Pinkie Pie's Pinkie Sense wasn't working right.

Whatever those scientists had done to her had some rather... strange effects. Pinkie Pie didn't really know how her Sense worked before - she had assumed it was instinctual - but it always felt like a part of her.

Now?

Now it was something different, something completely alien.

Nothing twitched, nothing itched, nothing wobbled, shook, or otherwise reacted with any kind of sporadic body movement.

No.

Now it was all in the mind - in her mind - changing and twisting her thoughts and feelings. Yes, she was still the fun loving, party throwing, pastry baking mare her friends had come to know and love. Yes, she still loved each and every one of her friends in turn and would do anything to see them smile.

Yes she was still Pinkie Pie.

And that was the problem.

Ever since she had woken up - an excruciating experience for the pink mare - she had found that she was willing to do a lot of things she would have never even given the tiniest thought to before, even at the lowest points in her life. She was scared, she was alone, and she wanted - needed to find her friends. And much to her initial horror, she was willing to carve her way through countless ponies to do it.

That was where her new Pinkie Sense shined.

Whereas before she would get random physical cues that she had to interpret, now it told her things.

Things about ponies.

It told her how to break them, tear them down, physically and mentally - often in the cruelest way possible. In many ways, it was less a Sense and more a Voice in the back of her mind. Pinkie Pie wasn't a pony that entertained hate. She had only experienced once in her life, and it was not by choice.

Sure, she was hurt and angry that day she thought her friends were abandoning her, but that wasn't hate.

That was hurt and anger.

She didn't like hate, she didn't like to see it, and she would normally do everything she could to turn a pony's frown upside down.

Pinkie Pie absolutely despised the Voice in her head.

She couldn't deny it, nor would she. Her unknown situation, this virus she was infected with, the abilities that it gave her, the ponies she killed and consumed.

This all took a back seat to the intense hatred she felt for the Voice. It told her to do horrible things, and she found herself listening more often than not. Despite this, she couldn't feel any self-loathing for her ill deeds.

Of course she couldn't.

The Voice wouldn't allow it.

So she focused her hate on the only other thing that deserved it. Eventually she began using her hate to keep the Voice at bay, and it worked... most of the time.

In the meantime the only thing she could do was put on a facade of her usual cheer and pray that suppressing the Voice would get easier once she found her friends.

All of these thoughts ran through the pink mare's mind as she made her way up the several flights of stairs she had stumbled upon during her trek through the halls of the main building.

At the top of the steps was a small hallway with a single door at the end. There was a red sign on the wall next to the staircase that had an arrow pointing to the door at the end of the hall and the words 'MAIN BUILDING ROOF' printed in white.

Pinkie looked from the sign to the door and back to the sign again. After a moment, she shrugged and walked the rest of the way to the door.

Who knows, maybe the girls are waiting for me at the top.

She reached the doorway and pushed open the door, revealing what would've been a breathtaking sunset...

...had it not been for the massive airship hovering overhead and blotting out the sun.

Pinkie Pie stared at the behemoth of a ship in complete silence for a full minute before she tilted her head and raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"...How long has that been here?"

She watched in bemusement as the giant ship slowly drifted it's way closer to the annex building. It stopped on one side and it was just high enough - and big enough - that Pinkie could make out a large hatch slowly opening in the bottom. Her confusion turned to worry and she trotted closer to the edge of the roof to get a better view.

"I've got a baaaad feeling about this..." she muttered to herself as she stared up at the opening hatch.

Her eyes widened in surprise and horror as a huge silvery... monkey thing dropped out of the fully open hatch and impacted the ground with an audible thud that Pinkie could hear even from where she was.

Before she could make sense of the giant silver monster it's single glowing blue 'eye' flashed briefly and it turned to the building next to it. Pinkie looked on as it dialed back a massive arm and slammed it into the building, busting right through the wall as if it wasn't even there.

Pinkie thought she could hear a scream reach her ears, but it was so quiet she couldn't be sure.

That is, until the thing pulled it's arm out of the building with a familiar yellow pegasus in it's fist.

"No."

She was certain she heard that scream now, and it was very familiar.

"No."

Though she couldn't see her all that well from her vantage point, Pinkie Pie was absolutely certain of who that pony was.

"NO!"

With no thought other than to save her screaming friend, Pinkie crouched low as several small tendrils flailed and coiled about her legs.

"I DON'T THINK SO, BUSTER!"

With a snarl, Pinkie launched herself off the roof and towards the metal monstrosity at a speed and height that would've been impossible for any pony that wasn't a pegasus... or Rainbow Dash.

"NOW YOU GET TO DEAL WITH PINKIE!"

"Okay, so ah get that we were infected with some sort o' virus and it messed with our minds an' bodies an' whatnot," Applejack said, nodding her head in understanding, "that much ah understand, an' it also explains why ah can put a pony down fer good without battin' an eye."

She shook her and furrowed her brow, looking at Rainbow Dash, "What ah don't understand is why. Who did this to us an' why? Why make us into these... these... killin' machines?"

Rainbow didn't speak for a moment as she tried to recall the conversation she and Twilight had when she came to after seeing Asger's memories.

"I don't know why we got turned into... whatever we are now," she finally said as they trotted down some stairs, "but right before we got attacked by that giant airship, Twilight told me who it was that did this to us."

"And who was it?"

Rainbow turned to Applejack with a look of bemusement as she answered.

"She said it was Luna."

Applejack returned Rainbow Dash's confused expression with one of her own.

"Now that don't make a lick o' sense," she after a second of stunned silence, "why would Princess-"

"Ah, remember, AJ," Rainbow interjected with a sardonic tone, "she's a queen now."

Applejack rolled her eyes, "why would Queen Luna of all ponies do somethin' like this?"

"Dunno," Rainbow Dash replied with a shrug, "I think Twilight was gonna tell me, but then the airship showed up and-"

"TWILIGHT, MOVE!"

Rainbow's ear flickered and she turned to Applejack.

"Did you-"

The two snapped their heads upward as a muffled explosion sounded from somewhere above them.

"What in tarn-"

"FLUTTERSHY!"

Rainbow Dash didn't hesitate.

Without so much as a word to Applejack, she flew back up the stairs and out of sight before the cowpony could even blink. Applejack stood there for a few seconds, stunned at the sudden exit of her cyan friend before she sighed and shook her head.

"Darn it, Rainbow..."

She looked up at the ceiling, then down to her hooves with a thoughtful frown. After a moment she lifted a hoof and her entire foreleg dissolved into a mass of tendrils as she looked back to the ceiling - her thoughtful frown turning to one of determination.

"Ah think ah got a better idea."

It hurt.

It hurt so much she couldn't stand it.

The only thing she could do was scream and scream and scream as the giant fist wrapped itself around her.

Somewhere in her mind she was aware of her friends calling out to her, but she couldn't bring herself to care about anything other than the pain.

Why? she thought as continued to writhe in agony, why does it hurt so much? Why did have to be me?

She knew why.

Of course she did.

She brought this on herself to protect one of her precious friends - to spare them from the pain.

It was the right thing to do.

It was the kind thing to do.

Rarity would've even said it was the generous thing to do.

That was just it though, wasn't it? Kindness and generosity tended to go hoof in hoof - not that any of that mattered just then.

All that mattered was the pain, and getting away from it. Unfortunately she couldn't break free of the monster's vice-like grip, nor did she have the mind to call out to her friends. In a word, she was helpless.

Again.

No amount of Stares could help her out of this situation and through all of the pain, she suddenly found herself not wanting to rely on her friends to save her. She wanted out of this situation.

And she wanted it now.

She wanted the pain to stop, she wanted to show her friends and this thing that she wasn't a pony it could mess with. She wanted to smash it, to crush it, to let everypony know she wasn't just some timid little weakling that couldn't take care of herself or her friends.

So lost in her thoughts was Fluttershy, that she didn't notice as the pain began to ebb and replace itself with adrenaline. She didn't notice as she began to shake violently and clench her teeth so hard she would've drawn blood, had she been a normal pony. She never saw the small pink dot in the distance grow closer and closer with each passing second.

She didn't even notice as the world around her gradually began to redden.

"Twilight, darling," Rarity asked backing away from the smiling mare, "are you... feeling okay?"

Rather than snswer, Twilight held up a hoof as she continued to stare at the golem. To Rarity, it seemed like she was waiting for something to happen. She was about to ask as much when Twilight suddenly spoke.

"She should be dropping in any second, now..."

Rarity blinked.

"Who-"

Something small, pink, and screaming slammed into the golem's head, sending it reeling backwards.

Several things happened at once after that.

As the giant began to tumble over, a rainbow colored blur shot past the two unicorns and smashed into the arm holding Fluttershy. The impact caused the golem to drop the yellow pegasus and she was swept up by the blur before she even began to fall.

As that happened, the floor near Rarity exploded outward as a large black tendril shot up from below, causing the white mare to cry out and backpedal in surprise. The tendril began to shrink as it descended to the floor and Rarity could make out an orange hoof peeking over the edge of the newly made hole in the floor. The tendril itself shrank back down to another orange hoof as the mare it was attached to pulled herself out of the hole.

"Land sakes," Applejack exclaimed as she stood up and adjusted her Stetson, "that was a mite more difficult than ah thought it'd be."

"A-Applejack?" Rarity stuttered in bewilderment, "Where did you even - when did-"

"Incoming."

Applejack and Rarity turned to Twilight just in time to see her sidestep a flying pink missile as it slammed into the wall behind them. They both winced at the impact but Twilight seemed unconcerned for the most part.

"It's good to see you again, Pinkie," Twilight said giving the pink mare embedded in the wall a warm smile.

"Hiya, Twilight!" Pinkie cried happily, waving as much as she was able given her current situation, "Hey Applejack, Rarity!" she turned back to Twilight with a quizzical frown, "wow, Twilight, you seem... different," she narrowed her eyes, "yyyep. You're definitely looking a lot more sinister than the last time I saw you."

It was then that Rainbow Dash flew in carrying Fluttershy.

"Hey, girls," Rainbow greeted distractedly before turning to Twilight, "Twilight, you gotta..." she stopped mid sentence as she noticed Twilight's patient smile and jet black eyes, "Oh, Celestia not again."

"It's good to see you too, Rainbow," Twilight greeted in response, before turning to a quietly shaking Fluttershy. She looked the yellow pegasus over briefly before her smile widened with something akin to anticipation.

"Well," she said turning her gaze from Fluttershy, to the still recovering golem, and back to Rainbow and the rest of the girls, "you girls may want to take a few steps back," she turned back to Fluttershy with that same anticipatory smile as she backed away the mare.

"Our sweet, innocent little Fluttershy is about to show us something... very interesting."

Her statement was met with looks of bewilderment and after a second Rainbow Dash spoke up.

"Twi, what the hay are you talking about?" she asked incredulously. She gestured to Fluttershy, "I was gonna ask if you knew what was wrong with her. When I rescued her from whatever that thing is, she was-"

"GRAAAAAAHHH!!!"

Every single pony flattened their ears as Fluttershy abruptly raised her head and roared to the sky. The sheer force of the scream was enough to shake the debris loose from the broken walls. In her current state, the entirety of Twilight's eyes were a pitch black, but otherwise she remain relatively unchanged.

Fluttershy's sudden transformation was a very noticeable thing.

Her eyes blazed a furious red, her teeth had grown to something resembling gleaming white daggers, and her coat, mane, and tail were ragged and unkempt.

In a word, she looked completely feral.

Before any of the girls could react, she shot towards the golem, leaving a sizable crater and four very stunned mares in her wake. They all watched with equal parts awe, horror, and - in Twilight's case - hidden glee as the raging pegasus smashed a blackened hoof into the golem's face with the force of a freight train.

Every pony present could feel the resulting boom of the impact vibrate through their bodies. The golem itself staggered, but didn't fall. Fluttershy screamed again and went in for another haymaker. Unfortunately the metal giant had learned from its mistake and - with a speed that shouldn't have been possible with its size - it dodged to the side and brought up its own fist, knocking Fluttershy out of the sky and into the wall of the annex building just below where the other girls were standing.

That snapped everypony out of their shock stupor.

"Hang on, Fluttershy!" Rainbow cried flying into the fray.

"Woooow," Pinkie commented after a moment, "I didn't know Fluttershy had it in her."

"Fluttershy's sudden and... terrifying transformation aside," Rarity said, looking to each of the remaining ponies, "what are we going to do now?"

"Isn't it obvious, Rarity?" Twilight answered, pulling Pinkie from the wall, "we follow Fluttershy's example and take the golem down," she wiped some debris off of Pinkie before stepping closer to the edge of the opening.

She observed Rainbow's attempt to distract the metal giant while Fluttershy recovered for a few moments before turning back to the rest of the girls with a smile overflowing with the tempered confidence of a leader.

"We'll never get out of this place as long as that thing is standing our way, so we have to destroy it. We were given the power to do so, even if we didn't ask for it," she looked back to the golem as she spoke, "we are what we are, and unless we find some sort of cure, I don't think we're changing back anytime soon, so we may as well get used to it."

She turn her head to glance at the other mares out of the corner of her eye.

"Earlier I told Rarity we were made to fight and kill. That's what I had assumed Luna wanted from us and maybe I'm right about that... but I don't accept that and neither should you."

She turned to face the opening and tendrils sprouted from the bottom of her hooves and coiled themselves around her legs.

"Like it or not, we're not ponies anymore, we're viruses. And like viruses, we'll survive and adapt."

She stepped off the ledge.

Author's Notes:

I know I said this chapter was gonna be the showdown between the golem and the Mane 6 and I apologize that it wasn't, but like with the flashback chapter, I don't regret the direction I took instead because I felt it was necessary.

Feel free to disagree, it's all good. I'll take your comments, question, and complaints and hold them close so keep em' coming.

Anyway the next chapter will be the final chapter in what I guess I'll call the Facility Arc.

This time it's a promise.