself crashing to the ground next to his still standing, but headless, body. His head continued to bounced and roll for a short while before coming to a stop near the cavern wall. How he was still alive and conscious, he didn't know. Although he suspected it was the result of their... enhancements. But one thing he was sure was that the last moments of his life would be spend witnessing the slaughter of his squad-mates.

"Ah! My legs! My legs!" cried Captain Sharp from the ground beside the rock he was perched on. Three of his four legs were sliced off, leaving just three useless stumps as he writhed around on his back. His only remaining limb, his right claw, still clutched onto the crossbow. One of his wings was crooked, likely broken when he fell off from his perch. Digging against the ground with his only useless wing, Sharp tried to drag himself away from the pegasus, who had just advanced past his useless barricade with a glare that could, and in retrospect did, kill. "Shoot it! Shoot it!"

Several griffins took to the air, probably for what little advantage it might have offered, and opened fire once again. The bolts found their marks in the pegasus' body, and just as before, the pegasus shrugged off what would've killed a griffin many times over. The pegasus, who appeared to be slightly annoyed by the bolts, turned her glare to the airborne griffins as her whip-like mane rapidly coiled itself once more. It was then Flake finally saw what did him in.

The pegasus' whip-like mane lashed out with speed that was beyond imagination. So swift that it was a mere faint black and pastel blur through the air. So fast that it distorted the air behind it. Its passage through the air created a sharp crack that echoed through the cavern. Its effect was devastating. Of the nearly a dozen griffins that took the air, only three were alive. The rest had their fate sealed before they hit the ground. Some were decapitated, while others were cleaved cleanly in half along varying lines through their body.

The sudden devastation of the remaining griffins was the last straw. The three still living and unharmed griffins frantically scrambled their way toward the exit.

"Wait! Stop!" cried out Captain Sharp. But the fleeing griffins paid no heed and continued their mad dash back down the corridor back to the barracks. The captain, realizing the futility of his calls, turned back to the approaching pegasus while trying to shuffle away from her. There was a cold, merciless fury in the pegasus glare as she fixed her gaze on the grievously wounded griffin.

"Stay back! Stay back!" shouted Sharp. When the pegasus kept on closing, Captain Sharp took a shaky aim with his crossbow and squeezed off a desperate shot. The bolt flew wide, slamming itself into the cavern wall before clattering to the ground. With his crossbow spent, Sharp threw the now useless weapon away and used his free claw to try, and fail, to pull himself away from the pegasus.

"Please... don't kill me..." pleaded the captain as the pegasus wound up her mane once more. "Plea..."

Captain Sharp suddenly went silent. A lingering crack echoed in the cavern as a narrow, deep gouge appeared in the ground between the pegasus and the griffin captain. Slowly, a thin line of red ran up from his tail, up his stomach, passed between his eyes before stopping at the top of his head, where it joined a similar line of red running up his back. Then, like a watermelon chopped in half, the captain split apart along the line with a sickening squelch. The pegasus stopped, turned her head around and made a silent gesture to someone in the tunnel she emerged from. Seconds later, a multitude of griffins emerged from the tunnel. A look of shock and awe were present on all their faces before they dispersed across the cavern in short order to collect the weapons off the dead. Flake felt his consciousness began to fade, and before death finally claimed him, he watched as a griffin pried the crossbow out of the claws of his headless body.

====================================================================

Deep within the obsidian fortress, down a secluded side-path, two burly griffins guided a long and narrow cage down the tunnel. The mobile prison held a small pack of griffins. Among them was the Lord of the Whitetail, Leo. He was tired, slumped against the cage bars as they rattled down the corridor.

... end of the road... the depressing ran through his head. Leo had no idea what fate had in store for him, but he had a guess that soon, it would no longer matter. Looking around at the dozen of griffins around him, he was convinced that they all shared his thought. Illuminated by the burning braziers spaced along the obsidian walls, Leo could see that all had resigned to whatever fate that's waiting for them. A few even had a faint smile on them, likely from the thought that at least the nightmare would be over.

Like the griffins he was with, the imprisonment was not kind to him. Made worse by his status as the Lord of Whitetail, the guards amused themselves by taunting, and sometimes using him as a punching bag. He would, in his rashness, fight back with words or claws, and all he had accomplished was earning himself a more severe beating.

The only reason he had lived through that was his daughter, Gilda, and the thought of one day seeing his wife and the rest of his tribe back in Featherhorn. Each morning, when they get their only meal of the day, was the brightest moment of his dark days. Even if each reunion lasted mere seconds, Gilda's smile and her voices were enough to keep him going. Each day, his thoughts were occupied by what he could say to his daughter during those brief moments. Sometimes, they were jokes that ranged from light-heart-ed to a bit morbid, with the rest filled with reminiscence of things from happier times.

But impending death had quite the effect of prompting one's priority. As he noticed the recent disappearance of masses of griffins, he sensed that soon, he would be one of them. Worries plagued him in the last few days, none of which was for himself. Instead, he worried about Gilda, of his wife, and the rest of his tribe that's still free.

In addition to the worries, there were the guilt. Guilt of the pain he caused Gilda, guilt of having Gilda lose her freedom because of him, and the guilt that he couldn't protect her from the forsaken place.

He had wanted to ask her forgiveness for all his shortcoming, but found it difficult to do so. In part, because there was so much he wanted to say in so little time. Another reason, perhaps somewhat selfish on his part, was that he didn't want to tarnish those happier moments between them with his regrets and guilt.

But as more and more griffins disappeared, the reality sank in. He didn't have much time left. If he was to have any chance of giving Gilda his apology, he must do it soon. Yesterday morning, he was determined to do so, but...
"I have to finish the round." said Gilda. Leo nodded with understanding as Gilda resumed her route. But before she could make a few steps away...

"Gilda! Wait..." called out Leo, prompting Gilda to stop and turn around.

"Yes?" asked Gilda with mild surprise. Leo opened his mouth, but couldn't get the words out.

"I... nothing." said Leo. "Take care of yourself."

"I will." said Gilda with a faint smile before continued on her route.

"I'm... sorry..." was all Leo could breath out as Gilda made her way further and further down the corridor.

And now, he would never get another chance to do so.

His mulling was interrupted when the cage jolted as it slammed into a double door and pushed it open. As the cage made its way through the door, Leo saw what's likely to be their final destination.

Within a fairly large room were two large cages. While each was about as tall as the cages he had lived in, the two cages looked spacious enough to hold close to a hundred griffins. Judging by how crowded it looks, Leo guessed that's about how many griffins were detained here. Another violent jolt in the cage nearly threw him to the ground.

"Get in there!" barked a hulking griffin guard standing above their cage. It took Leo a few seconds to realize that the door on their cage was opened and lined up to the door into the enclosure. "Move it!"

Reluctantly, but obediently, Leo followed the griffins out of the cage and into the massed enclosure. As he did so, he noted that there were griffins pulling a white tarp over the other enclosure. At least he believed those were griffins, the strange yellow suit that covered their body and the reflective fishbowl on their head made it difficult to tell, so he could only go by their shape. As he watched the tarp slide over the roof, he noticed bronze pipes running over the top of the enclosure. He glanced up and found the same set of pipes above his cage. Spaced evenly along the pipes were nozzles pointed down at them. Tracing along the pipes with his eyes, he saw that they all lead to a large metal container near the back of the room.

Poison? the thought crossed Leo's mind. The fearful murmur around him suddenly raised in volume as the griffins in suits began to pull the white tarp over their enclosure.

"What are they doing to us?" asked a voice from the crowd. As their new prison was completely enclosed in the sinister white tarp, a singular thought ran through Leo.

Gilda... I'm sorry...

For a few seconds, nothing seems to be happening, and then...

*CRASH*

"Damien!" cried a griffin from outside the tarp. "What are... HURK!"

There were sound a wet squelches followed by a thud.

"OH HELL!" came another cry.

"STOP IT! SOMEONE KILL IT!"

A series of loud crashes followed.

"HELP! HELAHHHH!"

"KILL IT! KILL IT!"

Several twang of crossbow firing rang through the air, then another squelch and wet thud.

"IT'S NOT DYING!"

"YOU COWARDS! FIGHT IT!"

There were sounds of blades being drawn. Soon followed by sound of metal clashing against metal. Then, something shaped like a griffin slammed into the side of their cage, startling the nearby griffins within. As the imprisoned griffins backed away, a copious spray of blood appeared on the tarp.

"DON'T JUST STAND THERE! GET SOME HEIGHT AND KEEP SHOOTING!"

Sound of wings flapping were followed by more sharp twang of crossbows.

"No way! How's that..."

Another griffin crashed on top of their cage with tremendous force, rattling the whole cage and denting the cage roof.

"Please no! Please no!" the griffin on the cage cried."Please HURK!"

The cry turned to gurgles as three bloody black blades stabbed through the griffin and into the tarp. The blades impaled the griffins a few more times before the griffin went silent.

"IT'S NOT WORKING!"

The cage jolted again as Leo noticed a shape flew off the presumably dead griffin.

"RUN! EVERYONE R..." that scream was silent by the sound of cracking bones and rock.

"Please don't kill me! Please don't..." that one was muted by the flurry of whistling steel and another splatter of blood on the tarp.

Less than a minute later, the panicked cries and blood-curdling screams went away. In their place was silence, which was slowly being replaced by fearful murmurs of the griffins around him. Without warning, the same black claws that he saw before started tearing away at the tarp in front of the cage door.

Leo blinked in confusion as the shredded tarp fell away. Behind the jagged hole in the tarp was a pony, a cyan colored pony with vibrant rainbow colored tail and mane. She looked like a pegasus, except instead of feathers for her wings, it was two set of blade like claws.

"Everyone okay?" asked the pegasus. A second figure walked into view, and it took Leo just a fraction of a second to recognize who it was.

"Gilda?" asked Leo in disbelief.

The griffin ears' shot up as her eyes locked to his.

"Dad!"

Leo pushed his way through the confused crowd toward the cage door.

"Gilda! What are you doing here?" asked Leo. His joy of seeing his daughter was mixed with surprise at the fact that she's here. "And who is... this?"

"This is Rainbow Dash." said Gilda.

"And we're going to get your out!" said the pegasus as she brandished her bladed wing. "Stay back!"

=====================================================================

Rainbow Dash hacked away at the cage door near the lock. Although the progress was a bit slower than she liked, considering the cage was much more solidly built than she expected.

Applejack would've made short work of this... idly thought Rainbow Dash. Her persistent did pay off fairly quickly. Less than a minute worth of continuous assault successfully mangled the lock enough for her to just buck the gate right open.

"Alright Gilda, you take care of getting them out, I'll get the other." said Rainbow Dash before she made her way toward the second cage, where she could hear cries for help. She skidded to a stop in front of it. With her blade wings, she took a swipe at the tarp.

"WHAT THE..." exclaimed Rainbow Dash. The moment she cut through the tarp a red fog came rolling out. She took a quick peek through the tear and saw the nozzles lining the top of the cage releasing a fine spray of red mist.

"Help!" one of the griffin within choked out.

"Hang in there!" said Rainbow Dash before she backed away and jumped on top of the cage. She had no idea what that red mist was, but she had a feeling that it wasn't something good. In a small gallop, she followed the pipes to the back of the cage. There, she found the bronze pipe that ran from the metal tank to the pipes at the top of the cage. With one hard stomp, she flattened a section of the bronze pipe and the hiss of the nozzle spraying went away in seconds. Rainbow Dash lifted the tarp and looked in. The nozzle had stopped spraying, but the griffins within were already drenched in the reddish liquid.

"... help..." came another forced cry.

"I'll let you out. Just... hang on a bit." said Rainbow Dash. She quickly galloped back to the front of the cage and proceed to shred the section of the tarp covering the gate to pieces. However, before she went to work on breaking the gate-lock, a odd, strangled cry from within the cage stopped her.

"... hel... elp... gr... RAGH!" one of the griffin let loose a gurgling scream that was quickly joined by others. Rainbow Dash watched, wide-eyed with shock, as the griffins within began to transform. Their muscles seems to ripple and bulge, stretching and tearing the skin as they grew. Tiny shark like teeth forced their way out of the griffin's beak until their teeth resembles two sets of saws. Their talons grew at a frightening rate until each was as long as a scythe. The final transformation was in the griffins' eyes, as red veins spread out from the corners and covered the whites of their eyes as their iris turned to yellow.

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash thought back to the monstrous griffins that attacked their cave just two days ago, and part of the puzzle clicked together in Rainbow's mind.

They... They MADE those griffins that attacked us!

"Rainbow Dash! What's going on..." Gilda's voice trailed off into silence as she stopped next to Rainbow Dash. Her eyes were just as wide as Rainbow Dash's as she watched the mutated griffins within. The griffins screams had died down as their transformations were completed, replaced by a rumbling growl. Several griffins turned their gaze to the two of them, and as one, they let out an ear-splitting screech.

"What... WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM?" cried of Gilda. She and Rainbow Dash both backed away from the cage as the monstrous griffins lounged themselves at the bars, their beak snapping and their talons swiping through the air trying to get to them. In the commotion, Rainbow Dash almost didn't hear the double door click and swing open.

"Alright, Lord Seth was satisfied with that last batch." Rainbow Dash turned to the entrance as a lab-coat wearing griffin came walking in through the door. "Keep using the same procedure for... the... rest..."

The newly arrived griffin stopped. His eyes blinked in confusion as they darted between the crowd of freed griffins in front of the cage, the various dead griffin bodies around the room, and her, a pegasus with claws for wings.

Dr. Oliver, head scientist of Blackwing. the name and title showed up in her mind as she noticed the grayish green hair that covered his exposed rear.

"Oh... SHIT!" the griffin cursed before backing out the doors in a hurry.

"Gilda! Get your family out!" shouted Rainbow Dash as she bolted after the griffin scientist. "I'll meet you outside!"

"Oh... Okay!" came Gilda's response before Rainbow Dash crashed through the double door and landed in the corridor. She looked around, and saw a greenish blur disappeared down the end of the corridor.

"GET BACK HERE!" she yelled before tearing after the escaping griffin. He'll know what in Tartarus is going on here!

Author's Note

I'll have limited access to computer for a month. So I'm somewhat happy that I could get the next chapter out before then.
Enjoy.

Day 8: Part 5

There were many names for it: The theater, the slaughterhouse, the fun place, or that room where all the screaming came from. At first glance, it's but a simple operating room with all the equipment one would expect: A table to operate on, a ring of lanterns for lighting, and various instruments of surgery organized in shelves and trays around the room.

A quick second glance would suggest a more sinister purpose to the room. Jars of organs and body parts, submerged in preservatives and blood, decorated the shelves around the room. Strange, malevolent looking contraptions, covered in dried blood, sat alongside the comparatively normal looking surgical instruments.

It was in rooms just like this one where many of the cruelest experiments were conducted, where ponies and griffins alike met their ends in ghastly ways. Their wails could be heard many tunnels away as the merciless doctors, with their barbaric contraptions, performed tests and procedures of unimaginable sadism on them. The "decorative" jars of organs were all that's left of Blackwing's victim.

Given that, the unicorn residing within this very room should have been terrified out of her mind, if it wasn't for the fact that she was unconscious. Twilight Sparkle was lying on the operating table, lit up by the lanterns above her with leather straps holding her down. Her side moved up and down in a steady pace. Her eyes were closed, giving all indication the pony was soundly asleep. At least, she was.

"... hng..." Twilight Sparkle out a faint, nearly imperceptible groaned. Her eyelids twitched, struggling to open with no success. The nearly inaudible noise prompted a griffin nearby to get up from his resting place with a malicious grin on him.

Drip was one of the many researchers working under Doctor Oliver. Despite still being quite imposing when compared to griffins from other tribe, he was considered relatively scrawny when compared to his fellow tribe-mate. His weaker stature meant that he was rarely, if ever, chosen to participate in a raiding mission against other tribes. However, that suited him just fine. The physical brutality never appealed to him. Instead, he craved controls, more specifically the power that came with that control. The kind of control that came not from physical force, but something more fundamental, something far more... irresistible. Something that became his specialty.

Drugs.

The power of controlling his victim against their will appealed to him, and he had made numerous progress on that front. With the right chemical cocktails, he could make his victim beg for death that was slow in coming. He had drugs that caused its victim's heart race until it inevitably burst. Paralytic that kept its victims fully conscious as they were operated on, only able to scream through their terrified eyes. Hallucinogenic that gave its victim nightmarish vision. Most of the time, he just enjoyed giving his victims random combinations of chemicals, just to see what happened.

However, to his chagrin, he was not allowed to experiment on this unicorn. Doctor Oliver had some interest in the pony, and apparently did not want anyone else perform any experiments that would... contaminate her. The only reason he was called in was due to the unicorn's magic. Which, if rumors were to be believed, was powerful and dangerous enough to require her being kept under constant sedation.

Despite the heavy restriction on what he could do to the unicorn, he still have ways to have some fun with her.

"Trying to wake up now, my dear?" said Drip in sickly sweet cooing tone as he approached the unicorn, picking up a fluid-filled syringe from the nearby tray as he did so. "Now, now, we can't have that."

He jabbed the needle into Twilight's flank, just below her cutie-mark. Her body twitched a bit in response and her breath grew rapid.

"... no..." moaned Twilight Sparkle, her eyelids twitched once more as she struggled to wake. Beneath her, her right hoof made a weak, digging motion as she tried to move herself. But the leather straps held her in place. A hint of worried crossed Drip's face as the unicorn horn released a few sparks, and relaxed when the sparkling stopped just as soon as it started. That's always part of the excitement in his little... game to keep the unicorn as close to the edge of consciousness as possible. It's like drowning the pony, to give her a brief moment of consciousness where she knew she was still alive, before plunging her into the unknown from whence she may never wake from. As usual, he always loved to provide a small, parting gift to her trip down into unconsciousness.

"You know." spoke Drip as he yanked the now empty syringe out. "I just had a talk with Gallow, and she..." Drip gave the unicorn's horn a few sharp flick with the tip of his claw, eliciting another groan from her. "... is very, VERY interested in that horn of yours."

He leaned in to Twilight's ear.

"More specifically, she wanted to chop your pretty horn into tiny little pieces... " said Drip, earning him a fearful gasp and twitch from the unicorn. "Alas, Dr. Oliver had plans for you..." Drip dropped his voice to a whisper as the unicorn's futile struggle weakened as the drug took its effect "... and knowing him, you probably won't survive... but if you do... well... he might just let Gallow have her fun." Twilight Sparkle made a noise that sounded like "no", but made no other movement. Her breathing returned to normal as she descended back into oblivion.

"See you in two hours." said Drip with a smirk. He made his way back to his makeshift bed, musing about the kind of nightmare the pony would be having. He was just about to lie back down when three sharp clangs rang from the metal door.

Who the hell would be here? thought Drip with a grumble. He had kept the door locked for some privacy, not wanting to risk anyone needlessly disturb him when he was in the process of drugging the pony. He wondered who could be at the door. It couldn't have been his boss, Dr. Oliver, considering that he was supposed to be busy doing... something for Lord Seth this morning. Plus, Dr. Oliver had the master key to all the locks in the laboratory wing, no reason why he would bother knocking.

Another series of three sharp clang prompted Drip to get off his bed in annoyance.

"... better have a good reason for disturbing me..." muttered Drip as he made his way to the door. Thoughts of tortures he would use on the idiot that dared to disturb him ran through his mind. He was just settling on the idea of using said idiot for his experiment on acute pain when another clang echoed through the room. Except this time, it was much louder, sounding like someone took a hammer to the door. He froze and paid attention to the metal gateway. It was bowed in, with a suspiciously hoof-like bulge in the center of it.

"Who..." uttered Drip out of surprise. Before the words left his beak, two more hoof-shaped bulges appeared on the door in rapid succession, prompting Drip to step back. Shortly thereafter, the door exploded inward, flying past and missing him by mere inches before crashing into the far wall. Drip, his attention temporarily drawn to the embedded slab of metal in the wall, turned to see who, or what, had caused such destruction.

"HI THERE!" Drip found himself staring at a pink pony with a pair of brilliant turquoise eyes. His view was quickly replaced by a nightmarish blood red maw shortly before everything turned black.

=====================================================================

"Twilight! Twilight!" called out Applejack, following Pinkie Pie into the operating room after regaining her balance from bucking down the door. She had dropped her disguise in order to use her tough as steel hooves breakdown the door. Upon entering, she found their unicorn friend lying motionless on the table at the center of the room.

"Twilight!" Applejack as she made her way to the unicorn. As far as she could tell, Twilight was sleeping. She gave the unicorn a shake with her right hoof. "Twilight?"

When Twilight didn't respond, Applejack got a bit worried.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Applejack as she watched Pinkie Pie, in her griffin disguise, rummaged through the drawers.

"Oh! They have her... um... what's that word again... sea... date... it... sedated!"

"Is she going to be alright?" Applejack transformed into her griffin disguise just so she got claws to undo the leather straps tying Twilight down.

"Yep! Give her a few hours and she should wake up... AHA!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie in triumph as she pulled out a jar of clear liquid. "Or we can give her this!"

"Give her what?" asked Applejack as she finished untying the straps and looked up. Pinkie Pie had sat down, the clear jar in one claw and a syringe in another. She jabbed the needle into the jar and drew out a syringe full of the clear liquid. After flicking the syringe a few times with her talon and squeezing out a few drops of the clear fluid, Pinkie Pie held the syringe between her beaks and trotted over.

"Whoa! Hold up there! What are ya doing?"

"Waking her up! What else?" said Pinkie Pie, taking the syringe out of her beak. Before Applejack could say anything otherwise, Pinkie Pie stuck the syringe into Twilight Sparkle's flank and emptied it.

"What... are ya sure that's safe!?" exclaimed Applejack as Pinkie Pie pulled the syringe out.

"Yes!... I think..."

"Ya THINK!" shouted Applejack, grabbing Pinkie Pie by the shoulder with her talons. "What if you kill her!?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure that..."

"AH!!!" the scream caused both disguised ponies to snap their attention to the center of the room. Twilight Sparkle was screaming while she scrambled to her hoof. Her head darted around like a bird as she panted rapidly. It took her but a few seconds to notice the two of them. The look of surprise and shock on her face quickly morphed into that of pure rage. "YOU!"

"Er..." Applejack stared at the royally pissed off Twilight Sparkle, wondering what was it they did. Only when the unicorn's horn flared up in purple flame did Applejack remembered a few important details: One, they were still disguised as griffins. Two, Twilight didn't know that.

"Wai..." before the words could leave Applejack's mouth, a powerful blast picked her off the floor and flung her into the wall.

"YOU! YOU!" stuttered Twilight Sparkle as her horn glowed almost as bright as the sun itself. Her eyes had turned into two circle of pure white light as expanding spheres of magical energy spread out around her in pulses. The unicorn began to levitate in the air as Applejack felt a tremendous pressure kept her pinned to the wall. A pressure that seems to grew heavier by the seconds, accompanied by an ever growing hum in her ears. "YOU DEGENERATE!"

"Twi..." Applejack heard Pinkie Pie, in her disguise's voice, struggling to speak next to her. "... light..."

"I WILL NOT... LET YOU... CHOP MY HORN TO PIECES!" screamed Twilight Sparkle. Applejack could hear the wall crackling behind her as the pressure increased. At least she thought it was the wall. Behind Twilight, the various cabinet began to splinter and crumble against the walls they were mounted on.

"Twi..." Applejack tried to speak, but the pressure on her chest made it difficult to draw breath to finish even a single word.

"I WILL NOT BE BUTCHERED LIKE... LIKE... LIKE WHATEVER IT IS THAT GET BUTCHERED!" Applejack winced when sharp pains jolted from her griffin wings with an accompanied sound of snapping bones. She felt the rest of the bones in her body straining and cracking under the increasing force. Through the now deafening ringing in her ear, she could hear Pinkie Pie whimpering beside her from fear, or pain, or a combination of both.

She's gonna kill us! the thought screamed through Applejack's mind, followed by several pops and jolts of pain as more of her bones snapped under the ever relentless assault from Twilight. Transform back ya dummy!

Applejack closed her eyes and focused, which was difficult considering that her eyes felt like they were about to pop out from their sockets. Waves of pain washed through her as her form struggled to revert back to that of an earth pony.

"I WON'T... LET ANYONE... RENT ME OUT... LIKE... LIKE..."

Applejack felt her broken wing crawled back into her body. Her form began to shrink, which seems to lessen the pressure placed on her ever so slightly. She took the chance to drew in a deep breath.

"TWILIGHT! STOP!" shouted Applejack. To her great relief, the oppressive force pushing against her began to let up.

"Apple... jack?" The unicorn's eyes stopped glowing, reverting back to a pair of violet eyes that regarded them with mild confusion. A few blinks brought forth a look of recognition. "Applejack!"

The pressure went away in an instant as Twilight dropped back to the floor. With the painful force gone, Applejack tipped forward out of the griffin-shaped for in the wall and crashed painfully to the ground. While she couldn't see anything on account of having her face flat on the ground, she could hear a thud next to her followed by a weak "Ow..."

"Applejack!" came Twilight voice, breathing heavily. "I'm... so sorry! Are... you okay?"

Applejack didn't respond immediately. While it was by no mean painful, the healing process was fairly uncomfortable. She felt her bones mending themselves as her joints popped back into place. Pretty soon, she regained enough strength to push herself upright.

"Yeah... I'm fine..." answered Applejack. Sound of cracking and creaking continued for a few seconds as her remaining broken bones finished setting themselves. "... a few more seconds of that... maybe not..."

"Me too..." came Pinkie Pie's answer, who was likewise back in pony form and was in the process of peeling herself off the ground.

"Pinkie Pie! How... When... That was you? I'm so sorry!"

"No harm no foul, right?" said Pinkie Pie before she winced a bit. By the sounds her body was making, Applejack was sure that Pinkie Pie was still putting herself together. "... maybe just a little ouchie..."

"I'm really sorry..." repeated Twilight.

"Ya didn't kill us, that's all that mattered." said Applejack. "So don't ya worry about it."

"Oh, and don't worry about those horrible, horrible thing Drip said he did. None of it happened." added Pinkie Pie.

"Drip?" asked Twilight with a puzzled look.

"The griffin that made you sleepy?" said Pinkie Pie, to which Twilight responded with a slowly dawning look of realization. "The one that kept telling you about all those nasty things he going to do to you?"

"So... it wasn't a dream?" Twilight looked around at the wrecked operating room around her. The cabinets were squashed flat against the walls. Blood, fluid, and pulverized pieces of flesh dripped down through the cracks. The operating table behind her was gone, smashed into unrecognizable collection of splinters and twisted metal embedded in the wall.

"Where... am I? What is this place!?" the questions came in a rapid-fire from Twilight Sparkle. "Who are those griffins that took us!? How did you..." Twilight pointed to Pinkie Pie with her shaking hoof. "... get like this!? And WHY DO I FEEL LIKE I JUST SPRINTED THROUGH THE RUNNING OF THE LEAVES!?"

"That's last one is me." said Pinkie Pie, back to her chipper self. "This Drip guy gave you a lot of sleeping drug. So I gave you lots and lots of stimulants to wake you up."

"For the rest... it's a long story." continued Applejack. "But in short, you were kidnapped by some really bad griffins, we are in their home, and..."

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE!?"

The three ponies turned to the recently mangled gateway and saw two surprised griffins staring at them. A quick flash of something thin, long, and pinkish black later, just one griffin remained. Applejack glanced sideways and saw Pinkie Pie transforming into the griffin that had just disappeared.

"HOLY SHI...!" cried out the remaining griffin before he bolted back down the corridor.

"Why didn't you get that last one?" asked Pinkie Pie with a mildly irritated tone.

"Ya coulda warned me first!" cried Applejack in indignation.

"I thought it was obvious!"

"Doesn't matter." declared Applejack as she stomped her hoof. "We're going to have to fight our way out one way or another! Now is a good a time as any!"

"Wee! LET'S GO KICK SOME GRIFFIN BUTTS!" added Pinkie Pie as she started skipping.

=====================================================================

Rainbow Dash's hooves thundered against the obsidian floor as she pursued the griffin ahead in a full gallop. His lab coat fluttering against his back, Dr. Oliver took a glance backward as he continued his manic sprint.

"INTRUDER! INTRUDER!" yelled the griffin, a cry he repeated for countless times already as he continued to run. To give Dr. Oliver some credit, he's fast. Fast enough for the doctor to elude Rainbow Dash's grasp for a good minute or two. But with Rainbow Dash within nipping distance of his tail, it would seem that the chase was about to end.

GOTCHA! thought Rainbow Dash with a scowl. With a powerful kick of her hind-legs, Rainbow Dash launched herself forward and into the fleeing griffin. She slammed into the griffin's back at full force, sending the two of the skidding and tumbling along the solid ground. When the two came to a stop, Rainbow Dash found Oliver on his back, with her sitting on the dazed griffin's stomach.

"This ends NOW!" yelled Rainbow Dash as reared up, ready to smashed the griffin's head in with her hooves. Without wasting another second, she brought her hooves down, right into...

*THUD*

"Eh?" uttered Rainbow Dash in surprise when she found her hooves planted firmly against Dr. Oliver's open claws instead of deep within his head. Her moments of surprise was all the griffin needed. He drove his back-legs into Rainbow Dash's stomach, causing her to let out an "Oomph" and launching her off the griffin. Stars burst in her eyes as she landed roughly against the hard stone floor. Freed from her weight, the doctor scrambled to his legs and resumed his escape.

"Dammit... that egghead is strong..." swore Rainbow Dash as she picked herself up off the ground, watching with annoyance as the doctor disappeared down yet another bend further down the tunnel. With a frustrated snort, Rainbow Dash gather her hooves together and broke off after the griffin once more. For a second, Rainbow Dash wondered just why was that egghead so strong. But a second thought quickly answered that question, or at least told her how to get that answer.

Find the doctor, kill him, eat him.

Rainbow Dash trailed behind Dr. Oliver as he lead her through more twisted tunnels. Soon, she found herself emerging from the narrow passage into a wide open hallway. It was at that moment she skidded to a halt.

So... that's where all those bear-sized griffins went. was her thought as she stared agape at the wall of humongous griffins in front of her. It was one thing to know these... things exist, it was another to see this many of them with her own eyes. Their muscles bulged just beneath their skin, straining against them as if they're about to burst. Their heads looked about the same size as a normal griffin, which made them comically small in comparison to the rest of the body. Their wings suffered a similar fate, looking liked two tiny wings grafted on top of a misshapen back. The only other part of their body that scaled to their bulky mass was their legs, and the claws at the end of them. Each of their limbs were likewise bulging with muscular mass, with their forelegs ending in two sets of long, metal clad, claws.

"Dr. Oliver, I hoped that you didn't come running like a scared chick because of a... pony."

Rainbow Dash focused her attention on the griffin that just spoke as the rest broke out in laughter. It took her but a second to recognize him by the metallic mask covering half his face.

Lord Seth, father of Damian, Lord of the Blackwing.

"My lord, this one is no ordinary pony." spoke Dr. Oliver with trembling voice, bowing before his leader who stood a full head taller than the doctor was.

"Hm... I can see that..." mused Seth as he appraised the pegasus from a distance. Rainbow Dash didn't have to guess to see that the griffin was interest in her clawed wings. Lord Seth made a waving gesture with his claws at one of the hulking griffin nearby.

"Seize her." ordered Seth. The giant griffin nodded and turned to her with a sadistic grin. Rainbow Dash quickly flared out her wing claws and dropped into a defensive crouch as the griffin charged at her.

Think you can take me on? Either he's that brave... thought Rainbow Dash as she licked her lips. Her eyes focused on the approaching griffin. A few steps ahead of her, the griffin spread his wings and jumped into a glide. His forearm extended forward, pointing the metal-clad claws toward her.

... or that stupid. Rainbow Dash took a small step to the left, letting the griffin sailed right past her. With a hard flap of her clawed wing, she drove her claws into the griffin side, leaving behind three long gashes. Rainbow Dash didn't bother to look back as the griffin crashed into the ground behind her with a thud.

"Is that all you got?" taunted Rainbow Dash at the wall of griffin in front of her. However, instead of the fear she expected from that awesome display of power, the assembled griffin merely looked interested.

"Why... you... BITCH!" came the roar behind Rainbow Dash. She turned around, and was surprised to see the griffin she just slashed getting up. To her surprise, the griffin was standing up. The three wounds in the griffin's side were deep enough for her to see the muscle beneath. Yet, despite the serious looking wound, there's but a mere trickle of blood dripping out of them. The wounds itself also appeared to be slowly closing up.

Okay... this is not going to be a walk in the park. Rainbow Dash readied herself once more as the griffin charged straight at her again. On the other hoof... not that bright.

This time the griffin apparently decided not to use his claw but instead tried to ram her directly. Rainbow Dash side-stepped to the right this time, and dug her claw into the griffin's side once more. This time, instead of just letting the griffin pass, Rainbow Dash used her claw as an anchor and swung onto the griffin's back.

"GET OFF ME! GET OFF ME!" screamed the griffin as he scrambled around, trying to buck the pegasus off him. But with one of her clawed wing embedded in the griffin's back, Rainbow Dash didn't have to worry about getting bucked off. At the same time, she took the chance to slash at the griffin's back, opening up one set of gaping wound after another.

Her impromptu ride didn't last for long. With her attention focused on griffin beneath her, she didn't notice the second griffin coming up until he slammed into her and tackled her to the ground. The two of them tumbled a short distance along the obsidian floor. When they finally came to a stop, Rainbow Dash was on her back, staring up and one victorious looking griffin who had both her wing claws pinned to the ground with his own metal-clad talons.

"I got you you little ARGH!" Rainbow Dash didn't let the griffin finish before driving her back hooves into the griffin, which just happened to hit him in a more... sensitive spot. Rainbow Dash could swear that the griffin went cross-eyed before her second kick knocked him to his side.

A quick twist of her body set her upright again, both her wing claws high in the air, ready to gut the prone griffin beside her. But before she could even get a single swipe in, another griffin jumped on her back and wrapped his foreleg around her neck.

"I've got her! I've got her!" cried the griffin on her back. Rainbow Dash was tried to buck him off while several more griffins piled on. The sudden increase in weight caused Rainbow Dash to lose her footing as she found herself pinned underneath the mass of griffins.

"You know... I was expecting more out of this pony..." came Seth's voice. Rainbow Dash struggled to push herself up and the griffins off, but the jolt of each additional griffins adding their own weight to the pile kept her down.

"Sir... about the escaping... subjects." came Oliver's voice.

"Of course. The rest of you! Capture the escapees!"

Gilda! the thought of Gilda in danger ignited a fire in Rainbow Dash. With an explosion of strength, Rainbow Dash flared her wings out, tossing the collective mass of griffins above her out like they were made of foam. She looked down the corridor toward where she knew the exit was, and saw the retreating back of the mass of griffins. Rainbow Dash glanced back at Dr. Oliver and Lord Seth, the former had a look of fear while the latter had a look of intense interest.

Those two will have to wait. thought Rainbow Dash as she chased after the griffins heading toward the exit.

=====================================================================

They didn't stand a chance... Twilight Sparkle grimaced as she ran. Several mutilated remains of Blackwing griffins scattered in her path, the result of Applejack and Pinkie Pie's rampage as they led Twilight through the unfamiliar corridors.

As much as she hated the feeling, she was getting a bit scared of her two friends. It wasn't the brutality with which Applejack and Pinkie Pie treat griffin that scared her, it was the fact that how merciless the two ponies were. For far too many times, she would find her two friends viciously rip apart or crush flat griffins who were begging for their life. Most of those griffins were already injured and crippled to the point such that they were no longer a threat to them. Worst still, some of the griffins killed did not looked like a fighter. In fact, many of them looked like they're just researchers judging by their lab coats.

The latter of which prompted a small argument between Applejack and Twilight when Applejack gutted an unarmed, pleading griffin before stomping him to death.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" exclaimed Twilight Sparkle.

"What do you think?" snarled Applejack while she continued to turn a lab-coat wearing griffin beneath her into a fine paste.

"He didn't have any weapon! He didn't even attack us! You don't have to..."

"You don't know what he did!" snapped Applejack, turning to face Twilight, who swore she could see raging fire burning behind the earth pony's eyes. "You don't SEE what he stinking did!"

That last response bothered her a bit. She remembered, back in Ponyville, Rainbow Dash's ability to assimilate the memories of her... victims. Apparently, Applejack shared that ability, and Twilight suspected that Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were the same in that regards. She had once asked Applejack what she... saw. Applejack never did answer her, but the look of pain on Applejack at the questioning convinced her not to press the issues.

Just... what did they do? wondered Twilight. She wanted to trust Applejack that what those griffin did warranted her... violent response. But Twilight couldn't help the nagging doubts that tugged at her at the back of her mind. What horror did you see to make you like... like...

"Twilight! Stop!" Applejack's outburst was accompanied by a painful jerk on her tail, pulling her back. Twilight turned around with a mixture of pain and bewilderment, finding Applejack holding her tail in her mouth.

"That hurts!" cried Twilight. "Why did you..."

A sudden flurry of clinks behind her prompted her to turn back. She saw that Applejack had pulled her back from a side tunnel to her left. On the wall to her right, there were dozens of metal bolts embedded in it. Twilight quickly realized that those bolts had traveled through the space that she would've occupied seconds earlier if Applejack didn't pull her back. Applejack spat Twilight's tail back out.

"Ya gotta be more careful!" said Applejack. "Ya can't space out on us like that!"

"Um... sorry..." said Twilight.

"Okay, if I remember correctly, there's a guard station not too far down. So... same plan. Twilight you stay here, we'll come get you once we're done. Pinkie, let's go."

"Let go get them!" shouted Pinkie Pie as she followed Applejack down the side-tunnel. What followed was a succession of griffin screams and panicked shouting interspersed by sickening crunches and squelches of griffins dying. The sound of fighting receded as her two friends slaughtered their way through the ranks of griffin until they were just muted echoes in the distance.

Twilight didn't like the waiting. She understood Applejack's insistence that she stay behind. After all, unlike her friends, she can't survive being turned into a pincushion. Still, that didn't mean she liked it.

Ten minutes... give or take... thought Twilight as she got up and paced around, scanning her eyes through the corridor she's in. She guessed that this was where the offices were, judging by the wooden doors with what appeared to be griffin names on them, along with their title. As she went by the doors one by one, a name caught her attention.

Dr. Oliver Green, Head of Research. Twilight studied the name a bit more before she realized why the name sounded familiar. That... creepy griffin mentioned him... something about a plan... for me?

With the curiosity getting to her, Twilight reached out with her right hoof and pushed down against the door handle. The handle didn't budge. That's when Twilight noticed the keyhole below.

"Locked, obviously." muttered Twilight to herself as she examined the lock. "Not a problem!"

She took a step back, point her horn at the keyhole a shot a burst of magic into it. The keyhole glowed violet for a second before making a few clicking sounds. The door swung open with a faint creak. The light from the corridor spilled into the darkened room, casting a pony-shaped shadow from Twilight to about a couple of steps into the room. With her horn lit to provide some illumination, Twilight Sparkle entered.

The first thing she did was to look around for a light. It took her no time, as it turned out the light switch was just right next to the door, in the form of a valve with the label "Light" behind it. Twilight followed the pipe the valve was connected to and noticed that it extend up to the top of the wall, where she noticed several faint flickering dot that seems to be gas lamps. With another flare of magic, Twilight twisted the valve open. In response, the gas lamps brighten and lit up the room. "There, much better."

With the room now lit, Twilight looked around in more detail. It was fairly clean, well organized, and fairly sparse. There's a single desk in the middle, just about a right height for a griffin sitting on the ground to write on. Two bookshelves flanked the desk. Both of which held... well, books, while the other seems to be filled with file folders.

Twilight Sparkle made a beeline to the folders and scanned through it. It looked like reports of sorts, many of whom had names she didn't recognize. Despite a nagging feeling of unease, the curiosity of what they contained got to her. One by one, Twilight Sparkle pulled the folders out with her magic and parade them in front of her. It took her no time to regret that decision.

"Sweet mother of Celestia..." breathed Twilight Sparkle as she stared at the horrors in front of her. Each report documented a series of experiments that, arguably, were done out of pure cruelty instead of any legitimate scientific reason. Twilight couldn't decide which report was the worst, as with each report she read that sickened her to the core, the next few would trump that.

... Dr. Cassius, On the Comparative Cranial Integrity of Ponies and Griffins...

... they're just crushing ponies and griffins heads!

... Dr. Powers, On the Effect of Electricity on Animals...

... they're just shocking ponies and griffins until they die!

... Dr. Gallow, On the Study of Unicorn Horns...

Twilight opened the folder and froze. Her eyes blinked a few times before her brain finally made sense of what she saw.

There were photos. Photos of various unicorns, all of whom had their head strapped into some sort of metal contraptions. All of them have the look of a mixture of intense fear and pain, some even had spittle and foam around their mouth, and the reason was obvious.

Their horns, one of the most sensitive organ on a unicorn, were sliced off at various point while they're still fully conscious.

It was then Twilight proceed to lose the content of her stomach, dropping the folders around her. For more than a minute, she continued to heave despite emptying out the entire content of her stomach.

"Twi... Twilight?"

Twilight Sparkle looked up, and found Applejack and Pinkie Pie by the door watching her with looks of concern.

"Are ya okay?" asked Applejack.

"... I'm... okay now..." said Twilight, wiping the acrid muck from her mouth with her foreleg. "... are all those griffins... like... this?"

Applejack took a glance at the scattered folders and reports around Twilight and nodded grimly.

"Yeah, more or less."

"How can they all be this... this... evil?" asked Twilight, still trying to come to term with what she saw.

"Ooh, I know! I know!" chimed Pinkie Pie. "They're not nice griffins before, but they all turned really, REALLY nasty after something called..." Pinkie Pie tapped her chin a few times, trying to recall the words. "... Red Star! Don't know why they call it that, I mean I don't remember seeing any star that's red..."

"Red Star?" Twilight Sparkle looked at the report surrounding her, and soon found a fairly bulky looking folder labeled Dr. Oliver, Project Red Star. She levitated the report out of the pile and hover it in front of her.

"Hate tah say this, but ah don't think we got time for reading." said Applejack.

"Yep! There's still more evil griffin butts to kick! Oh wait!" Pinkie Pie zoomed out the door and backed in in under a second with something in her mouth. With a flick of her head, she sent the object flying toward Twilight. "Here you go!"

Twilight Sparkle stopped the item in midair with her magic. It was a satchel, likely from one of the griffins they killed recently judging by the spots of still moist blood on it.

"You can read it after we're get out of here." added Pinkie Pie. Twilight took another glance at the report in front of her.

I guess it will take awhile to go through this... reasoned Twilight Sparkle. She shoved the folder into the satchel and slung it over her back. "Alright, let's go."

As Twilight followed Applejack and Pinkie Pie past more dead and mutilated griffins, her doubt about her two friends' violent response evaporated. In its place was a singular thought.

Payback!

=====================================================================

"I think that's everyone." commented Leo as the final group of ragged griffins made their way under the hanging steel gate. Gilda confirmed that with a look over the now empty stone bridge over the bubbling lava lake.

Behind her, the escaped griffins gathered in the much cooler cavern. Many of them, like the other prisoners Gilda saw everyday, bore varying degrees of injuries and old wounds. Some were so weakened by such mistreatment that they could barely stand, let alone walk and had to be helped by other griffins. Thankfully, Rainbow Dash had wiped out every guard station on their way in. It meant that their escape thus far, while slow, was totally unhindered.

Gilda looked toward the slope in the side of the cavern that led to the tunnel toward freedom. They're still less than halfway there. More than half of the Blackwing tribe still stood between them and freedom. That number was probably smaller now depending on how well Rainbow Dash's friends were doing, but Gilda didn't want to count on that. She noted the few able bodied griffins scattered around the escapees, carrying weapons scavenged from the dead Blackwing guards. With such a small number of them capable of fighting, an encounter with even a small group of Blackwing warriors would be disastrous. Having Rainbow Dash with them would be a tremendous advantage after Gilda saw what the pegasus was capable of. Plus, it didn't feel right leaving her friend behind to fend for herself.

"I say we wait for your friend." said Leo, who seemed to recognize what Gilda was thinking. "A lot of griffins are too exhausted to move anyway."

"I guess so." no sooner when she said that, her ears perked up when distant sound of shouting reached her. Gilda turned to the fortress, where the commotion seems to be coming. Her eyes fixed on the closed fortress door. Trepidation grew as the noise grew louder and louder until she recognized the thundering of claws and paws.

Oh no... her fear was realized when the fortress gate burst open and a flood of griffins of monstrous size came pouring out.

=====================================================================

Oh no... the thought flashed through Rainbow's mind as horde of griffin ahead of her burst through the fortress door. From the vantage point above a griffin she was stabbing, she could see over the bridge that spanned the lava lake. At the end of it, was Gilda, along with the escaped griffins.

They won't make it! Rainbow Dash jumped up, dodging another griffin that tried to tackle her off. She landed on top of another griffin, who howled as she dug her clawed wing into him. Think! Rainbow Dash! Think!

Almost instantly, as if answering her wish, several memories flashed through her. First was the massive steel slab that hung over the entrance to the caldera. Followed by the chains that ran from the wall about said steel slab. Before ending in the room filled with mechanisms above the fortress gate.

That's it! Rainbow Dash looked around, and found the stairwell leading up to her destination.

"Excuse me! Pardon me!" snarked Rainbow Dash as she used the griffin horde around her like stepping stones. She skipped from one griffin to another, stepping on them as hard as she could while nimbly avoiding the grasping claws. Occasionally, she would dig her wing claw on the griffin she landed to steady herself. "Oops! I hope that hurts."

Once she reached the stairwell, she darted up it and crashed through the door at the top. The room she found herself in was just as her memories showed her.

"The gate control..." muttered Rainbow Dash. Four wooden hamster wheel line the back of the room, each large enough for a full grown griffin to walk in. From the memories she acquired, Rainbow Dash knew that these wheels were used to lift the steel slab at the entrance into and out of the caldera. She took a closer look and found a lever between the center two wheels.

That will do it! Rainbow Dash galloped over and pushed the lever over. The moment she did that, there were sounds of gears shifting and clicking followed by the rattling of chains. Looking out the windows, Rainbow Dash could see that steel slab inching lower and lower.

Several griffins stumbled through the door that Rainbow Dash had broke down. One of them shouted "STOP HER!" upon seeing her.

"Oops, gotta go!" Rainbow Dash bucked at the lever, snapping it off at the base to guarantee that no one will be able to stop the gate from closing. Before the griffins could get to her, Rainbow Dash broke off into a gallop toward the window and launched herself out of it. She spread her wings wide and settled into a steady flight high above the bridge. She turned around, watching the griffins took to the air behind her. She was a bit surprised that they could fly with those laughably small wings of their. However, as Rainbow Dash pick up speed, she could see that they would have a lot of difficulty catching up to her. "See ya suckers!"

She blew a raspberry at them before turning her attention to the bridge. Rainbow Dash could make out flickers of bolts flying from the opening in the cavern, where the escaping griffins had taken position and were firing their crossbow at the horde. However, their efforts were useless as the Blackwing griffins continue charge ahead, with the bolts appeared to at best caused some minor annoyance. In addition, Rainbow Dash quickly realized that the agonizing slow descent of the gate meant that a large number of griffins would've made it through.

Gotta slow them down. Rainbow Dash pulled herself into a climb toward the cavern ceiling, ignoring the griffins chasing behind her. Once she was nearly to the ceiling, Rainbow Dash pitched down and began to dive. Her wings beat fast and hard against the air as she made small adjustments to line herself up with the head of the griffin crowd below. She gritted her teeth as the wind whipped against her face and whistled past her ears. The air in front of her outstretched hooves began to compress and form into a cone around her as she gained more and more speed. It was the same trick she used against the infected buffalo on their train ride to Appleloosa. While the low ceiling limited the distance she could accelerate, her more powerful wings removed of that issue. A couple dozen yards above the bridge surface, she broke the sound barrier.

A couple dozen yards above the bridge surface, she broke the sound barrier. Flash of rainbow colored light bathed the bridge itself as Rainbow Dash streaked toward it. Several griffins looked up. One of them, near the lead of the pack, stared directly at her. Just moments before impact, Rainbow Dash could see her own reflection in the griffin's eyes. His eyes were filled with confusion. The griffin they belonged to was still trying to comprehend what was happening. It was something that he will never had a chance to do before Rainbow Dash slammed into him.

In an instant, the griffin's body vaporized as if he wasn't even there as Rainbow Dash continued on to hit the ground beneath him. Shockwave traveled out from the point of impact as rings, shattering solid stones and tossing griffins into the air. Some griffins crashed back into the ground, some into the bridge parapet, while others flew right over. Seconds later, Rainbow Dash could hear splashes and screams beneath the bridge as griffins who did not recover in time fell into the fiery lake.

Rainbow Dash surveyed the aftermath around her through the settling dusts. All around her, griffins laid motionless on the ground. Some griffins further out were moving, stumbling around in a dazed fashion. Behind her, the griffins that were charging toward the entrance had all stopped, likely trying to figure out what just happened in front of them.

"Rainbow Dash!" came Gilda's voice through the dust clouds. On hearing her, Rainbow Dash galloped ahead. Once she ran out of the dust cloud, she got a clear sight of the slowly descending metal gate and Gilda just beyond the entrance. "Hurry!"

This is going to be close! Her hooves thundered against the stone floor as Rainbow Dash broke into a full sprint toward the gate. Judging by the steady pace with which the gate was dropping, Rainbow Dash guessed that she would make it past with just a few seconds to spare. As she got close to the gate, the more she was sure that she would make it. With just a few pony lengths away from the gate, Rainbow Dash noticed a sudden movement to the left.

"What the...!" next thing she knew, something sharp dug into her sides. There was a slight twinge of pain as she was lifted bodily into the air. The ground beneath her shifted away until she found herself hovering high above the magma sea.

"Rainbow Dash!" Rainbow Dash saw Gilda being held back by what appeared to be her father shortly before the gate fell into place with a resounding thunk. Looking up, a pair of leering griffin eyes glared at her.

"Got ya you little..." Rainbow Dash decided not to let him finish. Her wings morphed into claws, and before he knew what she was going to do, stabbed them into his side. "GAH!"

The jolt of pain forced the griffin to let go of Rainbow Dash. She tore out of her left wing out of the griffin. Using her still anchored right wing, Rainbow Dash swung herself over on top of the griffin's back.

"Who's got who now?" snarled Rainbow Dash.

"What are you... AH!" the griffin screamed again when Rainbow Dash drove her left wing back into the griffin. Using her two wing claws as an improvised rein, she steered the screaming griffin back toward the bridge. Once they're nearly over the bridge, several griffins flew up to meet them.

"STOP IT! STOP IT!"

"Okay!" answered Rainbow Dash, yanking both her claws out from the griffin. He seemed surprised, turning his head around to see the pegasus raising both her wing claws high above her head.

"Wait! NO!"

Rainbow Dash ignored the griffin and brought bother her wing claws down. With one slash, her claws sliced off both of griffin's wings effortlessly. His screams raised to a new pitch as Rainbow Dash planted her hooves into the griffin back. Her claws morphed back into wings as she pushed the griffin down toward the bridge. Using the now wingless griffin as a sort of shield, she plowed through several Blackwings that were trying to get to her. The bridge surface rapidly rose to meet them as they descended. Any griffins that were still on the bridge quickly scattered away from area she was aiming toward.

"NO! NO! NO! NO! N..." the griffin's panicked cried was silenced by a sharp crunch when Rainbow Dash slammed him into the ground. The impact was a lot less powerful than the dive bombing she did before, but for the griffin involved, it was just as devastating. His back caved in completely as his stomach popped like a popped balloon, spraying blood and gore out in all directions. Almost by reflex, black tendrils shot out from her body and buried themselves into dead griffin. The tendrils proceeded to disassemble the griffin's body, pulling bits and pieces of it into her. Within seconds, the griffin body disappeared, leaving behind a pool of blood.

Standing within the circle of blood, Rainbow Dash turned to face the still living griffin. They have formed a fairly uniform wall at a respectable distance. Their gaze, once savage and vicious, was replaced by fear. Grinning, she morphed her wings into claws and spread them open. "Alright, who's next?"

There's silence as the griffins appeared unsure on what they should do. They looked at each other, none seems to want to make the first move. A few even started to back away from her. At the same time, Rainbow Dash glanced around her, trying to figure out how she's going to get out of this place since the only exit she knew of was no longer available.

"Bravo, bravo." a voice cut through the silence, interrupting Rainbow Dash's search. The crowd of griffins parted down the middle, revealing a griffin with a metal mask covering half of his face.

Seth!

=====================================================================

Rainbow Dash glared at the masked griffin as he came to a stop just in front of the griffins, who closed rank once more, forming a solid wall behind their leader. Rainbow Dash felt that there's something... wrong with this half-masked griffin. Part of that was his mismatched eyes, the one on his left, the masked side, was yellow, while his unmasked right eye was blue. But beyond that, there's something else, something she couldn't quite put her hooves on. So she kept her wing claws raised at the ready while watching his every movement.

"I'm impressed..." said Seth as he appraised the pegasus in front of him. "... no one had managed to make it this far. Let alone take out some of my..." he glanced at the griffins behind him with a hint of disapproval. "...best warriors..." ended Seth with a tone of deep disappointment, prompting several griffins to shirk back out of shame.

"Although... such power..." commented Seth as he turned to Dr. Oliver, who was apparently hiding behind Seth and regarded her with curious and fearful eyes. "... what do you think, doctor?"

"Perhaps... she came in contact with the red star?"

The red star? What is he... wait...

"The meteor..." muttered Rainbow Dash out loud. Everything came together at that point: The strange ritual involving the red powder in all the griffin's memory she acquired, and the reddish mist that turned the griffin prisoners into monster. "... you... you were using those meteor..."

"Ah! So it is true then."

"Are you... ARE YOU CRAZY?" sputtered Rainbow Dash. "Do you have any idea what you're doing?"

"What, exactly, am I doing that's crazy? I, well, the good doctor here," Lord Seth gestured to Dr. Oliver. "... discovered the gift of the red star. We..." he motioned to the rest of the bear-sized griffins behind him. "... willing received that gift."

"And how about them? How about others of your kind!?" Rainbow Dash stabbed her right wing claw behind her, toward the metal slab sealing the entrance. "You're trying to turn them into monsters!"

"Monsters? No! I'm doing them a favor! I'm granting them the honor to be useful members of the Blackwings army." said Lord Seth flippantly.

Favor? Honor? Rainbow Dash blinked at the way Lord Seth answered her.

"You... you're sick..." sputtered Rainbow Dash.

"Sick?" chuckled Lord Seth. "That's rich, coming from the pony who received the blessing of the red star herself."

"Blessing? You call this..." Rainbow Dash flicked his wing claws out. "... a blessing? I NEVER ASKED FOR THIS! I NEVER WANTED THIS!"

"But you must admit, you enjoyed that power." stated Seth. "You enjoyed the killing."

"I..." Rainbow Dash was about to retort, but stopped herself. Her eyes drifted to the ground as her wings sagged a bit as her thoughts turned inward.

He's right... I do like this power... thought Rainbow Dash. ... and the killings...

"I'm right, aren't I?" said Seth with a condescending sneer.

... but...

"... unlike you..." said Rainbow Dash, glaring at Lord Seth once more with renewed flame. "... I enjoy this power because I let me help my friend..." her wing claws flared out. "... I enjoy killing you all, because you're all assholes and YOU HURT MY FRIENDS!"

Lord Seth watched the fired up pegasus with indifference.

"Harrumph!" snorted Seth. "Well! Not sure how you're going to help your friends now that you're trapped in here."

"I'm not the only one here." said Rainbow Dash with a grin. "I've friends back out there. And if I have to guess, they're tearing up the place right now."

"I see... in that case. I guess we'll just have to kill you and then deal with your friends." Seth motioned at the griffins behind him. "Kill her."

Rainbow Dash tensed up at the ready. No one moved. The wall of griffins remained where they were. Each looked around them, all appeared to be waiting for someone else to make the first move. Rainbow Dash could almost smell their collective fear. She could definitely hear the nervous shuffling of griffin paws and claws over the rumbling hum of the lava sea.

"Looks like your 'best' warriors are too scared to fight." Rainbow Dash said with a grin. Lord Seth looked over his shoulder at the cowardly griffins behind him.

"Yes.. that appeared to be the case..." said Lord Seth. "... quite disappointing, really..." He turned back to Rainbow Dash. "It looks like if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself."

Did he just say he wants to fight me?

"Sir?" Doctor Oliver looked just as confused as she was as he blinked at his boss.

"Of course." said Seth while taking off his mask. "I'm going to need some... help."

"Sir?" repeated the griffin doctor in alarm. Rainbow Dash immediately noticed something was wrong. The dark red veins around Seth's yellow eye begun to pulse. The griffin lord began to writhe, apparently in pain, as the blood red tendrils rippled and swarmed all over him.

What the hell!? alarm bells rang in Rainbow Dash mind as she backed up a few steps. The rest of the griffins, including Dr. Oliver, begun to back away in shock and fear. However, whatever distance they put between them and their leader soon proved to be useless.

"Hn... RAGH!" with an ear piercing roar, masses of tendrils shot out from Lord Seth. All of them aimed toward the griffins around him, weaving their way through the masses. Their screams of terror echoed through the cavern as the blood red tendrils twisted itself around each griffin

"Mi-lord! No!" Their pleas fell on deaf ears as the tendrils continued to wrap around them. Others struggled to escape, but their futile attempt merely bought them seconds before tendrils enveloped them inside a cocoon of flesh.

Within seconds, Rainbow Dash could no longer recognize any individual griffins. All that's left was a massive, blood red heap behind Lord Seth, still connected to the mass with hundreds of tendrils. Then, the tendrils began the retreat, pulling the amorphous mass into him, and Lord Seth screamed.

"Whoa..." mouthed Rainbow Dash as as she begun to back away, watching as the griffin lord underwent terrifying transformations.

His body ballooned out as his various muscles thickened to the point of nearly ripping through his skin. In fact, Rainbow Dash could see that his skin was tearing apart and only remained in one piece due to his rapid healing, judging by the mass of writhing blood red tendrils where the skin had torn.

The talons on each of his claws elongated until each were twice the length of a full grown pony, and about just as thick. Despite the massive size, each talons looked as sharp as a dagger with a slight metallic sheen to it.

His wings grew alongside the rest of his body. Even the individual feathers underwent their own malicious transformation. Their central shaft extended into long and bony needles, giving his wings a rake like appearance.

His tail lengthened and bulked, seemingly to accommodate another addition to his already deadly arsenals. The tuft at the end of his tail had morphed to resemble a porcupine, a pony-sized mass covered in sharp spines.

In the final bit of transformation, shark like teeth grew from the edge of his enormous beak. A beak that looked strong enough to chop through a tree, or a pony, in one bite.

When Lord Seth finally stopped screaming and the writhing mass of blood red tendrils finally receded, Rainbow Dash found herself facing up to a griffin that had grew to as big as the biggest dragon she knew of. Lord Seth seems to ignore her presence, instead focused on checking out his new body.

"Impressive..." said Lord Seth, his voice a full octave lower and rumbled through the cavern. "... she promised a taste... and this..." he brought his right claw up to his face and examined it with amazement. "... is beyond anything..."

"Wait... she?" muttered Rainbow Dash. "You're working for someone else?" she shouted. Lord Seth looked down at her with his yellow, beady eyes while lowering his raise claw back to the ground. Rainbow Dash noticed that his formerly blue right eye had turned the matching shade of yellow in his left.

"Close..." chuckled Lord Seth. "... I'm working WITH someone, not FOR..."

"WHO?" demanded Rainbow Dash.

"It doesn't matter!" boomed Lord Seth as he advanced on Rainbow Dash. His spine covered tail swished behind him. "You will die here!"

Rainbow Dash growled as she readied herself for a fight, "then I guess I'll just have to eat you to find out!"

Day 8: Part 6

"Eat me?" said the transformed Lord Seth with a chuckle that turned into a roaring laugh. "Little filly, best not to bite off more than you CAN CHEW!"

With a quick twirl, Lord Seth swung his spike covered tail at Rainbow Dash. She reared up, and using an added push with a flap of her wings, launched herself into a back-flip. The spikes on Lord Seth's tail barely missed her, slashing through the air just beneath her chin. Lord Seth yanked on his spiked tail, swinging it around behind him and over his head to have it smash straight down toward the pegasus. Rainbow Dash landed on the ground and quickly skipped to the right, avoiding the lethal looking mass as it crashed into the ground, leaving a small crater where it landed.

"Pfft! Missed!" taunted Rainbow Dash, blowing a raspberry at the hulk-ed up griffin.

"Big talks for a FLY!" Lord Seth lunged forward, claws extended, each with five razor-sharp talons ready to carve the pegasus into pieces. Rainbow Dash jumped over his first wild swipe cleanly. Her attempt to duck under his second swipe didn't go as smoothly. Rainbow Dash saw several rainbow colored strain of hair drifting down past her vision. One of those knife-like talons had gotten close enough to shave off the tip of her mane.

Oh! You're going to pay for that! growled Rainbow Dash. With Lord Seth over her thanks to his lunge, Rainbow Dash ran forward. Her clawed wings swept back and dug themselves into Lord Seth's underbelly.

"ARGH!" screamed Lord Seth in pain as her claws tore their way through the thick flesh, leaving two long and messy gashes down the full length of the griffin's gut before ripping themselves out near the base of his tail with a shower of blood and gore. She turned and skidded to a stop near the fortress end of the bridge to see the carnage she had inflicted on the griffin lord.

Which, as it turned out, wasn't much. As she watched, the pair of horrific wound in Lord Seth's underside were sealing up rapidly like a closing zipper. By the time the huffing griffin managed to turn around to face her, the wounds had disappeared as if they weren't even there in the first place. The only hint that she even wounded him was the pained grimace in his feature and his rage filled glare.

"Great..." breathed Rainbow Dash in annoyance.

"You BITCH!" roar the dragon-sized griffin before rearing up. His wings flared out. "Take this!" shouted Lord Seth as he drove his wings toward the pegasus. Dozens, if not hundreds, of spiny bone-spears shot out from his wings.

"Whoa!" Rainbow Dash vaulted to action, twisting and flipping around as she tried to avoid all the projectiles flying towards her. Nearly all the spears missed their mark, shattering or embedding themselves in the grounds around her. Although "nearly" was not all of it.

"Gah..." yelped Rainbow Dash. One of the spine-covered bone spear found its mark, driving itself straight through her left knee. With her teeth, she grabbed onto the spear and yanked.

"HNG!" grunted Rainbow Dash as she pulled on the spear. The serrated edge tore at her flesh as it came out, sending white-hot pain through her. But in-spite of that, she persisted. Finally, the bone spear was free, and the pain quickly subsided as the jagged wound closed by itself. Rainbow Dash glared at Lord Seth, who was smirking at her, before spitting the bone spike away.

"Ooh... it is ON!" Rainbow Dash launched herself into a gallop toward the still leering griffin. Lord Seth, likewise, charged at her. They met near the middle of the bridge, where Lord Seth made the first move. He turned his head sideways, and opened his dagger-teeth lined beak to snap at the pegasus. Rainbow Dash reacted quickly, launching herself off the ground right as the beaks snapped shut. There's a was a loud crunch as Rainbow Dash saw a few teeth flew out from the griffin's beak. She landed on Lord Seth's back, and dug her wings in.

"GET OFF ME!" roared Lord Seth as he started to thrash around.

"Eh... how about NO!?" replied Rainbow Dash as she proceeded to dig into the bulky griffin's back. Blood and flesh sprayed out all over the place as she tore into the griffin below. Yet, despite the ferocity of her attack, the wounds were healing just about as fast as she could inflict them.

Well... he can't... keep this... up... forever... thought Rainbow Dash as she continued her assault while Lord Seth continued to thrash and scream. Then, with a mighty flap of his wings, Lord Seth took to the air. He spun and rolled, trying to shake off the raging pegasus on his back. But Rainbow Dash's wings held firm as they continued to open one wound after another.

"Keep trying! You can't get me off!" shouted Rainbow Dash. "Nothing you can do can..."

That was when Rainbow Dash noticed something approaching rapidly from above. She looked up, and saw the ceiling coming toward her.

"... on the other hoof... that wo..." her sentence was cut short when Lord Seth slammed his back, and its passenger, into the cavern ceiling. Chunks of rocks and debris filled her mouth she was ground against the jagged rock like cheese against a cheese grater. Thankfully, it merely lasted but a few seconds. Rainbow Dash popped free, having been effectively scrapped off Lord Seth's back, and tumbled down and away from the griffin. A short fall later, Rainbow Dash regained controlled flight.

"Bleh..." sounded Rainbow Dash after spitting out the accumulated debris. The stinging in her back was quickly fading as her impressive healing ability regrew the missing skin in a swarming mass of black tendrils. She looked around, and located Lord Seth. The griffin was coming around and appeared to be no worse for wear. In fact, as impossible as it may seem, Lord Seth looked even more murderous than ever.

"Okay... this is going to take a while." groaned Rainbow Dash as she flew off for another tangle with the lord of Blackwings.

=====================================================================

We're... out... the words echoed through Fluttershy's mind as she stopped at the edge of the plateau just outside the entrance to the Blackwing's base. The sun was higher in the sky, high enough to peek over the mountain top behind her and light up the rocky slope of the volcano. In the distance, she could see the several flapping shapes receding away. Blackwings who took the smarter option of escaping instead of fighting.

"... free.... Free... WE ARE FREE!" cried a griffin behind, soon joined by others. A stream of griffins began to file past her and down the rocky slope. Some of them, however, stopped by Fluttershy.

"Thank you, thank you so much!" Fluttershy found herself surrounded by a small crowd of griffins, all eager to express their gratitude. Some simply thanked her with a slight bow before moving to let another griffin take their place. Others took her hoof and shook them while babbling out words of gratefulness. A few threw themselves around her neck, sobbing as they blabbered on words of thanks. Fluttershy tried to maintain a forced smile, but the packed crowd around her was starting to become unbearable for the normally shy pegasus. A sense of panic began to grow within the pegasus as her eyes flicked this way and that, trying to find a place to escape from the crowd.

"Fluttershy!" a familiar voice washed away the nervous feelings. The crowd around her parted, revealing Applejack trotting toward her from the cave entrance.

"Hiya Fluttershy!" next came Pinkie, bouncing her way out.

"Applejack! Pinkie Pie!" Fluttershy gasped when she saw the next pony that came out. "Twilight!"

"Hi Flutter..." Twilight didn't get to finish her greeting when Fluttershy pounced on her, squeezing her into a bear hug.

"You're okay! You're okay!"

"Uh... Fluttershy?" came Applejack's concerned voice.

"I was so worried!"

"Fluttershy?"

"I don't know what I would do if you're dead!"

"She will be if you don't let go!"

Fluttershy became aware of a strange gurgling sound next to her head and something tapping against her forelegs with growing urgency. She also noticed that Twilight's eyes were nearly bulging out. And as impossible as it may appear, her face was starting to turn blue. Fluttershy quickly released her unicorn friend from her death grip. Twilight Sparkle gasped in return as she rapidly drew in precious air by the lungful.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"That's... alright..." Twilight Sparkle coughed a few time before drawing in one, long, steady breath in and out. "I'm okay."

"Oh, thank goodness." said Fluttershy in relief.

"Say, where's Rainbow Dash?" asked Applejack, looking around.

"She went to save Gilda's dad." answered Fluttershy.

"Gilda?" voiced a surprised Twilight. "Wasn't she that mean griffin who's a jerk to you all?"

"Yep! But she's not like that anymore," started Pinkie Pie. "She actually pretty nice."

"Hey!" a sudden outburst from the entrance caught their attention. The four ponies turned to see Gilda poking her head up out of the crowd. It took her less than a second to locate where the ponies were. "Pinkie Pie!"

"See! She don't call me Stinky Pie anymore!"

Gilda pulled herself out of the griffin crowd and ran to them, followed by a slightly larger griffin that they guessed was her dad. When she stopped in front of them, she was panting as if she just ran a marathon.

"What's wrong? Where's Rainbow Dash?" asked an alarmed Fluttershy.

"Rainbow Dash!... trapped!... in trouble!..."

=====================================================================

"STOP RUNNING YOU LITTLE VERMIN!" roared Lord Seth as he continued his aerial pursuit.

"What? Too fat and slow to keep up?" taunted Rainbow Dash as she continue to circle just out of reach of the incensed griffin lord. Lord Seth growled. With another powerful beat of his wings, he sent another swarm of bone spikes at the pegasus. However, at this distance, Rainbow Dash had more than enough time to dodge out of the way.

"Missed! AGAIN!"

"RAGH! STOP MOVING PEST!"

"Aim better! Idiot!" despite her flippant attitude, Rainbow Dash was beginning to feel annoyed that she's not getting anywhere. Sure, the fat-ass griffin can't touch her if she paid attention. But at the same time, she couldn't deal any lasting damage to the griffin. Every wounds she inflicted against the dragon-sized griffin disappeared almost as fast as she could make them. Her effort did manage to keep the giant griffin consistently pissed off.

Gotta keep trying... Rainbow Dash banked around after getting some distance on the griffin. A powerful beat of her wing sent her flying straight at Lord Seth, who watched her with predatory glares. When they're nearly snout to beak, Rainbow Dash spun into a barrel roll, deftly flying under Lord Seth attempt to catch her with his two claws. She completed her roll flying straight up between Lord Seth's forelegs.

"EAT THIS!" shouted Rainbow Dash as her foreleg smashed into Lord Seth's lower beak. She was rewarded with a satisfying crack as his head snapped backward. Rainbow Dash looked back while continuing her trajectory upward, watching the dazed griffin shaking his head to clear his star filled eyes.

With a quick adjustment to her wings and tail, Rainbow Dash reversed her upward trajectory and zoomed down toward the dazed griffin. In the fraction of second before her hooves touched the griffin's back, her wings morphed into two sets of bony claws. A sharp jab downward buried her clawed wings into the griffin's back. Rainbow Dash galloped down the length of Lord Seth's back, tearing out two long gashes just as she had done before. It took the griffin a few seconds to respond to the pain with a blood curdling scream. By then, Rainbow Dash was already jumping off his back. She took a backward glance, and was once more annoyed at the rapidly healing wound on the griffin.

"Just how many time do I have to..." Rainbow Dash turned her attention back to where she was going. "... oh... SHOOT!"

It took her claws just a second to revert back to flight capable wings. But that second was already too long. The spiked mass on the griffin's flailing tail slammed into her, sending her spinning through the air and down toward the lava lake below.

Crap! Crap! Crap! Rainbow Dash struggled to recover from the spin. Within seconds she regained control and pulled up sharply.

HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! repeated Rainbow Dash as she leveled off just a few dozen feet off of bubbling surface. She continued to pull up and soon reached comparatively more tolerable air above. Rainbow Dash took a quick look over herself. She found some singed hair around her hooves, and tail, but otherwise nothing seriously looking.

"Whew, that was close! Let's not try that again..." a light-bulb went off in Rainbow Dash's head as she took another look at the bubbling lava below. She grinned. "... Actually..."

Rainbow Dash flew back up to the same height as Lord Seth.

"Hey! Care for a round two!?" she shouted. Instead of giving chase, Lord Seth merely hovered there. His massive wings maintain a constant beat as he eyed her with rage tempered by a dose of suspicion.

"What? Scared of a little pony?" added Rainbow Dash in a taunt. "Guess the big griffin is just a big chicken then." The pegasus bent her foreleg to her side and made a flapping gesture like a chicken. "BAWK! BAWK! BAWK!"

"I WILL TEAR YOU TO PIECES!" thundered Lord Seth, surging toward the pegasus with his giant wings.

"Too easy..." muttered Rainbow Dash with a grin. She led the griffin in wide laps around the cavern, flying just far away enough to avoid any attempt by the griffin to strike at her, yet close enough to continue taunting.

"COME BACK HERE!" roared Lord Seth.

"You should try harder to catch up!" hollered Rainbow Dash, leisurely flying on her back.

"When I get my claws on you..."

"IF you get your claws on me!"

"... I'm going to rip your wings off..."

"Aw! You like my wings that much? Thanks!"

"... then I'm going to TEAR OFF YOUR LIMBS! ONE BY ONE!"

"Huh, never peg you as someone with a foot fetish."

"KEEP LAUGHING! I'LL ENJOY KILLING YOU!"

"In that case, you need to talk less and fly."

"YOU NEED TO SHUT UP AND DIE!"

The two spiraled around each other for a good couple of minutes, rising higher and higher as they went. Before long, they were almost touching the ceiling of the cavern. It was then that Rainbow Dash decided to move on to phase two of her plan.

"You know what? I'm going to give you a break and... well..." a quick shift in the pattern of her wing beats stopped her in midair. "... take a break!"

If Lord Seth had doubts about Rainbow Dash's motives, he didn't show it. Instead, he made a beeline toward the pegasus with his claws outstretched. Hunger filled his eyes as he watched his razor sharp talon inching closer and closer to the maddening grinning pegasus.

"GOTCHA!" Lord Seth closed his claws around the pegasus. But instead of feeling the squishiness of a pony in between his claws, he felt... nothing. "Huh?"

He opened his claws, and found it empty.

"See ya!" Lord Seth looked down and saw Rainbow Dash falling away with a smirk. With a frustrated roar, he dove after the falling pegasus.

"Way too easy..." Rainbow Dash turned around. Her wings buzzed beside her as she sped up her dive. The heated air whipping past her grew hotter and hotter as she head straight down toward the basin of fire. She kept a glance back, watching the griffin's every move.

800 feet above the burning lake...

Lord Seth continued his wrathful glare as he slowly closed the distance between him and the pegasus.

600 feet...

Lord Seth appeared to have doubts as Rainbow Dash continued her rapid descend toward the burning lake.

400 feet...

Lord Seth began to show fear as he slowed just a tiny bit.
Almost...

200 feet...

"Gr... RAGH!" with a frustrated roar, Lord Seth ended his dive and began to pull up, not wanting to splash down into the molten rock below. Unfortunately for him, Rainbow Dash had no intention of letting the griffin lord get away.

NOW! Rainbow Dash flared her wings out and pulled up under Lord Seth as sharp as equinely possible. She shot toward dragon sized griffin who, in his haste to avoid plowing into the lava lake below, didn't see her coming. It was, however, impossible to ignore the pegasus when she plowed into the griffin. More specifically, Rainbow Dash crashed into Lord Seth's left wing and quickly wrapped her hooves around his wing arm. The sudden imbalance sent the griffin lord into an uncontrolled spin back down toward the molten rocks below. His head turned to her with wide-eyed shock.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" screeched Lord Seth in alarm as he struggled to right himself despite the additional weight. Rainbow Dash wasn't going to have any of that.

"Three guesses!" Rainbow Dash flapped her wings hard as she forcefully yanked the griffin's wing in random direction, thwarting Lord Seth's attempt to regain control of his flight. "First two don't count!"

"STOP! STOP!" cried Lord Seth. His uncontrolled spin soon turned to an uncontrolled tumble. The world spun around them as they fell. To Rainbow Dash, it was almost reminiscent of the Dizzitron from the Wonderbolt Academy. Only the result of failure was being cooked alive in molten rock, which, admittedly, sounded better than abject humiliation.

Of course, the similarity to the Dizzitron also meant that she knew how to handle it. She locked her sight on the glowing field beneath her, craning and twisting her neck to force herself to look down. Even if Rainbow Dash never realized it, nor would she admit it if she did, her mind was running through a multitude of mathematical equations baked into her brain through years of practicing stunts. In this very instant, the wind blowing past her told her how fast she was going. Her eyes measured the exact distance to burning death below. With those information, she instinctively calculated the exact time to her, and her victim's fiery plunge. She had also determined, from countless past samples of her stunts, the exact moment she must pull up to avoid the fate she was about to deliver her victim's too.

That moment came seconds later. Rainbow Dash gave one final yank on the griffin's wing before letting go. Her wings flared out as wide as she could, trading her vertical speed for horizontal movement. A few more seconds later, there was a splash behind her, followed by Lord Seth's scream rising another octave and decibel. Rainbow Dash didn't turn to look since she was preoccupied with her current... situation, for she quickly realized that she made one very crucial mistake.

Rainbow Dash had made the decision on when to pull up based on the simple fact that she didn't want to go swimming in lava. She had forgotten, and had NOT take into account, that said lava was ten times hotter than boiling water.

GAH! BURNING! BURNING! BURNING! Rainbow Dash screamed mentally, and it wasn't an exaggeration. Bright amber fell of her as her mane, fur, tail, and feather began to singe and burn. The only reason she could still fly with her feather burning off was thanks to her impressive healing ability at replacing burnt feather on the fly. She flapped her wings frantically, trying to get away from the inferno she was in. To her immense relief, the air around her began to cool as she gained altitude.

Rainbow Dash gave her wings a few more flaps before crash landed on the bridge. She gasped, and then gagged as the stench of burnt flesh and hair assaulted her nose. She took a looks at her body, which was emitting a copious amount of smoke. Almost everything that could possibly burn were charred, with a few patches of fur still glowing a bit while they burn themselves out. Her blackened state didn't last long as masses of tendrils swarmed over her. Charred fur and flesh fell off as her body regenerated. In just seconds, Rainbow Dash found herself looking good as new.

How she felt, however, was another matter.

"Ugh... I don't feel too hot..." Rainbow Dash paused for a moment, before giving herself a chuckle. "... hot... he... good one Rainbow Dash..."

Rainbow Dash looked around, and noted the absence of any living things other than herself. Beside the steady rumble of the churning lava lake beneath, she didn't hear anything else.

"Guess that took care of him..." said Rainbow Dash. She turned around, and found herself standing by the steel gate that was trapping her within the sweltering cavern. "Now, how do I get out of..."

Fate, it seems, decided to prove Rainbow Dash wrong. A roar suddenly echoed through the cavern, followed by what appeared to be a yellow glowing blob launching itself above the bridge before crash landing upon it. Rainbow Dash's eyes grew wider and wider as she realized what, or who, it was.

"You... have... GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash. She couldn't believe her eyes. Lord Seth was lying in the middle of the bridge. Rainbow Dash could see that the griffin lord was seriously injured. His entire body was burned, some parts missing so much flesh that Rainbow Dash could see bones underneath. The feathers and skin on his wings were completely gone, leaving two bony appendages dangling from his back. Half of his face was gone, leaving behind only bleached white skull and beak. Yet, as impossible as it was, the griffin was alive and... recovering.

Cooled pieces of volcanic rocks broke off as blood red tendrils crawled over Lord Seth's body. They bridged over missing gaps, reforming muscles and skins at frightening rate. Burnt skin and fur peeled away, replaced by pristine black coat. The bony remains of his wings were pulled into his body. Seconds after they disappeared, two blood-red, flesh covered limbs shot out at the exact same spot. White fur grew over the limb rapidly before the limbs unfurled into a pair of massive, white feathered wings.

When the last bit of tendrils receded from Lord Seth's body, Rainbow Dash found herself facing a perfectly unharmed looking griffin lying in the middle of the bridge.

"... no... way..." muttered Rainbow Dash as she took a step back out of shock.

"I think..." spoke Lord Seth, still not making any effort of getting up, in a labored voice. "... I've under... estimated... you..."

Rainbow Dash felt a small relief. It sounded like his swim in molten rock did managed to weaken him somewhat.

I can still take him... Rainbow Dash's wings morphed to claws once more as she got into her fighting crouch. ... I think...

"A good... warrior..." continued Lord Seth. "... and lord... knows when he's outmatched..."

"So... you're giving up?" asked Rainbow Dash, watching the griffin's every move.

"Heh... no." chuckled Lord Seth as he slowly stood up, prompting Rainbow Dash to tense up. "I meant... a good lord knows when he'll need... help."

"Too bad you just ate all of your help." snarked Rainbow Dash.

"Oh no, I haven't..." Lord Seth smirked at the pegasus. Without warning, he raised his head to the air and let out a deafening, hawk-like screech that made made Rainbow Dash's hair stand on end. The screech ended just seconds later, allowing the background hum and rumble of the churning lava to dominate once more. But their dominance didn't last long.

What the... wondered Rainbow Dash when she heard distance screeches and squawks. Sounds that grew louder and louder as their source approached. Then, the castle gate behind Lord Seth exploded.

Rainbow Dash went slack-jawed when hundreds of mutated griffin poured out from the gate. They quickly swarmed over the cavern like some sort of ominous cloud. By the time the castle was empty, the griffins flocked with such numbers that she couldn't even see the ceiling itself.

Rainbow Dash turned her attention back to Lord Seth, who was sitting there with a wolfish grin. He raised his right claw and pointed one talon towards her. The instant he did that, all the mutated griffins went silent. Hundreds, probably a bit over a thousand, griffins hovered there as their beady eyes locked onto the pegasus. Rainbow Dash gulped and her ears folded back as she realized what's going to happen next.

"Sic." uttered Lord Seth. The cacophony of screeches and squawks returned as close to a thousand mutated griffins descended upon Rainbow Dash.

"Oh... snap..."

Day 8: Part 7

"GET OFF... HEY... QUIT IT!" snapped Rainbow Dash. Her wings beat beside her as she fought her way through the horde of griffins. That alone would've been a difficult task. It was made more difficult since she had to contend with said horde of ugly, mutated griffins...

"STOP BITING... SCRATCHING... PECKING... GAH!"

... being hell bent on treating her like one of those seed covered snack Fluttershy always leave out for the birds. With a few more powerful thrusts of her wings, Rainbow Dash launched herself up out of the cloud of griffins that had surrounded her. She immediately found herself just underneath the ceiling. To her dismay, instead of finding the griffin lord, Seth, she find herself surrounded by even more infected griffins. Griffins who, upon seeing her in more open space, rushed in to get their turn at the rainbow-colored treat. Rainbow Dash flipped over and began to dive right toward the cloud of griffin she just escaped from.

No longer needing her wings since she was falling, Rainbow Dash transformed them back into claws moments before she slammed into the griffin swarm. Her clawed wings thrashed around her, slashing and dicing their way through the thick cloud of mutated griffins like a lawnmower. Rainbow Dash held out her hooves straight in front her as she rammed her way through the griffins.

GOTACH! mentally cried Rainbow Dash as her hooves slammed dead center into a griffin's back. Black tendrils snaked out from her hooves and glued them into the griffin. Seconds later, she broke out from the hostile cloud and was greeted by the sweltering glow of the lava lake hundreds of feet below her.

The griffin she caught began the struggle, threatening to throw her off balance. With two quick swipe of her sharp claws, Rainbow Dash sliced off the captured infected griffin's wings before morphing her claws back into flight capable wings. A quick small adjustment to her dive angled her toward the wall of the caldera. The griffin continued to writhe and screech as the jagged wall approached.

With a wet crunch, Rainbow Dash slammed the infected griffin into the jagged wall. Blood and gore sprayed out from around her hooves as they sank into the griffin's back. Black tendrils shot out from her body as they began to assimilate the recently expired griffin. Rainbow Dash surfed down the jagged rock on top of the griffin as she bled off some of her downward momentum. When she slowed to a near complete stop after sliding for a good couple dozen yards, she kicked off against the cliff and took flight once. A long stream of griffins trailed behind her in hot pursuit.

With her hunger sated, Rainbow Dash turned her attention back to finding the griffin lord. A task that appeared impossible. The solid mass of griffins swirled above her, forming an opaque blanket just under the ceiling. Columns of griffins streamed from the mass, shifting and twisting their way down like tornadoes from a massive cloud. Except in this case, the tornadoes were filled with a bunch of biting, clawing, and pecking griffins. Despite her flying skill, Rainbow Dash knew that sooner or later, she would be surrounded and have to fight her way out of the griffin swarm once more. All she could do was to try to buy herself as much time as possible to find the griffin lord amidst the mob.

The griffin lord, on the other hoof, didn't have any problem of finding her. Without warning, something slammed into her back. Her wings seized up from the white-hot pain that followed, sending her into an uncontrolled spin. Rainbow Dash craned her neck around to see what happened. A three feet long jagged bone spike was embedded in her back right between the base of her wings. The tip of the spike stuck out just under her right wings. She reached to her side as far as her neck would allow and bit down on the tip. Fighting through the searing pain, Rainbow Dash pulled on it as hard as she could.

Come on! As she continued to tumble, Rainbow Dash noticed the ever intensifying heat coming from the molten rock below. With one final tug, and a flash of blinding pain, she tore the bone spear free and spat it away. With the offending object out of her, Rainbow Dash quickly extended her wings, still wobbling a bit from the pain, and leveled off just yards above the burning lake.

She didn't have time to catch her breath before she found herself flying through a rain of griffins. As she thread between the falling griffin, climbing away from the sweltering heat, Rainbow Dash noticed that each of them had one or more jagged bone spike embedded with them. Some looked quite dead, while the rest continued to flail and squawk until they plunge under the lava surface.

Well... a few dozens less to worry about...

Rainbow Dash turned her attention back to the solid blanket of griffins above her and found a small area from which impaled griffins were still tumbling out. Reasoning that that's where the attack came from, Rainbow Dash pulled into a climb straight toward it, hoping beyond hope that this time she would find the griffin lord to give him a piece of her mind.

=====================================================================

"Holy Moly that's a big door... ry" blurted out Pinkie Pie.

"No argument there." added Applejack as she looked up and down the massive steel slab sealing the entrance in front of them. By her reckoning, it's about twice as tall and wide as her barn, probably pretty thick too. She turned to the griffin next to her, Gilda, with her hoof pointed at the solid slab of metal. "Ya said our Rainbow is in there?"

"Yes, and so are a few hundred of their elite warriors!" added Gilda.

"And it sounded pretty loud in there! Like they're having one big party!" said Pinkie Pie, who had her right ear pressed against the metal surface. "I wonder who's winning..."

"Doesn't matter, Rainbow Dash need our help! So..." said Applejack as she pawed the ground a few times. "... let's get this thing open!"

She charged at the gate with her blade-like horns deployed, ramming them into the ground the gate was resting on. Pinkie Pie had produced a metal pipe from... somewhere. Using a nearby rock as a fulcrum, she jammed the pipe under the gate and began rocking it up and down with her legs wrapped around the far end. Fluttershy had her back up against the steel surface. Tendrils sprouted out from her forelegs, securing the pegasus to the gate itself as she pushed against the ground with her back-legs. Gilda took up position next to the three ponies, digging in her claws under the gate as far as she could and pulled. The gate took on a faint purple aura as Twilight Sparkle's horn lit up. Yet, despite four ponies plus one griffin straining to lift the gate, the gate didn't budge.

"Come on girls! Put yer back into it!" called out Applejack. The ground around her hooves began to crack as Applejack tried to wedge her horns under the gate further. The same happened with Fluttershy as her rear leg began to sink into the crumbling earth. Pinkie Pie changed her tactic. Instead of rocking the metal pole, she started jumping on it. The metal pipe squeaked and groaned as it flexed more and more under the pink-pony's bouncing. Gilda's face was turning red from the exertion. While Twilight's horn's glow grew to a new intensity, sending out showers of sparks. However, the gate proved to be immovable as ever.

"Come... on... move..." grunted Applejack while she continued to pry the gate open with her horn. When suddenly...

*CRACK* *CLUNK*

... Applejack lurched forward and smashed her head into the unyielding steel. The impact sent a small vibration through the metal surface, which was enough to partially dislodge the metal pipe Pinkie Pie was jumping on. When Pinkie Pie next landed on the metal pipe, bending it almost to the ground, the pipe popped free and...

*THWACK*

... smacked right into Pinkie's snout.

"AW!" cried Pinkie Pie.

"Applejack! Pinkie Pie!" came the simultaneous shouts of Fluttershy and Twilight. Both stopped their fruitless attempt at moving the gates and approached Applejack and Pinkie Pie.

"Are you two okay?" asked Fluttershy.

"I'm okay." answered Pinkie Pie while holding her hooves to her nose. "Just a little owie..."

"Same here." Applejack rubbed the back of her head with her hoof to ease the pain while wondering what happened.

"Applejack! Your... um... horns!" said Twilight.

"Huh?" Applejack glanced up to see what Twilight was talking about. The curved tip of both her blade horns had snapped off. Looking around, She quickly found the missing pieces wedged below the heavy gate.

"Are you... sure you're okay?" asked Twilight. While she was in the middle of asking that, the familiar swarm of tendrils spread over Applejack's horn. Within seconds, her horn blades were whole once more, with the curved tip back where they belonged.

"Yeah, I'm fine." said Applejack before putting away her horns with an annoyed grunt. "Just how heavy is this thing?"

"Judging by the size of the gate... and the fact that we can't lift it at all... I estimate that it's close to a thousand ton, if not more." answered Twilight.

"What now?" asked Gilda, who was leaning against the gate, panting from exhaustion.

"If we can't lift it..." muttered Twilight as her eyes scanned across and around the seemingly impassable gate. "... I've got it! Everyone stay back!"

Twilight closed her eyes in concentration as she lit up her horn again. The ponies and one griffin quickly scattered away from the gate. The light surrounding Twilight's horn grew brighter and brighter as seconds ticked by, accompanied by a progressive louder whine. As soon as the light reached a near blinding intensity, it began to fade as the glow coalesced toward the tip of her horn.

When the sphere of light contracted into a size of a pinhead, an intense beam of white-purple light shot out from Twilight's horn. The beam, a solid stream of raw magical power, slammed into the rock wall mere inches to the right of the base of the steel gate. Within seconds, smoke rose from the volcanic rock as it began hisses and pops.

"Ooh!" voiced Pinkie Pie as the beam inched upward, carving out a deep, glowing gouge in the rock face. "Way to go Twilight! Hang in there Rainbow Dash! We'll be there in no time!"

=====================================================================

Where... is... he... thought Rainbow Dash through gritted teeth as she launched herself off the sheer wall of the caldera. Chunks of a recently crushed griffin trailed behind her as her tendrils took a few more seconds to absorb them. Immediately, Rainbow Dash felt some strength returned to her. Yet, that didn't give her much comfort.

For the past hours, she had tried, and failed, to locate Lord Seth. Not surprising, considering that the majority of her time was spent trying to fight herself out of one bite-filled fur-ball after another. While the individual griffin's assaults were just minor inconvenience, the collective injuries they inflicted were taking a toll on her. That alone would've been problem enough, but then there was Lord Seth.

Rainbow Dash never laid eyes on the griffin lord ever since he summoned his massive swarm of griffins. That didn't mean Lord Seth didn't make his presence felt, painfully. The attacks came without warning, and almost always when she was preoccupied with the horde of griffins trying to tear her to pieces. Rainbow Dash had lost count of how many times she had been skewered by the serrated bone spikes.

In short, despite having consumed close to a hundred griffins, the constant attack had sapped away her strength. The pang of hunger had grew worse and worse, and her wounds were taking longer and longer to heal. Rainbow Dash didn't know how long she could keep this up. However, she knew that if nothing changed, she's going to die.

It was at this point that Rainbow Dash saw a glimmer of hope. Lord Seth's shower of bone spears was as painful as they were indiscriminate. As such, they had the fortunate side-effect of thinning out the griffin swarm, also known as Lord Seth's hiding place. And for the first time ever, Rainbow Dash caught the sight of Lord Seth in the form of a dragon-sized shadow moving across the ceiling of griffins.

Determined not to waste this chance, Rainbow Dash locked her eyes on the shadow and tried to keep track of it. For a full minute, she followed the moving shadow while weaving her way around griffins trying to take another bite out of her. Twice, she lost track of Lord Seth's shadow for a few terrifying seconds before catching it once more at the edge of her vision. Finally, the shape stopped moving, and Rainbow Dash waited no time before shooting straight up for it.

A shower of serrated bone spears burst out from the shadow in the griffin clouds. Rainbow Dash, with her attention already on the cloud, deftly maneuvered around the rain of spears and the falling griffins that immediately followed. She plowed through the cloud and found a welcoming sight.

Lord Seth, hovering just in front of her, with a surprised look on his face. A surprised look that Rainbow Dash erased when she smashed her fore-hoof into the hated griffin's face with a satisfying crack. Rainbow Dash vaulted over the griffin lord's head and landed on the back of his neck, morphing her wings into claws as she did so. The moment she landed, Rainbow Dash drove her claws into Lord Seth's neck, eliciting an ear-piercing scream from him.

"PAY BACK TIME!" shouted Rainbow Dash. Her wing claws hacked away at the griffin lord's neck in her attempt to cut his head off. Lord Seth howled, thrashing and spinning through the air, trying to throw her off. He plowed headlong into the massive cloud of griffins, who tried to pry her off his back. Despite that, Rainbow Dash held firm, alternating her wings between anchoring herself to the Lord Seth and slashing his neck open.

"You are not going to get rid of me that easily, you hear!?" roared Rainbow Dash against the screeching griffins. "Not you! Not your minions! Not..."

Alarms sounded in the back of Rainbow Dash's mind. But she ignored it and put her entire focus on decapitating the griffin lord. Which meant that Rainbow Dash didn't suspect anything wrong when the griffin lord started to ascend rapidly. Nor did she care that the infected griffins surrounding her abruptly left her alone. Rainbow Dash only realized that something was wrong when she saw the jagged cavern ceiling coming down toward her.

Oh... Forgot about tha...

Rainbow Dash didn't have the chance to finish her thought before, for the second time since her battle against Lord Seth started, she was crushed against the rocky ceiling. Pain exploded all over her as the jagged surface scraped her back raw. So bad it was that she didn't notice her left wing being torn off. It lasted for several agonizing seconds before Rainbow Dash popped free and began to fall. Her trouble didn't end there. Dazed and temporarily paralyzed from pain, Rainbow Dash could only watch helplessly as Lord Seth, having turned around and was mere yards in front of her, swung his spiked-covered mace-tipped tail at her.

*CRACK*

The hardened mass smashed into Rainbow Dash's stomach, knocking the air out of her and, judging by the cracking sound and the fresh wave of pain in her chest, shattering a few ribs. The impact sent her hurtling backward through the air at an alarming speed. The uncontrolled flight ended just a few short seconds later when Rainbow Dash crashed into the wall. The solid surface shattered around her as she was embedded halfway into it.

With stars in her eyes and pain filling her world, Rainbow Dash struggled to collect herself. But before she could even blink away the stars, she felt something punched her right beneath the middle of her chest.

"GAAAAAH!" Rainbow Dash let out an ear-piercing scream. The pain that followed was, as impossible as she would believe, far worse than any she had experience. Rainbow Dash looked down and saw a serrated bone spike sticking a good two feet straight out from just below her chest. She tried to pull it out of her by clamping it between her two front hooves.

"Come on... move..." wheezed Rainbow Dash through gritted teeth. But the bone spike stuck firm, pinning her to the wall. And each movement she made simply sent another shot of white-hot pain through her.

"Well... well... well..." came Lord Seth's condescending voice as he slowly hovered his way toward her. As Rainbow Dash watched, the griffin lord casually plucked an infected griffin out from swirling swarm around him. Lord Seth threw the still squawking griffin into his mouth. With a single bite, he crushed the griffin before swallowing it whole. Through it all, he never turned his predatory gaze from Rainbow Dash.

"What do we have here?" Rainbow Dash glared at Lord Seth, gritting her teeth to try to fight back the pain. However, she couldn't help but to let out a yelp when Lord Seth took hold of the end of the bone spike embedded in her and started rocking it up and down. Rainbow Dash clamped her hooves around the spike even tighter, trying to stop the serrated spike from causing even more pain. At the same time, she was threatening to crack her teeth to stop herself from crying out in pain. With one final tug, Lord Seth pulled the bone spike free. with Rainbow Dash still skewered on it, from the wall. Rainbow Dash soon found herself face-to-face with a maniacally grinning Lord Seth. "A pony on a stick!"

Lord Seth started laughing, a throaty, full-bodied laugh that sent the bone spike shaking. Another bout of intense pain shot through Rainbow Dash as she sank a good half-foot down the spike. After an agonizing minute, Lord Seth stopped before coming face-to-face with Rainbow Dash once more.

"What's wrong?" asked Lord Seth with feigned ignorance. "I thought that's was pretty funny."

Rainbow Dash did the only thing she could think of doing at the moment. She spat at him, hitting him right between his eyes. The griffin lord nonchalantly wiped away the spit with the back of his free claw before glowering at her.

"Looks like someone needs to learn her place!" growled Lord Seth before grabbing her right wing with his left claw.

"GAAAH!" Rainbow Dash howled when, with a sharp yank, Lord Seth tore her right wings off. Her scream raised another pitch as she lose her grip on the serrated spike embedded in her. She slid down the rest of the way until she was stopped by Lord Seth's claw around the spike. It was a few more seconds before her scream died down to a wheezing pant.

"Not so tough now, are you?" said Lord Seth as he casually tossed the dismembered wing behind him, where it was quickly ripped apart and consumed by the griffin swarm. Rainbow Dash glanced back, and noted with fear that all that remained of her wings were two jagged stumps with no sign that they're regenerating. On top of that, large pieces of her skin on her back were gone, scraped down to the point that she could see her own spine exposed in places. "You should thank me, now you look even. And you know what they say, beauty in symmetry or something like that."

Rainbow Dash tried to give Lord Seth a withering scowl. But with her waning strength her eyelids were struggling just to stay open.

... so... tired... the thought went through Rainbow Dash's mind as her vision began to blur.

*CLANG*

The booming sound rang across the caldera and snapped Rainbow Dash out of her haze. She, along with the confused griffin lord, looked around, trying to locate where the sound was coming from. A second clang rang out, focused their attention on the far end of the bridge of the obsidian fortress they're hovering above.

Rainbow Dash blinked, trying to figure out what she was seeing. Around the barn-sized steel gate that was trapping her in the caldera, a single, long fissure had appeared tracing the outline of the gate. As she watched, dust and debris erupted from the widening crack as a third clang thundered across the cavern.

=====================================================================

On the other side of the formerly unyielding gate, four ponies plus one griffin were doing their best to bash the gate down. Twilight's impressive display of raw magical power had carved out a deep gouge in the walls around the gate, all that was left was to knock it over.

Twilight Sparkle stared intently at the gate. A large boulder, wreathed in Twilight's magic, was floating to the left of the unicorn. To her right, Applejack got back to her position, pawing the ground impatiently. Behind them, Fluttershy had rooted herself to the ground. Her mane had morphed into a pair of whips that was stretched taut behind her, where Pinkie Pie had wrapped the whip behind her and was holding it in place with her forelegs. Pinkie Pie was pushing herself back with her back legs while Gilda pulled on the whip behind the pink pony, both trying to stretch the organic whips out as much as possibles.

"AGAIN!" shouted Twilight, sending the large boulder hurtling toward the steel gate. Applejack broke into a sprint toward the gate. Gilda shot forward, her wings beating as hard as she could. Behind them, Gilda let go and Pinkie Pie tucked her back legs in. Using Fluttershy's whips as slingshots, Pinkie Pie launched herself forward with a loud "Whee!"

The boulder crashed into the gate with a reverberating clang, followed by Applejack as she rammed head-first into it. Pinkie Pie morphed her tail into a solid round mass. Hugging the hardened mass to her chest, Pinkie Pie slammed into the top half of the gate.

The steel slab tilted forward. And this time, it didn't look like it was about to stop. Sound of groaning metal and cracking rock filled the air as the gate fell away, allowing more and more bright amber light to shine through. Amidst the cacophony, Twilight could hear a comparatively faint cry of "... timber.... wait... metal..." somewhere from the dust cloud kicked up by the falling rocks.

*BOOM*

The gate crashed to the ground with a thunderous roar, sending the ground beneath them trembling. Chunks of rocks and debris fell from the ceiling accompanied by a gust of heated air blasting them in the face. The sound of ringing of metal soon was replaced by unholy screeches. The settling dusts soon revealed the source of those sound.

"By Luna’s night..." breathed Applejack. "... are those..."

"Hey! Those are the same freaky griffins that attacked us when we were sleeping!" said Pinkie Pie.

"Gilda, did you know about this?" asked Twilight.

"Yes... I did... forgot... mention..." stammered Gilda.

"Can anypony see Rainbow..." said Fluttershy with worries. "I hope she's okay..."

"Hard tah tell..." said Applejack, squinting at the swirling storm of griffins. "Ah can't see through all dem..."

"RAINBOW!" cried Pinkie Pie, her right hoof pointing straight toward the black fortress. High above it, and just beneath the swarm of griffins, was a griffin the size of which none of them had seen before. The griffin's claw was holding a spike, upon which skewered a wingless cyan pegasus with rainbow mane and tail.

=====================================================================

"RAINBOW!" the familiar voice echoed from the recently appeared opening seconds before Rainbow Dash saw a pink, pony shape barreling out of the thinning dust cloud.

"Pinkie... Pie?"

The pink pony was immediately followed by three more ponies, plus one griffin.

"So... those are your friends?" asked Lord Seth with a sneer. "Looks like they're just in time to for the feeding!"

... huh... the brief moment of confusion turned to fear when Rainbow Dash saw Lord Seth raised his talon toward her friends on the bridge.

"FEAST! MY PETS!"

=====================================================================

"Wait up! Pinkie!" yelled Twilight, trying to keep up with the galloping pink pony. "We can't just charge in! We need a plan!"

"He got Rainbow Dash!" shouted Applejack. "Ah don't think we have time for that!"

"Who is he?" asked Twilight, eying the dragon-sized griffin. "Or... what is he?"

"He's Lord Seth of the Blackwing tribe." answered Gilda from behind the unicorn. "Although I don't remember him being that... big..."

"Big or not, we need to get Rainbow Dash away from him!" said Applejack.

"And how do you plan to do..."

"FEAST! MY PETS!" roared Lord Seth, prompting Twilight Sparkle to look up to see the rapidly descending swarm of rabid and hungry looking griffins.

"Oh my Celestia!" gasped Twilight.

"Get down." the harsh growl startled Twilight. She looked around, and found all the ponies and Gilda had stopped. All of them were looking at Fluttershy, who stood there with her back arched and her eyes closed. Then, black tendrils began to crisscross across her body. Almost immediately, all the ponies hit the bridge, all except Gilda.

"What... what is she..." stammered Gilda. Twilight reached up and, with her foreleg around the griffin's neck, yanked her to the ground.

"Hng..." Fluttershy let out a groan that sounded like she was in pain. Her eyes were squeezed shut, and her body quivered as the black masses continued to wash through her body like waves.

Twilight's heart beat rapidly in her chest when she saw the griffin swarm above them closing. They were so close that she could make out individual griffins, their eyes filled with hunger while their claws outstretched. But those claws would never reach her.

"AH!" with a deafening roar, Fluttershy... exploded. Time seems to slow for Twilight as hundreds of tendrils, each about as thick as a unicorn horn and just as sharp looking, erupted from Fluttershy's body. So fast that Twilight could see the cone-shaped distortion as the tendrils punched themselves through the air. The tendrils skewered the griffins above them. Those nearby instantly vaporized, while those further away were blown apart into chunks. In less than the time it took for a pony to blink, Lord Seth's personal army evaporated into thin air.

=====================================================================

"Im... impossible..." stammer Lord Seth, watching the scene in front of him with eyes wide from disbelief. His minions, hundreds of infected griffins under his full controlled, were gone in a blink of an eyes. In their place were countless tendrils, jutting out in every direction like some gigantic sea urchin. Tendrils that receded back into a tiny, yellow pegasus just a second later. "How..."

"Heh... that's Fluttershy for you..." said Rainbow Dash with a cough. Talking was quite painful on account of the long, serrated bone spike skewering her right through her chest. However, she just couldn't stop herself from taunting the griffin lord. "Wonder what you did to piss her off?"

Sharp pain shot through Rainbow Dash as Lord Seth brought her back up to his face, jostling the bone spike and sending another wave of pain through her.

"SHUT IT!" snarled Lord Seth, his face contorted in anger. However, Rainbow Dash could see a slight hint of fear in his glare.

"Hey... you did ask..."

"Why you little..."

"HEY YOU!" shouted Pinkie Pie at the top of her lung, cutting off Lord Seth mid-retort. "LET HER GO YOU BIG MEANIE!"

"Make me!" snapped Lord Seth in response.

"If yah insist!" snarled Applejack. She dug her bull-like horn into the bridge and pried out a pony-sized boulder. She launched it a few feet into the air and, with a quick spin around plus a hard buck, sent it hurtling toward the airborne griffin lord. Lord Seth quickly slide to the side, avoiding the speeding projectile with ease. He wasn't so lucky with the bolt of magic that followed, courtesy of Twilight. It grazed the griffin lord's right ear, singing it as it shot past him.

"Gr..." growled Lord Seth. Rainbow Dash noticed him eyes the recently vacated exit of the caldera before turning his cold gaze back to her. "... time to cut my loses."

With that, Lord Seth grabbed hold of Rainbow Dash with his left claws. With his right claw, which was still gripping the base of the bone spear, he tore the serrated spear out from the pegasus. Despite her exhaustion, the pain still managed to eliciting a high pitched screech from her. Without pause, Lord Seth took flight over the bridge toward the exit.

=====================================================================

"He's making a run for it!" shouted Applejack, digging up another boulder and bucking it through the air. The griffin lord zipped to his left and the boulder sailed harmlessly past him once more. Several bolts of purple magic lanced through the air. Several of them got close, but none managed to land a hit on the griffin lord.

"Shoot!" cursed Applejack. "He's getting... mph!?"

Applejack felt something fuzzy stuffed into her mouth. She glanced down and saw Pinkie Pie's curly tail there.

"Throw me! Toss me! Throw me!" urged Pinkie Pie, her eyes locked on the griffin lord that was about to pass over them. "Toss me now!"

Applejack didn't question her. She bit down on the pink pony's tail. Swinging Pinkie Pie around like a hay-bale in a hay-bale toss competition, Applejack launched her straight into Lord Seth's path. A quick bank to his right, however, sent the pink comet hurtling right past the griffin lord. But Pinkie Pie didn't seems, neither did she voice, any surprise at that. Instead, the pink pony turned around and opened her mouth wide. Something long, black and slimy looking shot out from Pinkie's mouth and smacked into Lord Seth's back.

"Wha...!" uttered Lord Seth when his forward momentum was terminated abruptly. Pinkie Pie tongue, acting like a fleshy bungee-cord, yanked Lord Seth toward her as she dove down with her right back leg extended.

*CRACK*
The bone breaking sound echoed through the cavernous caldera as Pinkie Pie's back-leg drove into Lord Seth's back. She rebounded off him, launching herself toward the ceiling and extending her tongue as she went. With her body turned upside-down, Pinkie Pie's four hooves rammed into the ceiling and anchored her there. Her yards-long tongue went taught once again, pulling the griffin lord up at tremendous speed.

*CRASH*

Lord Seth smashed into the ceiling. Spiderweb like cracks radiated out from the indentation his back made in the rock. Pinkie Pie yanked her tongue away from the griffin lord's back while she launched herself off the ceiling.

"BUCK ME! BUCK ME! BUCK ME!" shouted Pinkie Pie as she dove toward Applejack with her mace-like tail held in front of her. Once again, having being used to Pinkie Pie's random shenanigan that seems to solve their problems just fine, Applejack turned around, planted her front hooves into the ground, and bucked Pinkie Pie in her ball as hard as possible. The rocky surface of the bridge cracked around Applejack's hooves as she launched the pink pony back into the air. Pinkie Pie went streaking back up toward the semi-conscious griffin lord, spinning with her tail like a bola.

*BOOM*

Pinkie Pie smashed into Lord Seth's stomach with her mace-tail, pushing the griffin lord further into the rock ceiling. The spiderweb cracks around him spread and widen even more. Chunks of rocks rain down, pelting the ponies and griffin, and prompting Twilight to raise a magical shield to deflect some larger ones. A few brief seconds later, Pinkie Pie crashed back to the bridge on all four, pulverizing the rocks beneath them.

"... and THAT is for taking my eyes!" declared Pinkie Pie, raising one hoof toward the embedded griffin lord.

Applejack raised an eyebrow at her declaration. But instead of asking, Applejack decided that there would be time to ask Pinkie Pie about her statement later. She turned her head up to the griffin lord, embedded in the ceiling and perfectly still. Narrowing her eyes, she found what she was looking, a cyan shape with rainbow streaks dangling around it clutched tightly within the griffin's talon.

"Er... how do we get Rainbow Dash down?" asked Applejack, still watching at the unmoving shape.

"I'm surprise he didn't let go after that hit." said Gilda, still trying to comprehend the brutal beating Pinkie Pie delivered to the griffin lord.

"Why isn't Rainbow moving?" asked Fluttershy, her voice on the edge of panicking. "Is she okay?"

"HEY! LET GO OF RAINBOW DASH! NOW!" shouted Pinkie Pie.

"Maybe I can cut her down..." said Twilight, her horn began to spark.

As it turned out, none of them had to do anything as the Rainbow Dash slowly slipped out of the griffin's grip and began to plummet toward them.

"I've got her! I've got her!" called out Pinkie Pie, her legs shuffling around in a blur as she tried to position herself beneath the falling pegasus. Unfortunately, Fluttershy had the same idea. Before Applejack could even warn them, the two converged on the spot below the falling pegasus and bumped their heads into each other.

"AW!" cried Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy as they were knocked on their butt. A second later, Rainbow Dash face-planted right between them with a ground-shaking thud with her limbs spread out beside her.

=====================================================================

This... is nice...

It was the first thought that ran through Rainbow's addled mind shortly after seeing the solid rock surface coming up to meet her and the darkness that followed. There was another sharp crack of pain when fate decided that her face would be the perfect choice for first contact with solid ground. But at present, all the pain had faded away to a full body numbness. That, combined with the darkness she was currently in, was just perfect for Rainbow Dash to do what she did best.

... nap time...

"... Rainbow..."

Rainbow Dash felt someone lifting her head up.

"Rainbow Dash!"

Her eyelids fluttered open for a bit, and was greeted by a pinkish blob that slowly resolved into somepony she recognized.

Oh... hi... Pinkie Pie...

"... is... is she still alive?" came Gilda's voice.

... Gilda... you're okay...

"I... I think so..." Twilight's voice came next. "Her eyes did just open."

Twilight's safe... good...

"Her wings are gone!" Applejack's voice exclaimed. "And... is... is that her spine showing?"

Don't... worry about... that...

"What are we going to do?" said Fluttershy.

Just... let me take a nap...

Rainbow Dash was starting to close her eyes when a rough shake jolted them open again.

"Rainbow Dash! Stay with us!" cried Pinkie Pie, pulling her face closer to Rainbow's.

"I know! We need fish!" said Twilight. "Last time she got this badly hurt, Fluttershy fed her some fish and she got better!"

"Where are we going to find fish around here?" questioned Applejack.

... or... just let me take a nap... Rainbow Dash's eyelids tried to closed again, but another rough shake by Pinkie Pie forced them open.

"We're losing her!" cried Pinkie Pie.

"Or a griffin! One of those... mutated griffin should work!"

"Ah think Fluttershy just vaporized all of them."

"I'm sorry..." whispered Fluttershy.

"It's not yer fault, Fluttershy." continued Applejack. "And ah don't think we should feed her Gilda!"

... yeah... you shouldn't...

"Okay... Twilight... think..." muttered Twilight, accompanied by sound of hoof hitting head.

... just... let me... sleep...

"*GASP*! THAT'S IT!" shouted Pinkie Pie.

... thank you... Pinkie...

Just as her eyes were about to close for a third time, Pinkie Pie leaned in and kissed her.

... Pinkie... I don't think a good night kiss is on the lip... thought a slightly surprised Rainbow Dash. ... not that I'm complaining...

She felt Pinkie Pie's tongue forcing its way into her mouth.

... Prench kissing is not good night kiss... Pinkie... I think... not that I'm com... HUH!?

Rainbow Dash's eyes shot wide open when she felt the tongue continued past the back of her mouth and down into her throat, followed by a flood of energy and warmth through her whole body.

=====================================================================

Twilight Sparkle stared, slack-jawed, at the scene. At first, she thought Pinkie Pie was trying to give Rainbow Dash CPR. Twilight was about to tell her that CPR didn't work that way when Rainbow Dash's eyes shot open in surprise. There was a muffled cry from the pegasus followed by a strange gurgling sound when her body started to expand like a balloon and her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Black tendrils exploded out and swarmed all over her body. The ghastly wound of her back rapidly closed as black flesh began to grow from the stumps of her wings. It took mere seconds before a pair of cyan wings popped open with two faint squelches. It was then when Pinkie Pie pulled away, leaving sputtering and coughing Rainbow Dash.

"What... what did you..." said Rainbow Dash in between coughs.

"See! All better now!" said Pinkie Pie cheerfully.

"Huh?" Rainbow Dash blinked a few time and looked behind her. She let out a gasp when she noticed that her back was completely healed. Her wings, still fully spread out behind her, looked just as pristine as ever. "But... how..."

"Well..." Pinkie Pie took a deep breath and started rambling. "It looked like you were dying and I was all worried and sad and scared and Twilight here thought that we can save you if we feed you fish or griffin. But of course where are you going to find a fish here and we don't have a griffin to feed you since Fluttershy turned them into really REALLY tiny little pieces! Oh! We have Gilda! But I don't think you would like us feeding you Gilda. But then I went *GASP*, I ate a lot of griffins! I mean not just a lot a lot, but a LOT, a lot. I mean, Mr. and Mrs. Cake always warned me not to eat too many cakes because I would get a tummy ache, but today I ate like, SO many griffins that I lost count and I didn't get a tummy ache. I wonder if I can eat a bunch of cakes now and not get tummy ache. Anyway, since I ate so many griffins! I figure I can share some with you! You know what I always said, sharing is caring! But I didn't know how to share some of those with you! I thought maybe I could feed you my legs but since you were all GUH and DUH and UGH and falling asleep I don't think you could bite them off even if I shove them in your mouth. And then I thought maybe I can get Gilda to pop out a few eyeballs, now that I know they grows back, and feed them to you like little snacks. But then I got really really sad because I had some very bad memories about my eyes..." Pinkie Pie slowed down a bit while her mane deflated somewhat shortly before flaring back out and she resumed her rapid fire speech. "So anyway! I was thinking really really hard and you were getting really really sleepy when I got another *GASP* idea! My tongue! I can make it really really really long, so obviously I can grow them back! And they're small enough to shove it in your mouth! So I shoved my tongue in your mouth! But you weren't eating it so I got really worried! Maybe you didn't like a taste of my tongue or something! I mean, I don't even know what my tongue taste like! I was thinking that I should put some hot sauce on my tongue to make it hot and spicy since rainbow is hot and spicy and you got rainbow color so maybe you like spicy! But we don't have any hot sauces! So I went *GASP* idea a third time and I thought if you can't, or won't, eat my tongue then I'll just stick my tongue right into your tummy and that will be like you eating it! So I kept shoving and shoving and shoving and shoving and shoving and then your wings popped up and that's when I know you're okay! So what do my tongue taste like?"

"Um... what?" stuttered Rainbow Dash, looking thoroughly confused, as did the rest of the ponies plus Gilda.

"My tongue, what does it taste like?" repeated Pinkie Pie.

"I... I don't remember..." said Rainbow Dash. "But... um.. thanks for saving me?"

"Aw... but no problem!" answered Pinkie Pie.

"So... what's up with that guy?" Applejack gesture toward the griffin lord embedded in the ceiling above them. "I mean, how de hay did he get dis... big?"

"He had this... power that looked kind of like ours and..." Rainbow Dash blinked as she recalled what Lord Seth said right after his monstrous transformation. "He said he was working with someone!"

"Who?" asked Twilight.

"I don't know. He only said it's a she."

"Could it be that... alicorn?" said Fluttershy.

"Pestilence?" said Twilight. She went thoughtful for a moment as her hoof tapped against her chin. "That's very likely... and very worrying. It would mean that it possesses some form of intelligence."

"Ah think we should be more worried about that!" Applejack pointed her hooves at the griffin lord above them. Around the embedded form of Lord Seth, small chunks of rocks started to fall once more, followed by his entire body breaking from the ceiling.

"Move!" shouted Twilight as the group quickly galloped out of the way. A few seconds later, the dragon-sized form of the griffin lord crashed into the bridge with a thunderous thud and a plume of dust.

"So... what do we do with him?" asked Gilda, who's staring at the massive dust and debris covered griffin along with the ponies.

"I know just what to do with him!" said Rainbow Dash, he wings transforming into two sets of razor claws with a metallic zing. "Time figure out just what he was doing with that monster!"

Rainbow Dash advanced just a few steps when the enormous pile of griffin moved, prompting her to jump back in surprise.

"How the hay is he still alive!?" exclaimed Applejack as she, like the rest of her friends, crouched to a defensive stance

One after another, Lord Seth's pony-sized talons reached out and slammed themselves down on the bridge surface. Stones, dust and debris cascaded off him as his towering form began to rise. His wings flared out, sending a powerful gust blowing across the bridge while throwing large chunks of rocks flying off into the lava lake below. His beady yellow eyes opened, looking particular more menacing since his whole body was covered in jet-black from the volcanic dust covering him.

"I'm... impressed." said Lord Seth in a booming voice, his eyes scanning across the group of ponies and griffin who had readied themselves for another fight. "But it will take more than that to kill..."

"TWITCHY TWITCH!" shouted Pinkie Pie.

*CRACK*

The sharp sound echoed across the caldera, followed by a loud rumble. Lord Seth looked up, just in time to see several tons of rock falling before being crushed beneath them. The massive boulders smashed their way through the bridge, carrying the screaming griffin lord into the lava lake below. With Lord Seth gone, the ponies and griffin found themselves having a different problem on their hooves. The spiderweb cracks on the ceiling were growing wider and longer, causing chunks of rock to break away at an alarming rate. Some of the boulders splashed into the lava lake, sending up giant plumes of superheated rock. Others pounded the bridge, sending more and more bits of it to join the molten rock below.

"RUN!" shouted Applejack.

=====================================================================

Amelia, lady of the Whitetail tribe, wife of Leo, mother of Gilda, at the head of the table within the spacious mead hall of the town of Featherhorn. An improvised spear made out of fishing knife tied to a stick leaned against the table to her right. Sitting to her left, at the side of the table, were Rarity and Spike. The baby dragon had curled up on the leather covered pile of hay and fell asleep. Between them a large stone pot rested on a small candle fire, keeping the tea it held warm. A stone mug sat in front of each of them. Spike's had long since went cool, while Rarity's and Amelia's remain warm with thin wisp of steam rising off the top. Amelia picked hers up with her talon and take a sip from it. After setting the cup back in place, she returned to gaze at the slight ajarred double door of the mead hall.

Rarity picked up her own mug with her two unsteady hooves. While the injury caused by the crossbow bolt was minor, it still hurt a bit to use magic. But the shaking mug wasn't from her inexperience with manipulating object with her hooves, it was worries. It had been almost twenty hours, judging by the long beam of light cast by Celestia's sun through the gap in the door. Twenty hours since most of her friends had left for the heart of the enemy. Despite her firm conviction that her friends would pull through, the long time waiting had allowed her doubts to grow and fester. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were most likely fine, Rarity told herself. Even Fluttershy was just as likely to make it, given her past reputation of stepping up to the plate when danger present itself. But Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle? Rarity was terrified for them. Even if the rescue party reached them, who knew what horrible things those Blackwing thugs had done to them before that. The rumor she overheard from the town-griffins only served to add more revolting and depraved things to said list of horrible things.

"Miss Rarity, are you alright?"

Rarity flinched and nearly dropped the mug. She managed to settle it on the table with a bit more force than she wished before turning the griffin lady.

"I'm... fine." said Rarity. "Just worried."

"About your friends?"

Rarity nodded. "Aren't you? About your family?"

"Yes, I am." answered Amelia. A moment of silence followed while the griffin lady took another sip of her tea.

"You looked... very calm about it." stated Rarity. There was a short pause when Amelia looked thoughtful for a moment before she responded.

"I'm worried. Yet... this... is kind of freeing..."

"Beg your pardon?" interjected Rarity.

"Ever since Blackwing took our families, we had been like slaves." continued Amelia, her eyes glossing over as she gaze toward the door again. "Bound not by chains, but by their hollow promise that our families will be... alive. We have been... deluding ourselves, thinking that if we follow their every word, we will see our families once more. But what else could we do. It was either submit to them or send our families to certain death." She turned to Rarity. "But... now, with you here, the choice is no longer ours to make."

"I'm sorry..."

"There is nothing to be sorry about." Amelia smiled. "I would even say that it was a... gift, of sort. To know that no matter what happens, whether your friends succeed or... not, it will all end soon." as she said that, Amelia absentmindedly traced her talon over the blade of her makeshift spear. "No matter what, we'll be... free, one way or another."

"I... I see..." muttered Rarity as both of them returned to the tea in front of them. No words were exchange for several minutes before Rarity said. "They will win."

"Hm?" voice Amelia, intrigued.

"I trust my friends. I trust that no matter the odds, they'll always come through. They defeated Nightmare Moon on her return. They turned Discord, THE god of chaos, into stone! They helped freed Crystal Empire from the tyrant king Sombra!" Rarity stomped her hoof on the table as she jumped onto it. "They may have a lousy sense of fashion. But as Celestia and Luna are my witnesses, THEY... WILL... PREVAIL!"

It took Rarity a moment to realize that she was standing on the table with her right hoof pointed at a surprised Amelia. She quickly backed her way off the table and sat back down.

"My apologies..." muttered Rarity. Amelia smiled in response.

"Your words are a great comfort to me." said Amelia. "Thank you."

"Ugh..." Spike groaned as he began to wake up. "What's..."

The double door suddenly slammed open. It took Rarity a second to adjust her eyes to the sudden influx of light to recognize the grayish griffins with a pair of enormous glasses.

"Milady! Movement from the west!" shouted Galena. As soon as the last word left her mouth, a yellow blur shot past Rarity and out the door with a gust of wind. Rarity quickly picked up Spike and tossed him on her back before galloping out of the mead hall. She followed Galena down the slope. In the distance, near the edge of the hamlet, Rarity could see a growing crowd of griffins gathering there. In no time at all, she had reached the crowd. Sticking close to Galena, she made her way to the front of the crowd and stopped next to Amelia, who had her spear clutched against her under her right wing. Rarity squinted her eyes, trying to block out as much of the sun as possible. In the distance, a small group of black dots appeared over the horizon, joined by many, many more.

"... Blackwings?..." a voice whispered behind her. Rarity squinted some more, but with the sun setting behind the wobbly dots, it was impossible to make out what they were. Then, a single black dot shot into the sky. Rarity followed it as it went higher and higher into the sky when...

*BOOM*

... a multicolored explosion of light filled the sky. When the light faded, murmurs and gasps spread through the griffins when they saw an expanding circle of brilliant colors wash through the sky.

"That's... THAT'S RAINBOW DASH!" cried Rarity. "THAT'S RAINBOW DASH!"

"Rainbow..." a look of realization slowly dawned on Amelia. The makeshift spear under her wing dropped noiselessly to the ground as the griffin lady trotted forward. Rarity quickly followed as Amelia's trot turned into a full gallop. A low rumble grew louder and louder as the rest of the Whitetail tribe realized the same thing and ran after them. As they drew closer, Rarity saw that the black dots were griffins, hundreds of griffins galloping toward them. At the head of the group were five familiar faces, one of them a griffin's.

"GILDA! LEO!" cried Amelia as her gallop turned to a mad dash. Rarity swore that she saw tears trailing from the griffin lady's eyes, although she wasn't so sure since she was tearing up herself.

"Amelia!"

"Mom!"

Neither group bothered to stop. All around Rarity, griffins threw themselves into each others' embraced, raising cries of happiness as families long parted were reunited once more. Some shed tears of joy, some danced in the air, and some simply screamed their heads off.

Rarity was one of the latter ones.

"YOU'RE ALIVE!" cried Rarity as she wrapped her forelegs around Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie. She saw Rainbow Dash landing next to Applejack and Fluttershy, and all three were smiling back at her. Rarity felt whatever worries weighing on her evaporated with the sight of all her friends together. "YOU'RE ALL ALIVE!"

"Of course we are!" said Rainbow Dash with a smirk. "Never doubt the Dash!"

"Yeah... after we have tah save yer butt like... what, twice so far?" teased Applejack, prompting Rainbow Dash to blush in embarrassment.

"Twilight!" shouted Spike, jumping off Rarity's back and onto Twilight's before wrapping his arms around her neck. "I missed you SO much!"

"I missed the both of you too." said Twilight before her smile turned to frown. "Rarity? What happened to your horn?"

Rarity released her two friends. She wiped away from tear with the back of her hoof before pointing to her horn. "Don't worry, it's nothing."

As Rarity appraised her friends it was her turn to frown. Most of her friends looked perfectly fine, yet Twilight Sparkle looked... gray. A second look revealed that the unicorn seems to be covered in ashes.

"What... what happened? And..." asked Rarity. She sniffed the air a few times and caught a peculiar smell. "... why do you smell like... rotten egg."

"Long story. The short version? Do you know that Blackwing base was so structurally unsound and the volcano they're built in so volatile that Pinkie Pie managed to collapse the whole base and cause a minor eruption just by smashing the ceiling a bit?"

Rarity looked between Twilight and Pinkie, her mind trying, and failing, to fill in the missing details.

"You... will have to tell me about that..." Rarity wrinkled her nose. "... after you take a bath."

"Bath sounds really good." concurred Twilight.

"Ooh! Do you know what this call for!?" asked a suddenly hyperactive Pinkie Pie as she took in the sight of cheering griffins around her.

"A party?" all the ponies, plus Spike, answered in unison.

"A PARTY!"

=====================================================================

The volcano that housed the recently destroyed Blackwing base was silence. Thick black plume spewed from its top and slow running rivers of lava ooze down its side. The entrance to the base was no longer there, covered by a rock-slide caused by its recently triggered, and short-lived, eruption. There was no sign of life, save for one solitary figure standing upon its slope.

The ashen alicorn had no name for herself, saved for one given to her, Pestilence. Three blood-red, pulsating sores formed her "cutie-mark", each with a thin trail of semi-dried pus running a few inches down from the sore. Her gray horn was covered by faint red veins. Her mane was made out of black and red tendrils that reached her knees. Her tail, just like her mane, was a bundle of tendrils that reached the ground. There was little movement from her, other than an occasional scrap of her hoof at the volcanic rock. Her expression was inscrutable with her gaze fixed at the ground a few hooves in front of her. Her expression didn't change when the ground began to crack. Nor did it change when a mutated diamond dog, emerged. The infected canine pulled himself out of the hole he made with elongated claws, dragging a blackened and charred body out behind him.

The body had the shape of a griffin, except about twice as long, tall, and wide as a normal griffin. Without showing any sign of emotion, Pestilence gave the scorched form a nudge with her hoof.

"... ugh..." Despite it having apparently sustained what would've been fatal injuries, it let out a groan and began to move. One of its eyes opened and revealed a yellow orb that gazed up into the alicorn's pitch-black eyes.

"... my... my queen?" croaked the body in the voice of Lord Seth. "... you... you came..."

Pestilence continued to regard Lord Seth with indifference.

"... you... save me..." wheezed Lord Seth. This time, the alicorn's left eye twitched, seemingly out of annoyance. The yellow orb in Lord Seth's only good eye swiveled around rapidly, as if in a panic to search for answer. His eye widen just a bit as he found what he was searching for.

"... I... the doctor... found the answer... you seek..." Lord Seth gasped out each word as if his life depended on it. "... the weapon... I know... where..."

Pestilence placed her right hoof on Lord Seth's head.

"... my queen..." his voice quivered as Pestilence slide her hoof down to his neck.

"... ple..."

*CRACK*

Lord Seth's neck shattered under Pestilence's hoof. His yellow eye widened in terror for a moment before it rolled up into its sockets. Black and red tendrils shot out from her body and made short work of disassembling and absorbing the griffin lord's corpse. With the deed done, Pestilence closed her eyes and the red veins in her horn glowed for a second. After the glow faded and her eyes opened once more, she waited.

Minutes later, three more mutated diamond dog emerged from the ground. One of them was holding a metallic case, about the size of a pencil box, in his mouth. Pestilence motioned him forward. The diamond dog obeyed without questioning and deposited the case in the alicorn's upturned hoof. Her wings transformed into claws. Using the tips of those claws, Pestilence opened the case in her hoof. The corner of her lips twisted into a sinister smile as she examined the content of the case.

"Perrrfect..." said Pestilence.

Prologue

Today's forecast, clear sky with a few scattering of clouds.
For the fastest weather mare in Ponyville, it's just another way of saying an easy day of work.
And the weather mare was going to enjoy that day in the only way she knew how, napping, on a cloud.
Or she would've liked to, until a certain purple unicorn called to her.

"Rainbow Dash!"
The sky-blue pegasus looked over her cloud bed at the lavender unicorn below, who had a packed satchel draped over her back.

"Yo Twilight! What up?" asked Rainbow Dash. Her front leg dangling over the edge of the cloud.

"Rainbow! Can you come down? I need a favor from you."

"Sure thing Twi." Rainbow Dash jumped down and landed with a loud clop. "What ya need?"

"Well, you see. For the past month I observed higher than normal amount of shooting stars from Constellation Cancer. Now, as you might know, shooting star occurs when the Princesses have to replace burnt out stars. But normally it was just a few. It was statistically impossible for that many to occur each night, every night outside of the centennial..."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, her patient waning. "Twilight... get to the point."

"Okay, one of the shooting star actually landed."

That grabbed the pegasus' attention. "Whoa! Did you say a one of the star fell TO the ground?!"

"Well, yes and no. I was tracking the shooting stars, and none of them came from existing stars. So whatever that fell, it came from somewhere else."

"Cool! Where did it land?"

"Somewhere in Everfree forest..." Rainbow Dash muttered to herself as she darted over the forest. "That SURE narrowed it down. You would think a falling star would make a big hole in the forest somewhere."

As if on cue, she noticed a distinct line of broken tree in the distance leading deep into the forest, ending with what looked like a thin wisp of smoke streaming into the air. Rainbow Dash flew over. As the crater came into view, she could see glittering of red scattered all over, and a black metallic rock at the bottom covered with the same red glitter. She also saw a diamond dog standing over a small yellow pegasus beside the crater.

"Fluttershy?"
She saw the diamond dog raised its paw and back-handed her friend into a tree.
"Hey!"

Rainbow Dash dove down as the diamond dog advanced toward the unconscious pegasus. With a deep thud, the sky-blue pegasus smashed into diamond dog's back, sending both of them sprawling into the dirt. Clearing the stars from her eyes with a shake of her head, Rainbow Dash looked down at the now unconscious canine before flying to her yellow winged friend.

"Fluttershy! Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash nudged at the unconscious pegasus urgently. She noticed a small trickle of blood trailing down the side of her head, turning the yellow fur along the path brown. Remembering the first aid class she had during flight school, she pressed her hoof on the wound to try to stop the bleeding. She didn't notice the diamond dog getting back up behind her, picking up a thick tree branch as a club.

She did notice the shadow over her as the diamond dog raised his club. Before the sky-blue mare could respond, stars exploded in her eyes as she went flying through the air like a rag-doll.
The sound of cracking bones echoed through the forest when Rainbow Dash landed on top of the meteorite at the bottom of the crater. She felt the lower half of her body went numb. A wet warmth started spread out from between her wings. Taste of copper filled her mouth as she found it more and more difficult to draw breath. The last thing she saw before blacking out was the towering form of the diamond dog leering at her.

"Rainbow... Rainbow..."
The sky blue pegasus felt something nudging her as her consciousness slowly returned. She opened her eyes and saw two blobs, one purple and the other yellow. Blinking a few times, the blobs cleared up revealing the worried looks on Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle.

"Oh! Thank goodness you're awake!" the yellow pegasus said, letting out a breath of relief.

"How are you feeling Rainbow?" Twilight asked, her hoof holding the pegasus' eye-lids open as she checked for concussion.

"I'm... okay." Rainbow Dash rolled over and got to her hooves and stumbled a few steps. "On the other hooves... my head and back are killing me... what happened?"

"We are hoping you could tell us. Fluttershy said she was trying to help a squirrel get out from under a tree out when a diamond dog attacked her and knocked her out. I only saw you dive below the treeline. By the time I got here, I found both of you unconscious by this crater."

Rainbow Dash cocked her head. "I remember seeing a diamond dog hitting Fluttershy... and I went and knocked it out... and I tried to wake up Fluttershy... then nothing. Why would a diamond dog attack you?"

"I think it had to do with all those rubies around. That diamond dog thought that I was a thief." Fluttershy said. "I wasn't trying to steal anything..."

"I believe you Fluttershy. But we are in diamond dogs' territory now, and they are not exactly the brightest of the bunch... hm..." Twilight Sparkle looked around the crater, there was no trace of the red gem Fluttershy spoke of. "I guess they must have taken all the gems and left... no matter, let's get out of here before any more of them show up and accuse us of being thieves."

"That would be... nice." Fluttershy turned to Rainbow Dash. "Do you need some help?"

"No, I'm..." the sky-blue pegasus took a step and promptly fell over. "On second thought..."

She was back at the crater, her eyes took in the impressive field of gems that covered it. At the bottom of it, massive blood-red gems studded the meteor itself. She looked around the crater, and found herself staring at the back of a pink-maned yellow pegasus.

Fluttershy?
"Thieving pony!"
She started moving toward her, who spun around, her eyes wide with fear as a group of squirrels vanished into the woods.

"What? No! I was just helping the poor squirrel!" said Fluttershy.

What? Who are you talking to?
A flash of gray sent Fluttershy flying through the air and into a nearby tree.

Fluttershy!
Her view flickered, revealing another scene. She was on the ground, and a sky-blue pegasus with a distinctive rainbow mane and tail was over the unconscious yellow pegasus.

Wait... what?
The gray paw picked up a large branch and started advancing on the pegasi.

Turn around!
The large branch was in the air.

Turn around dammit!
The sky-blue pegasus spun around, just in time for the branch to collide into her face.

"AH!" Rainbow Dash bolted up in the dark, cold sweat drenching her coat and matting her mane. Her breathing was shallow and quick and her eyes stared straight ahead with her pupils wide. Her wings flared out behind her, over which pieces of torn bandages lay. Almost seconds later, the lamp flickered on and the door opened, revealing a yellow pegasus in a butterfly print night-cap.

"Rainbow Dash?" She felt herself being drew into an embrace. "Sh... don't worry... it's just a dream..."

"Where..." her eyes darted around in panic.

"You're in my house, remember?" cooed Fluttershy. "There there... There's nothing to worry about..."

That's right... I hurt my back... Fluttershy got me back to her place...
She felt her breathing slowed as her wings started to relax and draped itself beside the pillow.

"Feeling better?" Fluttershy pulled away and looked at her, who swallowed and nodded in response. "That's good." Fluttershy looked behind Rainbow Dash. "Oh my, I better get you some new bandages."

Rainbow Dash watched as a pink tail disappeared out of the door. She looked out the window toward the Everfree forest, toward the general direction where she found the crater. Her mind churning as she tried to make sense of her dream. She didn't get far before Fluttershy returned, setting down a first aid kit by the bed.

"Please scoot forward so I can check on your back."
Rainbow Dash nodded and shuffled forward. She felt the bed behind sagged a bit as Fluttershy climbed on the bed.

"Hm... does this hurt?" Rainbow Dash felt a hoof pressed against her back. She shook her head.

"No, it's still a bit stiff, but it doesn't hurt. Why?"

"Well, I don't see any more injury!" Fluttershy said happily. "I guess you're all healed!"

"Of course! Nothing can keep the Rainbow out for... ow..." Rainbow Dash winced as a dull pain shot through her back as she tried to flare her wing out.

"You should take it easy. Lie down and rest some more, I'll make you some breakfast." Fluttershy said with a smile before trotting out the door. Rainbow Dash plop back down to the pillow, watching as the morning sky started to brighten.

Well... maybe just a few more minutes.
She closed her eyes and let sleep take her once more.

"Rainbow... Rainbow..." the fastest flier in Equestria moaned as she opened her eyes. Fluttershy was watching at her with her large cyan, and somewhat panicky eyes. "Rainbow! We've got a problem!"

"Diamond Dogs? What are they doing in Ponyville?" Rainbow Dash ran down the dirt road leading to Ponyville beside Applejack with Fluttershy trailing behind them.

"Ah have NO idea! But dem mongrels demanded to see a rainbow tailed pegasus. Something about her stealing something from their territory."

"Are you saying they're calling me a thief?" Rainbow Dash snorted with indignity.

"Ah reckoned..." Applejack looked to Rainbow Dash, uncertainty filled her expression. "... did yah... steal something?"

"NO!"

"Good enough for me." Applejack turned her attention back to the road as they approached Ponyville.

This looked like Appleloosa all over again. Rainbow Dash thought as she arrived at the town center. Two crowd had gathered, facing each other. On one side were what looked like every pony in Ponyville with the town mayor and Twilight Sparkle in the lead. On the other side were a small crowd of diamond dogs, led by a noticeably larger diamond dog. The larger diamond dog was decked out with spiked collars covered with obscene amount of gems and a coat packed with more pockets then she could count, also filled to the brim with gems.

"THERE'S THE THIEF!" one of the diamond dogs beside the leader shouted, pointing its dirty nail at the arriving blue pegasus.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A THIEF?!" Rainbow Dash yelled back, coming to a stop beside Twilight Sparkle. "What the hay is going on here?"

"Miss Rainbow, I certainly do hope you did not take anything from their territory!" the mayor of Ponyville trotted up to her. "They're threatening to tear the village up to find them!"

"I DID NOT STEAL ANYTHING!"

"We saw you flying to big hole!" the diamond dog that accused her shouted. "Big hole had precious gems! Then big hole have no gems!"

"That's because I had to stop ONE OF YOU FROM ATTACKING FLUTTERSHY!" Rainbow Dash huffed, steam coming out of her nostril. Fluttershy, on the other hoof, squeaked and tried to hide behind Applejack as some of the attentions were drawn to her.

"She attacked the guard!"

"Maybe the yellow one is thief..."

"FLUTTERSHY IS NOT A THIEF!"

Soon the arguments degenerated into a shouting match as ponies and diamond dogs throw accusations against each other. This went on for almost a minute before a screeching voice broke through.

"QUIET!" all the yelling stopped, and everyone turned to find a red-faced Rarity glaring at them. Everyone except for one pink party pony.

"AND HOW DARE YOU MAKE CUPCAKES USING..." Pinkie Pie noticed the death glare from Rarity and shrunk back. "... um... sorry."

"Now, I don't know whether Rainbow Dash stole your gems or not..." the pegasus in question snorted with indignation. "... but if you are so adamant about it, I'll be more than happy to supply you with a cart full of the finest gem-stones as replacement."

"No! No common gem-stones! These star stones!" the leading diamond dog roared, pulling out a red gem from one of his many pockets. "We want these! These OUR gems!"

Rarity examined the gems closer. "I don't see any difference from common ruby... wait... these are no gems!"

"WHAT... DID... PONY... SAY!?" the diamond dog approached the unicorn with rage in his eyes. Rainbow Dash finally had enough. She leaped in front of the advancing diamond dog, drew up her back legs and lashed them out, sending the canine backward and to the dirt.

"Don't you EVER threaten my friend!" Rainbow Dash yelled at the fallen diamond dog. The canine didn't seems to have heard her. Instead, he noticed his bleeding paw and the broken shards of gems in his paw and on the ground.

The leader yelled out in rage. "You broke gems! YOU BROKE GEMS! YOU..."

"Boss! Your paw!" A gasp spread through the crowd of ponies and dogs as blood-red veins and tendrils started spreading up the diamond dog's arm.

The canine howled in pain as the tendrils soon enveloped him. His dirty nails elongated into razor-sharp claws. His size grew as his muscles swelled to monstrous proportions, splitting skin apart in some places. The cheek tore apart, allowing his mouth to hand open like a snake as his teeth mutated to resemble rows of sharp knife. The monstrous transformation ended with the diamond dog's howl deepened into a guttural growl.

Ponies and dogs stood there, frozen in shock at the unnaturally transformed creature in front of them.

"Eh... boss?" Rainbow Dash watched as the creature turned to the diamond dog beside it. The same diamond dog that accused her of being a thief. The creature grabbed the diamond dog in its clawed paw, and proceeded to tore off the diamond dog's upper body in a single bite.

"RUN!" The advice was not needed as ponies and diamond dogs ran from the monster. The mutated dog threw away the carcass in its claw and looked around. Its eyes locked on Fluttershy, who stared back with terrified wide eyes.

"Fluttershy! Run!" Twilight called back as the monstrous canine charged at the yellow pegasus. Fluttershy, however, was paralyzed with fear, her hooves simply refused to respond to her desperate pleas to get away. Twilight Sparkle skidded along the ground as she tried to run back. But the monster was already mere steps away from its target. Its sharp claws in the air descending toward the frozen pegasus.

"FLUTTERSHY!"
A rainbow streak shot past Twilight Sparkle, reaching the yellow pegasus moments before the claw landed. Twilight Sparkle could felt the ground shook as the claw landed, throwing up cloud of dust that obscured her vision. She could, however, hear a yelp as a yellow and pink shape came tumbling to a stop in front of her.

"Fluttershy! Are you alright?" asked Twilight Sparkle, helping the dirt covered pegasus up.

Fluttershy looked over herself. "I think so."

"Whew, I'm glad that Rain..."

"DASHIE! NO!" Twilight Sparkle turned to see Pinkie Pie pointing her hoof toward the dust cloud, shock and fear frozen on her face. Through the fading dust cloud, Twilight Sparkle could see Rainbow Dash laying motionless within the monster's claw. Or to be more precise, the monster’s claws were in the perfectly still pegasus, skewering her like a marshmallow on a stick. The mutated canine growled and tossed the pegasus aside, sending Rainbow Dash crashing through a nearby building, which collapsed from the impact.

"DASHIE!" Pinkie Pie cried out and galloped toward the collapsed building. The monster started running after the pink pony when a large piece of masonry smashed into its misshapen head.

"Over here!" Twilight Sparkle yelled out, trying to draw the creature's attention. It worked, the creature turned and locker its blood-red eyes on her and roared.

"Rarity, get Fluttershy somewhere safe." Twilight Sparkle dug her hooves into the ground, her eyes focused on the charging creature.

"How about Pinkie Pie?" Rarity asked, her back carrying a catatonic Fluttershy.

"I'll get her." Rarity nodded and galloped away. Twilight Sparkle turned to face the charging monster. At the very last moment, she threw up a protective shield around her. The monster slammed into the shield, sending ripples across the translucent surface.

"Applejack, help me draw this... thing away so I can help Pinkie Pie get Rainbow's... Rainbow out." Applejack nodded and ran off. The monster got back up and started to strike the shield with its sharp claws, causing Twilight Sparkle to wince each time as the shield flickered with each hit. The assault stopped almost immediately when a couple of apples splattered the creature's head.

"Hey! Pick on something yer own size!" Applejack shouted before kicking another pair of apple at the creature. The creature roared and promptly charged after earth pony.

Twilight Sparkle galloped toward the building that had buried Rainbow Dash. There, she found Pinkie Pie digging at the wreckage, a look of desperation on her face.

"Please be okay... please be okay... please be okay..." Drops of tear ran down the pink pony's face as she repeated the same phrase. Without another word, Twilight Sparkle started levitating and throwing away heavier pieces of the wreckage.

What's the point... no pony could... Twilight Sparkle slapped herself mentally. No, if there's even a slim chance, we have to try... Her thoughts were interrupted when the sound of another pair of digging hooves reached her ears. Looking up, she saw Fluttershy digging right along Pinkie Pie. She looked around to find Rarity levitating and tossing chunks of wreckage.

"Rarity! You're supposed to get Fluttershy somewhere safe!"

"Honey, if you THINK for one moment that we'll leave our friend behind! You're sorely mistaken." Rarity looked around her. "Where's Applejack?"

"I asked her to draw that monster away, give us some time to get Rainbow out." the words had barely left her mouth before a familiar voice reached her ears.

"WHOA... NELLY!" Twilight Sparkle turned around just in time to see a flying Applejack landing right in front of her.

And... now we're out of time...

"Applejack! You alright?"

"That thing... hit me... with a pony statue..." Applejack slurred out, her eyes crossed. Almost as soon as she said that, the monster crashed through the building across the street from them. Shaking its grotesque head to clear the dust and wreckage, its misshapen eyes found the ground of ponies and barreled toward them. Twilight Sparkle quickly jumped over the dazed farm pony, her horn flaring, sending up a shield moments before the monster reached them.

"Girls! Hurry up!" Twilight Sparkled cried out, wincing as the monster battered against the protective field she raised. Applejack quickly shook herself off and helped the other ponies dig. The monster raised its claws up and brought it down on the shield. And to Twilight's horror, the shield collapsed and the claw embedded itself in the ground mere inches from her.

"GIRLS!" Twilight scooted back as far as she could as the monster freed its claw from the ground. That was when she heard a sharp growl from behind her. Before she could turn around, a rainbow blur shot over her and slammed into the advancing creature. The two shapes tumbled along the ground for several yards before coming to a stop. Twilight's eyes went wide at the shape that just attacked the monster.

"Rainbow?" Her jaw hung wide open as her mind trying to make sense of the scene in front of her. On top of the mutated canine was her friend Rainbow Dash, who was trampling the monstrosity beneath her front hooves. What Twilight Sparkle couldn't understand was how Rainbow Dash could even move with four gaping holes through her. Or how her friend could ignore the growing number of lacerations on her body from the struggling canine. That was when she noticed the black and red tendrils that started to extend from the pegasus and burying itself into the monster.

"YOU! DO! NOT!" Rainbow Dash shouted with each hoof fall. "HURT! MY! FRIENDS!" Rearing up to full height, she brought both hooves down as hard as she could. Her hooves shattered the monster's teeth and went through the back of its head. It was in that moment, a sharp pain flashed through her head as her vision fade to black. Disconnected images and sound started running through her mind.

"Boss... pretty red gems around fallen stars... see..."
"Red gem pretty..."
"Another fallen star to the east, boss..."
"Bring gems here!"
"Gem's gone boss! Gem's gone!"
"What!? HOW!?"
"Rainbow pony went to crater! Gem's gone!"
"THOSE THIEVING PONIES!"

As fast as it came, the pain faded. Rainbow Dash pushed herself off the ground, her hooves unsteady from a mild case of vertigo.

"Guys..." as her sight cleared, she saw her five friend by a wrecked building.

"Guys! You're alright!" Rainbow Dash walked, or more like stumbled, toward them. Fluttershy screeched and hid behind Pinkie Pie, at the same time Applejack jumped forward, placing herself between Rainbow Dash and the rest of their friends.

"Stay away from us! You... you... "

"What... what are you talking about? It's me! Rainbow Dash!" She pointed her own hoof at her chest, only it didn't feel like a hoof to her. Rainbow Dash looked down, and instead of looking at hooves, she found herself staring at a pair of gray paws

"What... WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?"

The towering diamond dog started brushing and scratching at his arm, looking to all the world as if he was trying to rip it out. Almost immediately, black and red tendrils erupted from the diamond dog's body and enveloped the towering form. It started to shrink as its gray furs turned to light blue. Short black hair on its head grew out and shifted to a rainbow hue. Its tail followed similar transformation as two black appendages burst out its back, slowly turning the same cyan-blue color as feathers started to form. Its eyes, shifting from yellow to pink, stared as the nails and fingers in its shrinking paw receded and turned back to hooves. Finally, the tendrils receded, leaving behind a terrified pegasus.

Rainbow Dash, her mind unable to cope with what happened to her, simply shut down.