//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: Infiltration 
// Story: Oskar Osäker: True Omnivore 
// by Legionary 
//------------------------------//

A unicorn with a lime green coat, green eyes, a pink curly mane and basket full of flowers cutie mark was walking out of Ponyville with full saddlebags. Her name was Rose Locks.

She was a mare that simply wanted to see the capital and decided to get some exercise while doing it. So Rose had set out on her journey early in the morning, when the sun had only just been raised, eager to see the sights of the capital gates by the end of the day.

Rose continued on her journey and was making good time, she was fairly certain she’d reach the base of Mount Canterlot by noon. However it was also around this time that she had begun to feel uneasy. She kept getting the feeling she was being followed yet all around her were wide open grass fields with grooves of deciduous trees dotted here and there; still the feeling did not abate and only seemed to get worse.

“Hmmmhmmm hm hm hm…” Trying to convince herself she was just imagining things, Rose begin humming to herself to calm her nerves, it seemed to be working. Suddenly, just as the road was about to pass a copse of trees with thick undergrowth, a shadow fell over her.

Rose looked up behind her but was partially blinded as whatever casted the shadow seemed to be coming from the direction of the sun. Suddenly Rose was sent sprawling to the ground, feeling like she was hit by a train. Before she could recover her senses and see what hit her, Rose felt something roughly grab her by the mane and drag her into the underbrush. In pain and confused about what was happening, Rose suddenly had a horrifying realization. She was being attacked by some wild animal and it was bringing her into the underbrush to eat her in some privacy. At this line of thinking Rose opened her mouth to scream only for a paw-like appendage with three talon-like fingers to close over her mouth, the paw seemed to be covered in a dull smooth pitch black skin and had a few patches of eerie bright orange bioluminescence.

“MMMMM! MMMMM! MMMM!” Needless to say Rose was completely freaked out and screamed despite the paw muffling them.

The “wild animal” was actually Oskar, out fulfilling an objective he had set out for himself the day before. He was sitting on Rose’s body, forcing her head away from him and holding her mouth shut with his tendril weapon mutation. The Cadre Evolved raised his non mutated right hand and quickly formed the index and middle finger into one long gleaming blade. Oskar aimed for the very base of the pony’s neck, planning a quick death for his prey before consuming it. His blade surged forward, an edge sharp enough to put a noticeable cut in a tank’s armor, singed as it cut through the air.

“MMMMM! MMMMM!” Rose continued to scream. She continued to scream because she was still alive.

Barely an inch away from the pony’s soft flesh, the blade hung in the air. Oskar narrowed his eyes in intense thought as his claw shined in the noon sun.

‘Why should I kill her?’ Oskar asked himself and an automatic answer came to him from all the other times he had asked this same question. ‘I have no choice in the matter, she has to die! If she doesn’t die then I would be the one to die in her place! And that is unacceptable; I will not let my last moments be me being eaten alive by Alex Mercer, just because I was feeling…’ Suddenly Oskar’s thoughts ground to a halt. ‘… Alex Mercer is dead, eaten alive by James Heller. I DON’T have to do this anymore; I don’t have to play the part of a loyal rabid dog, siccing whatever my master tells me to anymore. There is no one here to make sure I play with my meals before eating them… I am finally independent, free to choose who to eat or if I even want to eat at all.’

Oskar looked down at Rose under him; she was completely scared out of her mind and screaming her lungs out into his morphed hand.

‘My life is finally my own, this is what I wanted.’ Oskar thought decisively. ‘And it is up to ME and me alone to decide how I go about completing MY objectives.’

With that, Oskar’s claw reverted back into his fingers. Hundreds of small holes appeared all over Oskar’s morphed hand, each only ten times bigger than the viral cells he was made up of. Out of each hole a sweet smelling chemical began pouring out, their fumes quickly filling Rose’s lungs.

“MMmmm! Mmmm. Mmmm…” Rose’s muffled screams began to die off and her eyes started to flutter. In little over a minute she was completely out, her breaths coming out slow and deep.

Seeing she was now unconscious, enjoying a deep dreamless sleep, Oskar picked the unicorn up and laid her at the base of a tree, cradled by its roots. He kneeled down beside her and reached out with his hand. Two fingers formed into two small slicing blades in a surge of tendrils and with them he snipped off a small lock of her pink mane. Quickly absorbing the lock of mane Oskar backed away from the pony before a sudden surge of tendrils covered his form and quickly disappeared from sight, leaving a Pomeranian in his place.

The dog quickly bolted off back towards Ponyville and more importantly, Everfree. Its legs a blur of motion as it cut through the grass fields at speeds that not even a cheetah would have hoped to match.



҉



It had taken only fifteen minutes for Oskar to make it back to the Everfree, where he made for a small sheltered pond that was currently serving as his base of operations. He had then spent the next few hours attempting to do something that was theoretically possible but had never bothered with before. It was well into the afternoon by the time he had any sort of reliable skill with it.

What was Oskar attempting to do? It was actually something that humans did all the time, sometimes knowingly and willingly, sometimes unknowingly and reluctant to bear with the consequences and only until recently back on Earth it was only possible with two humans, a man and a woman specifically.

Reproduction: the ability of two individuals to share genetic data and create a completely different being with it. This was what Oskar was basically trying to do, sans the sex, the womb and the fact there wouldn’t be a separate being at the end.

The Cadre Evolved’s first attempts at creating an entirely different form from Rarity’s and Rose’s DNA could be charitably described as him mashing the genes together and hoping for the best. After the utter failure of the first attempt, Oskar began drawing on the memories of the geneticists he had eaten and began refining the process. The attempts following this were still relatively crude and obviously doomed to failure but Oskar learned from each attempt and soldiered onward. After hours of work and dozens upon dozens of failed attempts Oskar finally mastered his new skill enough to begin piecing together his new disguise.

Rarity’s white coat, Rose’s pink naturally curly mane and her green eyes as well as countless other traits and genes were either put into the new form, or punted out to make way for another that was arguably better. In just a few moments of “construction” Oskar was finished and in a surge of black tendrils, assumed his new form.

‘Cute!’ Was Oskar’s first thought upon looking down at her reflection. She had Rarity’s coat and that other unicorn’s mane and eyes alright, also upon closer examination of her face it seemed she also had a combination of the two unicorn’s facial features… she wasn’t too sure though, despite how “human” the faces of these ponies were they were still fairly equine.

A thought suddenly struck Oskar; she had not done anything to her cutie mark. She had actually not found anything in the pony genome even relating to the mark which in a way made sense. The marks were obviously purely magical. Oskar looked over her shoulder to examine her mark to see if she could change it, it would not do to have the exact same cutie mark as somebody else in town. After all, each mark was basically a fingerprint, unique to each and every pony in some way.

Oskar blinked when she saw her mark, it was… different.

The cutie mark on Oskar’s flank seemed to be an odd combination of both Rarity’s and Rose’s. Instead of Rarity’s diamonds there were emeralds and instead of Rose’s weaved basket full of flowers it was a metal bucket containing said emeralds.

‘Oooookay…’ Oskar thought unsurely. ‘Don't know how that happened but it does conveniently solve that problem.’

Turning around, Oskar made her way into the thick underbrush with very little trouble, having mastered equine walking using Rarity’s form yesterday.

‘Okay, objective one: Create an unrecognizable disguise, complete.’ Oskar thought. ‘Starting objective two: Infiltrate Ponyville and gather information on world history and cultures for ease of future infiltration missions.’

‘…Optional objective: Gather information about the users of the magical artifacts, if potential danger of doing so is negligible.’ Oskar added after a moment.



҉



‘Okay Oskar… remember, do not say somebody, say somepony.’ Oskar nervously coached herself as she approached the outskirts of Ponyville. ‘Do not ask people to give you a hand, ask them to give you a hoof. And do not refer to them as people, say ponies instead.’

Despite her experience in such things, Oskar was incredibly nervous about infiltrating Ponyville, likely to do with the fact her observation of the town proved it to be the home of those six mares. And it showed outwardly too, making her mare form look almost as dainty and shy as a certain yellow coated pegasus. It didn’t help that once Oskar started to get into the streets of Ponyville she started to get a lot of looks and stares from the locals. Trying to settle her nerves, Oskar set about convincing herself that Ponyville just didn’t get very many strangers in town. However if Oskar wasn’t so nervous she probably would have noticed that the only ponies doing the looking were the colts.

‘Come on Oskar you can handle this!’ The Cadre Evolved told herself. ‘If you can stroll into a Black Watch base as blasé as can be despite the tanks, viral sensors, potential wild and lethal infected and hundreds of security personnel, then you can walk into a small town that knows absolutely nothing about your existence. You are not stupid, so just be calm and don’t be overt.’

As was the usual when Oskar began her internal rants, she completely and utterly lost track of her surroundings. She was jolted out of her thoughts when she walked straight into a pony, an earth pony colt to be exact. Being the super dense viral being that she was, Oskar only noticed she walked into something, the pony on the ground however thought he must have walked headfirst into a solid brick wall rather than a pretty unicorn.

Oskar blinked in surprise a moment before quickly getting her act into gear.

“Oh I’m soooo sorry!” Oskar exclaimed with wide eyes. “I’m new in town, everything was so different and I guess my mind was just miles away!”

“… Are you alright?” Oskar asked when the colt didn’t immediately get up or answer.

“Why yes!” The colt replied quickly, jumping to an upright position with a heavy blush.

“If you say so…” Oskar examined the colt before her, an act that made the colt’s already flushed cheeks even redder. He had a brown coat with a brown mane, bright blue eyes and an hourglass cutie mark. She also noticed blood beginning to drip out of his nostrils. “Are… are you bleeding?”

“What, this?” The colt sniffed and brought a hoof to his nose and examined it when it came back with some blood on it. “It’s nothing! Really!”

‘Hurts so much…’ The colt thought. ‘…Don’t cry…’

“Well miss, allow me to introduce myself!” The colt said with a nervous smile. “I am Time Turner Whooves! I have a doctorate in quantum mechanics, specifically those associated with the fifth dimension… Time!” Time Turner announced grandly. “May I have the pleasure of knowing your name?”

“Emerald… Emerald Gleaner.” Oskar answered smoothly, thinking about how Time Turner’s name reflected his cutie mark.

“Such a beautiful name.” Time Turner stated, thinking about her startlingly green eyes.

“Thank you!” Oskar said with a smile she was hoping wasn’t starting to look forced. “Like I said earlier I’m new in town and I’m trying to find out if this town has a certain kind of establishment.”

“I’d be delighted to help!” Time Turner replied. “What are you looking for?”

“Does this town have a library?” Oskar asked.

“Why yes it does!” Turning around, Time Turner pointed down a street behind him. “You just take a right down there, take the second left and soon enough you’ll see a large tree. That will be the library.”

“Thank you so much!” Oskar said before giving Time Turner a hug. The colt stiffened and his eyes widened before a dopey smile replaced his expression. Unknown to him, small black tendrils extended from Oskar’s fetlocks and took a few gene samples from his mane. Letting go of him, Oskar flashed the earth pony a quick smile before walking away. “Thank you again Time Turner!”

Time Turner watched her leave, dopey smile still firmly in place.

‘For a moment I thought I overdid it again and scared her off.’ Time Turner thought as he stared at her, or rather what her walking was doing to a certain part of her anatomy. ‘… so graceful, so beautiful.’

Oskar continued on her way to Ponyville’s library and was stared at the entire way. At first she thought it was because she was a stranger in a small town but the amount of attention she was getting was simply outrageous, it was completely driving her up the wall. There were some odd events though, whenever one of the watchers was being accompanied by a mare, said mare would immediately look insulted and give a smack to the colt with her hoof or drag him off by biting onto his ear.

‘This place is so very strange, alien even.’ Oskar thought to herself. ‘It’s going to be such a pain learning how to blend in here isn’t it? Well maybe not that far, despite the attention I seem to be doing well so far, and I haven’t even learned anything about the culture yet.’

Soon enough the library came within view, causing Oskar to tilt her head at the sight.

‘Huh… the tree is still alive.’ Oskar thought. ‘How did they manage that I wonder? Not to mention how they are handling the constant sap seepage and vermin problem such a place would have. I really hope there is an in depth answer to that, I’d be really disappointed if someone just told me MAGIC.’

Shaking her head, Oskar walked over to the front door of the “tree house” and knocked with her hoof. She waited a few moments and knocked again, this time getting a muffled ‘Coming!’

‘Wait… that voice…’ Oskar thought. ‘It sounds familiar, where have I heard it before?’

Oskar’s musing ended with the door opening and revealing the librarian. Oskar’s eyes widened and she became as still as a statue, in front of her was the one of the very mares she had seen bearing the magical artifacts.

“Umm… yes, hello?” Twilight Sparkle said a little unsurely at the strange unicorn staring wide eyed at her. “Are… are you okay?”

“O-oh! I’m sorry it’s just…” Forcefully gaining control of herself, Oskar looked down at her hooves and made her face flush bright red in apparent embarrassment. “You see I’m new in town…”

“Oh what a coincidence, so am I!” Twilight gave a friendly smile to the unicorn that reminded her a little of her friend Fluttershy. “In fact I only just arrived here two days ago.”

“Oh, really?” Oskar tilted her head at the violet unicorn. “So you’ve only just set up shop? I ask because I wanted to use the library but if the books are still packed…”

When Oskar mentioned that, Twilight had suddenly become starry eyed and was giving the secretly viral being a wide smile.

“Eeee, my first visitor!” The Element of Magic squealed before suddenly darting behind Oskar and “inviting” her inside.

“Ummm, you seem very eager.” Oskar stated a little nervously as she was pushed inside. “Has no o-pony ever come here before?”

“Oh I’ve had visitors before but they were my friends and they weren’t here for the books.” Twilight replied, not catching Oskar’s slight slip in her excitement. “This is the first time anypony has come here for the library. Not that I mind having ponies come visit me but it was just so disconcerting to see the ponies here have so little regard for the literary arts.”

Quickly catching on to Twilight’s love of literature, Oskar decided to appeal to that portion of the unicorn’s personality to get further into her good graces.

“Really? But books are the source of all civilization.” Oskar stated with “surprised” eyes. “I would think that a repository of knowledge like this would get you at least a dozen ponies coming here every day.”

“That was exactly my thinking!” Twilight exclaimed happily. “Coming here to run the library, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to meet like-minded ponies like myself… unfortunately that didn’t seem to be the case.” Twilight quickly shook her head and gave Oskar a friendly smile. “Oh well, better late than never!”

‘Hook, line and sinker.’ Oskar thought smugly as she returned Twilight’s smile with her own.

“Here is the library.” Twilight announced upon the both of them entering a room lined with book cases along the walls. The book loving unicorn then lead Oskar to a circular table near the center of the room. “Alright, are you familiar with how library books are organized or do you need help?”

“No thank you, I’m very familiar with the system.” Oskar answered. She actually had no say in the matter, how was she supposed to know that girl was a hard core librarian? If she had known she would have definitely reconsidered eating her as it had taken Oskar several months to work out all the OCD mannerisms.

“Great! Just grab whatever you are looking for; I’ll just have something brought down to make you feel at home. Spi-” Twilight suddenly stopped her call mid shout as a thought struck her. “No, actually I’ll get it myself.”

With that Twilight left for her kitchen. Oskar quickly turned her attention to the bookcases and began searching for the sections containing the history and cartography books. She found them after a few moments of searching, inwardly very grateful for Steven knowing how to read Equestrian.

Bringing them to the circular table, Oskar began pouring over the cartography book first for maps of the known world. By the time Twilight had returned with a floating tray carrying a teapot and two cups, Oskar had already finished studying the Equestrian landscape and had moved into cities.

“Would you like some tea?” Twilight asked after setting the tray down.

“Why yes, thank you.”

Twilight then poured a cup with her magic and levitated it over to Oskar and rather than take a hold of the cup with her own magic like the studious unicorn expected, had actually grabbed it with her hooves instead.

“It’s very good, thank you.” Oskar said after taking a sip.

“You are very welcome, err…” Twilight’s curious eyes widened as she suddenly realized something. “You know what? In all the excitement we’ve forgotten to introduce ourselves!”

“That we have.” Oskar replied with an amused smile, thinking about what she considered excitement.

“My name is Twilight Sparkle.” The violet unicorn introduced herself. “I used to live in Canterlot before coming here.”

“My name is Emerald Gleaner.” Oskar introduced herself in turn. “I remember Vanhoover being a home a while ago but I’m a traveling pony now.” The viral being said, stating the actual truth… from a certain point of view.

“Really? I have relatives in Vanhoover.” Twilight stated, smiling at fond memories. “Such a beautiful city, especially during winter. The only thing I never liked about the city was how cold it got during those months though.”

“It’s not so bad if you have the hide for it.” Oskar replied with a wry smile before flipping a page with her hoof.

Twilight bit her lip as she saw Oskar not use her magic to turn the pages instead. The violet unicorn was really curious about why her new acquaintance was not using magic, of course she realised it could have simply been a personal choice on “Emerald’s” part to forgo the use of magic in trivial things but she just had to know for sure.

“Emerald?”

“Yes Twilight?” Oskar replied while still studying the various districts of Los Pegasus.

“Why aren’t you using magic when you do that?” Twilight asked. “When you flip the pages or drink from your cup I mean.”

“M-my magic?!” Oskar said wide eyed before turning her head away from Twilight in shame, an utter act.

“Emerald?” Twilight exclaimed in surprise in the reaction. “Is something the matter, what’s wrong?”

“… I don’t know how to tell you this Twilight but… I’m uneducated…” Still looking away in fake shame, the sadness in Oskar’s voice over her lack of magical knowledge was actually genuine though.

“What?!” Twilight said in utter shock. “But-but-but you can read!”

“I’m self-taught.” Oskar replied quietly. It was true; by eating Steven Oskar had taught herself Equestrian.

“But that makes no sense!” Twilight shouted. “You shouldn’t have needed to teach yourself to read! You should have been taught how to control your magic in school! What were your parents… thinking… oh…”

“… You’re an orphan… aren’t you, Emerald?” That question brought a full body shudder from Oskar… it was genuine. “…I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay…” Oskar replied.

‘No it isn’t! This is getting far too fucking personal!’ The viral being thought as she seethed inwardly.

“… Can we just not talk about this anymore?” At this point Oskar was really trying not to let her anger seep even a little bit into her voice, even if it could be justified considering the situation. “Please?”

“Of course Emerald, I didn’t mean to pry.” Twilight replied softly. “… Would you like me to refill your cup?”

“Yes please… and thank you.”

The next twenty or so minutes passed in silence save for the sounds of flipping pages, Twilight felt sorry for unknowingly bringing up painful memories for her fellow unicorn and did not wish to break it. After a few minutes of silence she did get up to retrieve a book for herself to read however and did so without her magic, not exactly eager to showcase her skills in front of her magically incapable fellow unicorn.

Absently listening to the sound of turning pages as she read, Twilight soon came to a realization, those pages were being turned very quickly. She would not have thought much of it if she did not know that Emerald was now reading through the text heavy history book. Looking up, the violet unicorn watched Oskar flip a page and seemingly scan over the pages before flipping over to the next page within a minute.

“… Emerald, do you mind if I ask you a question?” Twilight ventured.

“…It depends on the question Twilight.” Oskar replied with lips pursed into a thin frown.

“It’s not about… y-you know…” Twilight quickly reassured. “I’m just wondering if you are looking for something in that book specifically. You are flipping through those pages awfully fast.”

“I’m a speed reader and possess a photographic memory.” Oskar replied with a pleased smile.

“Really?!” Twilight said in wonderment and in a little envy. 

‘To be able to read so many books…’ Twilight thought to herself. ‘I could conquer the royal library with ease!’

“Yep!” Oskar answered. While all Blacklight beings had photographic memory and an instinctive means of cataloguing those memories for ease of access and storage, Oskar had improved upon the system by eating people smarter than she was. Specifically gaining the memories of people with knowledge in memory tricks and training. Her speed reading was the fastest in the world and appeared to retain that in this world as well, once again another skill that had been gained via Gentech prey and a surprising number of Black Watch grunts.

… Of course these skills were utterly useless in comparison to Oskar’s usual form of information gathering. The Cadre Evolved looked at Twilight.

‘It would be quick.’ Oskar thought as Twilight smiled at her, thinking the solemn moment had finally passed. ‘One little “friendly” hug and a quick twist, a sudden burst of pain is all she would feel. Even if I were off by a few inches and she survived the neck break, she would die quickly and mercifully soon after. I would gain skills in magic, all the cultural and historical information I would require. And to put the cherry on top… there would be one less bearer of those magical artifacts.’

Taking a breath, Oskar reached over and pulled Twilight into a hug. 

Twilight blinked in surprise as she was pulled into an unexpected embrace but did not resist. She felt Emerald wrap her forelegs around her neck and tighten them. It was starting to get to the point that it was beginning to feel painful and then… Emerald relaxed her grip with a sigh.

“Twilight?”

“Yes Emerald?”

“I’m sorry about being testy earlier.” Oskar said, still wrapping the other unicorn in a hug. “It’s just…”

“It’s okay, I understand.” Twilight replied. “Such a thing is not something anypony would want to even remember let alone talk about… you know it’s strange…”

“Hmmm?”

“We only just met and I already know so much about you.” The violet unicorn said with a small laugh.

“…Yes… yes you do…” The almost painful hug was back again and seemed to last longer this time. Twilight was about to voice her discomfort when Oskar finally relaxed and let go.

Forcing her features into a believable small smile for Twilight, Oskar turned her attention back to the book but did not begin reading immediately.

‘Dr. Mercer will be so disappointed when he finds out about this… Dr. Mercer will be utterly furious at my naiveté in letting her live…’  Oskar thought in a mounting panic. ‘He’ll consume me, consume her first then me slowly! Dr. Mercer will… Dr. Mercer won’t do anything because the Doctor is fucking out! The Doctor is fucking out because the Doctor is FUCKING DEAD! Not only that, but his fucking corpse is a whole fucking world away! He has no control OR say in what I want to do anymore! And if I want to do things the slow and hard way then so be it! This is no one else’s concern but my own!’

“Emerald?” Oskar managed to hear Twilight say through her internal ranting.

“Yes Twilight?” The viral being replied absently, a deep scowl on her face.

“Are you okay?” Twilight asked. “You appear to be very angry all of the sudden.”

“I’m fine Twilight.” Oskar replied as she refocused herself and gave the other unicorn a reassuring smile. “Just some unhappy thoughts is all.”

“Okay, I could make us some more tea if you want?”

“That would be marvelous, thank you.”



҉



Several hours later Oskar had decided she was finished gathering information… for now at least. She would have been more than willing to stay here in the library all night to continue her research on the world she found herself in, but her host actually needed this little thing called sleep and Oskar figured it would be pushing more than a few hospitality boundaries trying to stay here all night.

Helping her fellow unicorn placing the books back in their shelves, Oskar turned her attention back to Twilight who was still marveling at the sure number of book volumes Oskar read through.

“Thanks again for letting me use the library Twilight.” Oskar said.

“No, thank you!” Twilight replied with a smile. “It was so nice to spend time with another mare who likes books just as much as me!”

“Then you won’t mind if I come back tomorrow and use it again?” Oskar asked. “There are still some books I would like to read.”

“Of course, it’s no problem at all!” Twilight answered. “It’s the whole point of the library after all and I’m looking forward to it even now.”

“So see you tomorrow?” Oskar asked after walking to the door.

“See you tomorrow Emerald.” Twilight replied after opening the door for her fellow unicorn and closing it after her.

Outside night had just recently fallen; the faint orange of the setting sun could still be seen on the far horizon as the moon began its accent into the sky.

‘… The moon…’ Oskar paused in thought as she stared at said natural satellite. ‘I’ve learned so much, almost too much to take in. I need time to myself, time to think and properly process my feelings on the information I now possess.’

Oskar proceeded to walk across the street from Twilight’s library and settled herself on a patch of grass. Crossing her forelegs, Oskar settled her head on them and began to think of what she learned.

Equestria was very different for the viral being that much was obvious from almost the moment he had arrived, yet… at the same time it was oddly familiar.

‘Los Pegasus, Fillydelphia, Manehatten, if it wasn’t for the fact that no one here knows about my world I would think the founders of those cities were going out of their way to be punny.’ Oskar thought with a snort. ‘The buffalo remind me of Native Americans, the Zebras seem African, the “Asian” looking ponies have an obviously far east culture. The cultural parallels between my world and this are shockingly close despite this place being an entirely different world. Our histories don’t seem to be eager to reflect each other at least…’

Early in Equestrian history the three pony races were divided into three tribes, the Unicorns, the Pegasi and the Earth Ponies. Each separated by their own distinctive magical abilities and their distrust and dislike of each other, at least until some spirits called Windigos forced each tribe to work together to drive them off. Personally that seemed a bit coincidental to Oskar, the books said Windigos fed on conflict but they seemed to be spirits and in every story he had read, didn’t matter that the spirits were malicious, benevolent or outright mysterious they always had a deeper reason for their actions.

It was only until after the pony tribes had united into the Kingdom of Equestria that Discord came onto the scene. Discord had declared himself King of Equestria through the force of his overwhelming magical abilities, beginning a “Dark Age” under his rule of “Tyranny”. Oskar thought Equestria actually had it pretty good when it came to tyrants, sure Discord caused chaos, warped reality to satisfy his sense of humor and basically went out of his way to be a nuisance in all parts of the kingdom. But he was a saint compared to Mao, who later in his rule started to have young beautiful virgin girls sent to him because he thought having sex with them would make him live forever (It didn’t), or Hitler who quite possibly only got in power because he kept pointing a finger at the Jews and giving the suffering German people a target to vent their frustrations on, or Stalin whose reign was applauded as a golden age for the Soviet Union, when actually his strangle hold on information and excessive use of propaganda made sure none of the “Less Equal” classes learned of how horrible conditions actually were for all of them. Oskar didn’t see any mention of Discord having scores of pretty young mares brought to please him, or trying to place blame on the one of the minority species in Equestria, neither did Oskar see him try to even hide that he was the source of the chaos, Overall the viral being thought ancient Equestria didn’t have the right to complain and call the chaotic being’s reign a “Dark Age”. In all likelihood Discord would have gotten bored eventually and left to do something different, at least that was what Oskar could discern of the Draconiquis’ personality through the history books.

Later into the “Dark Age” came the first appearance of the Royal sisters and the Elements of Harmony. Intending to “save” the populace, the two Alicorns had confronted Discord, telling him to step down from the throne and end his “tyranny” peacefully or they would force him to. Discord being Discord, saw this as something new and amusing, so of course he didn’t listen… much to his later regret Oskar was sure. The sisters had followed through with their threat, ending the Draconequus' reign in one spell casted by the Elements of Harmony, petrifying Discord in the middle of his grand monologue. This portion of Equestrian history had interested Oskar enough to read the entire chapter over three times to make sure his memory of it was even sharper than usual, particularly the sections after the Royal Sisters were crowned Princesses of Equestria. The book made it very clear that the two rulers were goddesses of the sun and moon respectively, goddesses, as in divine beings of great power that were often depicted in fiction as neigh unstoppable engines of destruction when they got worked up.

‘C-could I even eat divine DNA?’ Oskar thought, now nervous at the idea of being anywhere near the two Alicorns. ‘Do gods even have DNA that I could eat? What if the books are basic examples of historical propaganda?’ Thoughts of a certain insane Korean dictator ran through the Cadre Evolved’s head. ‘No… I’m not going to assume otherwise, that way if I’m proven wrong I’ll be feeling intense relief instead of dying a likely slow and painful death.’

For the next few centuries of their reign, all was peaceful and made for some very boring reading since apparently Equestrian nobles went out of their way to prove they deserved their titles, of which their European counterparts didn’t and thus had a rich exciting history of conflict, backstabbing, incest and war for the most petty of reasons… granted it probably wasn’t very great to live in such a time but at least it made for some exciting reading.

‘I can only imagine what the history teachers are like.’ Oskar mused to herself with a smile. ‘They’d probably give Professor Binns a run for his galleons with the sure boredom of their teaching material. I can almost imagine how a class would go now... “Greetings class and welcome to today’s lecture. We shall begin with the three hundredth signing of the treaty of ongoing peace between Equestria and the Gryphon Principalities, and how everypony celebrated the preservation of peace throughout the known world… again…” At least Binns talks about wars and rebellions!’ Oskar thought with a small laugh.

It was only after reading through several chapters describing an utterly boring age of peace and prosperity that Oskar finally came to another exciting event in Equestrian history, Princess Luna’s betrayal and her rechristening herself Nightmare Moon. Apparently the Goddess of the moon did not like how her own subjects would not change their natural and healthy sleeping cycles to admire her nights, and so went completely and utterly around the bend by making the night last forever. Thus ensuring that if Celestia did not stop her sister soon, all plant life would die without the sun and by extension, all life on Equestria itself would end without the base which supported it.

‘Seriously, why did the book not mention that? At all?’ Oskar thought in confusion. ‘You’d think one person’s selfish and petty actions nearly killing the planet would get some attention yet there was no mention of this little fact anywhere in the chapter.’

Once again the Elements of Harmony were used to save Equestria and in reality the whole world as well. And once again they were victorious with Nightmare Moon barely able to let off one spell before she was banished to the moon for all time… at least until a day or so ago… After performing the banishment of her sister it seemed Celestia was somehow unable to bear the Elements of Harmony. So she had left them in their inert state in the soon to be abandoned palace, claiming that ponies worthy of bearing them would release them from the stone they were encased in one day.

‘Okay… now that I know better, maybe the situation I witnessed was not as bad as I made it out to be.’ Oskar thought as she recalled the confrontation in the ruins. ‘Still it seems a little off that Princess Luna was let off so lightly… I mean the girl nearly killed EVERYTHING yet one little sorry later and all is forgiven? The closest thing to this I could think of would if the Allies had managed to capture Hitler and was about to put him in one of his own gas chambers when he burst into tears saying how sorry he was, causing them to let him go saying that two little words made up for all the genocide and warfare.’

What followed next was even worse than the age when both the Royal sisters were ruling… A THOUSAND years of peace and harmony throughout the known world, which meant nothing interesting happened. It took all of Oskar’s concentration to not fall asleep on one of the books describing in VAST detail the peace and prosperity.

‘Ugh, I feel sleepy just thinking about it.’ Oskar thought irritably. ‘I never felt so glad for having been a part of such an imperfect species as humanity. The legacy I may leave behind may not be pretty to look at but at least it’ll be something that future generations will read action novels and watch movies about. The sure lack of conflict in this land speaks very well of my chances of never being caught though, I could only imagine the “benefits” a thousand years of peace must have for a military’s development.’ Oskar thought with a sardonic smile.

“Emerald?”

‘Hm?’

Oskar cracked open an eye and saw Twilight standing before her with a worried look on her face.

“Yes Twilight?” Oskar replied, faking a yawn. “Is there something I could help you with?”

“Why are you sleeping out here, exposed like this?” Twilight asked with a frown.

“I’m a traveling pony, Twilight.” Oskar answered truthfully. “I don’t have any money for a room, not that I need one. I get my food and water from the wild; if it rains I know how to make sure I stay dry. So why are you out here Twilight? It’s getting pretty late, wouldn’t want to wake up still tired now.”

“I was just doing a little reading before going to bed when I looked out the window and saw you lying here.” Twilight replied. “I really don’t think you should be lying out here in the open like this Emerald, plus I don’t think the ponies here will appreciate waking up to see some strange unicorn sleeping on their yard.”

“True enough I suppose.” Oskar replied as she got up. “I guess I’ll go find an alley or maybe find a tree to sleep beside outside of town. See you Twilight.”

“Wait!” Twilight called out as Oskar began walking off. “You don’t have to do that, if you want I can get a spare bed ready in my room. Then you won’t have to sleep out in the cold.”

“Really Twilight, you’d do that?” Oskar asked with a smile.

‘Ahhh, altruism… how useful.’ Oskar thought with glee.

“You know they have a saying…” Oskar said as she approached Twilight. “A friend in need is a friend indeed.”

“Friends?” Twilight asked as she offered her hoof.

“Friends.” Oskar answered as she placed her hoof against Twilight’s.

With that the two unicorns made their way into the library.

“Just stay down here a moment.” Twilight said before ascending the stairs to her room. “I’ll get a spare bed in place.”

Oskar did as she was told and absently looked around. She blinked when she looked through a doorway to see a dog's basket in the far corner of the room with something green lying in it. Just as she was about to investigate she heard Twilight call her up.

“Emerald, the beds ready!”

Seeing the green shape shift and move in the basket, Oskar reluctantly answered the call and moved up the stairs. She stopped in the middle of the stairs when she remembered something. In the library Oskar remembered seeing a set of steps leading to a sort of landing that had bed atop of it along with some book cases.

‘Twilight has more than one bedroom?’ Oskar thought as she continued up the stairs. ‘Classy…’

“So I noticed you have more than one bed.” Oskar stated as she walked through the door of Twilight’s bedroom. “As in more than just two.”

“Oh you noticed that?” Twilight replied, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. “Well I have this bad habit of reading well beyond the hour I’m supposed to and ending up falling asleep on a table or a desk. So since I own this library I thought I’d just put a bed up there for when it eventually happens again.”

“You can afford to do that?”

“Well no, I just transfigured something into a copy of my bed here.” Twilight answered, indicating the bed she stood by. Oskar looked over and saw on the opposite end of the room was a bed that was the exact same as Twilight’s.

“Wish I could do that…” Oskar said in total honesty.

Twilight winced. Maybe it wasn’t such a great idea to transfigure a bed for Emerald when she thought about it. It would have probably been better to just give the one in the library for her to sleep in for the night rather than rub her lack of magical skill in her face… oh well, too late now.

Oskar walked over to her bed and stared at it unsurely.

‘Okay, I’m probably going to utterly shatter this thing with my weight, quick Oskar, think of something!’ The viral being told herself, intent on avoiding some rather awkward questions. ‘… Crap! I can’t think of anything that wouldn’t sound strange or stupid!’

Pulling back the blanket Oskar began to slowly eased herself into the bed, fully and completely aware that it was useless in the face of her sure density. With a barely heard creak Oskar lied on the bed and waited a moment… then two… then three…

“Soft enough?” Twilight asked upon seeing Oskar’s surprised expression.

“You won’t believe how long it’s been since I’ve slept in anything even approaching a bed.” Oskar replied genuinely.

“Well you’re sleeping in one now.” Twilight said with a sad frown. “I know you said you’re a traveling pony but do you really have to live like that?”

“Remember what I said earlier?” Oskar said as she turned away in the bed and pulled the blanket up. “I’m an uneducated unicorn that can only light up her horn half competently. Who would want to hire me…?”

Sighing sadly Twilight tucked herself into her own bed as well.

“Good night Emerald.” Twilight said before putting out the candle lights with her magic.

“Good night Twilight.” Oskar replied.

Out of the two unicorns that went to bed in that room only one was going to sleep that night. Oskar spent the next twenty or so minutes listening intently to Twilight's heartbeat as she went to sleep. Eventually she heard the other unicorn’s heart slow down to a tempo that she roughly guessed as her being now asleep.

Slowly getting up from the surprisingly sturdy bed, Oskar watched Twilight’s sleeping form carefully as she walked out of the room and towards the stairs.

About a minute later the viral being in disguise was back in the library and searching the bookcases for a specific volume, her eyes more than capable of making out the text in the near pitch black. Eventually she found what she was looking for and brought the book to the circular table. The book was green and had gold letters making up its title: Bestiary Volume I: Beasts of the Badlands.



҉



The morning sun rose in the sky, its light shining through Twilight’s bedroom window and waking the sleeping unicorn. Rubbing her eye clear of sleep and yawning loudly, turned her attention to the bed where her new friend was supposed to be sleeping.

“Good morning Em-” Twilight stopped when she saw the empty bed and the covers thrown aside. “… rald. Huh, where did she go?”

It was then that Twilight noticed that she could hear voices coming from downstairs. The violet unicorn proceeded to freshen up a bit and clean up her morning mane before heading downstairs

The voices seemed to be coming from the library and as Twilight got closer she began to be able to make them out.

“… been taking care of you before she could take care of herself?” Twilight heard Emerald’s voice say.

“Yep!” She heard Spike’s voice reply. “Heh, she’s dedicated like that.”

“I’ll say, at that age my own mother could barely trust me in the same room as the cookie jar.” Emerald’s voice replied. “Let alone trust me to take care of somepony else.”

Walking around the corner and into the library, Twilight was greeted by the sight of Emerald sitting on a chair chatting with Spike. The circular table behind her held a stack of read books and one still open.

“Good morning Twilight.” Emerald greeted upon seeing Twilight enter the library.

“Morning Twi!” Spike greeted as well.

“Good morning you two.” The unicorn replied before turning her attention to Emerald. “When did you get up Emerald?”

“Eh, a couple hours ago.” Emerald answered with a shrug.

“Well I better start on breakfast.” Spike said before turning to Emerald Gleaner. “Are you going to stay for it?”

“No, I’m going to leave in just a bit.” Emerald replied to Spike who nodded and left for the kitchen.

“A few hours ago?” Twilight repeated with a confused look. “Did you get any sleep at all Emerald? Weren’t you telling me just last night that it’s not healthy to stay up late?”

“There are those who need only two, four hours tops, of sleep and they’re good for the next twenty.” Emerald replied with a smile.

“And you are one of these ponies?” Twilight asked and got a wider smile as an answer. “You know Emerald, the more I learn about you the more I realize how terrible it was that you never got to go to school. You would have been the best student there; they would have likely identified you as a prodigy and sent you off to the best school in Equestria. There wouldn’t have been an employer in all Equestria that would have turned you down and you would have been set for life instead of… well, this.”

“You make it sound like I’m suffering and begging on the streets for bits.” Emerald commented with an amused smile. “My life wasn’t as bad as you think it is Twilight.”

“Maybe… but the fact you never got to go to school is a heinous crime!” Twilight stated firmly. “And what you said to Spike earlier, you’re not going to stay for breakfast?”

“Nope!” Emerald answered as she took the stack of books and placed them back on one of the book cases. “It may sound cheesy but I can feel the call of the road and adventure in the wilds.”

“Okay but you’ll be back right?” Twilight asked as she followed her follow unicorn to the front door. “It was nice having somepony I could talk about books to.”

“Of course Twilight!” Emerald reassured with a smile. “In fact, between road trips this place will be considered my base of operations from now on! So don’t worry I’ll be back soon… maybe in a week or so?”

“Anyway…” Emerald walked out the front door but looked back over her shoulder with an amused smile. “I’ll see you soon Twiley!”

Twilight blinked as she watched her new friend walk down the early morning street. Only one pony called her that, her brother. Giving the leaving unicorn one last smile Twilight closed the door and walked back into the library. She was just going past when she noticed an open book sitting on the circular table.

‘Huh, Emerald must have forgotten to put this away with the others.’ Twilight thought as she picked the book up and glanced at the cover. ‘Bestiary Volume VIII: Entities of Everfree? I wonder why Emerald was reading this book?’

Putting the thought away Twilight quickly placed the book back on the shelf and headed to the dining table, it wouldn’t take very long for Spike to finish cooking breakfast. Sitting at the table Twilight waited patiently but her thoughts were plagued by unknown worries about the book Emerald was reading.

‘Why is this bothering me so much?’ Twilight thought to herself. ‘It’s just… something she said and finding out about this book but what is it?’

“…It may sound cheesy but I can feel the call of the road and adventure in the wilds…” A memory whispered in Twilight’s mind.

‘She was reading that Bestiary about Everfree…’ Twilight mused as Spike came from the kitchen with a plate of mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables for Twilight and a bowl of mixed gems for himself. ‘No! She couldn’t have gone there, it’s far too dangerous! Everypony knows tha-’

“…I don’t know how to tell you this Twilight but… I’m uneducated…” Another memory whispered.

“Gosh darn it Emerald!” Twilight shouted in wide eyed panic.

“Whoa!” Spike said defensively. “Twilight I know mixed gems isn’t exactly a breakfast meal but… Twilight?”

Spike was left staring as the violet unicorn in question left in a sudden burst of speed that Rainbow Dash would have been impressed by.

Out on the streets of Ponyville Twilight was galloping as fast as she could but was soon slowing down.

‘Okay calm down!’ Twilight told herself. ‘Maybe I’m overreacting; maybe I only think Emerald is going into Everfree forest. She is probably just on the road to Apple Loosa or someplace else, I’ll probably end up catching up to her and she’ll think I’m silly for thinking she’d go somewhere so dangerous. Here, just to prove my point I’ll ask a pony if they have seen her.’

Twilight proceeded to look around herself but most ponies were still having breakfast at this time. Fortunately there seemed to be one that wasn’t. An earth pony with a hourglass cutie mark and a large dreamy smile on his face.

“Excuse me?” Twilight said as she approached the colt with a dopey smile. “Could I ask you a question?”

“Why yes, of course.” Time Turner replied, shaking his head clear of thoughts. “How can I help you?”

“You see I’m looking for a unicorn.” Twilight began. “She has a white coat, a pink mane and tail-”

“Beautiful green eyes and this enchanting bucket full of emeralds cutie mark?” Time Turner interrupted, his dreamy smile returning.

“Yes! Have you seen where she went?” Twilight asked. “It’s really important that I find her.”

“She went that way.” Time Turner pointed down a street… which also happened to be in the direction of Everfree.

“You did go there!” Twilight shouted. “I can’t believe you’d do something so dangerous Emerald!”

“… Dangerous?” Time Turner questioned but was too late; Twilight had already teleported in a flash to Fluttershy’s cottage.



҉



Oskar was walking along a thin trail in the Everfree forest. She was currently on the hunt and the trail she was taking seemed to be leading her to her prey.

‘Viral Sonar, I do love you so.’ Oskar thought to herself as she sent out another pulse. ‘I don’t know how you work but if you were an actual person I’d marry you, if you were a guy I’d turn myself into a woman for you.’

Eventually she came close enough to her target that she could hear its breathing and the sound of it moving on the forest floor. Walking through the barrier of underbrush Oskar finally sighted her prey just two dozen feet away.

A chimera.

The chimera itself was lying beside a large tree, licking its paws clean of a fresh kill. When it had spotted the pony creature entering its territory, it had intended to release a growl to make it run scuttling back to its false dens outside the forest. But then the chimera had seen the eyes and the stance of the pony creature. Everything about how the pony stared and stood screamed PREDATOR, it was enough for the chimera to actually want to run away like the prey beasts it hunted in these woods. But it was a chimera, though it was only part lion the great beast still had the pride of one. If this unnerving pony creature wanted to challenge it then the chimera would accept as its pride would accept nothing less.

Seeing the chimera get up and get ready to run at her, Oskar smiled.

“Here kitty, kitty, kitty~” Oskar taunted. “I want that tail of yours for my collection~”

Letting loose a loud roar the chimera charged forward, quickly covering half the two dozen feet between it and Oskar and pouncing the rest.

Just as the claws and mass of the large beast was about to come down atop of Oskar there was a sudden surge of black tendrils that quickly formed a barrier. Landing against the barrier the chimera suddenly yowled in pain as a series of spikes leapt from the barrier and into its flesh. The beast quickly pushed itself off the barrier and wobbled away backwards on its hind legs, blood staining coat and carapace from its many puncture wounds.

The barrier quickly gave way in another surge of tendrils, revealing Oskar back in his default form. The bucket hatted Evolved quickly shot forward while the chimera was still off balance, his arms reforming into brutal razor sharp claws in a surge of tendrils.

Before the beast could react Oskar lashed out with both claws, suddenly it was lacking two arms. The Evolved quickly gave a vicious kick to the chimera’s stomach, sending it crashing onto its back, helpless. Oskar gave a short hop into the air, stomping onto the downed beast’s stomach, causing incredible and mortal injuries from his sure weight alone. The chimera quickly began throwing up the half-digested contents of its stomach along with great amounts of blood, coating Oskar in all of it. The Cadre Evolved paid no attention to the bloody bile covering his form as tendrils leapt off his skin and began feasting on the foreign organic matter; bio-matter was bio-matter after all.

Bringing down one of his massive bladed fingers, Oskar quickly sliced through the chimera’s sternum as the beast itself began gurgling out its last breath. Gripping the inside of the chimera’s ribcage, Oskar tore it open in one violent movement before his form quickly began dissolving into a mass of tendrils. The tendrils quickly descended into the beast's open chest cavity and began to feast as the chimera finally released a gurgling death rattle.

The corpse of the chimera began to twitch as tendrils moved beneath the surface of its hide and consumed everything. Suddenly two massive tendrils erupted from the bloody arm sockets of the corpse and latched onto the dismembered arms, pulling them back into the sockets. Finally the entire body turned black for a brief moment before the normal colors returned revealing the body in a pristine state.

Oskar rolled onto his stomach and began examining the paws of his new form a moment before rising to his feet in one smooth motion. He then began walking deeper into the forest, intent on making use of his now improved knowledge of it and the creatures within.

The field in which the chimera was killed and consumed remained empty save for the huge bloodstain in the center, until about a minute or two after Oskar’s departure when two voices could be heard approaching the clearing.

“Come on Fluttershy!” Twilight called out. “If we hurry we can still catch up before she gets hurt!”

“Twilight, please keep your voice down…” Fluttershy whispered hoarsely. “There’s no telling what might hear you!”

The two mares had managed to follow the path Oskar had taken into the woods thanks to her heavy weight making her hoof prints extra deep and easy to see. Twilight would have gotten the rest of her friends but she was deathly afraid for the life of her newest one and settled for Fluttershy who had experience with Everfree and the creatures within.

“I’m sorry Fluttershy!” Twilight replied as she burst through a layer of bushes. “But I’m just worried for… no… oh no…”

It was a terrible sight for the two mares to see, having lived all their lives sheltered from blood and violence by the peaceful world they lived in. It was even worse for Twilight who could see “Emerald’s” hoof prints leading to prints that clearly belonged to a chimera, the point of which they met was the massive bloodstain in the clearing. With only the prints of the chimera leading away, it painted a clear and vivid picture for Twilight’s imagination.

“No… NO… NO!” Twilight said in a horrified voice before her horn and eyes suddenly lit up with her magic. With an angered growl the enraged unicorn intended to follow the chimera tracks leading away when Fluttershy darted in front of her.

“Twilight please calm down!” The pegasus pleaded with her furious friend.

“That… that… THING KILLED MY FRIEND!” Twilight screamed out, her horn alighting with more magic as she intended to teleport past her deeply worried friend when she suddenly wrapped her fore legs around Twilight’s neck.

“Twilight I know!” Fluttershy said, her forelegs wrapped tightly to make sure she was brought along too if Twilight did teleport. “But you don’t know what is out there! There are dangerous animals that can really hurt you Twilight! Please Twilight, you won’t be doing Emerald any good if you… if you end up like… just please don’t GO!”

The utterly furious unicorn’s breaths came in and out deep and loud. This lasted several moments with her horn and eyes lit up like beacons in the night, then with one shuddering breath her magic went away. Revealing Twilight’s tear filled eyes.

“… Let’s go…” Twilight said numbly, letting Fluttershy lead her away.



҉



It was now much later in the day, with the sun beginning its descent beyond the horizon. Twilight spent all day at home in grief for a friend she just made and just lost. Her other friends had visited Twilight over the entirety of the day supporting Twilight though they only just heard of the mare she had just made friends with. Strangely enough Twilight also received visits from several colts in town that even seemed just as aggrieved as she was for Emerald’s death. It was finally at the very end of the day that Twilight decided to do something productive. She wrote a letter.

Dear princess Celestia

Today I learned that you should always appreciate every moment you have with your friends. Whether that friend was only recently made or even there from early in childhood it doesn’t matter. Every moment must be cherished despite it. Because you never know when they might be taken from you forever and you’ll never have another new moment with them ever again.


Your Loyal Student



Twilight Sparkle


Giving a sigh and not bothering with the tear stains that dotted the letter, Twilight handed the scroll over to Spike to send to Celestia. The solemn faced baby dragon accepted the letter and quickly sent it away with a belch of green flames.

“Are you gonna be okay Twilight?” Spike asked softly.

“… Ask me a question I can answer Spike…” Twilight replied tiredly. “I think I’ll go to sleep early today. Wake me in the morning when breakfast is ready.”

“Sure thing Twi…” Spike answered as the violet unicorn made her way up the stairs to the master bedroom.

Upon entering her rarely used bedroom, Twilight could not help but stare at the still conjured bed Emerald had slept briefly in last night.

‘I didn’t know life could be so cruel and unfair to anypony…’ Twilight thought as she shuffled over to her bed. ‘But she was the proof it could. Orphaned at a young age, never went to school despite her immense potential and never really had home. The moment she even had something close to one… she dies… it’s not fair…’

Twilight lied in her bed, softly crying for some time until the sun finally set. Then with a sudden flash of light she felt a presence appear behind her. She looked up to see Princess Celestia’s kindly face looking down at her.

“My most cherished student.” Celestia said softly. “Tell me what happened.”

And so Twilight did.



-TBC-