Fluttershy's eyes snapped open and she coughed violently. She didn't notice her butter yellow coat blacken and distort briefly as she weakly tried to rise to her hooves.

"Hey, Folkar, the pegasus is awake," the griffon pushing the trolley said blandly. Folkar turned his attention to the cage - or rather the mare within - and smirked.

"Rise and shine, freak!" he greeted in a mockingly jovial tone, "did you have a good nap?"

Fluttershy merely groaned in response, still disoriented from her sudden transition into consciousness.

"Wh-where am I?" she croaked, "what... happened to-" she erupted into another brief fit of coughing and Folkar chuckled.

"Not feelin' so hot, I take it?" he asked, smirk still in place, "sorry, sunshine. Don't know what they did to you in this place so I can't do nothin' about it."

Fluttershy blinked rapidly, trying to clear her vision. Once she could see again, she took in her immediate surroundings. When her eyes fell upon the two griffons she cried out and tried to backpedal, only to hit a wall of cold metal bars. She turned her panicked gaze from the bars of her cage to the smirking griffon in front of her.

She opened her mouth to ask what was going on, but all that came out was a barely audible squeak of terror.

"I think you're scarin' her, Folks," the trolley pushing griffon idly commented in that same bland voice.

"Ah, can it, Peik!" Folkar snapped, "and I told you not to call me that!"

Peik merely shrugged and continued to push the cart.

"Anyway," Folkar began, turning back to the pegasus mare, "I'm sure you got a lot of questions, freak, but I ain't the griffon that's got the answers. Since I ain't got the answers..." the griffon lowered his head so that he was inches from Fluttershy's face, "there ain't no need to ask a bunch of questions. So you just be a good little abomination and stay quiet until we get to the boss... got it?"

Fluttershy shrank back in her cage and didn't respond. This seemed to pacify Folkar who grunted in satisfaction and straightened up. They continued down the hallway in silence while Fluttershy sat in her mobile prison scared, confused, and alone.

What happened to me? Where are my friends? she thought morosely, Who are these griffons and why did they put me in a cage? Why does that one griffon keep calling me a freak?

She took another timid glance around her, trying to find anything familiar in her terrible situation. Her light blue eyes swept across the stark white hallways and settled on an intersection further behind them.

She blinked in surprise as she saw a flash of violet disappear around the corner.

What was that? I could've sworn...

She was jolted out of her thoughts as the trolley suddenly rolled to a stop.

Turning around, she could see that the two griffons had come to a stop in front of a single gray door - featureless save for a single handle and a lock.

"Alright, Peik," Folkar said, eyeing the door, "gimme the key."

Fluttershy turned to the griffon in question as he blinked slowly. He reached into the leather behind his maroon armor and after a moment, his bored expression turned to one of confusion and slight nervousness.

"Peik, c'mon," Folkar said impatiently, "what's the holdup? Gimme the key."

"Uh... yeah... Folks?" Peik asked hesitantly.

"What?" Folkar growled whipping his head around, "Don't tell me you..." he trailed off as he saw the sheepish grin on Peik's face.

Folkar blinked and slowly brought a claw to his face, letting out an explosive exhale through his nostrils.

"You lost the key," he stated flatly, rubbing the claw across his face and scowling at Peik, "you had two jobs, Peik. Two very easy jobs. Push the trolley, and don't lose the key."

"Look, Folks-"

"Don't call me that!" Folkar snapped.

"Alright, alright," Peik conceded, waving his claws defensively, "look, Folkar, I can fix this. I'm pretty sure I left the key back in the barracks. I just have to go back and get it."

Folkar stared at Peik for a full minute.

"So... let me get this straight," he said slowly, not breaking eye contact with Peik, "you left the boss' key in the barracks?"

Peik nodded.

"The barracks inside the airship?"

Another nod.

"And you expect us to walk all the way back through these halls to the landing zone just outside the facility after it took us an hour of walking to get where we are?"

Peik opened his mouth to answer, but then hesitated and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, I mean... when you put it that way..." he muttered.

As Folkar verbally tore into the incompetent griffon, Fluttershy looked back and forth between the two worriedly. They may have captured her for unknown reasons and called her a freak, but the confrontation between the two still bothered her and she couldn't deny her desire to help resolve the issue.

She was working up the courage to do just that, when she felt something strange. It was as though a sudden pulse ran through her entire body.

Her eyes widened and she looked around in confusion.

She felt the pulse course through her body again, invasive and carrying an odd sense of familiarity. She turned her gaze to the hallway opposite the door just in time to see a large black and gray griffon and a smaller dark blue stallion round the corner.

The griffon practically oozed arrogance and the stallion next to him was clearly nervous about something. Fluttershy had never seen these two before... and yet...

I know them, she thought, eyebrows raised in bemusement, I don't know how, but... I feel like I've known them for a long time.

The situation left Fluttershy utterly confused, but behind all the confusion she felt a growing sense of hope and relief. She didn't know what it was, but she could tell something good was going to happen soon.

And it had something to do with these two.

"I hope you know what you're getting yourself into, darling," Midnight Rider muttered under his breath.

"I've got this, Rarity, trust me," Asger whispered back, his voice rough as gravel despite the quiet tone.

The two turned a corner and came across two bickering griffons standing in front of a doorway and a yellow pegasus mare trapped in a cage. While the two griffons hadn't noticed Asger and Midnight's sudden arrival, the mare seemed to be staring directly at them - almost as if she was expecting them to show up.

Asger's eyebrows raised slightly at the somewhat confused look of recognition on the mare's face, but he quickly set his expression to one of utter disdain. He cleared his throat, catching the attention of the two griffons who eyed him nervously.

"Mind telling me what you two glorified doorstops are doing here?"

"H-Hey boss," Folkar answered chuckling nervously, "it's like this, we were actually on our way to see you," he gestured to the cage, "we got the goods and we were gonna meet you at this here office like you told us."

Asger gave the cage - and the pony in it - a quick glance. The pegasus mare just continued to stare at Asger curiously - almost expectantly even. Asger took note of this, but didn't say anything about it and opted to return his attention to Folkar, "I see..."

"Yeah, everything was going real smooth... that is, until I found out this nitwit" - Peik squawked as he was smacked upside the head - "left the key you gave him on the Nightfall."

The Nightfall? Asger thought in confusion, ah, judging by the context he must be talking about the airship Rainbow and I saw earlier.

"Yeah, boss... real sorry about that," Peik added, rubbing the back of his head and glaring at Folkar.

"So as you can see," Folkar continued, turning back to Asger with a sheepish grin, "we were kinda stuck here until you showed up."

"Well I'm here now," Asger responded, gazing down at the two griffons imperiously, "so I guess that means your job's done doesn't it?"

"Yeah... yeah, I guess it does. But uh..." Folkar looked at the cage and back to Asger with a raised eyebrow, "you sure you don't need any help with this boss? I mean from what you told us, this thing could be trouble."

"Don't worry about me, peon," Asger responded, injecting as much contempt into his voice as he could, "I'm perfectly capable of handing myself... or did you forget who the leader of this guild was?" he finished, glaring down at the two.

"Nonono we got it, boss," Folkar answered, waving his claws defensively, "you're the top griffon around here, we just do the grunt work."

"Good, that's what I pay you for," Asger said, nodding in satisfaction.

"But you don't pay - awk!"

Peik stumbled forward slightly as he was smacked again.

"Can it, Peik," Folkar hissed, leering at Peik dangerously.

He turned back to Asger with a nervous smile, "Well it, uh... seems like you got everything under control here, boss-" he began shoving Peik down the hall past Asger "-we'll just... make ourselves scarce, yeah?"

"You do that," Asger nodded without a glance back at the two.

"But, Folks, shouldn't we tell the boss about the-"

Peik squawked again as he received another, harder smack to the head.

"One more time, Peik," Folkar growled as they made their way further down the hall, "one more time and I'm gonna sock you so hard your grandma's gonna feel it. And the boss probably already knows."

Midnight Rider watched the two griffons until they disappeared around the corner, after which he reverted back to the snow white unicorn mare known as Rarity.

"I must say, darling," she remarked, turning to the lavender unicorn who was now peering into the cage, "that was a rather spectacular performance. I confess I didn't think you'd be able to pull it off quite as well as you did."

"Thanks, Rarity," Twilight replied with a grin, "honestly, I didn't think it would go as well as it did either."

Her smile softened as she turned to the yellow pegasus, "are you alright, Fluttershy? They didn't hurt you did they?"

"Oh, no," Fluttershy replied, shaking her head. She looked off in the direction the two griffons had gone with a small smile of her own, "to be honest, Twilight, I don't think they were nearly as bad as they made themselves out to be."

"Words cannot express how glad I am to see you safe and sound, Fluttershy," Rarity commented, trotting over to where Twilight stood, "although... you don't seem to be all that surprised to see us."

"I'm glad you're both okay, too," Fluttershy replied, "and I am a bit surprised to see you two, but..."

She trailed off with an uncharacteristically thoughtful frown on her face.

"But what?" Twilight asked.

"I... I'm not really sure," Fluttershy said slowly, "I felt... odd, just before you two showed up - like something was coming... something warm and familiar. Like a close friend," she looked up at Twilight and Rarity with a warm smile, "or close friends."

Rarity returned Fluttershy's warm smile, but Twilight was staring at Fluttershy contemplatively.

She could somehow sense us coming - even through our disguises. Another effect of the virus no doubt... but are we capable of the same thing or is it unique to Fluttershy? For that matter, does this 'viral sense' target other carriers exclusively or can it-

"Twilight, dear?"

"Hmm?" Twilight looked to Rarity whose brow was furrowed in concern, "I'm sorry, Rarity what was that?"

"Shouldn't we go about releasing Fluttershy from this garish cage?"

Twilight looked from Rarity to a patiently waiting Fluttershy. She looked back to Rarity, laughing sheepishly.

"Right, right sorry, Rarity," she replied, rubbing the back of her neck, "I got caught up in my thoughts... again."

She walked around to the other side of the cage where the door was and examined the lock. She remained that way for a few moments more before Rarity rolled her eyes and walked over to where she was, gently pushing her out of the way.

"Hey! What are you-"

Rarity grabbed onto the barred door and, with a sudden mighty yank, the door was ripped off the cage - causing Fluttershy to 'eep' in surprise.

"While not my usually preferred method, we're strong enough to brute force our way through issues like this now. No need to overthink it, darling," Rarity said, dropping the door shaking the residual dust off her hoof, "frankly I'm appalled they thought to keep our friend in such a horrendously unclean prison."

"Well, grimy cages aside," Twilight responded as she helped Fluttershy out of the cage, "we need to get back to where Applejack and Rainbow Dash are so we can all look... for..."

Twilight's voice grounded to a halt and she turned to Fluttershy, rubbing her chin.

"Say... Fluttershy," she asked thoughtfully.

"Hmm?" Fluttershy responded with a curious tilt of her head.

"If you concentrated on that... feeling that you had when you sensed us earlier, do you think you could use it to locate the rest of the girls?"

Fluttershy looked away uncomfortably, hiding her features behind her light pink mane.

"I... I don't know, Twilight," she replied quietly, "I'm not sure how it happened. It just sort of... happened. In fact," she shook her head and looked at Twilight - her eyes almost pleading, "I don't know much of anything right now. I don't know where we are or what happened to us. I don't know why I was in a cage. I don't know how you were able to change into somepony else or why Rarity's so strong or-"

"Flutters-"

"Why did that griffon call me a freak, Twilight?" she cried, tears welling up in her eyes.

Rarity was by her friend's side in a second, wrapping her in a comforting embrace and whispering gentle reassurances that everything would be okay.

"Oh, Fluttershy..." Twilight whispered, gazing at her friend sadly, "you didn't deserve this... none of us did."

"I heard him," Fluttershy continued, sobbing into Rarity's shoulder, "h-he made it s-sound like I was - like I was some kind of - o-of dangerous animal!"

"There, there, dear," Rarity cooed, "We all know you're far from such a thing. Isn't that right, Twilight?"

Twilight tried to meet Rarity's expectant gaze but found it a surprisingly difficult thing to do. Instead, she stared at her hooves morosely.

What should I tell her? she thought, 'Of course you're not dangerous, Fluttershy'! 'It's not like we were all turned into some kind of viral monstrosities by a close friend and ruler we thought we could trust'!

It's not like most of us have already killed other ponies in cold blood.

...It's not like I enjoyed it.

She shook her head and looked up at Rarity and Fluttershy, her gaze hardened.

No.

I'm going to tell her what she needs to hear, not what she wants to hear.

...Forgive me, Fluttershy.

"Twilight?" Rarity asked, taken aback by the sudden steel in Twilight's eyes.

Twilight trotted up to her distraught friend and rested a hoof on her withers, her eyes softening slightly.

"Fluttershy, look at me," she commanded gently.

Fluttershy said nothing and continued to cry into Rarity's chest.

"Fluttershy, please," Twilight repeated more urgently, "this is important. I need you to understand the situation we've all been put in."

Fluttershy sniffed and looked at Twilight with watery eyes.

"Look, Fluttershy, I don't know all the details... but..." she hesitated for a brief second before continuing, "something happened to us - to all of us. Something terrible. It... from what I've seen, it's had a... significant effect on who we are as ponies."

She took her hoof off of Fluttershy and stepped away, looking at her friend with no small amount of shame.

"We've - the rest of us have all done things we normally wouldn't have even dreamed of doing before now. Terrible and unforgivable things."

"W-what are you talking about?" Fluttershy asked in a small, quivering voice. She looked at Rarity who looked away.

"I'm... I'm afraid she's right, dear," Rarity said after a moment, "much as it pains me admit it, Twilight's right. We can't hide the atrocities that have been committed against us, nor can we hide the ones we've ourselves committed."

Fluttershy slowly backed away from Rarity, looking between the two unicorn mares with confusion and fear.

"Girls, what are you talking about? What atrocities?"

Twilight nor Rarity answered right away and Fluttershy eyes slowly widened in realization. She fell to her haunches and shook her head.

"You've killed ponies."

The bluntness of her statement made Twilight and Rarity wince even as they nodded in confirmation.

"All of us have as far as I know," Twilight said quietly, "we haven't found Pinkie yet so I'm not sure about her, but as far as the other girls are concerned..."

She trailed off and Fluttershy turned to stare at the wall absently, seeming lost in thought.

Twilight and Rarity glanced at each other nervously.

"Er, Fluttershy?" Rarity asked after a few moments had passed. Fluttershy didn't respond - her features still unnervingly blank as she stared at the wall.

"Fluttershy, darl-"

"I can't feel it."

The two unicorns blinked in confusion.

"Feel what?" Twilight asked nervously.

"Remorse for the dead," Fluttershy responded tonelessly as she turned to face Twilight, "I can't feel it."

Twilight opened her mouth, closed it, looked back at Rarity who shook her head helplessly, and turned back to Fluttershy - shifting uncomfortably as she answered.

"Well that's... that's something we all have in common, Fluttershy. We were all injected with a virus and it seems to have dulled - if not completely wiped out or changed - our emotional response to things of that nature."

"I see," Fluttershy responded simply. She stared at Twilight with an unreadable expression for a minute before suddenly rising to her hooves and trotting past her and Rarity - much to their surprise.

"Fluttershy?" Rarity asked in confusion, "where are you going, dear?"

"I'm going to find Rainbow Dash," she replied in a hollow voice as she continued down the hall, "I need to ask her something."

Twilight and Rarity looked at each other worriedly before quickly following after Fluttershy.

Author's Notes:

Another one down... finally.

I would've had this out much earlier, but I couldn't concentrate due to an ongoing and very painful toothache. Thankfully it seems to have subsided... for now. Point is I was able to finish this up.

As for the chapter itself, I was gonna kill off Folkar and Peik originally, but the two ended up growing on me and I couldn't do it. Heck, you might just see em' again at some point in the future.

Anyway the next chapter should be a lot of fun. Why, you may ask? Well...