The elevator buzzed along. Scootaloo humming the earlier song and Isaac staring at the other two grinning crusaders.

"I'm not good with the ladies. Hmph! My dead girlfriend still want's me."

"She wants to kill ya." Applebloom corrected.

He raised his hand to give response, but he found none. He just leaned on the back of the compartment and crossed his arms.

The elevator doors opened and they stepped out.

"Eww. These things again?" Scootaloo said.

"Wow. What are they?" Applebloom asked looking at the pulsating lump of flesh in front of the store.

"Cysts. Don't get to close; they shoot out exploding puss sacks." Isaac warned before spotting a body. "Watch."

He stuck out his palm to let his stasis wrap itself around the corpse as it came flying over.

He turned it to the Cyst and let it go flying.

There was a flash of light and then it gave a horrible screech before spewing yellow liquid on the floor.

"Eww is right. That's just gross." Applebloom frowned under her helmet. "Hang on; ah need to get some more ammo."

Isaac lifted her up to the store so she could access her account. When she did, she frowned.

"It looks like ah'm out of bits. Danget." She grimaced at the store.

"Let me get you some." Isaac offered setting her down. "Uh oh. I'm almost out too. Scootaloo, Sweetiebelle what about yours?"

Scootaloo lifted Sweetiebelle up and let her check.

"I'm broke." She said as Scootaloo set her down.

Scootaloo stood on her tentacles.

"Me too. But I think I can fix that... Give me a minute."

She started to press buttons, eventually coming to a screen with an Earth Gov seal on it. After it flashed green three times it turned an even brighter blue.

She picked up Applebloom and held her up to the store. "Now try it." She said.

She accessed her account again and her eyes widened.

"Wow! That a lot of bits!" She exclaimed.

"Let me see." Isaac said looking over her shoulder. "Holy crap. That's at least a forth of Earth Gov's money... How did you get that?"

"I'm a better hacker than you all thought." Scootaloo said.

"It's a good thing you don't know my social security number, isn't it?" He laughed.

"I got that back at the food court." She shrugged.

His head snapped to her. "...What?"

"Applebloom! Did you get the ammo?" Scootaloo asked avoiding Isaac's gaze.

"Ah'm done." She said hoping down. "So how are we gonna get past the others?"

"I don't think the body is going to do much good now that it’s in pieces." Isaac said nudging a bone.

Applebloom looked around and saw nothing.

"How fast do those things spit?" She asked.

"What?" Sweeitebelle asked.

"How fast do they spit?" She asked again.

"Just a few... You’re not going to... Are you?" Sweetiebelle stuttered with wide eyes.

She gave a smile before sprinting ahead firing at every Cyst in her way.

She dodged every one of the explosive sacs and made it to the other side.

"All clear!" She called out.

"Behind you!" The all yelled back.

She turned and saw a Slasher coming at her.

She ran towards it and as it brought it's blades down, she turned to the side and bucked. They came off with a snap as she grabbed them in her kinesis and sent it back into a wall.

She turned around in enough time to see a Pregnant bring it's blades down. She raised her hooves and sent them down onto the blades tops making them sink into the floor. She raised her Line gun and put it directly against its head and fired.

It leaned there, against its own blades, dead.

The others ran over quickly and stopped in front of her.

"Applebloom... That had to be the coolest thing I have ever seen!" Scootaloo said her voice cracking.

"I think you're starting to scare me." Isaac said.

"Are yall just going to stand there or what? We need to keep moving."

Isaac stuck out his palm and the small line went to a large door leading into the station's school.

"I hate the Pack." He said under his breathe.

They all walked in slowly. Isaac and Applebloom in the front and Scootaloo and Sweetiebelle in the back.

There were handmade suns with smiley faces hanging from the ceiling, a large central desk with lockers on the side, blue paint on the walls and blood on the grade 1 news bulletin.

"I guess were going right." Isaac said aiming his Plasma cutter at each of the lockers.

As they were turning a corner, Isaac stopped and turned to look into a class room. The other crusaders got up on their hind legs and peered in.

"Come to momma! Yes, yest that's it. Come to momma. Oh, right up here. Oh, oh! Yes. There you go..." Said a woman as she hugged a glowing baby.

Which promptly exploded.

They all fell back as the entire window was covered in blood.

"Jesus! What the hell was that!?" Isaac yelled checking down the hallway.

"Did that baby just explode!?" Scootaloo asked fervently.

"What just happened!?" Sweetiebelle asked putting a hoof over to her chest.

"Let’s get out of here as fast as we can!" Applebloom yelled.

They all quickly walked down the hallway, looking back every now and then to make sure they weren't being followed.

They entered an extremely dark room. The lights turned on and they all stepped back to the wall.

"A-Are those c-cribs?" Applebloom stuttered.

"Yes. And where there are cribs there are-" Isaac was saying.

A small sound came from the vent and a bloated, yellow explosive baby came crawling out followed by more.

They raised their guns and fired. They all exploded with each hit as they died.

"I hate babies." Isaac huffed putting a hand to his head. "Why did it have to be babies?"

"The faster we get through this, the less of them we have to deal with." Sweetiebelle said.

They all hesitantly walked through the doorway and ran into the corner on the opposite side.

"Shoot them! Now!" Isaac yelled.

They shot all of the Crawlers. Ones on the walls, the floor and the ones that fell from the ceiling.

"How many babies were here!?" Isaac yelled to himself more to the others as they walked out.

They went through the hallway, occasionally reading the poster.

They were in the nurse’s office now. There was a large blue desk in the middle of the room back wall, small leather beds with curtains and more blood covering them.

"I think that washing your hands is the least of our problems. Hey Applebloom, did you put any antibiotic on that cut?" Isaac asked.

"I couldn't find any." She replied.

"Go and take a seat on one of the beds and I'll clean it up." He nodded towards a cleaner bed.

She hopped up on the bed as he looked through cabinets. He pulled out a cloth, rubbing alcohol and some gaws with a patch of white cloth on it.

He dabbed some alcohol onto the cloth and gently put it to her cut. She hissed but it only stung enough to make her wince. He wiped that away with the dry side and then wrapped the gaws around her head with the cloth on her eye.

"There, now it shouldn't get infected. Good thing the cut just hit your eyelid and not your eye."

"Thanks Isaac." She smiled as her helmet folded up.

When they went out Isaac, Scootaloo and Applebloom all gripped their heads. Sweetiebelle didn't notice, she was looking at who was in front of her.

"Grandma? Is that you?" She asked.

"Sweetiebelle? Are you alright?" Isaac asked waving his hand in front of her face.

"Wait, wait! Don't leave me again!" She cried running past Isaac and the others.

She ran into the gate ahead but still tried to run through it, until Scootaloo gave her the same green eyes like she did Isaac.

"Snap out of it!" Scootaloo yelled.

She jumped in fright before being transfixed on Scootaloo's eyes.

She stopped and took a step back from her friend to let her get some air.

"Agh... What happened? First I saw my Grandma and then I'm looking into Scootaloo's eyes." She rubbed her head again. "What just happened?"

"Sweetiebelle… You have it now to." Isaac said before dropping to his knees. "Dammit!" He hit the floor.

"Does this mean that...?" She trailed off.

"Yes, yes it does. Now we need to hurry, for the sake of all of us." He said getting up.

She looked at her hooves before scowling and hitting the locker next to her leaving a small hoof print.

"Let's just go. I'm sick of this place." She said with her head lowered.

"You and me both. Now, how are we going to keep each other from separating?" Isaac asked following her into the next room.

"I-no! I couldn't... Not to any of you."

They all turned to see Scootaloo looking at them with sad eyes.

"Can't do what?" Applebloom asked.

"I could make a telepathic link to you all, but I've never done it with something with a soul before." She looked away.

"It's better than nothing, right?" Isaac said.

"It could kill you all the moment I make the connection. I think it would be better if I just watched you all. None of my family has died."

"Okay, you’re our keeper then." He said continuing in.

"Where are we now?" Applebloom asked.

"The school gymnasium. It looks like they’re having a play." He pointed up to the stage where a background was set up.

"Were, looks more like it." Scootaloo said poking a body. "So, where do you think the actors went?"

"There somewhere. Probably watching us, waiting to strike. Let's see if we can't get the door uncovered."

Scootaloo went with Applebloom and hoped over the tables and up onto the stage. Sweetiebelle and Isaac went behind the bleachers.

"Grab one of those spears, we might need it." Isaac whispered aiming ahead with his Pulse rifle.

She picked one up with her kinesis and aimed it forward too.

As they were going down the ramp, a Puker got up and sprayed a stream of fresh acid onto Isaac.

He yelled as it dripped off his suit but he still fired.

Sweetiebelle shot the spike ahead and hit it in the middle. She got out her Contact beam and charged it, she fired and the Puker was sent into the wall.

"Dammit. Look at the body; it's black like the Slasher from earlier. See?" Isaac pointed at the body.

She looked at the body herself and saw it was blackened.

"What does that mean?" She asked.

"They're changing. They're adapting, evolving, and becoming better. They’re getting tougher to kill." He said walking past it.

She thought about that for a moment.

She wiped that thought away and followed him to where Scootaloo and Applebloom where keeping watch on stage as the props went down and the tables folded up.

"Did you find anything?" Isaac asked.

"Just a stupid prop that almost took off Applebloom's head." Scootaloo pointed to her friend. "Uh, we have company!"

Isaac and Sweetiebelle turned to see the first few of the Pack were cut down by Scootaloo and blasted away by Applebloom.

Soon the both were firing but they were already getting onto the stage. They all backed up, but not before Isaac got a cut from one of the small Necromorph's.

"Dammit!" He yelled firing with his other arm.

There was a scream of agony that sent all of their blood cold. Even the Necromorph's stopped to see the source of the noise.

Applebloom was crying, her hooves over her head as she started to laugh.

The laughter soon sped up as she stood up.

Her pupils were dilated, her eyebrows were furrowed, and she had a thin smile showing only the bottom and tops of her teeth.

She brought out her Pulse rifle before getting rid of the Necromorph's onstage before moving to the front.

"You. Will. Not. Hurt. Them!" She punctuated each word with a grenade blast wiping out the small group of Crawlers, the Pack and the lone Infector.

She jumped down and dropped her gun before cracking her neck to charge the last three Pack.

She bucked the first out of the air, shattering its fragile ribcage. The other two charged her at the same time. The first swung down, she grabbed it by the arm and twisted it around. The second ran towards her from the back, she broke the arm off and sent the claws into the first victim's back and through its chest.

She let go and bucked that one in the back sending it into the other.

She picked up her gun before falling onto her flank, hoof rubbing her head.

"W-what just happened? Isaac, what happened to the necro's?" She asked squinting her one good eye. "Have Ah been cryin'?"

"Um... Appleboom? You just killed them all." He said.

"Ah... Ah did? When? Ah don't remember anything." She squinted her eye in concentration trying to remember.

"H-Here, watch this. I recorded it when I saw you... Just watch it."

Her screen flickered on and it was her standing at the front of the stage.

It showed her yelling, the fighting and then her siting on the ground.

"A-Alex, Queen if'n yall can hear me. Could ya kindly tell me what just happened?" Applebloom asked.

Ponyville.

Most of the ponies had left to go to bed. Only the Element's, Celestia, Alexander, Cheerilee and Big Mac remained.

"Alex, what do you think happened to her?" Twilight asked. "It looked like she just turned into an entirely different pony. Like when you-"

"Like when I snap.” He breathed a sorrowful sigh. “I think she might have my same condition." He nodded. "Atleast she doesn't cry blood when it happens."

"What happened to ma'h sister, it looked like she was bout' to kill everything in her way. She had that crazed look in her eyes. And that laugh... that laugh made ma'h blood run cold and it came from ma'h lil' sister." Applejack cried into her brother’s shoulder.

"I think it might be similar to me. She sort of blacks out when someone dear to her gets hurt and well… Does that."

"But that doesn't explain when she ran through those Cysts or when she helped that little girl. How come she remembered that?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Those may have triggered small fractions of what she can normally do. In those instances, she used her agility and courage to help herself through it. This though, and the large fight before, she at first, was trying to save the girl’s parents. They weren't hurt so that could be why she remembered it. That fight though, Isaac got hurt and that caused her to do that."

"So you're saying that the first two times, she did that herself? But when her friends get hurt she suddenly becomes an unstoppable force of nature?" Rarity said.

"Yes. That might have been caused earlier when they thought Scootaloo died. I'll send her a letter telling her and only her."

Titan station. Gymnasium.

"Hey, bloom, do you want something to drink? There's a fountain down the hall." Isaac asked rubbing her back.

"No, ah want to know what wrong with me." She sniffled some loose snot back into her wet muzzle. "Can ah take these bandages off? Their startin' to get itchy."

He reached around her head and undid the bandages. He slowly unwrapped them and cast them to the side.

Scootaloo, who had let Isaac and Applebloom talk, was with Sweetiebelle down the hall getting water.

"I hope she's alright." Sweetiebelle sighed.

Scootaloo stopped mid drink and huffed at her friend.

"Sweetiebelle, you need to stop worrying about her. She's fine. I Pinkie promise."

"I just can’t be sure. I'm can't help but be worried, she's our friend." She nodded.

Scootaloo gave a sigh and nodded.

"Come on, let's get back. Maybe she got a letter or something."

Applebloom was looking at her reflection in Isaac's camera while it showered herself on a separate screen.

"Ah defiantly have Big Mac's plow scar beat." She grinned. "Ah wonder if he even remembers how he got it?" She put a hoof to her chin.

"Well, you certainty won’t forget how you got yours, that's for sure." He said looking at her. "How did you get that one? Slasher, Lurker, Leaper what?"

"Ah was fightin' two Lurkers. The first one didn't get a chance to blink, the second did some damage." She smiled.

As her friends came in, a cloud of black smoke came in. Her eyes lit up as she outstretched her hooves.

"Weird. Why does it have a note?" She mused.

She took the note off and read it to herself. She blinked in confusion before turning to her friends.

"It says it's only for me."

All three of them raised an eyebrow, but let her read.

She turned her back to them as she read to herself.

"Dear Applebloom. What you have is a very good thing; you have nothing to fear but doing some overkill. When your friends get hurt, your more aggressive side takes over, that's why you couldn't remember the fight and that's why you acted the way you did. There is nothing to be afraid of. Alexander.

P.S. Your sister say's hi.

P.P.S. Big Mac say's hi and he remembers how he got the scar.

P.P.P.S. Spike also sent a gift."

And on cue, something fell from the scroll.

She looked down and saw something reflect a flash of light from her suit.

"Spike... Ya shouldn't have." She smiled.

She undid her pink bow and put in the small Fire Ruby clip in the middle of it before re-doing her mane.

Ponyville.

Alex chuckled while Spike looked smug as ever.

Fluttershy and Twilight were smiling gently at his act of selflessness.

"Spike," called Big Mac. "That was awful kind of ya ta do. Knowing ya eat gems and all."

He shrugged before looking back at the screen.

Titan Station. School hallway.

"Alright, does anyone need to go to the bathroom?" Isaac asked.

Three hooves went up.

"Alright, hurry up then." He sighed.

They all went in and minutes later, the sound of yelling was heard.

He put his head to the door and listened in to what they were yelling about.

"Isaac! None of the stalls have any toilet paper!" Scootaloo yelled. "Could you go get some!?"

Inside the bathroom they all heard the sound of a metal glove hitting a metal helmet followed by an audible groan.