//------------------------------//
// Chapter 8: Empire of Dirt 
// Story: Oskar Osäker: True Omnivore 
// by Legionary 
//------------------------------//

Oskar galloped at “full speed” beside her friends with Navi buzzing about in the air above, on their way to save Rarity. They were currently in some sparsely forested area making their way to the location Spike had said he and Rarity were ambushed… at least, that’s what Oskar thought she heard. The little dragon himself was on Twilight’s back hyperventilating into a paper bag as he explained exactly what happened upon being prodded by Twilight and Rainbow Dash, confirming what Oskar had thought she heard.

“Rarity and I were in the woods looking for jewels when these creepy guys showed up!” Spike said, worried.

“Creepy guys?” Twilight asked.

“They called themselves the Diamond Dogs they-”

“Diamond Dogs?” Oskar asked, her attention immediately caught as a memory of a padded footprint flashed through her mind.

“Yeah, Diamond Dogs!” Spike said with a nod. “They grabbed Rarity and disappeared into a hole in the ground!”

“Oh…” Oskar said, her mind occupied by memories of Griffin trackers experiencing frustration with Diamond Dogs from their incredible digging ability. “This could be rather difficult.”

“Why, that doesn’t sound the least bit hard to me!” Applejack replied confidently as the group neared a ledge. “We just find that there hole they took Rarity and-”

The cowpony’s words ended when the group arrived at the ledge overlooking a clearing… completely filled with holes.

“This is what I meant earlier.” Oskar stated with a frown, Navi lighting down on her ear still wearing her outfit from before. “Diamond Dogs are avid diggers and the local packs of dogs are known for kidnapping ponies, so they know how to cover their tracks… other times they do stuff like this as a game.”

“What do you mean Emerald?” Twilight asked. “And how do you know about Diamond Dogs tactics? I don’t have any books covering that.”

“Experienced Diamond Dogs dig through the dirt almost like a fish swims through water.” Oskar explained as she studied the holes in front of her.  “They like to taunt people by flaunting said ability and I know this from a Royal Guard I know.”

“Oh, hmm…” Twilight brought up a hoof to her mouth as she pondered the situation. “Did your friend ever say how to outsmart the Diamond Dogs?”

“That’s the thing actually.” Oskar responded with a small smile as she jumped down the ledge. “Diamond Dogs are not particularly smart, so outsmarting them should be easy. Now we just… need to think… of a… huh?”

Oskar came to a stop as she walked through the field of freshly dug holes and stared at one bare spot on the ground. There wasn’t anything off about the spot at all but for some strange reason she felt herself strangely attracted to it.

“Emerald, what's wrong?” Twilight asked as she and her friends followed the virus down onto the field. “Why are you staring so intently?”

“I don’t know, I just… give me a minute.” Oskar said absently and walked over to the spot that was triggering an unknown instinct in her. Once over the spot Oskar then pawed at the ground for a moment before digging intently and briefly. A second later she was done and stepped back to look at her find. It was a massive gleaming emerald sitting atop a small pile of other gems.

“Oh wow! Your skill in action Emmy!” Pinkie exclaimed as she hopped over to admire the large emerald Oskar was now holding up in a hoof.

“Hmm…” The virus merely hummed in reply as she thought about how to outsmart the Diamond Dogs. “Spike, why did the dogs kidnap Rarity exactly? Was it something to do with the gems?”

“Well yeah.” Spike answered with a confused look. “They said they were hunting for gems and that Rarity was a better hunter so they- OH! I get it! We use gems to outsmart the Diamond Dogs!”

“Exactly what I was thinking.” Oskar said with a nod. “It’ll be very difficult catching them otherwise, now we just have to hold tightly on the gem…”

“Da dadada da Da! Pinkamena Diane Pie to the rescue!” Pinkie said triumphantly and held out a fishing pole to Emerald. “Here ya go Emmy!”

Oskar gave a narrowed eyed stare at the party mare. “I’m not even going to ask where you were hiding that, just give it here.”

A few moments later and Emerald was standing beside Spike as he lowered the large emerald tied to the line into a hole.

“Okay this should work.” The Evolved began. “When the dogs see the large gem they’ll want and try to take and when that happens we just-”

“Whoa!” Spike suddenly exclaimed as his fishing bent from a sudden weight. “Whoa, whoa! I got a bite, I got a bite!”

“Okay great!” Oskar said as she quickly darted over to stare down the hole. “Just loosen the line and we’ll-”

“Hold on there little fella!” Oskar heard Applejack shout and turned to see Spike pulled into the hole with the cowpony trying to pull him back out only for herself to follow. This was quickly followed by Twilight trying to save Applejack, then Rainbow Dash trying to save her and Fluttershy trying to save her…

“Well we can do it this way too I guess…” Oskar sighed and quickly bit down on Pinkie’s tail when she decided to “tag along” with Navi quickly diving into her hair.

Oskar couldn’t really tell what happened next as all she could see was Pinkie’s rear and all she heard was the sound of everyone sliding on dirt and Pinkie laughing, but she certainly noticed when the ground ended. The Virus panicked for a moment and was about to use her magic to catch everyone when she and everyone else hit the ground with a barely felt thump. The Evolved had felt relieved about that and was again surprised when the ground once again disappeared from under her but this time she didn’t have time to panic.

“Oof!” Oskar grunted when she landed on something soft.

“Owie!”

“Sorry Pinkie.”

Oskar stood up from her position atop Pinkie Pie and took stock of her surroundings, Navi sticking her face just out of her mane where she had buried herself when the virus dived into the hole. It was a roughly carved out cave with a dirt floor and many, many little openings in the wall that glowed with a strange red light.

“HA HA! IT WORKED! WE’RE IN! NOW WE CAN FINALLY SAVE RARITY!” Spike cheered in triumph as he leapt up from the floor.

“Ummm… which way do we go?” Twilight asked as she and everyone finally noticed their surroundings.

“NOOOOOOOOoooooooo!” Spike shouted, apparently in despair that Rarity’s rescue wasn’t going to be as straightforward and easy as he had thought.

‘Drama queen… emulation is one way to win over a crush I suppose.’ Oskar thought wryly and looked downwards when she felt something poke her leg and heard Pinkie giggle. 

“What’s so funny?” The Evolved asked the pink pony.

“Oh nothing, it’s just so weird to feel tough muscles on a unicorn!” Pinkie Pie said, looking up at the fake unicorn standing over her with a small smile and cerulean eyes that sparkled with glee.

Oskar just flashed her a smile in response and stepped off her, joining Twilight as she got off the ground.

“All these tunnels… how are we ever going to find Rarity?” Twilight asked aloud in worry as she started walking forward.

At that Oskar gave an aside glance to the others before sending out a viral pulse, its quick return showing not only that they were going in the right direction but Rarity wasn’t too far away. Now she just needed to figure out something believable to say to keep everyone on track.

“Guess were just ta have start going down them one by one!” Applejack replied.

“That could take forever!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “There’s gotta be a way to narrow it down!”

“I know! I bet they’ve taken Rarity down the tunnel with the most gems!” Oskar heard Spike say but paid no more attention as she stared intently at the ground.

There was a shallow hole in the dirt floor of the cave, claw marks showed it was artificially made and that something was dug up. Taking into account the reason why the Diamond Dogs kidnapped Rarity, Oskar reasoned they would be forcing her to reveal gems and then dig them up, so it was actually far more probable that Rarity was down the tunnel with the least gems. Looking up, Oskar saw more evidence to back her claim. Not only more shallow holes in the floor and wall but paw and hoof prints in the dirt as well. Just to make absolutely sure, Oskar sent out a viral pulse and smiled when it came back from the direction of the tunnel she was investigating.

“Guys I think Rarity is-” The virus began.

“We're coming, Rarity! We’ll save you!” Spike announced from atop Twilight as she and the others galloped down a different tunnel from the one Oskar was facing. “Just hold on!”

“… This way.” Oskar finished lamely. The Evolved looked back and forth between the tunnel the others just went down and the one she was sure led to Rarity. After a moment Oskar sighed and galloped after the others, reasoning that Rarity would be fine since the dogs wouldn’t want to hurt their “gem detector”.

Oskar followed the others as they ran down a maze of tunnels though thankfully it seemed that the gem rich tunnels Twilight was following more often than not went in the right direction. And as she went, her powerful ears picked up on Rarity’s voice echoing off the walls and felt what worry she had disappear.

“ENOUGH!” An almost comical slightly high pitched voice begged. “Your whining! I-it hurts!”

“Whining?!” Oskar heard Rarity say incredulously. “I am not whining! I am complaining. Do you want to hear whining? This is whining! Uuuuah this harness is too tight! Can’t you loosen it?! It’s going to chafe!”

‘Yep… Rarity’s perfectly fine.’ Oskar thought with a wince, unwilling to listen in anymore. She and the others were still galloping down tunnels, gems in the walls being lit up and revealed by the spell Twilight was using.

‘Hmm… I wonder if that spell can be used to find other things in the earth?’ Oskar thought curiously. ‘Different types of rock maybe? Like marble and limestone? Finding ores would be fantastic since you wouldn’t need to study the ground and rock for signs of a nearby vein. Hmm… what is the maximum depth of that spell I wonder? Is it only a few feet deep? Can you increase the range by pouring more power into the spell? So much potential for that spell, it would be extremely useful for objective four because-’ Suddenly the sound of Rarity bawling echoing in the tunnels broke the Evolved’s line of thought. ‘What the? What just happened?’

“It’s coming from down here!” Spike pointed forward, a bit unneeded since the tunnels they were in had no other way then forward. “Come on!”

A moment later and the tunnel ended with the group coming into a large cavern with a steel bar door covering one entrance to a tunnel, the sound of Rarity’s crying echoing from within.

“She must be in there!” Rainbow Dash said. “Let’s go!”

Suddenly six armored dogs leapt out from behind boulders and out from openings in the ceiling. They all landed on the back of a pony, Oskar included.

‘Surprisingly good ambushers!’ Oskar commented inwardly, surprised by how she hadn’t noticed the dogs before the ambush was tripped. ‘I better-’

Oskar grew deathly still when the dog on her put a bridle on her.

“More workhorses!” One of the armored dogs stated, their intent made clear for all.

Oskar felt empty for a brief moment before a memory of Alex ordering her to yet again murder someone flashed through her mind, a sense of utter helplessness overwhelmed her… and then she was angry, so very angry.

‘NO! NOT AGAIN! NEVER AGAIN!’ Oskar raged inwardly.

Everyone in the cavern suddenly froze up when a low almost bestial growl suddenly resonated through the air. The Mane Six and the Diamond Dogs turned towards the source of the sound, Oskar.

The virus’ expression was utterly blank but her eyes held such a terrifying deep dark volatile intent that seemed just on the verge of exploding wildly, contrasting completely with the calm posture she held. With a disturbing slowness Oskar turned to face the dog on her back who could not help but gulp audibly when he met her gaze.

“Workhorse?” Oskar stated, voice like the calm before the hurricane before quietly muttering. “… Never again.”

Suddenly the virus leapt into the air, smashing into the ceiling and falling back onto the floor. The Diamond Dog was understandably knocked senseless from the impact, his helmet was now misshapen and dented, bulged out eyes rolling in their sockets seeing stars and a tongue lolled about. He still held onto the rope of Oskar’s bridle though unfortunately… for him.

Utterly furious with her impromptu rider Oskar burst forward down a random tunnel, the sounds of the Dog on her back yelping in fear and pain echoing throughout the tunnels as he just barely held on.

The Mane Six, Spike and the Diamond Dogs just stared in stunned silence after Oskar, shocked at the immense barely restrained rage their friend just demonstrated. The image of the look “Emerald’s” eyes held seemed to dominate their minds and then they all shuddered in fear, feeling very much like a deer finding face to face with a hungry Manticore and disturbed by the fact it was “Emerald” that made them feel that way.

It was Fluttershy’s goat-like beat as she fainted, unable to handle the fear, that made them remember where they were and who was on their backs right now.

“Ah ain’t in the mood for ya’ll!” Applejack shouted in anger, immediately starting to buck and jump to force off the dog, an action that the others quickly began to mimic. It didn't take much effort to force the dogs off and since they were still in shock from what they had seen and were sent flying easily, the one that was on Fluttershy had hit his head when Fluttershy fainted and didn’t seem to be coming back up anytime soon.

After the Dogs were sent yelping down the tunnels the mares turned to each other, concerned expressions firmly etched on their faces.

“What in tarnation was that?!” Applejack exclaimed pointing down the tunnel Oskar had run down. “In all the time ah that filly I have never seen er like that!”

“Angry Emmy is scary…” Pinkie commented from her hiding spot behind an unconscious Fluttershy.

“Seems like a certain somepony agrees with ya Pinks.” Dash commented and turned towards Twilight.  “AJ’s right, what the hay was that?!”

“I don’t know guys I really don’t but this gives us a new problem.” Twilight replied with a concerned frown. “Who do we go after? Rarity is being held captive by the Diamond Dogs down that tunnel but Emerald just ran down that one and who knows what she may run into.”

“Ah have faith in the mare.” Applejack replied, though she was frowning as well. “She is as tough as nails for a unicorn that spends as much time as ya book learning.”

“Yeah she isn’t some shrinking violet or some crud.” Dash added confidently. “Besides, she beat up a manticore didn’t she? What are some random dogs barely bigger than her going to do?”

“Okay so we save Rarity first then go after Emerald.” Twilight said, sounding like she’d rather not have to choose between the two. “But first we need to wake up Fluttershy…”



ALPHA



Deep in the caves of the Diamond Dog tunnels a large group of sixty or so Dogs either armored or just wearing a vest sat in a dining room eating lunch, said room being a roughly carved out cavern. Breeds of bulldog like Diamond Dogs were in the majority but there were other breeds here as well, quite a few appeared to be Boxer and German Shepherd like along with one big Rottweiler looking one. All of them were relaxing after a hard day of either mining or trying to find some isolated ponies to abduct for forced labour, which they had been failing to do since this particular mine’s opening save for one unicorn. They were all enjoying a not at all appealing dish of what could be charitably called gruel, made from stolen oats and dog food which all the dogs were hoping wasn’t out of date this time. Judging by the fact more often than not they didn’t have to fight their gag reflex it thankfully wasn’t.

Their quiet moment to relax and fill their bellies with something that actually wouldn’t give them stomach aches and the runs was suddenly interrupted by the sound of yelping echoing from one of the tunnels. The large Rottweiler Diamond Dog got up and was about to investigate when a door over one of the entrances to the dining room exploded outwards.

In came a unicorn, coat white as snow, eyes green as the emeralds in her cutiemark and mane an eye-catching shade of neon pink. Said unicorn also happened to have a badly battered armored Diamond Dog desperately hanging onto her by a rough rope bridle. The unicorn came to a skidding stop upon catching sight of all the Diamond Dogs in the room which caused the Dog on her to suddenly fly forward, crashing into the large Rottweiler DD.

There was a short moment of awkward silence as the DDs in the room expected the unicorn to either run away or beg forgiveness given how outnumbered she was. They didn’t expect her to just scowl briefly before giving them all a narrowed eyed glare and looking like she was preparing to fight.

The Rottweiler DD got up, pushing the armored dog off him as he seemed to be content to not try to move his battered body.

“Grrrr what unicorn do to Berkly?!” The Rottweiler DD asked angrily, approaching the unicorn with a slightly ponderous gait.

“He tried to enslave me so I gave the filth what he deserved.” The unicorn responded blankly, a rage in her eyes contrasting with her calm stance. “I’m guessing the rest of you are slavers too so you’ll be getting yours in a few moments too.”

“Feisty pony!” The Rottweiler DD commented with an almost admiring grin before quickly frowning. “No matter how strong or how good magic, only one of you. Padfoot don’t like hurting girls, give up so don’t have to. There is nother unicorn here, keep you company while you work.”

Suddenly the mare’s jaw tightened and a startling amount of hate smouldered in her eyes. “How kind of you to reassure me I would have someone to share the misery with, slaver…”

A long moment of inaction followed this statement. To the Diamond Dogs it seemed clear they would be the winner if the unicorn decided to fight, yet the sheer lack of fear in said mare and the air of viciousness about her kept them from immediately trying to charge her. Finally a German Shepard DD stepped atop a table and pointed at her.

“Only one… LET’S GET HER BOYS!” The dog shouted, causing a round of agreeing howls before the dogs exploded forth.

“Padfoot” shot forward surprisingly fast after only a brief moment’s hesitation, large bulky arms reaching out to catch and restrain the unicorn the moment he was in range. However, what happened next surprised every dog in the room, especially Padfoot.

One moment the unicorn was standing there the next she had run forward so fast they nearly didn’t notice a high pitched yelp of pain resounding in the cavern soon after. The DDs turned to see the sight of Padfoot falling down onto his knee from being punched in the groin from the unicorn, who had suddenly appeared before him. The unicorn then swiped her hoof into the side of Padfoot’s knee, snapping it like a twig. Padfoot howled in pain for a brief second before the mare punched him in the jaw hard enough to spin him about before he collapsed onto the ground, dazed.

There was a moment of silence as the shocked dogs stared at the unicorn that had incapacitated the largest of them in a single moment. Then the DD who had initiated the charge once again took the first move and charged at the unicorn mare. Other DDs were not far behind but the pony was far from worried. The German Shepherd DD was sent flying with a cracked sternum into his fellows, bucked by the pony. A moment later three dogs in range leapt upon the pony, intending to pin her with sheer weight and numbers… it didn’t work.

The dogs grappled with the unicorn and tried to use their strength and their weight to force her to the ground but she was as unmoving as a mountain. With a silent snarl the pony reached up with both hooves and grabbed the dogs on her, swinging them off in an arc and smashing them into the ground hard enough for them to bounce. Then she gave a short hop into the air, turning upside down and landing on the remaining dog on her. The average pony was heavy in comparison to people, about three hundred pounds on average, but the wheeze from the DD and the small dust cloud rising from the unicorn’s impact with the ground said she was heavier than she looked.

The unicorn was barely on the ground for an instant before she was on her hooves again facing the next dog charging at her. She reared up unexpectedly and latched onto the dog's arm as he missed a frantic thrown haymaker punch. And with the ease of wrapping one’s self in a rope the unicorn proceeded to do just that only using the DD’s arm. Rapid pops, cracks and crunching filled the cavern along with the dog’s howls of utter agony as his arm was broken in quite possibly hundreds of places, the pain only made worse by the unicorn wrapping said arm under her shoulders. Then quickly adjusting her grip on the limb to the wrist the unicorn heaved and suddenly she was wielding the dog as an impromptu flail, sending near a dozen closing dogs flying with the now comatose dog.

The rest of the dogs in the cavern paused to gape at the sure brutality of the maneuver the unicorn just performed, said unicorn narrowed her eyes and dropped her “weapon” to the ground like so much trash.

She moved again, charging forward at incredible speeds and bowling over several dogs painfully before coming to a stop in the thickest grouping of them. Seeing she was now within striking range DDs lashed out with their powerful arms, strong enough to burrow through even the hardest rock… it didn’t do any good.

The pony had unbelievable speed, parrying blows with her legs making the dogs feel like their arms were whacked away with a steel bar. However as fast as she was she couldn’t block every strike coming at her. A German Shepard DD leaped at her, arm cocked back in a mighty hay maker and this time the blow landed. The dog’s paw impacted solidly with the pony’s cheek and the moment it did so the dog howled in pain, pulling back his arm and cradling his paw crying out about it feeling like it was broken. His cries were ended a moment later when the unicorn delivered a bone breaking blow to his knee and struck him solidly in the temple, making him crumple like a puppet with its strings cut.

By now several DD’s had had it and were about to turn tail and run. They were a poorly fed and often overworked bunch who specialised in ambushing their targets and overwhelming with numbers, not direct battles. The unicorn they were fighting  had no qualms about breaking limbs and causing the greatest pain possible to those who attracted her attention in a fight and the only thing outnumbering her did was give her more people to vent her hate on. Not to mention that the more they watched her fight the more unnatural she seemed, their frantic blows bounced off her ivory coat like it was solid steel, she reacted to attacks with such speed a snake would find itself green with envy, worse still was the way she moved, contorting and twisting as she moved and turned in the heat of battle in such ways that even the DDs knew she should have broken something. So with the choice between facing this seemingly unstoppable hurricane of violence in the form of a pony and running away the Diamond Dogs chose to run… or try to.

A group of DDs skidded to a stop before they could get anywhere near an exit, the reason being the unicorn who had run incredibly fast ahead of them and reached that exit first. She was giving them a hard stare and proceeded to give the wall beside the exit a hard kick. Horrifying the dogs with how easily the wall cracked and shattered like glass before her strength and collapsed the tunnel they were running for.

What few dogs that intended to keep desperately fighting immediately broke and ran for all the exits in the face of this show of force. Hoping that her being only one meant she couldn’t get them all. They were proven wrong only moments later…

Another group of running DDs skidded to a stop and quickly changed direction as the unicorn charged and reached another direction before them. Had they watched her they may have seen her stumble and find herself unable to stop in time, collapsing a tunnel by running headfirst into a wall instead of bashing it with a limb.

Two groups of DDs were about to reach their respective exits and this time knew she could get both. One group was shocked when several large boulders crashed into their exit and the other was simply terrified when they found themselves mere feet from her at the other before she smashed that exit as well.

There was only one exit now, the one the unicorn has come exploding out of. They didn’t even bother moving towards that one, knowing she would reach it long before any of them would. They were proven correct when she skidded to a stop before that exit, giving them all a long hate filled stare.

“M-mercy?” One of the dogs stuttered a plea.

The pony’s eyes suddenly glazed over at that request, looking like she was distracted by her thoughts or remembering something vividly. Suddenly her eyes cleared, lighting up with a terrifying fury.

“Would you have given me mercy if I had asked for it?” The unicorn stated rhetorically.

The Diamond Dogs’ answer would have honestly been yes but that didn’t matter anymore, she was amongst them again like a bottled up typhoon finally let loose. They couldn’t run or hide from her, they couldn’t even dig away because the room they were in was carved out of pure rock and that always took some time to dig through, time enough for the monster unicorn to beat them into submission. The only thing they could do was echo their anguished howls through the tunnels.



BETA



Oskar panted as she struggled to regain full control of herself. All around her were the comatose broken bodies of the Diamond Dogs, lying haphazardly on the tables and floor. It was an utter struggle to fight the Diamond Dogs and not kill any of them, her rage straining and testing the uppermost limits of her self control. It wasn’t time or place to kill people, the others were probably only a few tunnels away and they wouldn’t have taken her killing people all that well at all. But that fact didn’t make it easier for her even more so when she had messed up in the fight.

‘That was embarrassing…’ The Evolved thought, recalling the point in the fight where she wasn’t able to completely control her high speed running and ended up smacking into a wall. ‘I really need to practice high speed movement more. The last thing I need is to lose control and go smashing into some random wall or tripping on something I missed.’

A small questioning trill came from above the Evolved. After a few moments Navi stuck her head out of the fake unicorn’s mane and took stock of her surroundings, seeing that the DDs were no longer a danger, not that they ever were, the little bug immediately flew out of her “shelter” and buzzed about Oskar’s head.

“Sorry about that Navi…” Oskar said to her pet, who was now on her snout. “I didn’t mean to endanger you like that… I just got so angry when that Diamond Dog put that bridle on me…”

Navi just trilled comfortingly and flew up against Oskar’s check, rubbing her cheek affectionately against Oskar’s. The virus smiled softly at this action before her ear suddenly twitched.

“Emerald! Emerald! Emerald, where are you!” Came an echo from down the tunnels.

‘The others are coming…’ Oskar thought. ‘And judging by the sound they are choosing the right paths so they will be reaching me soon. Let’s see, let’s see… there is a lot of DDs here and I am completely untouched, not good.’

Oskar's body began to undergo changes, tendrils writhed over the surface of her form Navi watching curiously from above. Gashes appeared, all of varying depths followed by a number of bruises each also varying in size.

‘No matter how good a fighter Emerald is she wouldn’t have gotten out of this scrap without something to show for it.’ Oskar thought. ‘And I doubt the others would be in any better shape though they are probably better off since it seems I took care of the majority of them here. Hmm… should I break one of my legs? Crap, time’s up here they come.’ The Evolved looked up as she heard the sound of hooves clopping on stone just down the remaining cavern exit… and was rather surprised when the group entered the room looking completely untouched followed by three Diamond Dogs.

“Emerald are you- OHMYGOSH!” Twilight began and gasped in shock when she saw the condition Oskar was in and the knocked out DDs covering the room.

“Hey guys…” Oskar greeted with a bit of a strained smile.

“Emerald, you're bleeding!” Rarity gasped and rushed forward. “What in the world happened!? Did the Diamond Dogs hurt you?! Scoundrels!”

“Look what your buddies did to our friend!” Dash said angrily to the three DDs that followed them.

“Her?! What about ours?!” The Diamond Dog with the average height protested, pointing at all the Diamond Dogs lying unconscious with obvious broken limbs. “Our entire pack is-”

“That’s enough lip out of ya!” Applejack said, interrupting the Diamond Dog with a buck to the face sending falling to the ground with a yelp. “Now git! Go get us those carts of gems ya’ll promised!”

“Yeah! Don’t come back until you have them!” Rainbow Dash added, shouting after the retreating DDs’, two of them carrying their pained friend.

“Are you okay Emerald?” Twilight asked with concern. “Do you have any serious injuries?”

“Uhh… no, just some cuts and bruises.” Oskar responded a bit uncomfortable since Rarity was now looking over her entire body looking for every single wound she had. “Honestly the Diamond Dogs are in far worse shape than me, speaking of which... how are you guys not hurt as well? I’d think the dogs would have put up a fight trying to keep Rarity.”

“A proper lady should know how to handle ruffians darling.” Rarity said. “I used my wiles to manipulate the Diamond Dogs and make them not only want to be rid of me but offer to pay to be rid of me.”

“So you not only reversed your situation without our help but got what you originally wanted?” Oskar stated. “I guess I shouldn’t underestimate the power of whining.”

“What? How did you know?” Rarity asked with furrowed brows.

Despite the fact she hadn’t intended to let that slip, Oskar just gave Rarity a steady look in the eye. “Rarity, you are just that kind of pony.”

Rarity just pouted as the others gave a little laugh.



GAMMA



The group was now outside on the surface, pulling along several carts overflowing with gems. Oskar was now regretting making her body look hurt, as the group had her riding along in one of the carts and wouldn’t take no for an answer. So now she was being pulled along by Applejack while lying on a surprisingly comfortable pile of gems.

“… Emerald?” Twilight called.

“Yes?” The virus replied.

“I was just wondering… back in the caves, you reacted to that Diamond Dog putting a bridle on you rather… strongly.” The violet unicorn began. “And I wanted to know why… if you didn’t mind.”

Oskar sighed inwardly as she looked all around her, the group had come to a stop and were looking at her deeply curious about the reason as well… though Fluttershy was averting her eyes away from her for some reason. She was sure she could just tell them she didn’t want to talk about it, implying it was a painful memory… which truth be told it was. But… she did trust them to not go around telling people personal details about her…

“I… once upon a time I wasn’t a strong pony…” Oskar began hesitantly. “Once upon a time… I was a slave.”

Gasps of shock and horror met this announcement.

“What?! You, a slave?! No way!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed incredulously.

“What force in the world could have claimed a mare like you Emerald?” Rarity asked with equal disbelief.

“Like I said I wasn’t always a strong pony, there was a time when I was weak and desperate… and he came and took advantage of me when I was at my weakest.” Oskar said quietly. “I was tired, cold, hungry and living in half destroyed buildings. Then one day he arrived and offered me a way out. No more being cold, no more starving, no more being tired and no longer without shelter. All I had to give in return was my freedom.”

“… Who was he? What was he?” Twilight asked quietly.

“He was… a monster.” Oskar admitted, deciding against telling her his name.

“So… what happened next?” Dash asked curiously though knowing she was treading on sensitive ground.

Oskar sighed. “…I spent two long painful years serving him. Two years doing whatever was asked of me until one day I finally saw my chance for freedom… so I took it which after a series of events I don’t exactly understand I ended up here… and girls? I know you are all deathly curious but I really don’t want to say anymore.”

“That’s okay Emerald.” Twilight said with a sad but comforting smile. “You don’t have to say anymore, let’s just head home so I can use some of the healing spells I learned in a controlled environment.”

At that Oskar raised an eyebrow curiously, when did Twilight learn healing magic.

“Healing magic?” Oskar said. “I know being Celestia’s student you know a lot of magic but I don’t think healing was one of those.”

“No, you’re right Emerald but after Dash demonstrated her knowledge of injuries… well I took it upon myself to study injuries and healing.” Twilight said a little sheepishly, flashing a glance at Dash who was looking a little smug. “So I learned healing magic… it’s not much really, it’s an incredibly complex field and advancement can be slow as the consequences of getting something wrong can be disastrous. But I do know enough to hopefully heal those cuts and bruises of yours.”

Inwardly annoyed about having to be careful about another “medical procedure”, Oskar just sighed as the group made their way home, pulling along the carts of jewels. But her thoughts wandered back to the Diamond Dogs as she did so.

‘A Diamond Dog took the object from the area it landed.’ Oskar pondered. ‘Hmm… I’m going to definitely need to investigate this. Also my magic is fairly advanced now, I can teleport, though my aim is a bit off but I can do most things now. I feel that the objective is complete… the Diamond Dogs give me an idea of how to start objective four.’

‘Priority objective: Attain satisfactory mastery over magic complete. Starting objective four: Create a powerbase.’ The Virus thought, glancing back over her shoulder at the caves the Diamond Dogs resided in.



DELTA



“And there, all done!” Twilight said with a smile, the glow of magic fading from her horn. “Though I am rather surprised at how easy that was, it felt like I was doing nothing but I could see those wounds closing.”

“Well I look fully healed don’t I?” Emerald stated.

The group was now back in Twilight’s library after dropping off the loads of gems in Rarity’s boutique. The rest of the Mane Six had decided to go with Twilight and Emerald, just to make sure the white unicorn was fine. Emerald wasn’t exactly appreciating their concern though.

“Well if you have any aches pains then I could-” Twilight began.

“Uh, no I’m fine.” Emerald stated, Navi buzzing about her head as she stared at the others looking at her with concern. “Very fine in fact, and just to prove to you how fine I am, watch me teleport away to do some chores.” The prodigal unicorn said, her horn glowing with magic. Just before she disappeared in a flash Navi dived into her mane tagging along to wherever was Emerald’s intended destination.

Twilight opened her mouth to dispute Emerald’s decision only for the other unicorn to leave, then she closed her mouth with a sigh.

“Well Emerald’s gone out.” Twilight stated to her friends. “No idea where she went but she’s probably going to be out for a while.”

“Emmy’s got problems.” Pinkie said sadly.

“Got to agree with ya there sugar cube.” Applejack said. “That mare got a ton of issues, can only imagine what her life was like before coming here.”

“Hmm… maybe we should try to figure that out?” Twilight offered after some thought. “Use what we know about her to piece together a hypothetical past?”

“Err… why?” Dash asked. “Shouldn’t we just ask Emerald when she comes back?”

“Emerald is always so reluctant to share pieces of her past with us dear.” Rarity said. “She only ever shares things about her past on her terms and really I can understand why, so many tragic things happened to the poor girl. This is just a way of helping us get an idea of what she may have gone through without prodding her for details and perhaps hurting her feelings.”

“Well when you put it like that…”

“Let’s get comfortable in the library.” Twilight said. “I can lay out some cushions for us to lay on as we brainstorm.”

A few moments later and the Mane Six were set up on a circle of cushions in the library, facing each other while bowls containing an assortment of berries and mixed nuts sat before them.

“So who wants to go first?” Twilight asked.

“Ah’ll go.” Applejack said with a raised hoof. “Well ya’ll all know ah like a little horse play, wrestling and rough housing? Well whenever me an Emerald rough house I can feel her being extremely tense. Now when ah was a little filly Big Mac used to be sorta scared he’d me whenever we messed around, he don’ do it anymore but ah can tell Emerald feels the same way, nervous that she’ll hurt me if she isn’t careful.”

“Does she avoid your farm animals?” Fluttershy asked suddenly.

“Huh? Well… now that ya mention it Emerald always avoids hanging around close to the critters.” The cowpony answered, scratching her ear in thought. “Heck she looked down right startled when Winoa snuck up on her that one time. Why’d ya ask sugarcube?”

“Well… I think Emerald doesn’t like animals too much.” Fluttershy said. “It’s just that… she’s always fine around me yet no matter what she always avoids my house or finds an excuse to not come visit… oh, maybe my home is just messy, I’m probably overthinking things…”

“It’s alright darling, I feel your notion of Emerald isn’t groundless.” Rarity assured the shy pegasus. “What I find the most striking about Emerald is her trust issues. You won’t believe how much trouble she had just admitting she trusted me to make her a nice dress. I can only imagine what it would be like to get her to admit she trusted someone in something more important.”

“I got one!” Pinkie said, shooting up her hoof and waving her leg eagerly. “Her smiles are fake!”

That caused everyone save Rarity to turn and stare disbelievingly at Pinkie, even Fluttershy. Emerald was one of the friendliest ponies anyone of them had ever met and was always quick to give a smile to a stranger.

“Not to poke holes in your claim Pinkie but… are you absolutely certain?” Twilight asked incredulously. “I know Emerald doesn’t have the best history but she doesn’t seem to let it rule her day to day life like that.”

“I know smiles!” Pinkie said with a pout. “She’s pretty close, almost never spotted it but her smile is fake.”

“I have to agree with Pinkie on this.” Rarity said. “Emerald is… well… truth be told I am a little troubled saying this but when I look Emerald in the eyes I see something there, a great uncertainty, like no matter where she stands she’ll always be unsure of her footing.”

“Why do you feel troubled sharing that Rarity?” Twilight asked.

“… I did promise Emerald I wouldn’t tell anypony about that.” Rarity admitted, shamefaced.

“Well maybe you shouldn’t have said anything then.” Dash said, throwing the unicorn a dirty look.

“I had considered exactly that, believe me.” Rarity retorted with a hurt look. “But I had thought that sharing what I know would lead to Emerald being helped in the long run.”

“Dash please, no pony here means Emerald harm and it’s not like any of us would purposefully spread what we learn here right?” Twilight stated and got a reluctant no from the pegasus. “Right, do you have anything to share?”

“Well… I don’t exactly feel comfortable about saying this but…” Rainbow Dash hesitantly began. “I think Emerald’s confidence if made up, a sort of act for everyone else’s sake.”

“Oh, and what’s your reasoning for that Dash?” Twilight asked.

The pegasus then flushed and turned her face away. “Look I just know okay…”

“Oh… well, is that everything?” Twilight said. “Can anypony think of anything else?”

“Well… I-I have something to add.” Fluttershy said, raising her hoof.

“Okay go ahead Fluttershy.” Twilight told the pegasus.

“I know everypony was distracted by Emerald being hurt by the Diamond Dogs… but did anypony else notice what condition all the dogs in the chamber were in?” Fluttershy asked and continued when the others just shook their heads or replied a negative. “Well I did… there must have been over fifty Diamond Dogs in the room and all of them were knocked out and had broken bones. Think about it… Emerald faced one to fifty odds… and w-w-won…” The pegasus finished with a nervous squeak.

All the mares looked at each other in shock and realisation, it was true what Fluttershy said that they were distracted by Emerald’s condition to notice the injured Diamond Dogs. But now that it was pointed out to them they realised just how miraculous  Emerald’s victory against such odds with such minor injuries was.

“Boy howdy!” Applejack exclaimed with wide eyes after the quiet moment that followed. “Ah figured that mare was tough as nails, what with the manticore she beat single hoofed! But beating fifty with only cuts and bruises to show for it? That there is jus’ plum unbelievable!”

“Doesn’t make it any less true!” Dash said with a massive grin. “Oh we are SOOO holding another iron pony competition! Only this time it will be the two of us against miss toughest pony in Equestria!”

“Darn tootin!” Applejack agreed with an eager grin of her own.

“Wow…” Twilight said, lost in thought for a few moments before shaking her head clear. “As amazing as this is, we should get back on track.”

“If anypony doesn’t have anything else to add I’ll do a recap of what we know.” Seeing that no one had anything more to add, Twilight continued. “Okay to recap… Emerald is tense when roughhousing, most likely she is holding back in fear of hurting somepony. She appears to either be afraid of or is nervous around animals, our reasoning being that she both avoids Applejack’s farm animals and Fluttershy’s home. She has definite trust issues, an example being how hard it was for her to admit to trusting Rarity to make a dress. Her smiles are actually fake, though I still have a hard time believing that myself, I’m more than willing to put faith in Pinkie’s and Rarity’s judgement on the matter. Also, not only are her smiles fake but her confidence is as well though I wish we had a bit more to go on this one…” Twilight said, looking at Rainbow Dash who just averted her eyes and kept her expression clear. “Moving along… and finally we come to her fighting ability, not only is she able to face down a physically more imposing foe and win but she can do the same when facing great numbers.”

“Alright that was everything we talked about.” Twilight stated. “Did I miss anything?”

“Actually Twilight you never added anything yourself.” Rarity said.

“OH! I didn't, did I? Well…” The violet unicorn hummed for a moment, deep in thought. “There was something we talked about during the running of the leaves, I never thought of sharing with all of you before. We talked a little about her past and what she had gone through. Emerald lost her mother during a catastrophe that ravaged her country. And she spent what must have been at least a year alone where she nearly froze and starved to death when winter came, an experience that made her afraid of autumn for a time…”

“How horrible…” Rarity said with hooves held up to her mouth. “I know there was a disaster but shouldn’t the government have had refugee camps set up for those displaced by it?”

“Apparently they did but did a horrible job of it… so much so that a little filly went out of her way to avoid it. Can’t blame her, considering what she said back in Cloudsdale.” Twilight said with a scowl. “I hope to one day get Emerald to divulge the name of her nation, I don’t care how far away it is, surely the Princess can do something about those in charge, they must have been doing something wrong if things were so bad.”

“…Well now we should try to construct a rational hypothesis of Emerald’s past using the data we have.” Twilight said after a moment. “Hmm… any ideas?”

Everyone paused for several moments, thinking over everything that was shared about Emerald Gleaner. After a minute or so Pinkie suddenly gasped in excitement and started waving her hoof excitedly in the air.

“Oh, oh I got something!” The party mare began. “ How about… in reality Emerald is an ALIEN!”

“… What.” Twilight deadpanned.

“Oh, oh! And she’s a super-secret double agent!” Pinkie continued. “And she was part of this super-secret organization and she's a really good spy! Oh wait, I said that already… Oh, and she is so good at sneaking around and taking disguises it’s like she changes forms! And she can kung-fu fight like crazy! But she turned on the group because they were actually bad and had left because-”

“PINKIE!” Twilight shouted. “We aren’t trying to make some sort of cross genre sci-fi spy story!”

“Sorry.” Pinkie said, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly and sticking out her tongue.

“Well… does anypony else have a theory?” Twilight asked.

“Hmm… I may have one.” Rarity replied, frowning in concentration. “I’ve been thinking about everything we know about Emerald and I think she may have been a gladiator.”

“A… a gladiator?” Twilight stated with a frown. “You do realise that means she was a made to fight for the entertainment of others when she was still a filly right?”

“And that’s what makes it so tragic!” Rarity exclaimed, her distraught tone of voice decrying the tragedy. “Emerald Gleaner, made to fight to the roaring approval of crowds, fighting until she collapsed from exhaustion! Made to fight animals until she developed a fear of them! All at such a tender young age! OH! And perhaps due to her beauty her monstrous owner always made sure any scarring wounds were healed so that they left no marks, so that he may sell her off the moment he got a great deal. Oh the travesty of it all!”

“Uh Rarity…” Twilight began. “I admit your idea has merit but don’t you think you’re being a little over dra-”

“And perhaps young Emerald developed a fondness for a fellow young fighter in the arena!” Rarity continued excitedly, tears appearing in the corners of her eyes as she imagined a tale of hardship, love and tragedy in her mind. “But alack and alas! She gained the chance to fight for her freedom in a once in a decade championship, of which her owner had no right to choose for her, and unknowingly her love had chosen to do the same! So when the final round came and her chance for freedom within reach Emerald found, to her horror, that her final opponent was her love!”

“The two stared each other down with dismay and disbelief!” Rarity declared, lost in a drama of her own making. “But they soon raised their weapons, their training ingraining a fighting instinct in them and their own respect for each other making simply giving up impossible. And so they fought! Fighting spirits soaring like the regal eagle, and hearts dropping like great weights! Finally Emerald remained the victor, standing above her comatose love as she received her freedom to the roaring accolades of thousands! And that night the two met one final time, in a heartfelt goodbye! One, a free filly now made a mare by the hardships she had experienced, the other a enslaved warrior in the arena doomed to wait a whole decade before he could hope for another chance to-”

“RARITY!” Twilight shouted, shaking the unicorn clear of her imaginings. “We aren’t trying to make some fantastical soap opera either!”

The violet unicorn paused when she heard some soft sniffling coming next to her. Turning her head to the right she was met with the sight of Applejack rubbing a tear of all things out of her eye.

“Are… are you crying Applejack?!” the disbelieving unicorn asked

“N-NO!” The cowpony denied, quickly rubbing her eyes clear. “Ah… ah jus got some dust in my eye!”

Looking past the earth pony Twilight saw that while Rainbow Dash was looking stone-faced her eyes were glistening with barely restrained tears. Shaking her head at this Twilight turned to look at her other friends. Pinkie was lying on her back and having a bad case of the giggles while surprisingly Fluttershy seemed more critical of the tale she just heard more than anything else.

“Ummm… I have to admit Rarity’s story is a bit dramatic…” Fluttershy said softly. “It still works with what we know. Maybe we can just prune the more dramatic parts off?”

“Well… yes that’s true and sounds like a good idea.” Twilight replied, admitting that while the tale was dramatic it was still a fairly good one that worked with what they knew. “Let’s try ironing out some… wrinkles shall we? And try to avoid dramatizing what is supposed to be a theory of Emerald’s tragic past.”

So with one sheepish unicorn and several other mares the group continued their brainstorming, ironing out the drama Rarity thought up to make something more believable and realistic.



EPSILON



“Please Navi? It might be very dangerous and I don’t want to drag you into it this time.” Oskar pleaded with her pet only to get a noncompliant trill in response.

Oskar was now back in the Diamond Dog tunnels, along the very paths she had traveled along with the others. She was back here to get started on her objective, to create a powerbase. And doing so would definitely be easier if she had a force under her command and no one would notice if a bunch of gem crazy enslaving Diamond Dogs were usurped with great prejudice.

“You’re not giving up on this are you?” Oskar said with a sigh as she continued walking, getting a confirming trill from Navi in answer. “Fine… just make sure to stay close to the ceiling okay? And no matter what, do not come down until I call for you, got that?”

Navi was happy that Oskar was willing to take her along but she also recognised that she was very serious about her staring out of the way, looking as if she’d resort to restraining her for her own safety if she was defiant this time. So she nodded solemnly and flew up close to the ceiling of the tunnel.

Grateful that Navi was doing as she was told Oskar continued down the tunnel. As he walked Oskar began to hear the distant echoes of talking dogs, a few moments later she was close enough to make out the words.

“… the leg?” Asked a voice that Oskar identified as the DD Applejack kicked.

“Bad… might not heal right.” Oskar heard Padfoot’s voice reply.

“BAD! Bad! Very bad!” A high pitched voice shouted in panic. “How we going to get enough gems for tribute!? Most of us are broken!”

“Don’t know, don’t know!” The first voice shouted back. “Curse that pony! Why we give her all those gems?!”

“Because her whines were painful.” Rumbled a low voice.

“Ugh! Head hurt just from memory!”

“Feisty unicorn tough… too tough.” Padfoot muttered.

“What mean?” The high pitched voice asked.

“Too fast… hit too hard… feels very had, like steel.” Padfoot replied.

“This not important!” The first DD said irately. “Whole pack with broken bones! How going to dig gems now?!”

“Clifford in bad way…” Rumbled the low voice from before. “Arm all noodly… when wake up is going to be hurting, lots.”

“Might have to chop.” Padfoot said, causing a long quiet moment.

“… Who do it?” Asked the first DD.

Finally Oskar arrived at the entrance of the cavern dining room and glanced inside. Most of the DDs were on the ground groaning softly in pain, others were walking about and trying to salvage their meal but a few were still unconscious.

Navi darted inside and flew for the high ceiling as Oskar stepped into view, eliciting gasps of shock and fear from the Diamond Dogs when they spotted her.

“Y-you?! What you doing here?!?” Whimpered a Diamond Dog peeking out from behind a table, nursing a broken Oskar had given him. “Friend was let go! Why you back?!”

“Why indeed…” Oskar drawled, speaking with her base form’s voice as she approached.

“Wha-wha…” A small Diamond Dog squeaked in confusion at Oskar having a male voice.

Suddenly tendrils surged, exploding forth from Oskar’s ivory white coat. The Diamond Dogs didn’t even make a sound, shocked into silence as they watched a pony melt into a mass of writhing black and red tendrils. A near instant later Oskar in his base form stood before the lot of them.

“Now… I am not a mare, or a pony for that matter.” Oskar began, calmly glancing over the scared dogs staring wide eyed at him. “What I am is… well it isn’t any of your business, just know that I am now in control of your little group. What this means is you take orders from me now obviously, but in addition to that this also means I expect a certain amount of discipline and efficiency. Of course… if anyone wishes to dispute my claim to leadership, step forward and we will discuss it.” One of the Evolved’s hands shifted into a claw, one purposefully made extra spikey and glowed excessively with unnatural bioluminescence. And just to add to the intimidation factor he walked to a table and glided a claw through it, demonstrating just how sharp it was.

Naturally the Diamond Dogs just stared in terrified silence, unwilling to argue anything with the cruel being before them. Oskar shifted his hand back to normal and walked forward to a group of three Diamond Dogs that seemed like they had the most say in what the pack did. Oskar noticed that these three dogs were the ones that followed the Mane Six into the chamber earlier that day and guessed that they were the ones responsible for Rarity’s kidnapping. Hatred for them surged up with the suddenness of a flash flood.

The large bull dog like DD of the three was sent to the floor with a brutal back hand, the smallest of the three was sent flying a short distance with a kick to the groin yelping in agony. The last one flinched and shielded his face from blows only for Oskar to grab him by the throat, eliciting a choked gurgle from him before the virus threw him hard enough into the ground to send up a cloud of dust. Oskar then placed his foot on the DD’s chest, pressing down with great force until the dog groaned in discomfort.

“Now I’m going to ask you a few questions, okay?” Oskar asked, forcing himself to look and sound calm despite the hate he felt. “And I will know when you lie, don’t ask how but I will know. And when you lie I will break a rib… now admittedly I don’t know how to do that so I only break just one rib so there is a chance I’ll end up breaking many. I suppose this will be doubly a learning experience for me huh?”

“NO! NO! I talk!” The lanky looking Diamond Dog frantically assured. “No lie!”

“Somehow I feel myself beginning to believe you!” Oskar said lightly, calling over a spilt bowl of gruel. Giving a distasteful sniff of the remains plastered on it he then transfigured it into an apple. “Now let’s start with the basics. What is your name?”

“R-rover- ACK!” ‘Rover’ began and shouted in shock when Oskar bit into his apple, revealing a mouth utterly filled with needle-like teeth and a tongue that split into a secondary barbed mouth. “H-h-h-he-he-he-”

“Get a hold of yourself please.” Oskar told him as he chewed a piece of apple, eyes flashing a bright orange. “Otherwise I’ll need to find someone else to question and you wouldn’t want to inflict that kind of inconvenience on me now would you?”

“Nnn-n-n-n-nnnnn…” Rover drew a shaky breath and gathered himself as much as he could when he got a pointed look from Oskar. “N-no b-boss… he Fido and he Spot…”

“Now that wasn’t so hard was it?” Oskar said, glancing at the bulldog DD identified as Fido and the little one identified as Spot. “Now next question, why do you take pony slaves when your kind are far better diggers then ponies could ever hope of being and try not to stutter so much this time please?”

“Y-y-y-yes…” Rover began and gulped when Oskar arched an eyebrow at him. “… We don’t want pony slaves, we much better diggers! But boss says we use ponies to do most of work, boss’ orders so we do! Not help that boss wants tons of gems all time but we do as told!”

“Hmm…” An image of a large pony Hating Diamond Dog sitting upon a massive throne of gems flashed through Oskar’s mind. “One more question, have you come across an odd object? Lightning bolt shaped, probably blood stained and partially buried in the ground?”

“Berkly!” Rover said immediately. “Berkly find odd sapphire with lightning flashing in it! It lightning bolt shaped too! We send to village for tribute as soon as find it!”

“Ah, then I wish to meet this boss of yours.” Oskar said, taking his foot off Rover. “You and your friends will lead me to him.”

“WHAT?!” Rover shouted in dismay. “B-but boss says to always have tribute of gems whenever go see him! We gave most of it to whiny pony- ack!”

“Don’t call her that.” Oskar said, giving Rover a painful kick to the side. “And I didn’t give you a choice in the matter, now get up and march.”

Rover, Fido and Spot get up from the ground, flinching away from Oskar as they scurried towards the sole exit of the room.

Oskar stopped just short of the exit. “Oh and if the rest of you get ideas about deserting I will hunt you down personally and slowly rip your fur off before dragging you back. Make no mistake, I am a very good hunter.”

With that Oskar shifted back to his Emerald Gleaner form in a surge of tendrils before leaving the cavern with Navi quickly buzzing after her.



ZETA



It was a few hours of traveling before the group closed in on what Oskar assumed to be the tunnels belonging to the lead Diamond Dog, they were certainly massive enough.

“This is it?” Oskar asked as she examined the conspicuously unguarded massive tunnels. If it wasn’t for a fact no DDs had escaped her and three with her had no means of long distance communication she would have suspected an ambush. “Strange it would be unguarded.”

“Err… boss doesn’t need us to protect him, EVER.” Rover said, shuddering at something and making Oskar frown.

Suspicions promptly raised Oskar focused her hearing and began hearing low rumbling snores echoing from down the tunnel. The snores were definitely much too loud to be a Diamond Dog and before long a memory belonging to Silver Light was brought up.

“So…” Oskar began as the group entered into a massive cavern utterly filled with massive mounds of gems. “When were you going to tell me your boss was a dragon and not some pony hating Diamond Dog?”

“Uhhh… you didn’t ask?” Rover said honestly and flinched away from Oskar as the Evolved shot him a dangerous look.

The virus for her part just sighed and examined her surroundings a bit more and noticed that along with mounds of gems crumbling structures of old carved stone dotted the cavern. Though they were easily missed as they happened to be mostly buried under and filled with gems.

“So why exactly is a dragon your boss and not a Diamond Dog?” Oskar asked.

“Because he biggest and breath fire?” Rover said, scratching his head. “He been boss all my life, always in cavern here waiting for tribute.”

“Elders remember when dragon was not boss.” Fido rumbled. “They remember time when Diamond Dogs have great city.”

“Bah!” Rover said, waving his paw dismissively. “Elders barely remember where chamber hole is anymore, stupid talk of before times.”

“Hmm…” Oskar hummed in thought as she pondered the intelligence of going to attack a large fire breathing monster, then she sighed and comforted herself with the fact she had Spike’s heat tolerance now.

“Tell you what.” Oskar said to the three Diamond Dogs. “You three just hang back from now on, I’ll go ahead and have a word with your boss.”

“You’re the boss!” Rover said before bounding away with his three friends immediately.

“Navi come down here please.” Oskar said and a moment later Navi buzzed down from the ceiling and landed on Oskar’s snout. “I want you to stay back as well, okay? This is a fire breathing dragon we are talking about and he is likely going to be sending flames everywhere the moment a fight starts. The last thing I want is for you to get caught in that, so stay far out of the way okay?”

Navi wanted to dispute the command but could tell from the tone of Oskar’s voice that she was being very serious. So with a worried nod she did as she was told and flew back up towards the high ceiling.

Letting out one long sigh Oskar continued forward, before long she spotted the “feared” leader of the Diamond Dogs.

As she had thought it was a dragon, however, this dragon was much bigger than she expected. He had black scales that shined like polished obsidian and a massive pair of wings with a dark purple membrane. His mouth had no lips, showing off blood red gums and teeth that gleamed like silver. The dragon slumbered on a spread out pile of gems, his snores coming out in low earth shaking rumbles.

‘Surprisingly bright in here for a cavern deep beneath the earth.’ Oskar thought absently as she approached the sleeping dragon. ‘Same issue with the other tunnels too really, where does the light come from exactly? Oh well it’s not an issue right now.’

The Evolved came to a stop before the dragon, so close his breath ruffled her mane with every exhale. Oskar pondered for a long moment how to wake up a fire breathing mountain of muscle for a moment before rearing up and cocking a hoof back.

“Zzzzz- Gah!” The dragon woke up the instant, revealing his yellow eyes Oskar had decked him in the nose. “Who did that?! Who dares to strike the Mighty Nidhogg?!”

‘Fantastic… he speaks in third person!’ Oskar thought, letting out an annoyed sigh which happened to attract the irate dragon’s attention.

“A pony?! Here?!?” Nidhogg roared, half in anger and the other half in shock. “Nidhogg will eat the filthy dog that let you loose! Speak pony! Tell the mighty Nidhogg how you escaped into his personal domain and he shall be merciful… by giving you a fourteen hour work shift!”

“Hmm… Nidhogg?” Oskar hummed curiously. “I read about you. You kept eating away the base of Mount Canterlot and wouldn’t stop when Celestia asked you to. So she fought and beat you, locking you away in Tartarus. I take it you escaped?”

“That foolish old nag dared to trap the Mighty Nidhogg beneath the earth!” Nidhogg hollered bombastically. “It was not long before he gnawed away a wall and made his escape! Free to pursue his wants and desires!”

“Yep, because obviously your wants and desires were to hide beneath the earth for what must have been a hundred years ruling over a bunch of terrified dogs.” Oskar said absently, examining her hoof like it was far more interesting than the large fire breathing dragon in front of her. “Unwilling to expose even the tip of your tail to the sunlight for fear Celestia will spot you and send you back to your cage.”

‘Hmph… look at me mocking someone for being too terrified to face Celestia.’ Oskar thought as Nidhogg roared in outrage and inhaled sharply, turning his head to the ceiling briefly as he did so. ‘Such hypocrisy…’

The massive jet black dragon unleashed his flames. Crimson and black fire poured forth like a wave and flowed over Oskar. The Evolved noted even though her heat tolerance was dragon level now she still felt rather hot from Nidhogg’s fire, it wasn’t near hurting her but it was close to being uncomfortable which said a lot about Nidhogg’s strength of flame. The virus shifted into his base form as the ground turned bright red and molten beneath him, surprising Nidhogg doubly when the flames cleared to reveal not a heavily charred pony but some strange bipedal creature, seemingly unbothered by the molten rock his feet were submerged in.

“You don’t take criticism well don’t you?” Oskar asked lightly, taking off his bucket hat to fan himself.

“What?! A Changeling?” Nidhogg thought aloud in surprise before quickly inhaling for another breath. Seeing that he was again lifting his head up towards the ceiling, Oskar decided to take advantage of that action.

Streaks of black and red tendrils flew off Oskar’s limbs as he gave himself a biomass burst towards Nidhogg, specifically his briefly exposed throat. Nidhogg’s building fire sputtered and died, he choked from Oskar hitting his throat at high speeds and gave an enraged roar when Oskar slashed at his throat with a claw. Oskar for his part was very surprised when his claws didn’t just glide through Nidhogg’s flesh like a red hot knife through butter and required him to actually force down to make any headway, this moment of discovery and him needing to work his blades into the scales opened him up to Nidhogg’s large clawed hand.

Oskar was sent flying from Nidhogg’s swatting limb and rolled back to his feet upon impacting the ground.

‘Faster than expected.’ The Evolved thought as he dodged a wave of onrushing flames by leaping away. ‘Tougher than expected too. This may take some work…’

Dodging another fire blast Oskar suddenly changed direction and burst towards Nidhogg, streaks of tendrils flying off his limbs and his left arm shifting into a long blade. The virus sprinted under Nidhogg delivering a slash at the massive dragon’s arm and leg as he blurred past them. Despite putting as much force as he could into the strike and his own speed adding to the force he only managed to give him shallow gashes.

With a roar of pained rage Nidhogg turned about surprisingly quick and unleashed yet another wave of flame, only for the virus to avoid it completely by leaping. Oskar turned about in the air via another biomass burst, sending him speeding towards Nidhogg, specifically the dragon’s nose. The Evolved hit the dragon foot first, delivering an annoying blow to him and using that blow to send himself flying away.

‘That was useless, why did I even bother with it?’ Oskar thought as he dodged and weaved through waves of intense flames. ‘… I just want him to suffer don’t I? Yes… he is the one that ordered the Diamond Dogs to take slaves, he is a slaver. I want to humiliate him and make him bleed long and slow before dying.’

Nidhogg continued to send blasts of fire at Oskar and was growing ever more frustrated and was sent over the edge when he realised something. He realised that Oskar was toying with him and even now wasn’t paying him much attention, to the point of simply running through a blast of fire he had sent. Sure indignation flowed through the mighty dragon as he roared in outrage.

“NIDHOGG SHALL NOT BE MOCKED!!!” Nidhogg roared and inhaled once more for a breath of fire, but there was something different about it this time. A blue glow emitted from within Nidhogg’s mouth and a loud ear piercing whine filled the air. Instead of dodging after letting off a blast of fire Oskar decided to dodge right now.

The decision to dodge early was proven wise as a beam of blue plasma erupted from the dragon’s mouth, searing off Oskar’s right arm and plowing into a mound of gems, the gems and ground into molten slag in a near instant.

“LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO!” Nidhogg roared, so infuriated he forgot to speak in third person.

‘Shit! Did not expect that!’ Oskar thought as he quickly sped up and jumped as Nidhogg sent another beam of plasma at him, his arm having grown back a few moments after it was burned off. ‘Okay enough messing around! Time to end this!’

The virus leapt at Nidhogg, leaping over a beam of Plasma that instantly turned the ground molten. While the Evolved flew through the air he shifted his arms into separate weapon mutations, one the tendrils arm and the other the blade. Oskar landed on Nidhogg’s snout with a thump and quickly scurried over to the top of his head. Tendrils shot out from Oskar’s arm, wrapping around Nidhogg’s head and he raised his blade before plunging it down.

Nidhogg roared in pain, letting out uncontrolled streams of plasma from his mouth as he shook his head in an attempt to dislodge Oskar. Oskar kept trying to worry the blade past the scales and the hard skull into the brain when he suddenly froze up.

‘…Well it wasn’t a very good rumor anyway.’ Whispered a memory. ‘…How about this one, have you ever beat up and rode a dragon?’

Oskar’s tendril grip slackened slightly on Nidhogg as he snorted in amusement, this was all the dragon needed.

With a violent jerk of his head Nidhogg sent Oskar flying into a pile of gems and quickly began to build up another blast of plasma when something flew into his eye.

“Ahhh! What hit me? What has struck the Mighty- A PARASPRITE?!?” Nidhogg began before roaring in shock and outrage. “A PARASPRITE IS ATTACKING ME?!?!”

Indeed a parasprite was attacking Nidhogg, it was Navi. The little bug couldn’t take simply sitting back and watching Oskar fight a big mean lizard anymore and flew into the fight to help. Of course her being so small meant there was little to no chance of her being able to do anything harmful and lasting to the dragon. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t poke him in the eye and be a right nuisance.

Oskar didn’t waste a single moment and took advantage of the distraction Navi was providing. The Evolved made a high powered leap for the ceiling and impacted it. He briefly hooked himself in place as he changed his arms into hammerfists. Aiming carefully at the dragon thrashing about below the Virus kicked off the ceiling with tremendous force, the still cavern air whistled by his ears as he shot downwards towards Nidhogg’s back.

Nidhogg for his part didn’t know what happened. One moment he was snapping at the insect ramming into his eyes, raging at the indignity of it all when suddenly something hit him HARD in his back. A deafening cracking noise filled the dragon's ears and he was forced to the ground by a ground shaking crash. He tried to get back up only to flop back to the ground and realised he couldn’t feel the lower half of his body.

‘And that’s that.’ Oskar thought with finality from atop Nidhogg’s back. ‘Let’s see you try to fight with a broken back.’

Navi quickly buzzed over to Oskar, trilling happily and cuddling affectionately against his cheek. The Evolved smiled lightly and then carefully grabbed the little bug, cupping her in his hands and looking down at her as she smiled up at him.

“Hey there Navi.” Oskar greeted. “I know I said you were supposed to stay back but I am glad you came to help.”

“No…” Nidhogg rumbled. “I am the Mighty Nidhogg, I will not be defeated by some pathetic insects… I WILL NOT! HEAR ME CREATURE! I MAY DIE BUT YOU SHALL DIE WITH ME!”

Using his powerful arms Nidhogg rolled his crippled body onto his back, sending Oskar flying off. Nidhogg then inhaled deeply, far more than he had ever done before. A massive beam of plasma exploded forth from the black dragon’s mouth, carving into the ceiling.

‘Typical…’ Oskar thought sardonically. ‘Another suicide attack, thankfully this one won’t do anything… speaking of which, the plasma is very hot. The room temperature should have risen to the point of broiling me alive… why am I complaining?’

A deafening rumble echoed throughout the cavern as Nidhogg ended his plasma burst, cracked appeared in the ceiling, spreading with alarming speed. Nidhogg was the first victim of his attack, there was a loud crack and a massive partially molten boulder came falling out of the ceiling towards him. Just before his head disappeared beneath the great boulder Nidhogg flashed a viciously vengeful smile at Oskar, content in thinking his vanquisher would be joining him soon.

‘Smile all you want, you’re the only one going to hell today.’ Oskar thought darkly and turned when he heard Navi trilling alarmingly.

It turns out Nidhogg wasn’t the only victim of his attack, Navi was the second. The little bug was on the ground and one of her wings had been pinned by a rock, trapping her.

Quickly darting over Oskar swatted the rock off and carefully picked up Navi, rocks falling in ever larger sizes all around the two. Navi trilled sadly as she fluttered her crumpled wing weakly.

“It’s alright Navi, everything will be fine.” Oskar said comfortingly and scanned his surroundings, all the exits were now blocked off. Not that was a problem for Oskar but it meant he’d have to do something to protect his pet. Thinking quickly the Evolved manipulated the inside of his head and mouth, creating a large space lit up by orange bioluminescence.

“You’re going to have to trust me Navi, hop inside you’ll be safe in here.” Oskar said as he lifted the insect up to his mouth.

Trusting him without a single doubt Navi hopped over the little gap between Oskar’s hand and his mouth, quickly climbing inside safe and sound.

Closing his mouth Oskar looked up just in time to see a massive portion of the ceiling above him fall apart, sending boulders raining down towards him.



ETA



A group of three Diamond Dogs stared with uncertainty at what was once a tunnel and now a wall of rocks and boulders.

“…What now?” Spot asked.

“Don’t know.” Rover replied.

The three were at a loss of what to do really. They didn’t doubt that Nidhogg was still alive but at the same time weren’t sure if they should try to dig him out. The prideful may take the dogs trying to help him as an insult and eat them, but he may also take them not attempting to help him as abandonment and eat them for it. So it was a very much ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t’ moment for the Diamond Dogs.

Suddenly there was a rumble and one of the boulders cracked before exploding outwards, sending shards of rock flying. Out of the new hole came a long slithering mass of tendrils, it slid down the sloped wall of rubble and came to a stop before the Diamond Dogs. It coiled up tightly and with a surge of tendrils Oskar stood in his base form.

Brushing off his shoulder Oskar then raised a hand to just in front of his mouth. Opening his mouth Navi hopped out onto the hand, which Oskar then moved to his shoulder where Navi could perch comfortably with her crumpled wing.

“You alive?” Rover said in surprise. “Err… what happen to Boss?”

“Yes I’m alive and he isn’t.” Oskar answered, thinking of how he burrowed through the rock to get at Nidhogg’s corpse, where he drilled through its skull and consumed the brain. “He is very much dead, believe me.”

Spot and Rover looked completely shocked at that statement. They looked between each other and Oskar with a look that seemed between awe and fear. For the longest moment Spot and Rover looked completely confused, like they didn’t know what to do but the same couldn’t be said for Fido, the largest of the three. He had a deeply thoughtful look on his face before he stepped in front of his fellows, then he bowed towards Oskar. The other shot surprised looks at Fido before shooting a terrified look at Oskar and quickly miming their fellow DD’s action.

“We introduce you to rest of Diamond Dogs Boss.” Fido rumbled. “… If want to?”

“… Yes.” Oskar answered, patting Navi’s head. “Yes I wish to meet the rest of you, lead the way.”

“Yes Boss.” Fido said and got up from his bowing position though he carefully averted his eyes away from Oskar. “Diamond Dog village this way Boss.”

The group of four plus one parasprite made their way through some tunnels. It was about twenty or so minutes before the Diamond Dog village appeared. It was in a large carved out cavern with a massive pillar in the center supporting the ceiling. All around the cavern were ramshackle shelters that made sheet metal shacks look luxurious.

Oskar followed the three DDs as they led him through the village. There were many different breeds of Diamond Dogs living here. Collies, Sheep dogs, small Pug like dogs and the breeds he had already seen roamed the “streets” of the village, the thing though was that they all wore collars and Oskar wondered about it. They were also very curious and wondering about the strange bipedal creature that was being led through the village, their soft whispers and muttering loud and clear to the virus’ ears. Eventually a Diamond Dog stepped forward to meet them.

He looked like a Saint Bernard and wore a buttoned sea green vest, he also had a very bad limp and couldn’t walk without support of a staff.

“Rover, Spot, Fido… why bring strange creature to our home?” He asked the three while eyeing Oskar curiously.

“Uhhh… this new boss, Cujo.” Rover said, causing a loud round of muttering and talking amongst the surrounding Diamond Dogs. “He… he kill old boss.”

That caused the other DDs to make gasps of shock and disbelief, this creature that was barely as tall as them killed Nidhogg?

“Nidhogg dead?!” ‘Cujo’ said in disbelief. “You know this!? How small creature kill large dragon?”

“I broke his back and then I ate him.” Oskar answered bluntly for Rover, taking Navi off his shoulder and shushing her before gently holding her against his chest, ensuring the only thing she could see was his sky blue t-shirt.

“Ate?! You?! How?!” Cujo asked and stepped closer to Oskar, staring him in the eyes intently.

“You want to know how?” Oskar stated and the three DDs’ eyes suddenly widened in realisation and they quickly averted their gazes, drawing odd looks from the other Diamond Dogs. The reason why they did so became very clear in a moment.

Creases appeared on Oskar’s face, going up the middle of his face and extending the line of his mouth all the way to his ears. Suddenly the virus’ face opened like a flower revealing rows upon rows of hook like teeth with soulless black eyes dotted here and there, six writhing barbed tentacles sprouted up from within his throat along with a loud ear piercing squeal.

Cujo reeled from Oskar with a yelp of horror, losing grip on his staff and falling to the floor. Yelps of terror came from the surrounding crowds, many turned tail and ran to their homes, yelping with their tails between their legs the whole way, others were just horrified into stillness.

A near instant later and Oskar’s head closed up and he brought Navi back up to his shoulder, where she began to frown and started looking about and wondering what she missed.

“That’s how.” Oskar said to Cujo where he laid on the ground staring wide-eyed up at him. “Gather your people, I have an announcement to make as well as a few changes to the mandates you have been following.”

“You three.” Oskar said to Fido, Spot and Rover. “You mentioned a tribute stockpile in a village. I assume it’s this one? Good, lead me to it.”

“This way Boss.” Fido said.

The stockpile was kept in a side tunnel away from the village. There was a line of tracks leading down the tunnel with at least twenty carts on them, with about half the carts being full. It didn’t take long for Oskar to find what he was looking for, it was in the very front cart and placed clearly on the pile of gems.

Oskar examined the gem before him, it was blue as a sapphire, but unlike that gem, this one was shaped like a lightning bolt. Running though the very core of the gem was a lightning bolt that smaller bolts fork off to the surface, causing the gem to glow softly.

Very clearly remembering the pain he was in until he puked up the gem Oskar very carefully reached out to pick it up. Oskar felt his skin tingle lightly from contact with the gem yet nothing else happened, which was ultimately expected since a Diamond Dog was able to hold it with no problems.

Nodding lightly Oskar just turned about and began walking back, the three DD’s led him there just a few steps behind him. Suddenly he stopped and turned his head towards the following DDs’.

“Why do you wear those gem studded collars?” Oskar asked.

“Cause old Boss said we had too.” Rover answered.

“Also remind us we belong to him and he eat us like gem if disobey.” Fido rumbled.

Oskar paused for a moment before humming a reply and continuing on.

A few moments later and the group was back in the village where a large crowd of frightened Diamond Dogs were gathered with Cujo near the front who looked little better. Oskar walked forward and came to a stop just before the crowd and looked them over, noting their scared expressions as he did.

“I am Oskar Osäker.” The virus introduced himself. “By now you are very aware that I have killed and usurped your last boss…”

This one statement, said in total apathy only seemed to scare the gathered Diamond Dogs more.

“And as your new boss there are a few changes I wish to make as well as an announcement.” Oskar continued, pacing slowly before the group. “From now on there will be no more gem tributes, if I ever get you to mine for gems it will only be because I actually need them and not because I would like them. There will be no more slaves! Let’s face it, ponies are crap at digging and this mandate was made out of spite.”

Quiet muttering began amongst the crowd of Diamond Dogs, they were expecting a continuation of the last regime with only a few changes but so far it was looking better under this new boss… they all were waiting for the other foot to drop though.

“Any and all pony slaves from this day forth will be free!” Oskar said. “I want messengers sent out the moment I am done talking to you to all the roving packs mining for gems and taking slaves, telling them to let the prisoners go and to come home immediately. Afterwards I want them to stay here and await my return, the same goes for all of you as I will have further orders.”

“Those are the mandate changes, now for my announcement.” Oskar said and stopped just before Cujo. “What you all were under Nidhogg’s rule were basically slaves… I too was a slave.”

That shocked and confused the Diamond Dogs, what being could be strong enough to enslave something that could kill Nidhogg?

“A slave once, but now I am free.” Oskar said, staring at Cujo intently. “And as such I, a former slave, refuse to own slaves.”

With that statement Oskar’s forefinger shifted to a long gleaming blade and he swung it towards Cujo’s throat. There were gasps of shock as Cujo reeled, grasping at his neck. Then the dog went still. He released his grip on his neck and down dropped his severed collar. The entire crowd of Diamond Dogs stared at Oskar in silence, unable to comprehend what just happened.

“I wish to make something more out of all of you.” Oskar said. “I wish to make you into something more than what you are now, more than just diggers in the dirt and slavers, stealing the leftovers off of Equestria’s dinner table. But I will not force you all to accept this… if any wishes to leave then they can, I will not stop nor hinder you.”

For the longest moment there was silence, a few of the Diamond Dogs in the crowd twitched their paws towards their throats but made no further movement. Then there was the sound of something light hitting the dirt.

Oskar turned to see Fido with his collar undone and on the ground before him, Rover and Spot not two seconds behind him.

“What ya need Boss?” The large dog rumbled.

“Well other than what I said earlier I also need some saddlebags.” Oskar said, the sound of multiple collars hitting the floor behind him. “Basic ones, nothing fancy. I just need something to hold this gem here. I also need the hurt dogs in your pack brought here. There are some wrongs I need to right.”

“Right away Boss.” Fido said before he and his three friends bounded off.

Oskar turned around. Several dogs were now running off away from the village and into the tunnels, off to inform the roving packs what was going on. The Diamond Dog villagers wandered about and talked softly with each other, giving looks that were still far too fearful for Oskar’s liking but he did bring that upon himself, plus they likely still expected him to suddenly make cruel demands.

‘Well… it’s not much, just a start.’ Oskar thought lightly. ‘But it’s mine… my little empire of dirt.’

“That bag ya wanted boss.” Spot said as he bounded to Oskar, handing him a patchwork pair of saddlebags. “Rover and Fido take group to get hurt pack… you heal them?”

“Of course.” Oskar said. “I know a way to fix all of them.”

“Why?”

“Because before we were enemies because of what Nidhogg was making you do.” Oskar replied. “But now that Nidhogg is no more, they are no longer my enemies. I also hope that healing them will make them open to the idea of serving me.”

After answering that question Oskar then shifted back into his pony form, shocking quite a few Diamond Dogs when they saw the change in action.

“Yes I can change forms.” Oskar said blandly and pre-emptively. “Get used to it.”

“You Changeling?” Asked one Diamond Dog.

“No.” Oskar answered flatly as she fastened her saddlebags and on and magically moved Navi to her mane.

‘Speaking of which.’ Oskar thought. ‘Nidhogg mentioned Changelings as well. I should review a few memories later.’

“Where going boss?” Spot asked as the virus began walking away.

“I have other business.” Oskar answered. “I’ll be back tomorrow to heal the others and issue more orders for everyone. Wait for me till then.”

“Err, right boss!” Spot shouted after her.

‘It's a small start.’ Oskar thought as she walked along. ‘But all big things start small. Now to get back home, that lot is probably worried sick about me.’

With that the Evolved focused her magic, intent on teleporting. As she did a small light began building from within her saddlebags. Then she disappeared with a flash, though the flash also released arcs of Electricity as she did so.



THETA



‘That teleport felt weird for some reason.’ Oskar thought as she walked back into Ponyville. She could have just teleported right in front of the library and saved herself the walk but her control wasn’t all that perfect just yet, the last thing she wanted was for the girls to be even more worried about her because she teleported into a wall. So she was walking into town…

‘What’s that smell?’ Oskar thought and came to a stop in the middle of a fairly quiet street. She looked back and saw a large smouldering hole in one of her saddlebags, namely the one the gem was in as one of its points was sticking out of the bag. ‘What the?’

Carefully opening the saddlebag with her magic Oskar then tried to levitate the crystal. The crystal did levitate but it felt oddly… slippery was one word to describe the sensation Oskar felt in her magical grip, it was also glowing steadily brighter and releasing a low hum that grew louder by the second causing Oskar to quickly stop the flow of magic and drop it to the ground. Oskar then reached out with a hoof very slowly towards the crystal.

‘What’s going? Why is it-’ The very moment the virus touched the crystal arcs of electricity leaped off the gem and struck her hoof. Oskar leaped back with a startled shout and looked at her hoof. Nothing was wrong with it despite the great amount of energy she just felt flow through it, as was attested by the ground under one of her hooves being scorched black by the energy released into it. The reason being Oskar’s dragon genes, electricity released energy as it traveled and that energy released into flesh is what causes burns, Nidhogg had an immense heat tolerance thanks to his plasma breathing so Oskar was in no danger of being burned.

After the unexpected discharge the gem’s glow faded back to normal levels and the low hum was now gone. Oskar reached out with her hoof again but this time lied down on the ground so the energy could get out as soon as it entered if she was shocked again.

The Evolved’s hoof touched the crystal with an anticlimactic ‘tink’, making Oskar frown thoughtfully as she got up crystal held in hoof.

Navi gave a questioning trill from her place in Oskar’s mane.

“I don’t know why it shocked me, Navi.” Oskar said as she examined the lightning bolt shaped crystal. “But… I think it may have something to do with magic being in contact with it… hmm, yes maybe it absorbs magic and changes that into unbridled energy? Hmm… tests and research are needed.”

Navi just sounded confused as Oskar placed the gem in her undamaged saddlebag and continued on back to the library. A few short minutes later and Oskar had arrived.

“Hello?” Oskar yelled as she entered the tree home. “I’m home!”

“Emerald!” Oskar heard Twilight shout from the other room and soon saw the unicorn in question appear from a doorway. “Where have you been all day?”

“Oh I just went back to the Diamond Dogs.” Oskar began nonchalantly. “Took over them and beat up their big dragon boss.”

“Well if you don’t want to say where you were just say that.” Twilight said with a pout as the other five of the Mane Six appeared in the room.

“Sure I’ll do that next time.” Oskar said and began making her way to the library to look up the gem she had and came to a stop. She looked over the Mane Six, noting that Fluttershy was peeking at her from behind a wall fearfully for some reason, and frowned. 

‘This lot has been treating me like glass for a bit.’ Oskar thought in growing annoyance. ‘I normally don’t mind that very much really, having people concerned for my wellbeing feels… nice. But they have been going overboard with it, I couldn’t even get out of the house earlier today to handle the Diamond Dogs without running out on them. All this overblown pity and coddling is just getting in the way of my goals, damn it all I have to confront them on this.’ So taking advantage of the irritation she felt Oskar did just this.

“You know…” Oskar began with an angry frown, stepping to just in front of the six. “I am not a child, I can see what you are doing and I don’t particularly like it.”

“What do you mean Emerald dear?” Rarity asked in some confusion.

“I mean treating me like I’m made of glass, like I’m liable to just fall apart at any moment if I wasn’t held just right!” Oskar said with a scowl. “But I don’t need that! I have never needed it! I’ve been perfectly fine by myself not being pitied or babied just because I’ve had a few bad things happen in my life.”

“But nopony has suffered as much as you have Emerald.” Twilight defended. “You shouldn’t downplay what you’ve gone through!”

“Yeah… but that doesn’t mean you have to do anything and everything to make sure I’m not hurt by anything again.” Oskar said softly. “The last thing I want, Twilight, is to be put in a cradle and sealed away from the world.”

Twilight opened her mouth to argue her points but stopped. She could tell that “Emerald” was taking the way her and the others were treating her personally, and none of them wanted to upset her…

“… Alright Emerald, you’ve made your point.” Twilight admitted with a sigh. “I and the others shall make sure not to treat you like that anymore.”

“Thank you very much.” Oskar said with a smile, seeing the others nodding in agreement, though Dash was looking smug instead. “Now I have something to look up in the library so-”

“OHMYGOSH!” Fluttershy suddenly exclaimed and darted forward to just in front of Oskar. “What happened to Navi?!”

“What?” Oskar blinked and looked up to see that Navi had climbed up to her favorite spot on her ear, revealing to all her crumpled wing. “Oh there was a bit of excitement and some falling rocks which lead to Navi’s wing getting crushed.”

“Oh my goodness, poor baby!” Fluttershy exclaimed and hopped up, taking Navi from Oskar’s ear and quickly walking away. “Come here Fluttershy will make your wing all better! You’ll be buzzing in the air around your mama’s head in no time!”

Oskar snorted as Navi trilled in delight before she and Fluttershy disappeared around the corner.

“Twilight could you come with me in the library for a bit?” Oskar asked as she entered said room, figuring it wouldn't hurt to include Twilight on researching the strange gem.

“Sure!” The studious unicorn quickly followed. “What do you need?”

“I need help researching this gem.” Oskar said, reaching into her bag with her mouth and pulling out the jagged crystal and placing it on the circular table. “Do NOT use magic on it. That’s how I burned a hole in the other bag.”

“Gosh, what is it?” Twilight asked, taking Oskar’s advice to heart and only prodding the gem with her hoof.

“I don’t know but it absorbs magic used on it and converts it to electrical energy.” Oskar replied.

“Hmm… that sounds familiar actually.” Twilight said, placing her hoof on her chin in thought. “I think I may have read about something like this somewhere… but where? Maybe in a book about gems? Hmm… give me a few minutes, I’ll find us some books to study.”

“Thanks Twilight.” Oskar said to the unicorn that was walking away and humming a happy tune.

‘That girl just loves knowledge doesn’t she?’ Oskar thought amusedly.

“Emerald?” Oskar heard from behind her.

“Oh, yes Dash?” Oskar said upon turning and seeing the pegasus standing there.

“Well… this is kinda embarrassing… and I didn’t want to talk about it with the others around.” Dash said, averting her eyes and rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. “And well… alright here goes…”

“I know what you are doing and going through…” Rainbow Dash said quietly with a flushed face. “Putting on a strong face for everypony’s sake but on the inside… you’re breaking and you wish somepony was there to help keep you together… and well… what I’m getting is if you ever somepony to be that pony, or to talk to somepony that understands what it’s like… well you know where to find me.”

“Wow… thank you Dash…” Oskar said softly, genuinely touched that Rainbow Dash would share such a personal part of herself with her. “And I will remember that… can… can I be the same for you?”

“No problem Emmy.” Dash said with a smirk before giving Oskar a good natured punch in the shoulder then shaking said hoof jokingly. “Ow, tough as nails… the next time me and Applejack have an Iron Pony competition you want to give it a try this time?”

“Sure, can’t wait!” Oskar replied with a smile. “Hope you don’t mind losing!”

“Here!” Twilight said, dropping a stack of books onto the table with a loud bang. “These are all the various geological books! If this gem is in- oh hello Rainbow Dash! Come to help us research?”

“Oh no!” Dash said quickly, taking flight and waving her hooves in front of her. “I’ll leave that egghead stuff to you two. I’ll just go see what the others are doing.”

“Well, her loss!” Twilight said with a smile at Oskar. “Ready Emerald?”

“Born and made ready.” Oskar replied before levitating the first book off the pile, opening it to the first page, ready for a nice quiet reading binge after spending most of the day in excitement.



-TBC-