The first thing I needed to do was find a fast and safe way back to the police station. I was pretty sure I could find a car or even a bike to help me get there quicker. A car would be better for safety, while a bike was ideal for traveling undetected. I looked around for a moment. The sky was still clear with the starts shining bright but then I saw the moon covering the sun and looking a sickly red color. I looked at the watch Octavia gave me. It was around one in the afternoon, but the sky was as dark as night. The street even looked almost exactly the same as when I had first arrived other than the unnatural nightly background, of course.

My thoughts returned to the fax I had just received. I still had no clue who sent the message, but I needed to know what they meant. The thought of me not being infected was comforting, but I had no idea what it meant for me. That crazy bitch might’ve infected me with something far worse. I continued looking around the street until I noticed something odd. There had been a barricade near the hospital separating the treble clef zone from the backward double quaver zone and another one separating both zones from the sparkle Xenomorph free route. The barricade separating the treble clef from the backward double quaver had been mysteriously destroyed. It looked as if a giant abominating monster truck had crashed into it and riddled the streets with its debris.

I pulled out the map I had taken from the police station and began to examine it. There were a few quick ways to get back to the police station. The first route was through another barricade and back into the long sparkle zone. The second route was through the broken barricade and into a backward double quaver zone. It wasn’t as slow as the sparkle route, but had a few more hazards. The third and final route went through a treble clef zone. It was the fastest route out of all of the routes, but also went through the zoo and had the most potential for danger.

The X.X.X. Plague, as the message called it, changed more than just humans. If my theory was correct, then there was a good chance that the zoo animals would be corrupted too, so it was easy to say that the treble clef zone was out of the question. The sparkle zone would take too long, so the only way left was the backward double quaver zone. I walked forward into the backward double quaver zone. As I walked, I tried to make the least amount of noise as possible so that I could hear anything coming around me. I walked about six blocks before I found a bicycle on the ground. I couldn’t help smiling at my stroke of luck. I examined it and fortunately for me, it was in great condition.

I took the bike and rode it as fast as I could. I saw a lot more Xenomorphs while traveling through the backward double quaver zone. They were clustered together in groups of thirty or less, that meaning twenty males and ten females. They didn’t seem to notice me, and I got away before they had a chance to. As I rode on, I noticed that there was an enormous area of clouds that had a reddish glow to them. It was ominously bright in contrast to the darker area I had just left. It didn’t look like the typical glow you would expect to see during a cloudy sunset. It looked more like the glow of an inferno. Whatever it was, it was too far away for me to think about it, and the sudden eclipse that actually looked eternal for the first time. There were way more important things to do anyway.

I was riding faster now. I was determined to arrive at the police station as fast as I could. I had a pretty good idea of the path I needed to take, so I was sure that I wouldn’t accidentally go into the treble clef zone or anything like that. It didn’t take long for me to reach the barricade connecting the two backward double quaver zones; it was also easier than I thought it would be. As I walked to the barricade, I noticed movement near the corner of the street. I quickly pulled out my berettas and aimed around looking for any sign of life. I waited carefully for a few seconds for anymore movement, but everything was still.

A faint noise of what sounded like flapping of wings occurred and a small gust of wind blew past my neck. A chill went down my spine. I heard a soft thud behind me with a soft grunt behind me as well. My eyes widened, and I was frozen in place. I had no idea what was behind me and had no way to retaliate. I was as good as dead. “Are you lost little one?” said a deep raspy voice from behind me.

I sighed in relief. “You scared me,” I said. I smiled at myself for being scared, as I turned around.

“Not many humans nor equines are brave enough to travel here alone.” I stood frozen in horror at the sight of the monstrosity that stood before me. Fear overwhelmed me. He was easily over twelve feet tall. His body was slightly skeletal but highly muscular. His skin was a sickly purple and his eyes were almost completely pitch black, with the exception of light purple pupils. He also had a pair of what looked like bat-like wings and a slitted bat nose. He had chains around his arms.

I turned around to run, but I knew it was pointless to do so. He threw the chain bound to his left hand towards me. It wrapped itself around my neck as if it could move by its own accord. He then flew and pulled me forward towards a street post and hooked his chain to it. He then pulled the chain until I was hanging above the street post. The cold chain was crushing my neck, I dropped my handguns in hopes of loosening the chain. I pulled as hard as I could, trying to breath in some fresh air. He actually looked like a living skeleton. He moved closer to me and began to sniff me. His eyes narrowed, and he release the chain. I fell to the ground, gasping for air as he approached me. I wasn’t sure what to expect now. He wasn’t just another Xenomorph; he was something a lot smarter and more dangerous.

“You have the look of a human and an equine, but I can sense something much stronger inside you,” he said. “Your appearance is still fair. That will change first.”

“Wh— What?” I said trying to catch my breath.

“You are a lot more than you once were,” he responded. “Just like them.” He pointed to a group of Xenomorphs that were roaming around the street.

”Oh no,” I thought. ”Is that what the woman injected with me with? Am I gonna to become a demon now too?”

I tried to relax so that I could process all of this information. After my mind was finally clear, I wondered what this demon was. “What are you?” I finally asked.

“I am a Plagasis,” he responded. His voice was as evil and harsh as before.

“So then you’re corrupted too?” I asked timidly.

“I’m not ’just’ corrupted,” he said with a little anger in his voice. “I am the X.X.X. Plague,” he said proudly. “And you—“ there was more rage and repulsion in his voice now, “you are nothing. You’re just a weak little parasite.” He stepped closer to me; I stepped back. “Now leave my home or I’ll tear you into pieces!”

I picked up my two handguns from the ground and then ran straight for the barricade. I tried to climb it as quickly as I could stumbling a little. When I reached the top, I turned back to see if the Plagasis was still there. He was gone.

I took a real moment to process what I just went through. The mysterious yet familiar woman had injected me with something, but most infected became Xenomorphs in a very short period of time. I was sure I was in the hospital with that fever for a long time. I should’ve looked like a Xenomorph by now shouldn’t I? People and ponies kept telling me that I wasn’t human anymore, but even now I still feel human.

My thoughts then shifted to the Plagasis. What the hell was he? What was the Plagasis before he was infected? He didn’t at all look like a pegasus because of the fact that he didn’t have any hooves at all. He looked like he had been human before his infection, but seemed to now despise humanity itself. He said that he “was the X.X.X. Plague.” What the hell did that mean? I didn’t know what to do. I shouldn’t see my friends if there was a chance I would turn into a demon and kill them all. Then again this isn’t the first time my friends saw me as a crazed she-demon. Then suddenly the memories of the fall formal started playing in my mind but I snapped myself back to reality. If I was I would put the whole police station in danger by going there but even then, I still needed to get the information from that person who faxed me. There weren’t many other things I could do, and I didn’t have the time to find any other choices. I would need to leave as soon as possible. I would go to the police station, get the information, and leave before anything bad happened. That way I could get what I needed, see how my friends were holding up, and keep them safe. It was the best plan that I could come up with. I knew it was the right choice.

I had to walk the rest of the way to the police station now. I forgot my bike when I went over the baricade and didn’t want to risk the Plagasis’s wrath if he was still around. ”No problem.” I thought to myself. I pulled out the map of the city and examined it again. I was close to the police station now. I just needed to cross a few more city blocks and another barricade and I would be in the sparkle zone near the police station. I put the map back in my pocket and walked forward. I stumbled upon a bunch of male Xenomorphs eating away at someone. I tried to walk past them, but there were even more males gathering around me. I pulled out my berettas and aimed for the xenos in my path. Bang! I shot away and almost instantly regretted doing so. The sound of the blast resonated and stole the attention of the group of busy Xenomorphs as well as a few pouncers nearby. I didn’t have enough bullets to defend myself for long, and if I tried, I would definitely be killed. My only chance for survival was to run.

I ran away as fast as I could to the sparkle zone. I narrowly avoided the Xenomorph pouncers’ grasping jumps and claws. Though I didn’t think much of it at the time, I noticed I was running longer and faster than ever before. I had easily sprinted through five city blocks without slowing down or even feeling tired. The Xenomorphs were fast but I was faster even if they broke into their quadrupedal sprint to be considered a threat now, but I kept running. I could easily get to safety with no problems if I kept running at this rate.

I had no idea why I could suddenly run so fast, but I had a feeling that the woman in the hospital knew something about it. ”I wonder what else I can do now?” I thought to myself. I ran towards a few parked cars and decided to see what else I could do. I jumped over the cars with ease. I started feeling tired and out of breath after a long while. I stopped near the final barricade to take a breath. From the corner of my eye, I saw Xenomorphs gathering nearby. I was still out of breath, but I could easily avoid them by getting through the barricade and into the sparkle zone. I didn’t think I had anything to worry about.

The sudden distant sound of howling sent an all too familiar sense of fear and dread through me. Gaining a new reason to get to safety, I jumped towards the barricade and climbed it as fast as I could. I had been lucky the last two times the wolves attacked, but this time I had nothing to stop them. I couldn’t out run them even with my new found speed. The sparkle zone’s barricade wouldn’t stop them either. I jumped down from the barricade and began running the moment my feet touched the ground. The barricade was about nineteen feet tall, but I didn’t feel any pain when I landed. The sparkle zone was completely deserted. It still looked like it had been untouched by the chaos on the other side of the barricade. It wasn’t going to stay that way for long however. I could hear the howling getting louder. I ran as fast as I could until I finally saw the safe iron cage the police station was surrounded by. I reached the gate, but it was locked. I turned back to the barricade in time to see three wolves jumping over it. I was panicking now. I jumped as high as I could, grabbed onto the iron bars of the gates, climbed the rest of the way, and jumped down to the police station courtyard. I sprinted to the door and knocked as hard as I could.

I turned back to the outside of the gate and watched as the wolves dashed forward. The police station’s door was opened slightly.

“Are you infected?” A voice asked bitterly.

“Let me in, there are wolves trying to kill me!” I shouted.

“Well that sounds like a personal problem,” said another voice.

“Oh to hell with this,” I said as I pushed the door open. I ran inside and locked the door as fast as I could. I stepped back and waited for the wolves to tear through the doors. Everyone inside the room backed away from me. One of the men raised his gun towards my face. I ignored them. I needed to stay focused. The howling started again, but this time, it was louder than it had before. I looked out one of the windows to see where the wolves had gone. They were waiting outside the gates. The bigger of the three wolves was the exact same one I saw it Applejack. It glared at me through the window. ”No fucking way,” I thought to myself. ”Does it recognize me?”

The largest wolf tensed its body as if preparing to dash forward. Bang! The loud sound of a gunshot echoed through the streets. The smaller wolves turned and prepared themselves to run. The larger wolf turned to see his companions run. He turned his head back towards my direction. He glared at me for a few more seconds then ran back over the barricade. I sighed loudly. “Are you infected?” asked the same irritated voice.

“No,” I replied. “Why do you think those things were chasing me? The corrupted don’t ever attack each other.”

“Well you could still be—“ she paused mid sentence. “Wait a minute. I know you. You’re one of the people that went with Octavia to deliver supplies.” Now that the wolves were gone, I finally had a chance to look at the people around me. The woman that was interrogating me was Vinyl.

“Are Octavia and Applejack here?” I asked.

“Octy’s here, but AJ stayed in one of the other outposts.” I sighed. Vinyl narrowed her eyes. “Wait a minute. Last I heard you were about to be killed by some crazy bitch?”

“I’ll explain everything when I see Octavia.”

“Alright.” Vinyl and I went past the red door and into the room that Octavia, Applejack, and I had slept in before our trip to the hospital. She led me through the hallway and into the room where Applejack and I had gotten the gear for the trip. There on the desk furthest away from the door, was Octavia Melody.

Octavia had her head buried in her hands as we approached. She didn’t seem to notice us. “Tavi? You okay?” I asked.

Octavia looked up at me. “Sweet Celestia! You’re alive!” Octavia said enthusiastically. She ran up to me and hugged me. “But How did you get out? How are you alive?” Her face changed from glad to serious. “Are you corrupted?”

I turned back to Vinyl. “Can you give us a moment?” I asked.

Vinyl then turned to her wife. “It’s okay darling,” Octavia said. “You go make sure everyone else is alright.” Vinyl nodded and gave Octavia a peck on the lips. “Oh and do you know anything about that gunshot I just heard outside?”

“I think one of the girls was training,” she answered. “Nothing special.” I shook my head in disbelief. No one in the police station will ever know how close they just came to being completely wiped out by the wolves.

We waited for Vinyl to leave before continuing our conversation. “I’m not corrupted,” I said. “but I don’t feel completely human or pony anymore either.”

“What do you mean?”

“After you and Applejack left the hospital, that psychopath injected me with this bizarre liquid.”

“Injected you?” Octavia looked away for a moment. “Have you gotten faster or stronger? Can you heal quicker?”

I was taken aback by the questions. “Yeah, I—I got faster, but how did you know?”

“Just had a hunch,” she said. “Tell me about everything that happened since we last saw each other.”

“Alright, but I should warn you it might not be pleasant.” I then told Octavia everything that happened after I had left the hospital up until our conversation now. Octavia listened quietly. I finished and waited for Octavia to respond. She stood up and walked towards the front of the room.

“So all of that happened in the last ten days we were separated?” Octavia asked.

”Ten days?!” I thought to myself. ”Only ten whole days?” I couldn’t believe it. It felt like I was stuck in the hospital for years. It couldn’t have been ten days only.

“Sunset?”

“Ten days?” I asked slowly.

I looked back to Octavia. “Yeah, all that happened ten days ago. There’s some other stuff you should know too. New demons have been popping out of nowhere. It’s gotten so bad that the regular Xenomorphs aren’t even an important threat anymore. There were originally twenty six outposts, but now there are only three.”

“My god.” I whispered in disbelief. The sound of a fax machine printing something interrupted me before I had a chance to ask Octavia how the outposts fell. The fax machine was on the corner of the desk Octavia had been sitting on. I grabbed the two papers the fax machine printed out and began reading it.

I know that you must have a ton of questions for me, but I am afraid that I cannot answer them at this time. I am busy working on a suppressant for the X.X.X. Plague. The woman who infected you was a researcher working on the X.X.X. Plague. She unknowingly injected you with another experimental substance. I believe that the very same substance is the key for my project to work. I will give you the directions to my exact location. I fortunately have answers for a few questions you must have. Use the police station to stock up for your journey. I will be waiting here for you.

The second paper contained directions and a map to the location of the mysterious person’s hideout. I needed some provisions if I was going to go back into Canterlot again. “Tavi,” I said. “I need some supplies. I’m going back out there.”

What?—Why?”

“There’s someone out there that knows what’s happening to me. He said I can help him fight the X.X.X. Plague.”

“How can you do that?” Octavia asked.

“I don’t know,” I replied. “But I just can’t wait here to be rescued like everyone else.”

Octavia’s expression turned grim. “I’m not sure we’re going to be rescued.” I stared at Octavia for a seemingly endless moment. She met my gaze and continued. “We haven’t gotten a single word from the outside yet. I don’t know how, much less ’why,’ but somehow this entire city is being neglected.”

I’m sure that there’s a reason for that too. I think this person might have some answers.”

Octavia looked at me for a moment. “Okay, I’m in,” she said.

“No way. You’re not coming with me. Someone needs to stay here and keep the outpost from falling apart like the others.”

“They’re plenty of cops here to keep everyone safe now,” Octavia said. “And besides you don’t know what’s out there. I on the other hand do. I can help you get there safely.”

Octavia made a good argument. “Fine,” I said reluctantly. “Be out in twenty.” Octavia nodded and walked out of the room. I sat down on the nearest seat I could find and began thinking about what might happen if we went back out. Most of the scenarios I made up in my mind were pretty grim. After a few moments I gave up thinking about the future and put my head down on the table.

After a few moments of resting, I started to feel a bit hungry. I left the room to get some food from one of the vending machines near the front of the police station. I found the now broken vending machine and began eating some of the food inside.

Vinyl grabbed my attention after I finished. “Hey there Sunny,” she said. “Octy wanted me to tell you that she’s waiting outside with everything ready.”

“Thanks Vinyl.” I extended my hand to Vinyl. “I’ll be back soon.”

She grabbed my hand then shook it. “You better,” she said. “There’s still some stuff that you need to do for us ya know.”

I chuckled. “I’ll do what I can. Good luck here,” I said. Vinyl nodded.

“Oh hey Sunset,” Vinyl said.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“Promise me to take good care of Octy. She means everything to me.”

“Don’t worry, I will.” I opened the door and walked back out into the courtyard. It looked almost the same as when I left with Octavia and Applejack on our delivery job. I passed by two manticore statues and continued walking to the streets.

Octavia was in a police car right outside the gate. She waved at me and I waved back. “You ready?” she asked.

“Yeah Let’s go.” I ran to the front passenger seat of the car and got in. Octavia wasn’t in her police uniform anymore; instead she was wearing a black tuxedo with white dress pants. “Where’s your uniform?

“I gave them back to Vinyl,” Octavia said. “Can I see the directions?” I handed Octavia the second fax paper. She studied it for a long moment. She sighed heavily, started the car, and drove us away from the police station.

“So you know how to get there?” I asked.

“So you guys decided to start ignoring me?” said a familiar voice from the backseat. I looked back and saw Twilight smiling. “Miss me?”

“Twilight!” I said enthusiastically. “What’re you doing here?”

“You need all the help you can get don’t you?”

“Xenomorph expert to the rescue,” I said mockingly.

“We’re not dealing with regular Xenomorphs anymore.” Octavia said grimly.

“Yeah, where’re we going anyway?” Twilight asked.

“If the directions that Sunset gave me are correct, then we’ll be heading into the middle of the Infernobraze.”

“The Infernobraze?” I asked. Twilight and Octavia both stayed quiet.

“What’s the Infernobraze?”

“It’s better if you see it for yourself Sunny,” Twilight said. We continued to drive in silence. I noticed that the sky was beginning to look slightly red. It was the same section of sky I’d passed on my back to the police station. The closer we got the brighter the red glow became.

I noticed large fires spread in certain areas of Canterlot. The fires were tall and seemed to constantly breathe into the sky. The buildings themselves looked much different than they ever were before. I”s this the Infernoland?” I thought to myself. There was another barricade seprerating the Infernoland from the sparkle zone. Octavia stopped the car right in front of the barricade. It must have been the entrance.

“What the hell,” I whispered.

“Let’s go,” Octavia said.

“What’s in there?” I asked.

“You’re about to find out for yourself,” Twilight said indefinitely. I had a feeling that neither of them wanted to talk about it anymore. We all got out of the car and walked to the barricade. Twilight was carrying a large bag that was probably filled with the supplies I requested.

We climbed to the top of the barricade. I looked back to the sparkle zone for a moment then I turned around. “Ladies and mares,” Octavia sighed heavily. “Welcome to the Infernobraze.”

Next Chapter: Chapter 7: The Inferno’s Kiss Estimated time remaining: 6 Hours, 24 Minutes