The Q&A went… not as bad as I thought. A kid would ask a question, I’d give my answer, “Above the clouds, a bale of hay last I checked, it’s fun to make clicky sounds with, very fast, like me,” we’d move on, and so on and so forth. I won’t admit it, but Pinkie was a little right. I am enjoying myself.

Of course some of my answers don’t reflect this morning’s events, but that doesn’t matter. These kids want to know about griffons, not pony-eating monsters, and I’m happy to keep it that way.

The colt who’s the most enthusiastic about the subject of griffons is Iffy Sniff, the green pegasus who started all this. He’s trying to stay quiet so the other kids get a chance to ask something, but he keeps squirming in his seat as the questions go around the circle. He has something he’s dying to say, but rules are rules and Ms. Pinkie over here won’t be happy if he speaks out of turn. All that fidgeting reminds me of Rainbow Dash back in flight school. She couldn’t keep still whenever she wanted to give a piece of her mind. And now Iffy Sniff is channeling my old friend’s spirit.

On another note, there’s a buzzing sound in my ear and I can’t pin down what it is. I think it’s a mosquito, but it's a deeper sound and it won’t go away. I hope someone swats that bug soon or I’m going to go berserk!

The Q&A circle comes to an end, and Iffy can’t be more relieved. I could end it here, but I’m actually enjoying myself too much. It’s going to start back at him, and that’s when he’ll get to say his piece.

The last filly asks her question. I point at Iffy before Pinkie Pie ends it. The kid's going to wet himself if he doesn't talk. Let the show go on. “And what do you want to know?”

Iffy leaps into the air with a big dumb smile, almost as big and dumb as Pinkie Pie’s.

“Have you ever killed someone?” he asks.

“I… uh…” Wow, that came out of nowhere. All the kids are giving him funny looks and Pinkie Pie's jaw is down on the floor. It's dead silent other than the buzzing sound.

Yeah, about twenty blue eyes this morning. They tried murdering me and I’ve been slicing them up since. But I’m not about to say that. I scratch the back of my head as I try to think up an answer. “That’s… uh…”

Is that buzzing getting louder? That’s one big mosquito.

Pinkie Pie jumps in to save my flank. “We’re going to skip that one. It’s not an appropriate question to ask somepony.”

But the little rascal won’t give it up. “I heard the Blackwatch guys talking about a rampaging griffon. It’s been going around the city chopping them up! Is it you? Have you been offing those jerks?”

Do I have a fanclub now? That’s would be awesome, if the president wasn’t a small colt out for blood. On one claw, there's a kid who thinks I'm doing something right. On the other claw, I’m not sure if I want kids cheering me on. I'm slicing ponies up and eating their bodies. That’s kind of messed up.

Seriously, where is that buzzing coming from? Give me a fly swatter and I’ll end it now!

“Iffy, I said that’s not an appropriate question. If you can’t think of something nicer to ask, then we’ll be skipping you.” Wow, I remember Pinkie having hyperactive-everything-is-smiles-and-joy as her only setting. Now she’s doing this momma-is-serious-check-your-privilege shtick. This is off-putting.

I think she says something else, but I don’t hear her. It’s the buzzing. The buzzing overtakes her voice. It’s all I here before something far away goes boom. And now the buzzing sound is gone. Odd.

Iffy Sniff’s smile fades away and he sits down. Pinkie Pie points a hoof, and the filly next to him asks her question. Her mouth moves, but I don’t hear what she says. In fact, I can’t hear anything, not even the buzzing, except… Is that growling, like a bear growling? I can hear growling in the distance. It’s a bunch of bears growling. Why am I only hearing growling and not the buzzing?

Wait, the force in my head is acting up. I turn to the direction it’s pulling me towards, which is to the tent entrance. The growling is coming from that direction.

Heartbeats, lots of heartbeats. The kids are muttering to themselves about what the griffon is doing. Is staring off into the distance normal for bird-lions? Some are looking the same direction I am.

A distant scream. Pinkie Pie is looking at the entrance too. Her smile isn’t there. Her ear is twitching. The heartbeats are getting closer.

Sirens go off. Now everyone is looking that way. The kids are getting restless. Something is wrong. What’s going on?

The unicorn doctor I talked to earlier pokes her hear out of the tent, then breaks into a sprint towards our group. “Infected!” she screams, “There’s infected outside! They’re coming!”

Infected?

Pinkie Pie springs up on her feet. “We need to go!” She says this more to the kids than to me, but I get the message. She’s freaking out and is getting the colts and fillies up and running. “Where’s the exit?” Her eyes dart in every direction. “We need to get out of here now!”

The growls and heartbeats are near, very near. They’re getting closer. They’re coming towards us!

The front of the tent bursts open and a crowd of ponies tumbles in, except they’re not regular ponies. They’re growling and yelling and moving like a swarm of insects. The Infected, I presume.

They got red growths all over them, their coats are either patchy or missing, their skin is red and falling off, and their faces are twisted beyond recognition. These aren’t ponies, they’re monsters. And they’re all making a mad dash towards us!

“That’s the only exit,” the doctor cries. “There’s no way out.”

From the way those infected mouths are frothing, and from how fast they’re coming at us, I’d say they’re very hungry monsters. The mob’s running over the bed cots and tearing up the tent behind them. A few stop to wake the ponies who were sleeping in those cots. I can hear their screams as they’re violently torn apart by these… growlers. That’s not a pleasant sound.

Metal rips plastic as my big monster claws shreds the tent wall. “Everyone, get out,” I shout, pointing at the fresh hole. I don’t have enough time to see the kids go. I got business to attend to!

I jump over the colts and fillies and dive straight into the mob. The nearest growler gets a big serving of scythes to the face before he gets a chance to chow down on a tiny blue colt. A couple of the kids behind me scream, but I don’t care about that right now.

More are coming. I grab one of the cots and use it to wail on the encroaching hoard. Swing, swing, swing, I knock away everything in my range. There’s blood flying everywhere as I tear through these monsters and crush their bones. Swing, swing, snap, the cot breaks in half as it cracks the skull of a growler dressed as a mailmare. The cot didn’t last long, but at least I gained ground with it.

An infected pony in a business suit lunges at me and takes a deep bite in my arm. The bite doesn’t hurt, but it's trying to eat me! My free claw grabs the pony and tears it apart. Another jumps on top of me and shoves me to the ground. Its tearing at my scalp with its teeth, and before I can fend it off another jumps on top of me, then another pins my claw down, and another is gnawing on my tail. They’re tearing me apart!

Behind me, I can see the doctor mare’s horn glowing bright pink as she’s holding the infected off. Behind her, Pinkie Pie is holding the hole open for the kids to get through. I can hear her yelling at them to move. I’d hate to see what the infected could do to all those kids.

These growlers keep piling on top of me. What happened to my super strength? I want to knock these guys into tomorrow! Only one of my wings is free, and I’m using it to smack away the growlers who want to chew on that. Stop trying to bite my wing, I need that!

Hold on, my wing is free. I wonder…

With the same flexing I’ve been using with my claws, I command the worms in my body to go to my wings! I can feel them morph into goopy flesh blobs, and then metal blades shoot out of where my primary feathers should be. Awesome, I got a wing-claw!

My wing thrashes around in every direction I can think of. At first I get nothing but air, and then I nick something in the side. A little more thrashing and the wing rips the growler sitting on my arm into tiny little pieces.

With my arm free, I slash apart the one chewing on my skull, and then the growler on my back, and then all the others who want to take a bite out of me! It’s raining guts and blood on top of me, but I don’t care, I’m freeing myself! Slash, slash, slash, the rest of them are gone. I get up and give the one biting my tail a swift kick to the noggin. I send the thing flying into another infected, and they both turn to goop from the force. There we go, free at last!

I flick away the last one biting at my leg and take a look around. The area is clearing up, but there’s still growlers ramming up against the doctor’s shield. I jump in the air and pounce on top of one of the infected at the back of the mob, slicing up the thing into tiny giblets when I land.

Pinkie has a horrified look on her face. My blade-talon flicks a piece of pony goop off my shoulder, and then I turn to slash up a growler next to me. The tentacles decide to shoot at this moment and eat the infected up. The monster pony melts into me, and Pinkies face twists further into the dark realm of disgust and horror.

I shrug at her. “What? I’ve been doing this all morning.”

Iffy Sniff is the last kid to get out. He keeps watching me with his jaw dropped and eyes wide open. Pinkie has to shove him out of the hole before she slips out of the tent behind him. The doctor nods, drops her shield, and lets me take care of the last infected before slipping out. That’s the last of the healthy ones. I run after them, slashing my wing-claws and my claw-claws through the remaining mob before popping out of the tent myself.

The fresh air feels… eh. The air actually feels quite stuffy out here. Not as stuffy as the inside of that tent, but I’m not taking a pleasant stroll in this weather.

We’re in the middle of the shanty town and the group is heading down a central road. I see Pinkie Pie following the group of kids, and the doctor unicorn is leading them. Iffy Sniff keeps dashing ahead, but he falls back to wave at me and cheer. Kid, I like you, and I think you’d make a great new Rainbow Dash, but ignore me, fly away, and save yourself!

As I chase after the kids, I look back to see if the infected are coming after us. There are growlers walking around the side of the tent, but they’re aimlessly wandering about with no real direction. Some of them seem to be running opposite from us. Huh, I guess I scared those ones off. Problem solved!

Now I hear crackling, and it’s coming from up ahead. Crackling, buzzing, heartbeats, it must be a super-hearing power. I guess that’s cool. It’s another one to add to the list. But here’s the question, what’s the crackling sound?

The doctor is about to reach the end of the road, but before she does so, a squad of Blackwatch goons runs out from an alley and blocks the group off. The doctor skids to a halt, and the kids bunch up right behind her. Pinkie Pie almost trips from the sudden stop. Iffy Sniff flies over the doctor, but retreats when the horns and spells start glowing.

Yippee, new problem.

“Don’t you dare move!” one of the blue-eyes barks. “If any of you so much as twitch we’ll gun you down!”

“There’s infected behind us!” The doctor cries out. “And these are just kids! You got to let us by!”

“And how do I know none of you are infected too?” the blue-eye shouts back. The doctor shrinks as the squad aims their spells on her. “I’m not letting any of you by. This area is quarantined and that’s final!”

“They’re with me, soldier,” I say as my body finishes shape-shifting into Sergeant Sweet Tooth. I don’t know how I did it, but I switched back to the old blue-eye I ate earlier. I guess it’s a reflex thing. My voice cackles with an electric buzz I assume comes from the face-masks. “I’m escorting them to a safe location, away from any present danger.”

I know I can slice these guys up. However, there are kids watching and if a fight breaks out a stray spell can hit them. Those spell bolts don’t do crap to me, but I have no clue what they can do to the average pony. Better play this safe.

“Bullshit,” the blue-eye says. “We’re dealing with a damn outbreak! This is an all-hooves on deck operation! No one gets out of this area.”

I walk around the kids, who are huddling behind the doctor. Iffy Sniff is looking all around for something. He’s probably searching for his favorite griffon. Don’t worry bud, I’m right here. “I got my orders,” I say as I walk between the group and the squad. “These kids are to be escorted out of the area. Are you trying to interfere with command?”

If the blue-eye didn’t have a face-mask on, I bet I would see his eyes narrowing into slits. The other blue-eyes still have their spells pointing at the kids. One word from this guy and they’re all toast. Seriously, get out of our way dude. Those infected dweebs are too close behind us for comfort. “Where’s the rest of your squad?” he asks.

“They’re back there fighting off the infected, just like everyone else.” I add a little growl to my voice for intimidation points. “Now out of my way, unless you want command hearing about this.”

The blue-eye blocks my way with a shoulder. “Are you deserting your position? Everyone is ordered to maintain a perimeter, and that perimeter is around the quarantine zone, not outside it. What is your identification?”

I could slice this guy up. I’d rather not, but I could. “Sergeant Sweet Tooth. Now get out of my way, or I’ll make way.”

He doesn’t budge. Instead, he reaches for his chest and touches his little box with the little green light. “Yellow Light, this is Sergeant Keen Eye of Keeper 0-2-1. I’ve got a Sergeant Sweet Tooth who claims he’s escorting civilians out of the quarantine perimeter. I need confirmation.”

His little box crackles to life. “Keen Eye, this is Yellow Light. Sergeant Sweet Tooth was last seen assisting Patient Zero. He is wanted for the murder of his squad. Detain the Sergeant and maintain position.”

But I didn’t… Oh right. Back at the apartment, they saw Sweet Tooth with a griffon leaving the building. They think Sweet Tooth was helping me. Son-of-a-bison, this backfired!

Keen Eye’s horn flares up, and so do the other blue-eyes. “Everyone, hit the deck,” the blue-eye shouts. The blue-eyes wave their spells around, and everyone behind me gets their bellies on the floor. “You are all under arrest for assisting a known criminal!” His blue goggles look me right in the eyes. “We found ourselves a traitor.”

I check behind me, and the infected are wandering towards us. We don’t have time for this crap! “Don’t do this Keen-Eye, it’s not what you think.”

“Shut up! You killed your squadmates! You got your head up your ass if you think you can weasel your way out of this mess!” He glances around me and looks at the group behind. “And you got kids involved! What are you doing with them? You’re turning them into little terrorists, aren’t you?”

“Now you’re just making shit up, you damn”- His glare cuts me of. I shouldn’t be antagonizing him at the moment. “Sergeant, I’m just taking these kids to safety. If you-”

“No! And I said get on the floor!”

His magic grabs my body and tries to shove me down, but I don’t budge. I can’t tell if he’s surprised underneath the mask, but his voice doesn’t sound happy about it.

“So you got an anti-spell charm on you too. You’re asking for an execution, buddy. I should shoot you down right now.”- His head tilts down and aims his horn at my throat –“You’re just as evil as that damn griffon!”

One way or another, this won’t end well. If a fight breaks out, I want it to be on my terms. I drop my disguise and shape shift back into my regular griffon self. The other blue-eyes turn their heads at my sudden transformation. As a griffon, I tower over Keen Eye, who’s a full head shorter than me. My eyes narrow and the blue-eye shrinks back. His horn even fizzles out.

“Are you sure I’m the evil one,” I hiss. “Now let us go.”