I raced into the living room and braced myself for whatever bad news we had to deal with next. Pinkie was standing on her hind legs, bracing herself up against one of the boarded up windows. I leaped up next to her and peeked out as well.

At first, I couldn't tell what was going on. There was a blur of motion and cries of pain coming from some sort of scuffle right outside the library. I shifted my position, leaping onto the back of the couch, so I could peek underneath one of the boards. There! A much better view!!

I'd never actually seen hoof-jitsu before. I'd heard of earth ponies practicing it, but never did I ever actually expect to see it in action. Yet here it was, right in front of me, brutal and unmistakable. Octavia Melody moved with an almost astounding awe-inspiring grace and speed. Like some sort of deadly ballerina, she leapt and twisted and spun with beautiful and poetic movements. Every beautiful spin, turned into a perfectly executed kick that caught one of the infected in the face. She was holding them back and there was a large group of them. Familiar faces of ponies I knew caked in blood and horror. I didn't want to hurt any of them! Something was making them sick, it wasn't their fault!!

Octavia did not have this conundrum. She spun around and improvised attacks. She was like a whirl wind of violence. I'd never seen any pony fight like that before!! What was she even doing out there?! Was she trying to make it to the library?! I was shaken out of my thoughts by Applejack's crisp authoritative voice that rang in my ears.

"Y'all git upstairs n' help her!" She yelled at me. I'd only been partially paying attention to what she was saying. Regardless, I caught myself bounding up the stairs to the second floor and throwing the balcony doors open. Underneath me, Octavia fought for her life. She seemed generally effective maneuvering around them, but I could see she was getting tired. She wouldn't last to much longer! Downstairs, Applejack and Pinkie Pie were scrambling to get the back door open. I could hear them prying off boards and trying to get past the barricade. I watched Octavia slowly get over whelmed. They were screaming about getting Octavia's blood and they were racing at her like....like....like mad mares! I started to panic! What did Applejack mean when she wanted me to get upstairs and help her?! How was I supposed to help her?! I peered at the growing mob of infected ponies below me. They were violently trying to claw Octavia apart! I had to do something, but what? Could my fire breath really reach down that far? Octavia was starting to lose. I didn't have a choice. I climbed up to the balcony railing, drew in a deep breath, and hurled a fireball towards the ground. It wasn't very strong, but it DID catch one of the infected in the face. Derpy Hooves. I felt my heart sink. Not Derpy too!!

Ok, good news, though. The fire stunned her. I don't think it hurt her, but I caught her in the face with it and she dropped to the ground, twitching. Perfect timing too, since she was trying to sneak up on Octavia's flank. I hurled another fireball and caught Lyra Heartstring in the chest. It bowled her over, but it didn't last long. She'd crashed to her side and snarled, and hissed. Drooling with a blood hungry look in her eye, she leaped back to hooves again. This time Octavia took her down with a brutal kick. Lyra did not get back up.

"HURRY AND GET THE DOOR OPEN!!" I screamed down the hall. I heard a crash in the kitchen.

"WE'RE TRYIN!! ALMOST THERE!!" Applejack screamed back in panic. Applejack's earth pony strength made the barricades exceptionally study. I didn't think we'd need to take them down so soon! I readied another fire ball and hurled it to the ground. I spit them all as accurately as I could, catching infected ponies left and right with blasts of dragon flame.

I was starting to get kind of good at this. It was almost like some horrible, horrible game. It was also the absolute worst time to get a message from the princess. Oh yeah, you heard me. NOW, of all times. I hacked up a scroll instead of a fire ball, and watched it tumble, down, down, down into the mob of screaming infected. I stared in absolute horror at the rolled up parchment being trampled on underneath. NO!! That scroll could (and probably did) have something extremely important on it! It was lost to the angry horde below, but I could still catch glimpses of it. Before I could figure out a plan to retrieve it, I heard Applejack below me again.

"IT'S OPEN!! GO NOW!! NOW NOW NOW!!!" Applejack screamed from inside! I didn't have time to worry about the message the princess had sent. I waved my claw wildly, and tossed another fire ball down, smacking Flitter in the shoulder. It was just enough room for Octavia to make her way around the side of the library.

"RUN TO THE BACK DOOR!!!" I cried out, trying to cover her as best I could with a rain of fire! I lost sight of her as she rounded the tree. I made my way downstairs and found Pinkie, Applejack and Octavia doing their best to keep the door shut, while dozens of ponies tried to force their way in. I threw myself at the door, hoping my added weight might help tip the scales here. I don't know how we managed, but the door slammed shut, and Applejack went to work feverishly repairing the barricade.

"Octavia? What in tarnation are y'all doin' out there?!" Applejack barked, slamming nails into the boards. She raved and grumbled to herself, while Octavia cried softly. I don't think Applejack noticed. She was practically screaming at Octavia about her reckless behavior before Pinkie Pie wrapped an arm around her shoulders and whispered something quietly to Applejack, who shook her head immediately. She sputtered something that sounded like 'sorry' and excused herself from the room.

I wanted to ask what was bothering Octavia, but I already could guess it had something to do with Vinyl Scratch. She had the DJ's sunglasses clipped to her bow-tie and there was blood all over her hooves. I didn't want to ask any questions, and she didn't offer any details. The Rasp had claimed another victim.

Author's Note

Wow. WOW. I don't know how the unedited one got uploaded. My bad. :/