Rainbow Dash's heartbeat throbbed in her head, her breath coming out raspy and labored. Her wings and belly hurt, but not as painfully as her head did. She was still unsure of what exactly happened following the sudden stop the group had to make due to a guard's cramped wing. It all happened in such a blur...the screams...the shrieks...the sounds of slicing flesh and the gurgles of death bellowing out all around her.

She let out a weak whimper as she took a steady breath outwards, her ribs flaring up with pain and stilling her movements. She was only vaguely aware of the voices calling her name...their sound muffled by the ocean-like sound humming her ears.

"-is Dash!"

"-ight? Ca-...hear me?!"

"Wake up! Come on wake up!!!"

Their voices started to become clearer as Rainbow Dash opened her eyes, a blurry patch of grass appearing in her vision. "Miss Rainbow, are you ok? Please, wake up!" Nightfire begged, gently nudging her in the side with his nose. Shadow-Mane, who stood next to Nightfire, looked all around them cautiously. An attack happened here...that was obvious...and by the looks of the carnage, it looked like it was done by a monster he recognized all too well...

"Nightfire..." Shadow-Mane growled, his eyes scanning the tall grass around them.

"Sir?" Nightfire asked, turning his head away from Rainbow Dash.

"Look at the grass....look at these bodies....notice anything familiar?" Shadow-Mane asked, looking around at the shredded clumps of grass and bits of pony that were scattered about the area.

Nightfire took notice of this as well, drawing in a breath staring towards the body of a mare (what was left of it anyway...) that lay torn apart in the back of one of the chariots. Wide open, deep gashes adorned most of her bodies, blood dripping down the sides and back of the transport. "Shadow...you don't think...?"

"I certainly hope not..." Shadow-Mane whispered "Because that would mean it's still in the area...and that's a place that we really don't want to be in right now."

"Hnnng....w...what?" Rainbow groaned, weakly putting a hoof to her head. The two colts turned their attention back to the awakened Pegasus, unaware of the rustling in the grass to their left.

"Whoa now...easy does it," Nightfire whispered, putting a gentle hoof on her side as she rolled over onto her belly. "It looks like you took quite a beating there...what happened?"

Rainbow Dash let out a sharp hiss of pain as she flapped her wings once, looking up into the faces of the guards. "Nightfire...?" She whispered in awe, her eyes widening "Captain Shadow-Mane? What are YOU two doing here?!"

Nightfire simply chuckled, getting up to his hooves and helping Rainbow up as well as he said "Glad you still remember us from the Ponyville Incident." He looked her over for a moment "Anything broken?"

She shook her head and muttered "I don't think so...just bruises and a bit of a sore rump."

Shadow-Mane dipped his head slightly as he asked "What happened here Miss Rainbow? Were you attacked?"

Rainbow slowly moved her eyes to look into Shadow's, her memories slowly coming back one by one "I...think so. We were away from the danger zone and descending down into the cloud bank for cover when..." she stopped for a moment, her eyes widening as she let out a gasp "Holy shit, we WERE attacked! It came out of nowhere! All I saw was this red streak come blasting down out of this cloud, soaring right past one of the guards! It looked like the guard was fine for a second, until his head suddenly came off!" She shivered as the visions of the attack quickly flooded back in troves "Ponies start falling all around me, some in bits, some with large gashes on their bodies. The chariots went down, one hit me on the way down and knocked me out...and when I came to, you guys were here."

Shadow-Mane swore under his breath and turned his head away, Nightfire giving her a sad nod and looking out towards the grass. "Um...what's wrong? Do you guys know what that thing that attacked us was?" Rainbow whispered, the colts scanning the grass slowly."

"We think so..." Nightfire said, his voice low "The Captain and I have had our fair share of Afflicted encounters...we think it may be a Variant."

"A...Variant?" Rainbow Dash squeaked "You mean...there's different types of these fucking things!?" A single nod out of Nightfire drove more frantic words from the mare's mouth "H...how can that be?! How come I haven't seen any before? How come they weren't at Ponyville, or reported anywhere else?!"

"Because the Virus is once again hitting a stage in maturation....which means we're running out of time" Shadow-Mane growled, his head snapping to the left as movement was caught just out of the corner of his eye.

"Maturation...? Again? What are you talking about!?" Rainbow whispered in panic, her heart starting to thud loudly in her chest.

"I'll explain later..." Shadow-Mane hissed, his ears fully perked and turning slowly.

Rainbow Dash looked around nervously, the two colts giving every spot of grass they could a hard stare. "So...if this is some kind of...Variant, what type is it exactly?" She asked, her heart still throbbing and a cold wave of fear spreading over her slowly.

"Well..." Nightfire began, taking a peek back at Rainbow Dash "These gashes and large lacerations are the biggest clue...but what really seals the deal is that you were attacked in the sky...which can only mean that it was a-"

"RAZOR-WING! HIT THE DECK!!!" Shadow-Mane shouted, dropping to his belly. The two other ponies followed suit quickly as a shrieking cry blasted forth from behind them, a gust of air and the sounds of blades through the air whooshing just above them. A blur of red had come blasting out from the tall grass, streaking right past them and disappearing back into the grass.

"Holy SHIT!" Rainbow Dash cried, staring after the lightning-fast figure. "What in the hell was THAT!?"

"That..." grumbled Nightfire, mimicking the Captain's rising movements "...was a Razor-Wing. It's an Afflicted Pegasus that's been mutated by the Ravage...a Variant. It turns their wings, mostly their feathers, into razor-sharp blades. Their shoulder muscles are strengthened considerably which means they can swing their bodies violently and effectively to the left and right to slash and slice in front of them. Their two most common attacks however are their dive bomb and their dashing attacks."

"That thing's got blades for wings?!" Rainbow gasped, the Captain retreating backwards to one of the chariots.

"That it does..." Shadow-Mane growled "Luckily for us, the mutation makes their aim too precise, which will allow us to escape it if we move in erratic patterns. It's a straight-aim beast...only able to attack in perfectly straight lines." Rainbow Dash nodded as the Captain went on "Don't even attempt to fly in an escape...this thing is built to slaughter anything in the air. Our only chance is to gallop as fast and as hard as we can out of the area."

"Are you kidding me?!" Rainbow hissed quietly "How are we supposed to out-gallop THAT thing!? Won't it just chase us relentlessly like the other Afflicted?"

"Not exactly..." Nightfire muttered, his eyes scanning the tall grass for the beast "The Razor-Wing is territorial, unlike its common cousins. See that chopped up mare over there? See how her fur's matted on one side? It peed on her, which means it's made this spot and a two hundred meter circle around it its territory. We get out of that circle, we get out of danger."

Rainbow Dash nodded, quietly moving behind the Captain in preparation to run her flank off. "Alright..." Shadow-Mane whispered "We'll wait for its next attack...I know which direction we need to run...so once I say to, follow me and don't stop running for anything!" The group fell into silence, a light wind picking up across the grassy plains. The sounds of a heartbeat were heard, the adrenaline of all three ponies rising as the sounds of rustling reached their ears. "Steady....steady...." whispered Shadow-Mane, his legs ready to give out for the dive.

All was calm for a few moments...and then, the Razor-Wing struck. Rainbow Dash caught a quick glimpse of the pony as it came blasting out of the grass in front of them. It was a large colt, its eye color as red as the other Afflicted...but different. Swirls and spots of yellow drifted in the red sea of color, tears of blood dripping down the Razor-Wing's face. "DROP!!!!" Shadow-Mane hollered, the three of them falling towards their bellies.

A piece of Nightfire's mane was sheared off as he went down, causing him to cry out in shock "WHOA NELLY!"

"Come on!!! GET UP, RUN!" Shadow-Mane barked as the Razor-Wing disappeared into the grass behind them, leaving the three ponies to break off in a desperate run to the south.

They ran...and ran...and ran. Sometimes they dropped to avoid the Razor-Wing that charged at them from every direction, and sometimes they simply dove out of the way. Whether by pure luck or a simple miracle...200 meters had been galloped, and the shrieks of the Razor-Wing thundered in the group's ears. Even after they had escaped the territory, they continued to run. They ran until Nightfire wheezed "I have to stop, I HAVE TO STOP!"

They collapsed in the grass, rolling onto their backs and gasping loudly for air. "F...fat-ass!" Shadow-Mane laughed "Where'd all that training go!? You used to be the fastest when it came to outrunning a Razor-Wing!"

"Y...yeah?" Nightfire grumbled "You try living ten plus years on the guard's diet and see how you fair! I couldn't put up with that healthy shit forever, and you know that!"

"I can't believe we made it!" Rainbow Dash whooped, a smile spreading from her lips as she continued to pant "That was awesome! Did you see that!? We were all like 'whoosh!' and 'dive!', definitely cool!"

"Yeah well..." Nightfire sighed, putting a hoof to his forehead "It's an experience I would have liked not to have to go through again..."

Rainbow Dash frowned slightly, turning her head towards the other two guards "Where have you two seen one of things? Didn't you say you were going to explain this all to me?"

"Perhaps when we get to Appleloosa, Miss Dash," Shadow-Mane answered "I promise...answers will come. I know me and Nightfire owe them to you and the other Elements as well for our...dishonesty." The mare rose an eyebrow as Shadow-Mane sighed, looking up into the clouds. "I lied..." he began "...when I told Twilight Sparkle that I didn't know that much about the virus. In truth, me and Nightfire have probably seen more of it than anypony alive, besides the others that were as well..."

"What do you mean?" Rainbow Dash whispered, a tone of uncertainty and nervousness in her voice.

"Later...I promise, I'll explain everything after we've regrouped with the rest of the guard in Appleloosa." Shadow-Mane sighed, getting up his hooves and helping Nightfire up as well

"Well...could we walk for a little bit, at least?" Rainbow asked "My wings are still hurting slightly."

With a nod and a reacquiring of direction from Shadow-Mane, the three set off at a steady walk towards the south. They were quiet as the minutes dragged by, the only sounds audible being the light wind and the crisp sound of hooves on grass. After awhile, Rainbow Dash finally asked "So...Razor-Wing is a variant of the Afflicted...are there any more?"

"A few..." Nightfire answered, Shadow-Mane looking back for a moment with his eyes before pushing on. "Razor-Wing is certainly one of the most dangerous, but there's a few others that are worse. There's the Lurker....nasty little Unicorn that's regained some of its magical ability, but only just enough to be able to shroud itself in some kind of...invisible field. It stalks ponies and kills them quietly with a grappling hold, biting into and tearing out their jugular to they can't scream for help." Rainbow Dash shivered as Nightfire went on "Then there's the Hurler...it's one of the more regular Afflicted, with one added little perk...it can spit its own blood and saliva like a spitting cobra, infecting at range."

"By Luna's stars...." Rainbow whispered in awe, her eyes widening at the idea of those kinds of monsters existing.

"Oh that's still not the worst of them..." Nightfire growled "There's one in my opinion that's even more dangerous than the Carriers."

Shadow-Mane winced as Nightfire mentioned them, causing Rainbow to cock her head and ask "Carriers? You mean ponies who are immune to the Ravage but who can still...think? Function? Be aware?"

"Precisely..." Nightfire sighed, shaking his head "Unfortunately...the Ravage re-wires their brain. They become shells of their former selves...obsessed with the infected around them. They begin to refer to them as their own children at some point, calling them 'Precious Ones'. They're unicorns of incredibly powerful magic, able to control hordes of Afflicted, armies even if they get strong enough. They can only control a small number of Variants, so that's at least a good thing. They're basically the leaders of the Ravage Virus...and we thought that they were all dead, until we were confronted by one at Cloudsdale...."

"Sheesh...sounds like a total bitch" Rainbow scoffed "So what about the one that you think is more dangerous?"

Nightfire was quiet for awhile, his form shivering slightly as he was forced to relive the memories of their last encounter with that monstrosity. "Nighty...you alright?" Shadow-Mane asked, a concerned tone to his voice.

"Yeah Shadow...it's just...hard to remember it is all, you know?" Nightfire responded, drawing a nod out of the Captain.

"It must have been pretty bad for it to give you P.T.S.D. or something." Rainbow muttered, drawing a light chuckle out of Nightfire.

"Oh trust me...if you were attacked by that thing, you'd have nightmares too." Nightfire said, looking back towards Rainbow as he walked "Imagine a beast, large and bulky in size. The Ravage has mutated its muscles and body to a size five to ten times bigger than its original, and its hooves are MASSIVE. They're built to trample and crush and smash. Its speed is even greater than a Razor-Wing's when it gets enough momentum...and when it finally gets to that speed, it doesn't stop for ANYTHING until it hits something solid. It's easily avoided out in the open...but in close, confined quarters...good luck getting out alive."

"Shit..." Rainbow gasped "The hell kind of monster is that?!"

"A Thunder-Hoof" Shadow-Mane grumbled "Aptly named for the thunder-like sound it makes as it thunders across the ground. Don't worry though, you're able to hear it long before it actually gets to you. It's easy to hide if you know how to outsmart it, so we should be....perfectly.........oh no."

It was only as Shadow-Mane finished his statement...that the soft sounds of thudding were heard in the far distance. "No....way...." Nightfire gasped, looking off to his far left "That's so not right!" He turned his attention to Shadow-Mane and hissed "You jinxed it dammit! How many times have I told you not to bring up the thunder sound! It ALWAYS summons one of those things somehow!!!"

"It's not my fault, you're the one who brought them up in the first place!" Shadow-Mane barked back, the sounds of hooves pounding away at the ground growing louder.

"Guys, focus!" Rainbow shouted "We need to get moving, NOW!" Indeed, the sounds of the thundering hooves began to get louder, drawing a panicked squeal out of Nightfire.

"Alright, run! Let's get moving!" Shadow-Mane hollered, pushing forward into a gallop.

They galloped for a solid three minutes...but still the sounds of the Thunder-Hoof grew louder, its deep, baritone like roar echoing across the plains. "SHIT! It's catching up!" Rainbow shouted, drawing a fierce growl out of Shadow-Mane who continued to gallop.

"Don't remind me dammit!!!" Nightfire squealed, his nose nearly bumping into Shadow-Mane's flank with as fast as he was going.

"We need a plan, some method of escape!!!" Rainbow yelled to Shadow-Mane, the Captain responding with louder volume as the thundering got louder

"We've got no cover out here!" Shadow-Mane shouted "We need to keep running until we can find some kind of high ground or a patch of trees!"

Rainbow Dash was just about to retort when Nightfire suddenly shouted "Does anypony hear that!?"

"Hear what, the sound of impending DEATH!? Oh don't worry I'm way ahead of you!" Rainbow shouted in sarcasm, drawing a furious shake of the head from Nightfire

"No not that dammit, THAT!" he roared, looking around.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow, straining her hearing to hear past the sounds of the Thunder-Hoof and their own hooves. It took a moment...but Rainbow Dash finally heard the faint words being carried across the wind

'-is way!!!! Ov-...ere!'

"What IS that!?" Rainbow Dash asked, leaving Nightfire to shrug his shoulders and for Shadow-Mane to squint his eyes and stare into the far distance.

"Wait...I see something! I think that's a pony, up there on that hill!" Shadow-Mane shouted, drawing the two ponies behind him to look around him.

"I see him!" Nightfire said, squinting his own eyes before asking "Who is it, can you tell!?"

Rainbow Dash strained her eyes as much as she could, looking up at the large hill that rested before hill, and at the figure of the pony waving at them with a large....red....hoof.

She gasped loudly, making the two colts in front of her turn their heads and stare with wide eyes as she exclaimed.

Big Macintosh, the workhorse of Sweet Apple Acres, was at the top of the large hill, a pair of saddlebags strewn across his back and a large assortment of bandages covering his body. He looked like he had been through two hurricanes and a rodeo gone wrong, his mane an orange-colored mess and his eyes weary. He put a hoof up next to his mouth and took a deep breath, shouting "Head up this way! Ah got a way to lose that big behemoth lookin' thing behind ya'll! Just don't, stop, runnin'!!!!'"

At this, Rainbow Dash felt the overwhelming urge to look too powerful, turning her head to look behind her as they ran up the hill. Her irises shrank in fear and her lungs expelled a high-pitched squeal as she beheld the Thunder-Hoof some good distance behind her. It looked to be maybe a third of the size of the Ursa Minor that Twilight had put back to sleep all that time ago, its muscles overly huge and ripped in nature. Its mane billowed down around its form, dragging its tail on the ground like an over-sized blanket. Its eyes looked to be the same as the Razor-Wing, except that these gleamed like orbs of pure color.

If there was one thing that Rainbow Dash was thinking about at that moment...it was that Nightfire wasn't bullshitting.

That thing was definitely worthy of nightmares.