Rainbow Dash snorted and narrowed her eyes at the muscled griffon.

"You wanna see an abomination, tough guy?" she growled in a low voice, "I'll show you an abomination."

She crouched low and spread her wings. Tendrils swarmed her feathers and her wings extended further out - each feather elongated into deadly black whip-like limbs with miniature scythes at the ends.

Twilight held back and observed the situation with a worried frown. She glanced at her battle ready friend, then at the griffon, trying to gauge his reaction. The other griffons and ponies further back had visibly tensed - the majority of them readying their weapons.

The large griffon who had stepped forward remained relaxed and impassive - at least at first glance. Upon closer inspection, Twilight could see a small smile playing across his beak and his ice blue eyes held a hint of... eagerness in them.

It made Twilight uneasy.

"Well?" Rainbow yelled out in a challenging tone, "got nothing to say, tiny?"

"Wait a minute, Rainbow," Twilight muttered, holding out a hoof, "I don't like this... I think he's up to something."

Rainbow Dash scoffed, "Oh, come on, Twi, look at him! That small smirk on his face, I know that smirk. I've worn that smirk. He's just arrogant," she took an aggressive step forward - scythed whips waving menacingly overhead, "and it's gonna cost him... big time."

"Listen to me, Rainbow Dash," Twilight hissed, moving to stand in front of Rainbow, "I'm telling you, something's not right," she briefly glanced back at the griffon - who seemed to be perfectly content to let them talk amongst themselves - before turning back to Rainbow Dash.

"He obviously knows - at least to some degree - what we're capable of," she whispered, "and judging by their little welcome party, they were definitely expecting us. With all that in mind, don't you think it's a little strange that he would be willing to just walk up to us without any visible weapons on him?"

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow and peered at the gathering of griffons and ponies over Twilight's shoulder. Each and every one of them still had all their weapons trained on the two, presumably waiting for an order to attack.

"I don't think he really needs one. The guys in the back seem to have that covered, Twi."

"Rainbow!"

"Alright, alright fine!" Rainbow groused, "what do you want us to do, then?"

Twilight furrowed her brow in thought for a few seconds before speaking again.

"He hasn't tried to kill us yet, so he might be willing to talk. Let's see if we can get some information."

"And if we can't?" Rainbow challenged.

"If we can't, then... I don't know," Twilight responded unsurely, "We'll see what happens."

Rainbow Dash turned away from Twilight and glared at the smirking griffon, her scythed whips flicking back and forth in irritation. After a moment she growled and the whips receded, leaving her normal cyan wings in their place.

"Fine... we'll do it your way," Rainbow Dash conceded, "but if things go south, I'm not hesitating."

Twilight nodded with a grateful smile, "Thanks, Dash."

She turned and went to take a step towards the griffon.

"You can stay right where you are, creature," drawled the griffon, his voice as hard and coarse as gravel.

"You're really asking for it, pal," Rainbow growled. Twilight silenced her with a look and turned back to the griffon.

"My name is Twilight Sparkle," Twilight called out, "I am the personal protege of Princess Celestia. My friend, Rainbow Dash" - she nodded towards the cyan pegasus - "and I are also wielders of the Elements of Harmony - Magic and Loyalty specifically. We recently woke up and have no idea what's happening or if our other friends are okay," she gave the griffon her most winning smile, "could you possibly shed some light on our current situation?"

The large griffon eyed Twilight silently, his features guarded and unreadable. After a moment he snorted.

"I care nothing for your names or titles, though you'd do well to remember mine, worms," he replied, voice dripping with disdain, "I am Asger Storm Feather, leader of the Storm Feather Mercenary Guild. As for your... situation," he gave a dark chuckle and snapped his talons. A lone, unarmored, navy blue earth pony stallion the two mares hadn't noticed before nervously stepped out of the group. His eyes widened at the sight of Twilight and Rainbow.

"Hurry it up, Midnight Rider!" Asger snapped. The pony jumped and hurried over to the griffon. He pulled a scroll from out of some saddlebags he was carrying and the griffon quickly snatched it from the pony, making him yelp and back away.

Asger unfurled the scroll and cleared his throat, taking on a mock air of professionalism as he began to read.

"By decree of His Royal Highness King Sombra and Her Royal Majesty Queen Luna, the former Elements of Harmony - one Twilight Sparkle, one Pinkamena Diane Pie, one Applejack Apple, one Rainbow Dash, one Rarity Belle, and one Fluttershy - are to be retrieved from Sky Talon Laboratories and brought before the Royal Court for questioning. They are to be taken into custody using any means necessary. In the event that capture becomes an impossibility, you are authorized to terminate..." he looked op from the scroll, giving the two stunned ponies in front of him a sick grin, "...with extreme prejudice."

He rolled up the scroll and tossed it back to the earth pony who took it and - with one last worried glance at the two mares - ran back into the group of griffons and ponies.

Twilight stood frozen in shock, mind struggling to comprehend this drastic turn of events. Rainbow Dash had no such issues.

"That's a load of horseapples!" she cried in indignation, "it's gotta be! I don't know who this Sombra dude is, but Princess Luna wouldn't just have us killed like that!" she shook her head and jabbed a hoof in Asger's direction, "and don't give me any of that 'griffon mercenary' nonsense! There haven't been any griffon mercenary guilds in centuries!"

Asger just chuckled in response.

"Well, it looks like someone's been sleeping a little too long," he smirked at the fuming pegasus, "King Sombra brought the mercenary guilds back years ago, right along with the griffon armies of old," his eyes took on a far off look, as though he was reliving a fond memory, "that pony brought good old fashioned war back to the lands of Equestria and beyond. He may not have my loyalty, but for that, he definitely has my respect."

Twilight fell to her haunches and Rainbow Dash just gaped at the griffon.

"Years?" Twilight croaked, staring at the ground beneath her, "this... King Sombra has been in power for years? And Luna..." she looked back up at Asger with a horrified expression, "h-how... how long have we been gone? Where P-Princess Celestia?"

"Princess who?" Asger asked frowning at Twilight in confusion.

Twilight's mouth open and closed uselessly for a few seconds before she spoke again, face twisted in a sudden rage.

"Princess Celestia!" she snapped, "Ruler of Equestria! Goddess of the Sun! Sol Invictus! Older Sister of Luna! My bucking mentor!"

Asger ignored Twilight's outburst as he searched his memory for the name.

"Celestia... Celes - oh, that's right!" he exclaimed reaching into a leather bag strapped to his maroon armor. He pull out a stack of rolled up scrolls, unfurled them, and proceeded to flip through each one. "let's see... no, no, nope, nooo... ah-ha, there we are." he pulled a single scroll from the stack and looked it over briefly before raising his eyebrows and giving an impressed whistle, "don't know how I forgot about her. She's worth a mountain of bits, almost literally."

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute," Rainbow interjected incredulously, "you're telling me Celestia's gone from a Princess to a bounty?"

"Don't know about the Princess thing," Asger responded putting away the scrolls, "all I know is that, according to the bounty, she went missing around the time Luna ascended to Queenhood alongside King Sombra's rise to power."

"And when was that?" Rainbow asked.

Asger gave Rainbow Dash an odd look.

"...You two really have no idea do you?" he replied in awe.

"Just answer the question."

Rainbow flicked an ear. Something in Twilight's voice made her glance back worriedly. Twilight was sitting hunched over, mane obscuring most of her face. Her entire form was shaking with... some kind of emotion. Rainbow Dash wasn't sure which.

Rather than answer, Asger chuckled. His chuckle soon turned into full on laughter and he doubled over, "Oh, this - this is too good!" he wheezed out, "Queen Luna had men - mentioned all of you might have some memory loss when you woke up, but-" he broke into another small fit of laughter "-but I had no idea it would be this bad! Oh, wow. You freaks are a real riot!"

Questions.

"Twi? Are you okay?"

Questions, questions, and more questions.

"Twilight? Hey, Twilight! Can you hear..."

I just keep coming across question after question after question with no end in sight. Even when I do get answers, they only lead to more questions. Well you know what? I'm sick of the questions.

I want answers.

real answers.

And I know just how to get them.

Something wasn't right.

The air was thick with a wrongness that wrapped around Rainbow Dash like a blanket. She tried to call out to her much-too-quiet friend, completely disregarding the still chuckling griffon. To her rising worry, Twilight remained unresponsive.

"Twi? C'mon, talk to me eggh-"

"Hey, Rainbow?"

Rainbow Dash's mouth snapped shut as a chill ran down her spine.

She wasn't alone.

The sound of Twilight's voice instantly put every griffon and pony on edge, whether they could hear her or not. They knew something had changed.

Asger definitely wasn't laughing anymore.

"W-What's up, Twi?" Rainbow asked nervously, "you okay there? You kinda had me worried for a sec..."

Twilight slowly shook her head and finally looked up at Rainbow Dash with a small smile.

And pitch black eyes.

"Don't worry about me, Dash, I'm fine," Twilight replied, waving Rainbow's concern away, "but I was thinking... maybe we should try to go for a more friendly approach, like I originally intended."

She turned towards Asger, her smile pleasant.

"Friendship has always worked for us in the past, right?"

Rainbow Dash didn't know what to say. It was obvious Twilight was in a very bad place right now, but what could she do? She had seen both Twilight and Pinkie succumb to a mental break before, but this was something different - something far worse. Not even Rainbow herself was this far gone when she slaughtered all those ponies in the hall. In the end she responded as best as she could.

"Sure... I guess," she replied, taking a few steps back, "but, Twi, you're really creeping me out here, what with the black eyes and everything."

Twilight giggled and trotted up next to Rainbow Dash, putting a hoof on her withers. Rainbow shuddered and forced herself not to push her away. She could feel something writhing and squirming just beneath the skin under Twilight's fur. Now that she was this close, Rainbow could also see that her mane and tail were slightly frazzled, random hairs sticking out just a bit here and there as they blew lightly in the afternoon breeze.

"I told you, Rainbow, I'm okay," Twilight assured gently, "I'm just going to politely ask Asger for some... clarification on what he's told us so far."

"Yeah, sure, Twilight," Rainbow responded taking another step back, "whatever you gotta do."

Twilight nodded, "Now then" - she turned and started making her way over to Asger - "let's see what we can find out, shall we?"

Once she was a yard or two away from the griffon she stopped and sat down, smiling apologetically.

"I think we kind of got off on the wrong hoof," she began cordially, "While I'd like to start over again, we've made too much progress in the conversation already, so I'll just start with where we left off."

She raised a hoof and gestured towards Asger, who tensed - shifting one of his claws conspicuously.

"If I remember correctly, you were telling us exactly how long it's been since Luna ascended to Queenhood and King Sombra began his reign? And please," she added, "try to be a little more succinct this time."

Asger said nothing for a moment as he continued to eye Twilight warily. He had felt the same thing everyone else did, and recognized that feeling all too well. He had felt it when he and his father came home to find his mother bedding another griffon when he was just a fledgling. He had felt it when he was running from those thugs in Beakenburg back when he was a teen.

He had felt it when he went out manticore hunting for the first time. And of course, he had felt it on the battlefield many, many times. Ponies didn't come across it very often until King Sombra rose to power, but the griffons already had a name for it.

Killing intent.

It hung in the air - thick, cloying, raw, unfiltered, and overpowering - and this mare, this... monster, was giving it off in waves.

"I'm still waiting for your explanation, Asger."

He had to act first.

He had to act now.

Instinct took over.

"...No."

Twilight tilted her head, smile widening ever so slightly."

"No?"

*thunk*

Twilight's head snapped back as she was sent flying backwards.

She hit the ground with enough force to slide several feet before stopping.

"TWILIGHT!" Rainbow Dash cried, flying over to Twilight's prone body. Looking over her friend, Rainbow could see a large serrated throwing knife wedged hilt deep between her eyes just under her horn.

"No... nononoNO!" Rainbow grit her teeth and her head shot towards the griffon who's foreleg was outstretched, several more throwing knives held in his claws. His face was grim and he never once took his ice blue eyes off of Twilight.

"You..." Rainbow growled, eyes alight with unbridled rage, "you... YOU!"

Her wings vanished in a storm of tendrils and the scythed whips returned.

"I'M GONNA TEAR YOU TO PIECE-"

"All I wanted was some answers."

Rainbow froze, her scythe whips dangling in the air. Her fury vanished in an instant as she slowly turned to face the lavender unicorn.

"Twilight?"

Twilight slowly rose to her hooves.

"Just a few answers, that's all. I even asked nicely."

She began making her way forward, the knife sinking deeper and deeper into her skull until it disappeared, leaving her completely unmarred save for a more ragged looking mane and tail.

The friendly smile never left her face.

"But for some reason you felt the need to attack me unprovoked. And you still haven't explained yourself."

She leisurely trotted past a still shocked Rainbow Dash and stopped in front of Asger once again, shaking her head and frowning at him like a disappointed mother.

"I've tried to be kind and I've tried to be fair, Mister Storm Feather, but you seem to be determined to make things difficult."

Snapping out of her shock, Rainbow Dash moved next to Twilight, trying to salvage the situation.

"I don't think he wants to talk anymore, Twi," she whispered, "let's just take him and his goons out and get back to finding our friends."

Twilight's pitch black eyes remained fixed on Asger as she responded.

"No, Rainbow Dash," she replied, "I'm going to stick with my plan and give him one more chance to explain himself."

"And if he doesn't?"

Twilight merely smiled in response.

Rainbow went to ask again, but stopped as she noticed something strange. Narrowing her eyes, she focused her attention on Twilight's mane. After a minute, her eyes widened and darted from Twilight's mane to Asger. She looked back to find Twilight looking at her, her bottomless black orbs somehow twinkling with mirth - as though she was about to pull off the world's greatest prank.

She winked and raised a hoof to her lips in a shushing gesture.

Asger had taken note of the exchange, but didn't know what to make of it. He knew that knife hadn't been enough to take the monster down - not only had the killing intent remained as she lay there, seemingly dead on the ground, it had spiked drastically for just a moment. He had gauged her reaction to the attack and was unsurprised when she managed to shrug off the damage.

Queen Luna hadn't given him a lot of information regarding the six mares or what they were here for, but she did mention that this type of problem might arise.

From the exchange he had just witnessed it seemed this monster had a plan of some sort. He'd have all his feathers plucked before he let her pull off whatever it was.

He set about raising a claw to give the signal to attack when Twilight suddenly whipped her head in his direction.

"So what do you say, Asger?" Twilight asked, "will you finally start answering my questions properly?"

"Go to Tartarus where you belong, demon!" Asger snarled in response. He raised a claw to signal the attack...

...only to find he had no claw to do so.

He blinked and looked down to see a bloody stump where his right claw used to be. He looked up at Twilight to see her standing there with a patient, knowing smile. She shifted slightly and it was only then that the griffon noticed the countless silvery wires shimmering in the afternoon sunlight. He traced the wires all the back to Twilight's deceptively ratty appearance. Every stray hair in Twilight's mane and tail extended into a sharpened wire that completely entangled the helpless griffon.

"Thank you for reacting exactly like I thought you would, Asger," Twilight said, smiling gratefully, "now I can finally get my answers."

Asger's eyes widened in horror and he turned to the squad behind him.

"FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! TAKE EM' OU-"

Asger's body fell to pieces - each and every single piece pulled apart and suspended in the air by Twilight's wires as they thickened back into black tendrils.

Several things happened at once then.

Twilight's tendrils began to receded back into her body along with the fur, flesh, and feathers of the former griffon leader.

Ponies charged.

Griffons fired.

Rainbow leapt into action, scythe whips flailing.

Twilight's vision went white.

Author's Notes:

So I had mentioned in my story's synopsis that I was tweaking the virus a bit. Well as you probably already guessed, most of the tweaking involves the way the virus affects ponies mentally and emotionally. That's all I'll say about that for now (spoilers and whatnot).

I had meant for this chapter to be a lot more action packed, but it came out completely different and I opted for a slow build up and (hopefully) satisfying pay off instead.

I fully intended to introduce Twirus (yes that's what I'm calling her, wanna fight about it?) in this chapter though, and I think, in the end, this was the best way to do it.

The next chapter's probably gonna take and be a bit longer. There'll be more action, more exposition, and another member of the mane 6 is gonna show up. Who will it be?

Find out next time, ON DRAGON- *ahem*

...The Viruses of Harmony.