The big metal goon on the left is the first to tango. He jumps at me like a boulder rolling off a cliff. I strafe to the side, but his hoof catches me in the stomach and throws me to the floor with a dull thud. Looks like I’m fighting monsters again for the umpteenth time today.

He stands right on top of me. I throw a punch and it hits him in the cheek with a loud clang. The metal meathead stumbles away and I crouch down to pounce him, but I stop when a ‘woosh’ sound comes at me. I jump backwards just as a plume of flame rips through the spot I was just in. The flame dies down and one of the unicorn’s horns is glowing bright red.

Ah, flame spells. They intend on making roasted chicken with my ass. Not good. I jump out of the way of another river of fire, and it engulfs the science table behind me. Glass tubes explode and books go up in flames. The table turns to cinders in a matter of moments.

A metalhead charges through the flames and rams into me. Holy crap, this guy is fast, faster than anyone in armor has the right to be! He grapples and squeezes the air out of my lungs! I try slicing him up, but my monster claws keep dinging off his metal plates. Crap, I can’t get through his armor!

“You look like you’re enjoying the armor. It’s not as heavy as it looks, right? Trust me, it’s not flimsy. That son-of-a-gun will stop anything up to a dragon from squishing you.”

What? Was that a memory? I don’t remember remembering that.

With me in his hooves, the metalhead winds up and flings me off the side. Wood breaks apart around me, and I fall, and I keep falling. Wait, aren’t I supposed to crash into something by now? I flip around and look down, and find the auditorium floor coming at me at a really big speed. The metalhead threw me off the balcony!

I slam into a table and it collapses under me. Something goes squish when I land, and a bunch of ponies start screaming. I get up, and there’s something gooey dripping off my face. I wipe it off and look down, and find myself sitting in a puddle that looks a lot like the rotting remains of an infected pony. Ick, at least my worms aren’t eating this goop up.

Blue trashbag ponies are running away from me. Some of them are screaming, some of them are yelling at the Blackwatch goons to shoot at me, some of them are doing both. The normal blue-eye goons who see me start shooting at my general direction. I duck as the spellbolts fly over my head. One of the bolts strikes a trashbag in the flank. The spell dissolves the trashbag suit and leaves a burn mark on his leg. The trashbag jumps and screams, then books it out of here at the speed of light.

I look back up at the balcony, and the four goons are looking back at me. The unicorns’ horns glow bright orange, and their magic lifts the metalheads over the railing and floats them down. Three floors, two floors, my floor, they hit the ground and thunder towards me once the unicorns let them go. The trashbags jump out of their way as they blow past tables and lab equipment.

I scramble to my feet and run the opposite direction, not bothering to wipe the pony goop off of me. I’ll worry about personal hygiene after I’m not running for my life. The spell bolts are still flying at me. A few nick me in the back, but they’re doing little to hurt me. What I’m worried about are the big guys chasing me.

A shriek comes from above, the same shriek I heard the airships make. How did they get an airship in here?! Oh wait, the unicorns. They can shoot firebolts.

An explosion erupts next to me and knocks me over with the shockwave. I crash into a big computer thing and knock over some more expensive equipment. The flames singe a few of my wing feathers, but I’m unhurt otherwise. I just wish everyone would stop knocking me around. Being played with like a hacky sack is bound to cause some brain damage.

Something crashes behind me, and a big metal hoof kicks me in the rear. I go spinning in the air and crash into another science thing, and the metalheads charge right at me. Come on guys, I want a turn too!

I grab whatever is closest to my claw and fling it at the metalheads. I wasn’t paying attention, as it turns out I grabbed a trashbag pony and threw the poor guy like a spear. The trashbag screams through the air, and the metalheads stop in their tracks. The trashbag hits the closest one in the head. They tangle up and topple over, legs flailing in the air as the roll around.

I laugh at them. They deserve it. I get up to run again, but come face to face with one of the trashbags. My face reflects in the silver glass of his faceplate, and I can’t make out anything behind it.

“Uh, hi,” I say. Why hasn’t this guy run away yet?

His hoof swings around, and something hard smacks the side of my noggin. I stagger back, and the trashbag swings at me again with the fire extinguisher in his hooves.

“Go back to Tartarus from which you came!” the trashbag screams before bashing my forehead with a metal clang. Son-of-a-bison, that stings! This guy grew balls at the wrong time!

I can hear the metalheads charging at me again. I lunge at the trashbag, but he blocks me with the extinguisher. No matter. I grab the cylinder, yank it out of his hooves, and bash the side of his facemask with it. The glass shatters and blood goes spraying out. Now stay down like a good boy and let the adults talk it out.

“The helmet doesn’t have good visibility to begin with. Putting aviators on top of the visor will just blind you. And you look stupid with them.”

What the heck? I know that wasn’t my memory!

The metalheads are almost on top of me. I can’t see their eyes behind those helmets, but I bet they look pissed. How can they see out of those things? Those eye-slits are tiny!

Wait a moment…

I turn around, point the hose at them, and press the lever, spraying white foam in their general direction. The foam covers up their faceplates and blinds them. I sidestep as they trip over themselves and crash into more science equipment. How much damage am I racking up in here?

Before they can get the foam off of themselves, I rush over to the nearest metalhead and whack him in the back of the head. Clang, clang, clang, the extinguisher and armor ring like bells with every hit I take. Doesn’t feel good, does it? This is what I’ve been dealing with all day, and you get to taste it! Hahahaha!

His buddy starts getting up, wiping the foam from his face, but he drops to his belly when he looks my way. Ha, stay on the floor! I am your god now! Actually, that’s concerning. I know I’m not that intimidating. Why is he on his belly? What scared him?

I look behind me just in time to see a big, orange-glowing desk mere inches from my-

The desk smacks me away from the metal heads. I scream as it pushes me through the air and across the auditorium to places I don’t know and when is this thing going to stop?!

It does stop, but not without hurting me more. It slams into something wooden and everything turns into a big explosion of splinters. Wood chunks bite my flesh and everything is pain. This is my life now, pain and agony. Why must it be pain and agony? I’m going straight to Las Pegasus after all this is done.

After that ruckus dies down, I pull myself out of the wood pile and flop on top of whatever floor I ended up on. There’s a wood plank sticking out of my shoulder. I wince as I yank it out. Black and red goo is dripping from it. Isn't that just pretty?

I lay on the floor and let out a deep breath. This isn’t going too well. The blue-eyes are beating me senseless and chasing me away from Eureka.

Crap, Eureka, I need to get him. He’s unconscious in the balconies, and there are two unicorns up there with him. The metalheads are down here, so maybe I can jump around them and climb up to the third floor. All I’ll have to deal with is the flame-thrower unicorns. I grab Eureka and get out of here. Easy peezy.

A big glob of something sticky and wet drips on top of my face. I wipe it off before opening my eyes. There’s a giant face of a pony monster looking down at me with wild googly eyes. Its mouth is open and it’s drooling on me. Sweet mercy, pony goop and monster drool? I need to wash myself with a pressure hose after this is over.

Wait, is this the same monster I fought earlier? My eyes trail down his body, going from neck to stomach to in between the thighs. Right there, the monster has his tidbits still intact. Ah, different monster. Good to know there are more of these bastards running around in the wild.

The monster opens its mouth and roars right in my face, unleashing a storm of spit and phlegm. Same to you pal.

Footsteps echo around me, and the voices of blue-eyes crackle to life. “We have you surrounded. Give up now!”

I lean up and look around. Blackwatch goons have me surrounded in a circle, including the two metalheads. All of them have their weapons turned at me, and all of them don’t look happy for me being here.

Huh, they have me cornered. How long was I laying here? Kind of dumb in retrospect. Who the heck takes a nap in the middle of a fight?

One of them barks at me. “Put your claws on your head and keep the fuck down!”

“Wait, we’re arresting it?” one of them asks.

“Uh, yeah. Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do?”

“I thought we’re supposed to kill it on sight.”

Arresting is preferable to killing, though I choose neither.

“Our boss told us to kill her,” one of the metalheads says, “So why are we arresting her?”

“I don’t know. Standard procedure? Don’t we usually let these guys have a chance to surrender?”

You guys have been hunting me all day. Not once have you given me a chance to surrender.

“Wait wait wait, back up a bit,” a highpitched voice says, “‘Her’? You called it a ‘her’?”

Oh no.

“Yeah. She’s a girl griffon,” the metalhead says, “Just with mutant powers.”

This is happening.

“No no no, it’s a boy griffon. Have you never seen a griffon before?”

“What are you talking about? She has white feathers. Only girl griffons have white feathers.”

I can’t believe this is happening, again. Fillies and colts are one thing, but grown adults? Did any of you go through school? Okay, that’s a hypocritical question from a highschool dropout, but still.

“No, that’s a myth. Look, he’s big and buff, so he’s a boy griffon.”

The monster above me grunts*. Shut up, you.

“But she doesn’t have the junk in the trunk. That’s a girl.”

I’m going to ignore the fact you’re checking me out down there. It’s not like I’m in a position to complain.

“You can’t tell by that. Griffons have it shriveled up inside of them to be better fliers. It could be a guy for all we know.”

That’s not how that works.

“What about that? That’s her junk right there.”

“That’s her tail.”

“Look at her feathers. Those feathers curve, so she’s a female.”

“Dude, I’m a pegasus, and that’s bullshit. Those types of feathers do that on any gender.”

As much as I appreciate listening to the bickering of henchponies with the IQs of rocks, I got to stop this. “Hey!” I shout. All the blue-eyes shut up and look at me. “Half of you are wrong. I’m a lady.”

Some of the blue-eyes look at eachother, and one speaks up. “Are you sure? How do we know you’re not lying?”

I roll over on my side and run a figure down my chest, flicking my eyelashes and giving a sultry smirk. “I can give you a one on one study session,” I say with a seducing voice.

The blue-eye stares at me for a moment. “I’m a mare. I don’t swing that way.”

Okay, that’s not going to work. Where was I going with that, anyways? Was I going to sleep my way out of this?

Another blue-eye says something. “You know, that’s kind of racist assuming colts and mares look the same.”

Oh, for the love of Grover! My claw smacks my face. “You were doing the exact same thing to me!”

“Not me. I knew you were a girl.”

This is completely insane. Eureka. Get him. Now. Get out of here. Find Rainbow Dash. Head to Las Pegasus and blow my brains out with booze. Why am I not doing that? Get back to work!

The blue-eyes don’t have their guards up like they should, so I jump up and punch the nearest one in the face. He crumples to the floor and doesn’t get up. Lights out for him. One down, a bunch more to go.

Now Blackwatch has their guards back up and are firing their spells at me. Ooh, ah, ow! I’m dancing around like a manciac trying to avoid these bolts. This is not as fun as it looks!

One of the metalheads charges into me and rams me with his shoulder. The spells ping off his armor as we barrel through the spellstorm. I don’t think he thought this completely through, as we slam right into the monster’s stomach. The monster croaks in my ear from the impact, and then I hear the snapping of metal chains.

That didn’t sound good.

I’m sandwiched between the metalhead and the monster, and the metalhead is running us at full steam. He shoves us all the way across the stage and slams us through a curtain. The sound of ripping fabric tears through the air, and the curtain offers just enough resistance to make the metalhead stumble, and we all tumble into a pile of bodies and heavy fabric.

My head pokes out and I take a look at our surroundings. There’s scaffolding, boxes all over the place, and spare instruments sitting in groups. This must be the backstage area. It’s not as glamorous or well decorated as everywhere else, which makes sense. Why spend money on décor no one important is going to see?

The curtains shift around, and the face of the pony monster pops up right in front of my beak. Its mouth is twisted in a snarl and its googly eyes are glaring at me. I don’t think it’s happy to see me. Heck, I don’t think it’s ever happy.

Why wait for the fight? My beak lashes out and I nip his left eye. The monster shrieks and pulls back, and its eye rips out and pops in my mouth. Ack! Eyejuice! It’s thick and watery at the same time. I spit the crap out, but it’s sticking to the roof of my mouth! Nope, I don’t like this, not one bit.

The monster is just as upset about me devouring its eye as I am, probably a lot more upset. Its head lashes out and its jaws clamp down on my face! Son-of-a-bison, that hurts and this guy has the worst case of fish breath I’ve ever smelt.

The monster yanks on me, shakes me, and treats me like I’m its favorite chew toy. With how tangled up we are in the curtains, my body isn’t going anywhere but my neck wants to rip right off! Thank mercy I’m a monster. A normal griffon would be beheaded by now!

This is beyond irritating. My claw and wing blades flare out and they rip the curtain up with a few swings. Now I’m free, and the monster swings me around and launches me through the air. I go flying across the backstage and crash head first into a cello.

Two armored ponies and a monster, I can't win this fight. They'll wreck me if I try anything!

I hear fighting sounds behind me. After pulling my head out of the instrument, I look around and see the metalhead fighting the monster in hoof-to-hoof combat. Wow, that blue-eye is holding his own without breaking a sweat. His armor is brushing off all the monster’s strikes. Why can't I have armor like that? I wouldn’t be tossed around as much.

Those two have each other occupied, and there’s no reason for me to get involved. Like I said, I'll get wrecked. Eureka awaits me, and fighting these dudes is just a waste of time.

Before I get on out of here, the other metalhead steps through the curtains and looks at me. Great, the other one is still standing. Maybe he’ll help his buddy out.

Nope, the metalhead charges towards me. I try jumping to the side to dodge him, but he spins around and bucks me in the gut while I’m in the air. I go flying back again and crash into a drum set, banging my head on the cymbals. Bud-ump tish, this hurts.

The metalhead charges me again, and I raise a claw and strike him in the helmet when he gets near. The blades cling against the metal, and he rewards me with a kick to the noggin for my efforts.

I stumble back, grab a hefty looking bass, and swing the giant string instrument around. The bass breaks into a shower of splinters, and nudges the metalhead back. Hey, that did something!

It didn’t do enough. He stands there, looking at me. Great, he’s taunting me now. What are you waiting for, bud? Too scared t-

A boulder slams into me from the side, smashing a whole orchestra of musical instruments on impact. The boulder rolls off of me, leaving me in what feels like a twitching pile of liquefied griffon. Second time today. How much will I bet there will be a third one by midnight?

I push myself up, and the monster is standing over me. The metalheads are crouching down in a fighting stance. The monster has bruises and scratches all over its underside. That blue-eye sure did a number on this thing while I wasn’t looking.

And now the world is going blurry. Oh crap, this is not the time for a flashback!

Dark room, five metalheads surrounding me…

“Five guys at once? You’re insane!”

A smirk, a laugh…

“They don’t call me the Bully Dozer for nothing.”

“No one calls you that.”

“You’re about to call me that.”

A facehoof, a groan…

“You’ve had that armor on for an hour and you think you can take on the world! And what did I say about the aviators?!”

Dark shades cover my vision. Sunglasses, inside, that’s why things are dark in here…

“Don’t worry, you’ve trained me well.”

“For an hour!”

“And I get it all. I’m heavier than I feel, sight-lines are for pussies, and I should go for the joints, not the dicks.”

“Those Dozers will wreck you! They have more experience in armor than you!”

A small chuckle.

“Watch. I’m going to ride these bulls till dawn!”

A pause.

“I’m not cleaning you up when they beat that spunk out of you. Alright Dozers, plow this mare!”

That was definitely not my memory. How did that get in my head?! And why did it have so much innuendo?!

No one has moved yet. The monster is growling at the blue-eyes, and the blue-eyes are waiting for the next move.

Wait, I think I have an idea. Someone said something in that memory that can help out. What was it? Heavier than you feel... something about sightlines… a dick joke…

Oh yeah, ride the bull till dawn!

With the monster above me, I hug his belly. The monster lets out a confused grunt, and then sheiks in pain when my claws jam into its flesh. I do the smart thing this time and make sure I have a good grip on this guy before he goes berserk. I even bite down on his belly button as a third point of contact. Time for the rodeo!

The monster leaps up and tries bucking me off, but I’m holding on tight and not going anywhere. The blue-eyes scramble away when the beast lands. I dig my right claw deeper into his guts, and the monster yelps and leaps to the left.

Ha, I can steer this guy! I just need to steer him to the balconies. I don’t need to fight the metalheads. I just need to get Eureka. What better way to do it than to ride a giant rampaging monster out of here?

Granted, I’m on its belly, so when it jumps through the curtains, off the stage, and into the seating area of the auditorium, I crash into a boatload of science equipment. The monster jumps again, and another batch of science equipment slams into me upon landing. I did not see this as a problem.

Spellbolts are flying at us, but they all hit the monster, not me. He’s big enough to protect me, like a mutant turtle shell. See, I got armor now, just like the metalheads!

Getting to the balconies takes a bit. The monster is smart enough to jump the opposite direction of where he feels pain, but dumb enough not to land exactly where I want him to go. We’re jumping around the music hall with some direction of Eureka. Blackwatch is having a hard time targeting as when we jump around, and forget about the metalheads. They couldn’t keep up with us if they tried.

Okay, I’m getting tired of this. We’re far enough from the blue-eye goons that they’re not much of a threat. Mostly I just wanted to get away from the armored guys who hit hard, and I did. Thanks Mr. Monster. Now apply the parking breaks.

My back lion paw kicks out, with talons extended, and nicks a bit of skin around the crotch area. The paw kicks again, and I hear and feel a big hunk of flesh rip off the monster. The monster lands, freezes up, and lets out a high-pitched whine. Suck it up, buddy. I know your weak spot.

I let the monster go and kick off the chunk of flesh sticking to my back paw. The monster’s face is twisted in extreme pain, and it has no interest of doing anything else but whine. Good monster, don’t attack me. I wonder if that trick will work on female monsters.

With the metalheads and monster dealt with, my mutant-powers take over and I jump all the way up to the third balcony. I still need to deal with the unicorns. Crap, they got flame-throwers. They don’t have armor, so they'll slice apart nicely, but they’ll burn me alive if I’m not careful.

I step through the alcove, and freeze at what I see. Eureka’s lab is a scorched mess. The unicorns are dancing around, shooting streams of flame at random spots. Where there is flame, a green blur would escape it, and come around and hit one of the unicorns in the head. The unicorns shoot again at the blur, but they miss again and get more hits on the head.

Damn it Iffy, I told you to get out of here!

The unicorns don’t notice me, and they don’t see me run over and punch them both in the face. They both fall down and don’t get back up, and the flames stop burning up the room. Iffy stops flying and hovers in front of me. “Gilda! Thanks for the... You got slime on your face.”

I give Iffy a stern glare, ignoring the mess my face is in. “I told you to get out of here.”

“But they were shooting fireballs at you!” Iffy says. “I had to stop them.”

“Trust me, I would’ve been fine. You, however, would be a burning pile of crisp if they got you.” I take a look around the room. It's almost entirely ash. The blue-eye even burnt up the nice paintings. Wait, something is missing. “Where did Eureka go?”

“The scientist? The purple unicorn took him. He said they were getting out of here.”

Well then, I guess I have to find him again. My Gilda sense lights up to find Eureka, and it tugs me in a direction below me. The lobby, I bet they’re heading for the lobby. Hopefully there aren’t any more goons there to give me a bad time. I can only tear off the twigs and berries of so many monsters to escape.

“I know where they are. Iffy, I want you to get out of here and head back to the daycare.”

“But”-

“I don’t give a shit what you have to say. You could get killed here, so get the hell out of here.”

The colt’s brow furrows, and a frown grows on his face. “You can’t tell me what to do.”

“No, but I’m sure Pinkie Pie would want a word with you once I tell her what you did.” The colt freezes in the air for a moment. Huh, I guess Pinkie Pie’s name has some weight behind it. “Now get going. I got a doctor to catch.”

With my monster speed, I zip out of the room and weave through the theater. Iffy will be fine. He just needs to get out of here like I told him to do. He’s not my concern right now.

There are some blue-eyes that see me run by them. I’m there and gone so fast they don’t have enough time to shoot at me. Given enough time, word will get out that there’s a rampaging griffon inside their base, and they’ll probably have defenses set up to try to take me down. In fact, they probably already know I’m here, but they don’t know I’ve left the auditorium.

Gilda sense takes a sharp left, and I skid to a halt at the top of a grand set of stairs. I’m back at the main lobby, and there are blue-eyes swarming the place. At the front doors, I see the purple unicorn carrying an unconscious Eureka with his magic. A couple blue-eye goons open the doors for the unicorn, and he steps outside with the doctor.

“Hey, you!” I shout, “Give me Eureka!”

The unicorn looks back at me, and so does every Blackwatch goon in the lobby. Crap, I shouldn’t have done that. The unicorn makes a break for it, and a wall of blue glowing energy flies my way. Not good.

I rush down the stairs before the spellbolt storm blows apart the spot I was just standing in. I don’t pay attention to where I’m stepping, and I trip on one of the steps. My leg stops and the rest of my body flips over. My head hits a step, then my butt, then my head again, and owowowowowow I’m rolling down the stairs!

Everything is out to kill me today! I flop at the bottom of the stairs and end up at the armored feet of a metalhead. How did he get here?! Another metalhead is standing right next to him, alongside another one behind them. Ah, Blackwatch has more than two armored ponies. Good to know.

The metalhead raises a hoof and stomps on me, but I roll to the side and get up on all fours. His hoof smacks down and shatters the tile floor. Screw this, I’m leaving.

I run right past them and right through the lobby, knocking away any blue-eye dumb enough to try to stop me. The two blue-eyes at the door try to close it to keep me in, but that’s not going to do anything. The door closes with a thud, but I don’t stop. The blue-eyes see this, and they jump out of the way.

The door shatters as I barrel right through it. They didn’t expect me to do that!

I’m outside now, and it doesn’t take long to find Eureka and the unicorn taking him away, especially since they’re boarding an airship sitting in the middle of the road. I don’t need Gilda sense to find that.

The airships makes a whirling sound, and then it buzzes. The unicorn finishes boarding, a door swings shut behind him, and with a loud hiss, the airship takes off. It gains several feet of air every second, and it’s aiming to fly over the buildings and away from me! I can’t have that.

I run at it. Blue-eyes are shooting at me, but I ignore them. Power surges through my muscles, and I jump for the unicorn.

The airship is at least fifty feet in the air now, and I hit the side of the door at full force. Before I fall off, I jab a monsterclaw into the side, sticking my blades in the metal and hanging there. The ground shrinks away fast, and the Steamcart Music Hall disappears in a sea of Manehatten buildings.

We’re high up now, I can see a lot of the city from here. The only sound I hear is the loud buzzing from the propellers. A hatch opens up and a unicorn pokes his head out. His horn glows orange, and a fire jet shoots out at me.

I let go to avoid the flames, grabbing the bottom of the ship before I fall away too far. Just being close to that jet feels like my skin is roasting. I don’t want to get hit by that!

Before the unicorns shoots another flamethrower, I swing around and throw myself at the latch. I grab on and headbutt the unicorn as hard as I can. I can hear bone shattering as he collapses to the floor.

The hatch is big enough to crawl through, and I drag myself inside. It’s a bit cramped in here. When I stand up, my head is only an inch away from the ceiling. The cabin is big enough for a whole troop of ponies to stand comfortably without a problem, but I’m having trouble finding space to move without banging my head.

I look around the cabin, and find the unicorn. He shuts a door to another part of the airship, leaving me with a blue-eye pegasus, unicorn, and a metalhead. I swear these guys are everywhere.

“Look, I’m tired of fighting,” I say, “Just let me get Eureka and I’ll be on my way. I don’t even have to kill any of you.”

They don’t listen. The metalhead comes at me, but he has to duck to move around the cabin. His hoof swings at me, but I sidestep it and jump to the otherside of the the cabin. It’s going to be awkward as heck trying to fight in here!

The pegasus flings himself at me with his backhoof pointed at my face. I duck under him, and throw my head back when he goes over me. The back of my head connects with his and I smash him into the ceiling. The poor guys goes limp and collapses on top of me. I just shake him off and he falls to the floor.

The unicorn’s horn glows bright blue, and I roll to the side before he starts shooting spell bolts at me. All the bolts leave black marks where the hit in the cabin. Sheesh, how many times have I been hit by those? Those things leave nasty marks.

As I’m avoiding the spells, the metalhead lunges at me. I don’t pay attention, and I find myself cornered between the spells, a wall, and the metalhead. His shoulder slams into me and the air pops out of my lungs.

The metalhead winds a hoof back and bashes me in the beak. Ow! I felt something crack! I grab the metalhead by the waist and toss him to the side. He fumbles around and almost steps on his pegasus friend’s head.

The unicorn hits home with his spell bolts, but I don’t feel them hit. Seriously, they’re leaving scorch marks on the wall. How are they not doing crap to me? They should be tearing me to shreds!

As pointless as they are, I’m getting sick and tired of the blue-eyes shooting at me. I lunge at the unicorn, driving my monster claws through his chest. The unicorn gasps, and then I tear his entire body in two pieces. The tentacles come out and liquefy the guy to eat him. Serves him right.

What I don’t do is pay attention to the metalhead, who yells as he comes in from behind and slams my head against the wall. I leave a nice dent in the metal, and he pulls it back again and makes an even bigger dent.

One more crash, and my head breaks through the wall and into the outside world. The wind is bucking me in the face, and it looks like we’re really high up here.

The metalhead pulls be back in, and a chunk of metal rips through my skin. I can feel the red-black goop dripping from my face. I must look like a mess. I twist around and throw a kick at the guy’s leg, and he trips and falls when I knock it from under him.

He lets go of my head, and I stumble to the opposite side of the cabin. These metalheads are giving me a run for my money. I grab onto something to keep me from wobbling around, but doing so makes a click sound, and the airship door flies open! Wrong lever!

By reflex, my wings flair out, and the wind throws me to the back of the cabin with a thud. My wings tuck back in, and I'm able to get up without a problem.

The metalhead gets up too, and we glare at eachother. I wipe the blood off my face, and he bends his neck to crack some bones. Now or never, pal.

He charges at me, and I charge at him. He throws his hooves at me, and I throw my claws. We lock together in the middle, claw grabbing hoof, hoof grabbing claw. We both see the door open, and we’re both trying to throw the other out. This guy is using his weight, and I’m trying to use my strength. We both waver under the other, but it doesn’t feel like the other will budge. Muscle against muscle, griffon against earthpony.

I got something he doesn’t, wings. My wings flare out, and the wind catches them and blows me away. The metalhead falls over with his balance gone and hits the floor hard. He doesn’t get control back before I do.

My wings fold back in and I kick the metalhead in the stomach as hard as I can. My kick sends the guy rolling across the floor and right over the edge of the door. The last thing I see of him is his hoof trying to grab onto something. Even with my superhearing, I can barely hear him scream over the sound of the airship’s engines.

I scoot back and lean up against the cabin wall. There, I did it. The only thing left between me and Eureka is that unicorn. I bet that unicorn has something else planned for me. That’s usually the case in the Mission Critical comic books. The bad guy always has a trap ready to go. I’ll deal with that later.

For now, I need to breathe. I’ve been fighting since I woke up. A break is appreciated.

Woo. The world is fading again. Sure, let it happen. I’ll take a random flashback now.

White lights, nurses running around…

“Three out of five, not bad.”

A spike of pain, a groan…

“I would’ve got all of them if the one guy didn’t kick me in the leg.”

A laugh, a friendly face…

“If you had more than an hour of training, you would know about your weak spots too.”

“I’m going to kick him in the dick next time I see him.”

A pause…

“You didn’t hear that.”

“Of course I didn’t. Anyways, I have good news for you.”

“What, I failed and I’m on Redzone patrol?”

“Even better, you’re part of the Dozer Squad now.”

Silcence…

“But, I didn’t beat all five.”

“True, but you still beat three trained Dozers senseless. That’s impressive in my book.”

“This is great! I won’t let you down sir!”

“Sure you won’t. But do me a favor.”

“What is it?”

“Get rid of the aviators.”

Hmm… I think that’s Fruit Punch’s memory. I guess that makes sense. I ate her, and I have her memories now. I hope she didn’t have any weird kinks. I’d hate to be turned on by a memory of looking at stuffed animals or something.

A high-pitched whine fills the air, and I open my eyes. It’s the purple unicorn, and he has one of those spell-stick things pointing at me. The inside of the tube is glowing bright.

“Do you think that’s going to kill me?” I ask. “These things have been hitting me all day, and I’m still alive.”

“Yes, I can see that,” the unicorn says. “But bolt-guns can shoot overcharged shots.”

I nod. “And I’ve been hit by a few of those too. Are you sure you want to take that chance?”

The unicorn looks at me for a moment. After that, the glow inside the tube dies down and the whine fades away. “I suppose not,” he says with a sigh.

I smirk. “And just like that, you’re giving up?”

The bolt-gun floats to the side and leans up against a wall. “I know when to fold when I have a bad hand. You can easily overpower me, and I would like to live another day instead of being consumed by you.”

I push myself onto my legs. “That’s humble of you. Now where’s Eureka?”

The unicorn nods to the side. Eureka is slumped against the cabin door, still unconscious. He has a new bandage on his leg, a much better one than the hackjob I did earlier. At least that’ll keep him alive for long.

I walk over to him and pick him up, flinging him over my back. I open the door to the outside, and the wind blows into my feathers. We’re still high above the city, but my wings are good enough to glide down. Finally, something today is going my way.

“Just so you know,” the unicorn says, “You’re doing more harm than good.”

Before I jump off the airship, I turn back and look at him. “I’m trying to find my friend, and Eureka knows where she is. How is that doing any harm?”

The unicorn shakes his head. “You're not looking at the bigger picture. All day, you’ve been killing the ponies who’ve been up close to the plague in attempt to stop it. Did you not stop and think about how much damage you’re doing.”

I huff at him. "Sure, I'm the monster here. Blackwatch has been doing its own damage the entire month. I’ve seen the Yellow Zone. I’ve seen what you do in your labs.”

The unicorn’s eyes narrow into slits. “But you haven’t seen the Red Zone.”

My eyes roll. “Sure I have. I’ve seen the street my sconeshop is on. That place is a warzone. I bet Blackwatch did that."

The unicorn’s lips twist into a snarl. “You have not seen the Red Zone.”

“Whatever.” I turn around and ready myself to jump. “Just don’t get in my way, and I’ll let you guys do your own thing.”

“We’re past that line, Gilda,” the unicorn says. “You’ve killed ponies, and you will answer for that.”

“In self-defense,” I say.

“I’m not talking about the ponies you’ve killed today.”

I stop just before I jump off. “What?”

“You’re responsible for all this, and you know it,” the unicorn says. “You have Eureka. Go. The next time we meet will be when you die, Gilda.”

"If that's what lets you sleep at night." That's enough of the mysterious unicorn. I jump out of the door and fall through the sky with Eureka on my back. My wings flare out and I glide across the city.

Me, responsible for all this? Meh, just some villain trying to get under my skin. He wants an excuse to kill me, that's it. I’d like to see that unicorn try to kill me. I’ll admit, I’ve come close to it a few times today, but I’m still breathing, aren’t I? He better bring some firepower next time we meet if he wants a chance.

Now that I got Eureka, it’s time to find Rainbow Dash. Well, I’ll find Rainbow Dash once he wakes up. Damn it Iffy, why did you have to knock him out?!

Author's Notes:

New Level Reached!

Level 17

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