The city - my city - vanished into the fog. I was alone with my thoughts.
What on earth could make ponies act like that? Make ponies... - I felt bile rise in my throat - ...kill? And beyond that, destroy? No doubt Sugar was taking out her frustration on Lemon's body, or the other ponies in the building with her...
"Nope, not thinking about that!" I shouted to the air. "Definitely not!"
*****
I jumped. I could have sworn I heard the sound of a Pegasus landing - too loud to be hoofsteps...
"I-is anypony there? Hello?"
A blur danced through the fog on my right.
"Show yourself!" My horn flickered briefly before sputtering out. With a short gasp of horror, I began desperately searching for my opponent. No magic... I was helpless.
"Doesn't seem very smart to go flaunting your presence." A drawling voice echoed from the mist. "Better to keep quiet."
There was a gust of wind, and I saw two wingtips blur through the fog. A small patch cleared, and my challenger walked up.
*****
I guess he would have been wearing a self-satisfied smirk, but from the angle what little light was hitting his helmet, what little face I would have been able to see was obscured.
On top of that, most of his fur was showing - his pant legs were rolled up to the base, slashes cut around his wings, and tail swinging freely.
And he was a Griffon.
He extended a claw in greeting, "Hey, fellow survivor!"
I backed up a few paces. "Y-you're the enemy. I can't t-t-talk to you."
He glared, tilting his head the other way so his eyes were visible. "From what I've seen, the fact that I'm not clawing you makes me an ally." He resentfully put his claw back on the ground. "You seem pretty loyal, considering the situation."
"Of course I'm loyal! I'm a proud member of the Canterlotian elite!"
"So, you can flip a few coins. Big deal. That won't matter out here."
"I do not flip coins - what do you mean, that won't help? What do you know?"
He growled. "I know what chemical this is."
We stood in silence, me waiting for him to continue. I gave up pretending to be aloof. "What is it?"
"A potent mix. The essence of a 'Want It, Need It' spell, a couple splashes of oxygen-reactant color, and a very large helping of dragon DNA."
"Dragon DNA?"
He tossed his head, obviously not into explaining. "Dragon DNA? The greed-to-growth gene?"
"Oh." I briefly remembered a brutal essay from my schoolfilly days - Dragons and their Dens - and understood. "Ponies will get bigger as they kill?"
*****
"Not just kill." He added. "Collect, injure... the thing is, the 'Want It, Need It' makes everything a treasure to the infected, so they start hoarding. And as they hoard, they get larger, stronger..." he paused, "...and one pony I ran into barely looked like a pony anymore. Legs out of proportion, scales down half his neck, muzzle twisted... but he was dead." He hurried. "Very dead."
"Oh... um... good?"
"Extremely good."
"But... he had a family!?"
"Yeah, and he would have attacked me just the same. If he's been killed, it means I won't have to get my talons dirty." The Griffon shrugged. "It's better this way."
I sputtered. "You don't even feel bad for him?!"
"Look, fuzzy, would you rather kill a pony or see a dead one?!"
"I would... would..." Damn... he was right... "I would rather not see anything, to be perfectly honest."
"Hmph." He shrugged and looked away, the way I was heading. "Good luck going that way and not seeing anything... disturbing."
"Why shouldn't I go that way? Why should I even listen to you?"
He shrugged. "You should listen to me because you're helpless," he nodded to my horn, "and you shouldn't go that way because you look too innocent to need to see that."
"Maybe I will go this way."
He snickered, stepping to the side. "Go ahead."
I stiffened. The road ahead was blanketed in the thick green fog. As if highlighting my stupidity, a sudden, haunting screech echoed from the road ahead.
The Griffon must have been smirking again as I took a cautious step forward. "Fuzzy, do you want me to come with you?"
"N... yes." I sighed. "Get over here."
"You don't need to do this." He growled, still behind me.
"You're scared too." I noticed.
He hissed through his mask. "Just don't want to see a pretty girl like you get hurt like them."
"Oh, ha ha. Flattery will get you nowhere."
"And you don't have wings, so you'll be going somewhere, slowly."
"I'm leaving without you."
"Go ahead."
I trotted a few steps. "I really am."
"I can tell."
I snorted. "Fine! You win! Get your feathery butt over here!"
"Ugh. Mares." He loped up beside me, tail puffed up in anger. "Pulling guys along wherever they want."
"Shut up."