“So, can you explain this to me?” the purple earth pony asks with a bit of gravel in the back of his voice. He’s tall, about the same height as me, has a white, puffy mane, and is dressed in Blackwatch armor from the neck down. His face scrunches up as he’s giving me a look over. “Out of everyone in Manehattan, why is Zero here?”

Pinkie Pie gives the tall blue-eye a stern glare. “Her name is Gilda, and she’s my friend. And now she’s going to be your friend. Gilda, this is Lieutenant Pillow Talk. Pillow, this is Gilda.”

We don’t greet each other so much as exchange glances and wonder what the heck is going on.

“This raises more questions than answers,” Pillow Talk says.

“I concur,” I say. “A real explanation of what in Tartarus is going on would be appreciated.”

We’re all downstairs in the daycare’s clinic. It’s a decent sized room, with a desk, two beds, and a shelf full of first aid supplies. Tiny zoo animals cover the wallpaper, like giraffes, gorillas, and lions, who are all smiling and playing along with each other.

Pinkie Pie, Pillow Talk, and I are standing by the desk next to the door. Cherry’s sitting on one of the beds, and she won’t stop glaring at me, like how a cat glares at a mouse.

The doctor unicorn from the medical tent is looking after the blue-eye I knocked through a wall. I hear her muttering something about getting his armor off. He should consider himself lucky. I think he’s my first non-lethal takedown of the day.

Iffy Sniff is also here. He’s hovering between me and Pinkie. I’m ignoring him right now, and frankly I’m trying to forget his little, “Kill the bullies,” comment from earlier.

“Yes, tell us Pinkie,” Cherry says. “Why the heck is there a monster standing in the same room as us?”

“Gilda’s not a monster!”

“That’s a good question,” I say. “Why is there a monster in here? I didn’t know you were buddies with these Blackwatch goons.”

Cherry gives a short, but loud, laugh. “That’s rich, coming from the walking bag of Blacklight and death!”

“I’m not the one curb-stomping ponies for looking at me funny. I think I even saved a couple from one of your beat-downs this morning.”

“Saved? I bet you mean cut up into tiny bits! The only thing you’re saving is room for dessert!”

“Oh yeah?! At least I don’t have to hide my ugly face behind a mask when I’m beating the crap out of you!”

“Both of you, stop it!” Pinkie Pie shouts. “We’re all friends. Friends don’t call each other monsters!”

“But”-

Pinkie hisses through her teeth. “We. Are. Friends.”

Everyone goes silent. The only noise in the clinic is Iffy’s wings flapping and the doctor muttering to herself. All eyes are on Pinkie, and she looks like she’s about to blow her cap.

The voice box on purple lieutenant’s armor flashes yellow. “Sir, is Pinkie with you? I need her help,” a deep voice crackles.

Pinkie shakes her head at the blue-eye. Pillow Talk reaches for the box and presses the button. “She’s a little busy right now. Can she call you back?”

“Can she be busy later?” the voice box asks. “The kids- Ow, don’t bite me- the kids are going crazy, sir. They’re freaking out! I need her help!”

“You’re a big guy, you can handle it.” Pillow looks at Pinkie, who mouths something back at him. Charades? “Have you tried playing charades with them?” he asks.

“Charades didn’t work, sir. I’ve tried everything. Peek-a-boo, duck-duck-goose, freeze-tag. Sir, they’re getting”- the voice box cuts off, and then a few seconds later the deep voice comes back. “There’re piling on top of me sir! They’re taking the hill! I repeat, they’re taking the hill! I never thought my death would be so adorable!”

Pillow Talk looks up at Pinkie Pie. “I think Budge needs your help.”

The pink mare lets out a sigh, and looks at both me and Cherry. “Everyone better be alive when I get back. No killing each other.”

I raise my claw. “But what if she”-

“No killing!” Pinkie shouts. She storms out of the room to save somepony from getting mauled by a ravenous pack of fillies and colts.

Great, now I’m alone with a room full of Blackwatch goons, and Iffy. We all look at each other, all while avoiding making eye contact. The doctor is still in her little corner, and that blue-eye is still unconscious.

Pillow Talk is rocking back and forth on his hooves. His eyes keep darting between me and the doorway. “So… how do you know Pinkie Pie?”

Small talk, aren’t I lucky. I shrug. “I knew her before this whole plague thing started. I don’t remember much of the details, but she did help me start a bakery.”

“A bakery. Huh.” The lieutenant’s eyebrow goes up. “You have a bakery?”

“Yeah, right here in Manehattan. I was planning to make scones, but it’s smack dab in the middle of the red-zone. I don’t think I’ll be getting much business.”

Pillow nods. “That sucks. My favorite bagel shop is in the red-zone too. I haven’t had a good asiago bagel in a month. My mornings have been incomplete without them.”

A name flashes though my head. “Bowler Bagels?”

“Yep, that’s the one,” he says. “Now that I think about it, I do remember a new shop opening up on Daffodil Street. Wasn’t it called Scone Cutters or something?”

“Well, that name wasn’t approved by me. It’s supposed to be called Gilda’s Family Scones, but Pinkie Pie named it without my permission. It’s something I want to clear up.”

“I think Scone Cutters is a good name.”

“No it’s not.”

“But it’s a clever wordplay”-

My claw shapeshifts into my monster claw. “Don’t push your luck.”

Pillow Talk gulps and nods. The monster claw shrinks back to regular size. I notice in the corner of my eye Cherry’s horn glowing bright blue. I must have spooked her.

“What about you,” I say to the lieutenant. “How did you meet the infamous Pinkie Pie?”

Pillow Talk taps his chin. “Well, I haven’t known her for very long. She sort of became my boss last week.”

Now my eyebrows shoot up. “How did that happen?”

He shrugs. “I don’t really know. One day I’m patrolling the quarantine zone, and the next I’m assigned to be part of some new Quarantine Wellness Program.”

“Quarantine Welfare Program?”

Pillow nods. “QWP for short. It’s supposed to be a big deal. Morale in the Yellow Zone isn’t all that great, so Princess Celestia herself asked Blackwatch to work with Pinkie Pie to boost happiness in the area.”

“That sounds impressive.”

“Sure is. Too bad Blackwatch doesn’t take it seriously.” The purple lieutenant rolls his eyes. “For the entire week Wellness’s been running, it’s been a disaster. We barely have a budget to work with. This abandoned daycare is the only place we can afford. There’s a big pile of trash at the front door and it’s taking forever to clean up. And Blackwatch only has five ponies working on this program”- he waves a hoof at the beds- “And you almost killed two!”

I glance behind me. Cherry is still drilling holes into my skull with her eyes, and the other blue-eye is still out cold. “Really, just five?”

“Yeah, those two, me, Pinkie, and Budge. You heard Budge over the radio. Nice guy. The higher ups figured Pinkie would do most of the work, but she can’t get anyone else to help her and she's the biggest bitch I’ve ever met!”

"Hey," the doctor shouts. "Watch your language. There are kids here!"

Iffy waves the doctor off. "I know what it means." He looks at Pillow Talk. “And you’re wrong. Pinkie Pie is the most awesome pony I’ve ever met!”

“Oh sure, she’s all sunshines and rainbows,” Pillow grumbles, “Up until things don't go her way. Just yesterday, she had a major breakdown because I didn’t order enough party streamers. Party streamers! She was crying and yelling at me for two hours straight.”

“That doesn’t sound like her,” I say. “Sure, she’s a nut, but she's never cries or shouts at anyone. She's the most happy go pony I know.”

Pillow Talk gives me a strange look. “What Pinkie Pie are you talking about?”

“The Pinkie I'm talking about is the brightest pony in the world, or should be.” There’s no way a pony could change like that in a month. Then again, I got these weird powers in a month.

Cherry groans and sways on her bed. “For Luna’s sake, stop talking,” she whines.

We all look over in her direction. “Do you want us to stand here in awkward silence?” I ask.

“I want you to jump into a volcano and burn,” she snarls. “I’m not exaggerating. You need to burn up and take the Blacklight plague with you!”

“You don’t know who you’re messing with,” Iffy Sniff spits. He zips across the room and gets right up in Cherry’s face. He almost crashes into her. “She’s the hero that’s going to kill all you Blackwatch bullies. She’s going to slice you up good!”

Cherry brushes him aside. I facepalm. What’s wrong with this kid? “Iffy, I’m not killing anyone.”

Pillow Talk’s ears perk up. “You’re not?”

I ball my claw up into a fist and point a single talon at the lieutenant. “Not if you don’t shoot me. Is that too much to ask for?”

“Oh good.” He lets out a breath he was holding in. “I was thinking you would eat us all if Pinkie didn’t say anything.”

“Believe me, the last thing I want to do is go on a killing spree. But someone really wants me dead for some reason and I can’t help it if I defend myself.”

“That’s bullshit,” Cherry sneers.

“Watch your language,” the doctor says.

“Shut up,” the blue-eye unicorn snaps, and she looks back at me. “There’s no excuse for all the ponies you’ve killed.”

I cock an eyebrow. “Is self-defense not a valid excuse?”

“Was this self-defense?” She points at marks I left when I was choking her earlier.

“You were about to shoot me!”

“And we all know how that would turn out. I’ve been listening to the radio all day, and I keep hearing soldiers screaming about how their spells can’t kill you. How is killing us self-defense if we can’t kill you?!”

Iffy flies back in her face. “She’s giving you what you deserve!” he yells. “You took over Manehattan like you own it, and you keep beating us all up! You’re nothing but bad-guys and bullies!”

Cherry points at me. “That griffon, she’s Patient Zero. The Blacklight plague came from her. She’s the real bad guy. If it weren’t for her, there would be no Blacklight, and Blackwatch wouldn’t be here to keep it under control!”

I hold up a claw. “Stop right there. How did I start the plague in the first place? I have nothing to do with the plague. Heck, I’m not even completely sure of what’s going on.”

“Then let me fill you in,” Cherry say. “You’re a Blacklight monster, just like the ones we stop from killing everypony who isn’t infected. You got Blacklight all over you. You’re spreading it wherever you go. You can say you didn’t start it as much as you want, but you’re still spreading it!”

Before I can say anything, the doctor pony stands up. “That reminds me.” The doctor’s magic reaches into the first-aid shelf and pulls out a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a wad of cotton balls. She presses the cotton on the bottle’s lid and shakes it up. “Here, wipe that scratch on your neck with this.”

The cotton ball floats over to Cherry and she catches it with her own pink magic. “Why do I have to?”

“You said it yourself, the griffon here is a walking bag of Blacklight,” the doctor says, nodding at me. “She scratched your neck, didn’t she? You don’t want to turn infected from a little scratch.”

Cherry looks down at the cotton ball, then at me, and then she puts the ball up to her neck and violently rubs ger scratch. Geez girl, you’re going to tear off your skin if you do it like that. “For Luna’s sake, why haven’t we called in reinforcements?! Zero is standing right here! Let’s get the entire army on her ass.”

I give the mare a deadpan look. “I don’t know, maybe it’s because I’ll slice you up so you don’t call an entire army to kill me. Does that sound like a good reason?”

Cherry glares at me, still scratching her skin off with the cotton ball.

“And I would advise against it,” the doctor says. “We’re all standing in the same room as Patient Zero with no protection from the infection what-so-ever. They’ll place us under case-red quarantine faster than you can blink.”

“What?!” Iffy Sniff shouts. “If they do that, they’ll kill us on the spot. And then they’ll burn our bodies. And then they’ll put our ashes into jars and burn the jars!”

The doctor shakes her head. “You’re thinking of case-black quarantine. Case-red is when they lock us all in a cell for as long as they think we’re infected. But here’s the thing, I haven’t heard back from any ponies placed in case-red. They seem to disappear from existence once Blackwatch takes them.”

Pillow Talk nods. “So if Zero is here, don’t tell Yellow Light.”

The doctor smiles. “That’s a good idea. I got two beautiful kids and a handsome husband waiting for me back in Trottingham. I’d rather watch Gilda tear you to pieces than to face the prospect of never seeing them again.”

Pillow and Cherry stare at the doctor. I grin. “I like the sound of that,” I say.

The doctor winks. “Snitches get stitches. Remember that.”

“Then we’ll keep your presence here a secret,” Pillow says. “Though I have a feeling Pinkie would want us to do that anyways.”

Pillow Talk’s voice box crackles to life. Pinkie Pie’s voice spills out of it. “Hey Pillow, I need your help.”

“If it has to deal with kids, I’m not the stallion for it,” Pillow says, touching his box. “I’m not that great with kids.”

“Then you’re fine. The kids are all in time out, but Budge needs your help.”

“With what? He’s a big boy.”

“You’d think that, but you’d be wrong. The kids took him down.”

“There's nothing I can do to fix a bruised ego.”

“The kids ripped off his armor.”

“I- uh… We got a spare set lying around.”

“He’s tied to the ceiling.”

Pillow Talk pauses. He thinks for a moment before talking into his box. “I’ll be over in a moment.”

“Thanks Pillow.”

He lets the box go and looks at me. “So… is this a truce then?”

I shrug. “I guess so.”

“Good enough for me.” He turns around and heads out the door. “Why did Pinkie Pie bring the kids here? We’re not a daycare.”

“Yes you are,” I say, pointing at the animal-covered wallpaper.

He stops at the doorway and looks back at me. “If you were my soldier, you'd be cleaning up the trash up front for that comment.”

Pillow disappears around the corner. I think we're going to get along. Cherry, on the other claw, is still fuming with me in this room. “You might have a truce with everyone else, but not with me. I’m going to stop you.”

The doctor rolls her eyes. “If you try to stop her, and if I get caught in the crossfire, then I will be incredibly peaved. Iffy Sniff, give the sad mare a hug.”

The pegasus colt looks at the doctor funny. “Uh, is that a joke? You got to be joking.”

The doctor smiles. “Just think for a moment, where were you a couple hours ago?”

Cherry and Iffy look at eachother. It takes a moment, but a devilish grin grows on Iffy’s face. Before Cherry can stop him, he zips in for a hug.

“What’s this going to do, kill me with love?” Cherry asks, doing her best to push the colt away, but he’s on her tight.

“No, it’s going to stop you from doing something I don’t want you to do,” the doctor says.

“How?”

Good question. How?

“Simple.” The doctor points at the colt. “Mr. Sniff was placed in case-yellow quarantine for swamp-lice. Since you’ve come in contact with Mr. Sniff without protection, you are now labeled a case-yellow patient and can only occupy areas designated by an official Blackwatch doctor.” She points to herself. “And I say you can’t go outside this building if you’re going to be a snitch.”

Cherry’s jaw hangs open, then she shoves Iffy away, who is happy just to get away from her. “You bitch,” she hisses.

The doctor waves a hoof. “Watch your language.” She smiles at Iffy. “Thank you Mr. Sniff for your services.”

The pegasus colt salutes. “No problem, Dr. Heart,” he says. Of course her name is Heart. What doctor in Equestria isn’t named Heart?

“As for you,” Heart says, looking at me, “Keep your distance from Cherry. I don’t want you antagonizing her.”

“That’s fine,” I say. “The further I am from crazy, the better.”

“What?!” Cherry yells. “You screw me over, but you let this monster go free? What are you thinking?!”

“She’s got claws,” Heart says. “I’m not messing around with someone who has claws.”

I smirk, growing out my monster claws and wiggling them in the air. “Damn straight.”

“This is all… aahhgg!” Cherry hops off the bed and storms out the room. “I hate you! I hate you all!”

“We all hate you too,” Iffy Sniff shouts back. “What a bitch.”

“Watch your language,” Heart says.

“Sorry.”