//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: Apotheosis 
// Story: Emerald Gleaner: Viral Unicorn 
// by Legionary 
//------------------------------//

Oskar kneeled upon a ledge on the side of Mount Canterlot; below him was the capital of Equestria and the palace of the Royal Sisters.

The virus was using his powerful eyesight to spy upon the interior of the palace through the windows, but truth be told he could figure out what was happening just by looking at said windows. He could see a serpentine figure moving through the stained glass windows of the palace, interacting with the figures in the windows and talking with people in the hall itself, who Oskar couldn’t recognize as the angle didn’t allow him to see. The Evolved was pretty sure of the identity of the dragon like creature moving through the glass. If his nigh perfect photographic memory could be trusted, then the being in the window was Discord.

Discord, a draconequis possessing so much magical power he usurped the throne of Equestria a millennia ago. And now he was back from his stone prison somehow, and very likely both out for revenge and his old position of power.

Oskar stood up from his kneeling position with a nod of his head.

‘Discord huh?’ the Evolved thought. ‘Well there isn’t really anything I could do here is there? Discord won without a fight the first time and it appears he is going to do it again. The last time he lost was purely thanks to the Elements of Harmony and I’m sure everyone could pull off that victory again couldn’t they?’

Oskar brushed himself off of any little bits of dirt that stuck to him and was about to turn away when he paused and looked back at the palace.

‘I mean, sure I have a lot of power thanks to taking Luna’s DNA, and someone else with that kind of power would be incredibly helpful in this situation...’ Oskar rambled internally. ‘I would have likely gotten more powerful if I had been able to take Celestia’s DNA instead, BUT those two alicorns didn’t seem to put up any sort of fight until they had the Elements to face Discord with in the past. What does that mean of the power I have now? Very likely that despite how powerful I am now, Discord is SOO much more powerful and that I would be just as helpless as those two are. Yeah, its better I don’t get involved and let them do their work… plus it’s much less dangerous for me.’

With that, Oskar turned away from the ledge and walked away until he was out of sight. For several long moments there was silence until suddenly there was the sound of rapid thudding on rock.

“GOD DAMN IT ALL!!!” Oskar shouted in frustration with himself as he sprinted off the rock ledge. He then quickly formed his blade wings and magically caught the wind.

Oskar spread his wings and angled himself for one of the stained glass windows of the palace before he made himself as streamlined as possible. He dove towards the palace, picking up more and more speed as he went, the window seeming to rush up to him.


ALPHA



“Stop stalling, Discord!” Celestia shouted. “What have you done with the Elements of Harmony?”

“Oh, so boring, Celestia, really?” Discord laughed from his position in the stained glass window. “Fine, I'll tell you, but I'll only tell you my way.”

“Truly a thousand years were not enough to inoculate myself against your antics,” Luna drawled in annoyance.

“Ahem, now if I may?” Discord said with a delighted smile as he moved between windows. “To retrieve your missing Elements, just make sense of this change of events. Twists and turns are my master plan. Then find the Elements back where you… huh?”

A shadow was suddenly cast over the window Discord was in. He stopped reciting his riddle and turned around in the window to see what was casting it.

To the incredible surprise of both the princesses and the Mane Six, something came bursting through the window Discord was in. The act of the window being shattered seemed to force Discord into his physical form and he was sent flying, a white and silver shape attached to his neck. Discord came crashing into the floor with the white shape attached to him.

Everyone gasped as they took in the thing, or rather the person, that was attached to Discord, who only Luna could recognise. He may have had wings with blades instead of feathers, but he was no different than from what she had seen of him during his dream. The being she had classified as Impius Mutante, Oskar, was here, and he was assaulting Discord.

“GAH!” Discord shouted as he shot up onto his feet. “What is it?! Get it off! GET IT OFF!”

Discord ran around in circles in a pain induced panic as he flailed his arms about and shouted. Oskar had one arm firmly around one of Discords horns and his other arm was shifted into a claw which he was using with great prejudice upon the Draconequis’ face.

For several long and awkward moments, the Royal Sisters and the Mane Six stood by and watched as Discord ran around in circles, acting as if he was having a rabid cat clawing at his face instead of a monstrous shape shifting creature. Finally, the Draconequis seemed to remember he had his own magic and teleported, leaving Oskar to fall to the ground as his prey disappeared out from under him.

“My face!” Discord shouted from a short distance away, holding up a hand mirror to his visage. “Look what you have done to my face!”

Scratches covered Discord’s face, and not disfiguring gashes. In fact, they could barely even be called scratches and looked to be more like paper cuts. But for the Draconequis, the fact he was hurt at all stuck with him. For countless years, the chaotic being had roamed the world doing as he willed and being subject to no one’s rules, and nothing they did could ever hope to make him suffer for it. But now… now someone did manage to hurt him and Discord couldn’t help but think about the pain of the claws slicing at his face.

For Oskar, the fact he did so little damage was almost enough for his own despair to make him surrender and beg for mercy. Claws sharps enough to slice apart gems like they were overripe fruit, and what did they manage do on Discord? Give him paper cuts…

‘I-I-I’m not strong enough!’ Oskar thought as he stared at Discord with wide eyes. ‘NO ONE IS STRONG ENOUGH! HOW ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BEAT THAT! Where the hell are the Elements of Harmony and why don’t those six have them!?! Wait, he can’t be that stupid. He wouldn’t just attack without dealing with the one thing capable of defeating him… I should have run when I had the chance, I-I should have…’

Oskar bowed his head in hopelessness when he noticed a curious gleam on one of his claws. Blood… Discord’s blood.

Oskar looked between the tiny droplets of crimson blood on his claws and the chaotic being they came from. The virus wasn’t stupid. He recalled the last time he had a major power boost; he lost his sanity and lost control over the vast pool of memories within his mind. No doubt the results would be the same in consuming the blood of such an immensely powerful being. But…

‘No matter what happened last time… I didn’t hurt you…’ Oskar thought as he glanced at Twilight. ‘Any of you. I had even saved you despite my own mind being fragmented by all the memories. I must be careful… the last time I had gained so much power the library was destroyed, this one will be much bigger. No matter what… IT ALL HAS TO GO UP!’

“Look what you did to my beautiful face you mons- huh?” Discord began in anger, turning towards the one that had assaulted him and grew confused at what he saw, a sentiment the other people in the room could share.

Oskar grasped at his shifted arm and bared his teeth in pain. Black tendrils covered the edges of the claws, surging and pulsating.

Oskar fell to his knees as something strange happened to his arm. Veins rapidly appeared, glowing with crimson light as they moved up his arm from his claws. The arm went into spasms as the veins moved onto the shoulder and massive blisters appeared, growing in size rapidly and bursting with a crimson flash when they grew too big. Oskar raised his afflicted arm and punched the floor.

With that strike, two things happened. The sheer force behind the strike cracked the floor and seemed to make the entire palace shake, and Oskar’s arm half exploded in a spray of gore and half vaporised in a flash of light. Almost the instant Oskar lost his arm, he gained a new one. It was massive and was obviously too big for him, grossly muscled and covered in black scales that sheened red in the light. The new arm ended in a massive hand that ended in three long, thick talon-like fingers.

As the glowing veins reached the core of his body, they suddenly started spreading like mad. Blisters appeared alongside the incandescent veins and after bursting they would be rapidly replaced by thick, large scales.

Oskar growled as half his body seemed to start vaporizing in bursts of crimson light. He brought his reformed arm back up and brought it down again, cracking the floor further and even making an indent. A rage seemed to strike Oskar and he brought his mutated fist against the floor again and again, shaking the palace and creating a larger indent. Then, with one final earth shaking strike, Oskar punched the floor with all his might and ended up creating a large crater in the floor.

The Evolved dry heaved with every breath as he fell onto his hands and knees, his own body still undergoing immense changes on the genetic level.

“E-Oskar?” Twilight said cautiously.

Oskar then looked up towards the ceiling. His eyes were orbs of crimson light and his mouth was open in a silent scream. With a sudden blinding flash of light, no one could see anything.


BETA




The ponies of Canterlot tried to continue going about their daily lives despite the chocolate milk rain and cotton candy clouds. However it became next to impossible when a massive beam of crimson light exploded out of the roof of the palace, even more so when every unicorn in Canterlot gasped and fell to the ground unconscious.

Earth ponies and pegasi shuddered as they felt a presence close in around them, a presence that felt like blind confused rage and fear. It pressed down on them like a weight.

The sky above turned red, and there was a blast of energy that dispersed every cloud in its wake. Cloudsdale, city or not, was made of clouds and fared no better. Shapes rained down from its dispersing remains; whether they were pegasi currently incapable of flight or the various devices they had up there, no one could tell.

The beam of crimson light continued to soar into the sky. From Vanhoover to Manehattan, ponies could see its ominous glow from practically every point of Equestria. Down in the Everfree, the Diamond Dogs watched on from their place on the forest border, the Timber Spirit beside them.

“Something strange is happening…” the spirit said as the trees around them shook and groaned. “The forest grows restless… and potent.”

Warhounds yelped in surprise as the bark of one tree broke off, and it became increasingly obviously it was because the tree rapidly outgrew it. Around their feet, wildflowers and plants sprouted from the forest floor in a thick carpet.

“New life is growing.” In the distance, the roar of an undefinable beast resounded. “And appearing… something else stirs. A great many minds awaken, weary beyond reckoning and yet… they feel familiar…”

The Timber Spirit’s words went unheard as the Warhounds were more concerned with their changing surroundings and wondering what ever could be happening in Canterlot.


GAMMA




Twilight didn’t know what was happening. The blinding light before them made it impossible for them to see what was happening, though she could still see Rarity beside her, unconscious on the ground. Twilight herself felt like she was on the verge of joining her friend, the strange presence about them was crushing in its intensity and the unicorn had a suspicion it was her own not insignificant magic that allowed her to keep consciousness.

Finally the light along with the presence began to die down, and before long she was able to see. A moment later she wished she hadn’t.

Oskar had changed incredibly. He was now taller than Discord by at least two heads and was twice as big through sheer muscle mass. His body was covered in black scales that sheened red in the light and along his sides, patches of bioluminescence glowed brightly. His tail was long and seemed to be made of tightly entwined smaller tails. His legs and arms were both powerfully built, his legs ending in bear paw like appendages with long claws and arms in three fingered large talons. Along his back was a line of silvery spikes extending from his spine. His blade wings had remained, but was now larger and each “feather” had gained a jagged edge that would rip and tear flesh agonizingly. Three orange slitted eyes sat in each of his eye sockets and he had a thick mane of spines shooting backwards from off the back of his head. His mouth was beak like in its shape.

For a long moment, everyone stood in silence. For the ponies, it was a silence born of terror. For Oskar, it was a silence born of madness and torment. And for Discord, it was a silence born of shocked confusion.

“Er…” Discord began, looking between the ponies and Oskar. “Did I miss something in those thousand years? Don’t tell you got a new arch-nemesis Celestia?”

The multiple eyes in Oskar’s skull stopped their spinning as he struggled with his fragmented mind. Even as insane as he currently was, Oskar still had his basic instincts drilled into him from his harsh, short stint as Mercer’s Evolved. Discord was a threat, even as agonized screams howled at him from all around, as the surroundings swirled and twisted from a myriad of memories, he could still focus his mind enough to deal with a threat.

Oskar leapt at Discord with talon hands outstretched, his mouth opening into four segments and revealing a mouth utterly filled with gleaming teeth releasing a shrill scream of a roar.

“YIIII!” Discord shouted, not reacting nearly fast enough to save himself as Oskar impacted with him and sent the both of them flying through a wall and out into the open air.

Discord and Oskar flew through the air, their velocity enough that not even the thick wall protecting ponies from the sheer ledge into the valley below stopped them. Tearing through the wall and taking masonry with them, the two continued on their flight until they landed in the rolling grasslands below Canterlot, their impact sending up large dirt clods and creating a long ditch through the earth.

“GAH!” Discord shouted as Oskar snarled and opened his mouth into its four separate mandibles and descended to consume his head. The Draconequis brought up a fist and punched him in the side of the head. Though his punch may as well have been a flimsy smack for all the good it did, that wasn’t the point. He was using the physical contact to work his power on the clearly insane creature trying to maul him, to forcefully twist it’s mind and make it stop attacking him.

Oskar seemed to freeze and his many eyes spun madly before they stilled and went dull. Discord sighed in relief, thinking his magic had done it’s work.


DELTA


“INFECTED CREATURES ARE LOOSE! I REPEAT! INFECTED CREATURES ARE-AHH SHIT!”

“You are my sunshine~ my only sunshine~ you make me happy~ When skies are… w-who are you? Please just take what you want and leave my daught-”

“Oskar, you are to frame this protestor group for sabotage. The target is Blackwatch’s personal clinic. They’ll be out for blood after this, a perfect distraction.”

Memories swirled in Oskar’s mind. The last moments of those he had killed played on endlessly through his mind, leaving it near helpless in his lack of coherence; however the last moments of those he had killed wasn’t the only things of importance in Oskar’s mind.

“This is so fantastic Emerald! I have so much to teach you! Don’t you think this is such a great opportunity for the both of us?” a memory of a happy time whispered.

“Here is the plan. Lieutenant Jacob here is going to cut the power to the cells and Oskar is going to make sure that Blackwatch personell in positions that let them stop the break won’t be an issue. Doctor Deidre will play interception with the Blackwatch CO. If all goes to plan, the creatures will wreak havoc and cause immense damage to the base. Of course the creatures will also likely break out into the streets, the resulting slaughter…” A memory of a mission briefing echoed in Oskar’s mind before oddly falling silent.

“We care Emerald, don’ cha mistake that,” another pleasant memory whispered. “Specially me. Grew up with a big ole family but ya didn’t even get ta have your parents for long.”

“Well if it isn’t Mercer’s favorite little bloodhound? Why do you always get the nice missions? Hunting down and tearing apart people all the time, feeling their flesh part like putty between your fingers and their scre-” another dark memory began before suddenly cutting out.

“I know we don’t exactly get along. Even now, you’re so tense from being near me,” a motherly voice said. “And I understand why you dislike me. After a lifetime of only living on the bare minimum and coming face to face with a pony such as I… well, long story short Emerald, I’d rather we be friends; dear friends.”

“HEY! Asshole! You in the stupid hat! Yeah I’m talking to…”

“Emerald…” The voice of a near and dear friend. “You shouldn’t have felt you needed to speak up in the first place. You do not need to feel that you are at fault.”

 “Oskar, another mission. You are…”

“Fluttershy…” the voice of Oskar’s female side whispered. “I… I would never hurt you. You are… you are my f-friend. The last thing… the very last thing I want to do is to hurt you, I’d do a-anything to avoid it.”

“It’s time to…”

“I would like you to know that both I and all the Alphas deeply appreciate all you have done for us.” The voice of a stern and proud Diamond Dog. “You promised you would make us more than slavers and thieves, and you have fulfilled that promise. You’ve built a nation for us, made us strong, made us independent and given us a future to look forward to. Such is our gratitude and loyalty, there is nothing any of us wouldn’t do if you ordered us to do it Oskar.”

“Kill the…”

“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 at is if you ever need somepony to be that pony, or to talk to somepony that understands what it’s like… well you know where to find me.”

Though his mind was still in chaos, it was as if things became so much clearer and straightforward. There was a threat to the others, to his… friends. That threat was incredibly and terrifyingly powerful, far beyond the ability of his friends to defend themselves against. But not him. No, now he was the powerful one; he was the one capable of standing against the cruel and tyrannical. No longer was his head going to be bowed in silent terror, now that he had the strength to stand defiant. Now he would fight in the sun instead of the shadows.


EPSILON


Discord’s eyes widened and he shouted in alarm as Oskar’s eyes were suddenly alight with fury and he redoubled his efforts to eat the chaotic being.

At the last moment, Discord remembered that he had magic and quickly teleported before he lost his head to Oskar’s maw. The transformed Evolved ended up getting a mouthful of dirt and grass but didn’t let his prey’s sudden disappearance disorient him. Instinctively he sent out a viral pulse and it came back incredibly fast.

Discord was hoping for a quick breather in the air and ended up having to teleport away again when Oskar was practically already in his face.

This time, Oskar didn’t fly after Discord as he teleported further away into the air. He knew how to play this game and wasn’t going to let Discord keep the advantage.

Discord looked around wildly when he saw Oskar disappear in a flash and only noticed there was a shadow being cast over him when it was too late. There was a painful crack as Discord felt a powerful blow and he was sent spinning through the air. He managed to gain control of his spinning after a few moments, only to see Oskar flying towards him at incredible speeds.

Panicking, Discord twisted reality between him and Oskar into a huge mass of cotton candy. Oskar was moving too fast and the appearance of the floating candy was too sudden that he ended up flying straight into it. However, cotton candy was still cotton candy, and while Oskar was slowed enough to briefly stop him he was already almost out of it on the other side.

Seeing a chance, Discord started altering the makeup of the candy, making it stronger and madeit  so that it was pulling taut around Oskar. Oskar roared and twisted. His claws were sharp and his strength was incredible, and he likely would have still managed to break out at any second when he suddenly stilled and let the candy cover him.

There was a long quiet moment with the mass of cotton candy pulsating and shrinking down when there was a bright blue glow coming from the center of it.

“AUUUUUGH! HOT!” Discord shouted, having barely managed to avoid the beam of blue plasma that exploded out of the cotton candy, but his tail was not so lucky. “WATER! WATER!”

The ball of cotton candy was nearly fully aflame, one side completely vaporised from the sure heat. There was a crimson flash from within and Discord found himself using pure magic to keep himself from getting mauled.

“K-k-kill… KILLLLLL YOOOOOU…” Oskar gurgled out, using pure force of muscle to steadily break through the magical barrier between him and Discord. “B-butcher you… GUT yooooou… EAT YOU!!!”

“Now I am a lover of tricks, not a fighter!” Discord shouted a tad nervously. “Can’t we talk about this!?”

Currently, the chaotic being really wished he was a fighter, as he was just completely out of his element right now. He had no idea how to even handle this fight. Never before had Discord ever faced someone who could actually hurt him. For all his creative tricks and pranks, he had no idea how to apply them in a truly serious fight. In the end, his opponent only had brute strength while he had skill… unfortunately it was the wrong kind of skill.

Seemingly in answer to Discord’s words, Oskar reared back his head and bashed it against the magical barrier, smashing it. The crazed Evolved opened his jaws to snap them around Discord’s head but the Dragoniquis managed to back himself away, saving himself from most of the potential harm.

“ARRGH!” the Draconequis shouted as one of Oskar’s teeth tore open a massive gash along his cheek.


ZETA


The presence that had seemingly made all the unicorns faint had gone, or at least faded enough that the unicorns managed to regain consciousness quickly. Most thought they were still sleeping when they saw the blood red sky above them.

However there was another aspect of the sky everyone noticed.

Drifting down sedately from the crimson sky was black dust. Everyone wondered at what could have caused this, drawing conclusions between the crimson sky and the beam of light that had exploded out from the roof of the palace, but nothing specific.

A pegasus mother and her earth pony filly watched as the black dust drifted near them. They stared at it in open curiosity, and when it drifted down to head level she sniffed, wondering what the odor would be like if it had one. The effect was near instant.

The mother started coughing and hacking the moment she inhaled the dust through her nose, an action that everyone else in the streets was forced to mimic.

“Mommy!” the little filly shouted in alarm as her mother fell to the ground and just couldn’t stop coughing. Mere moments later, the filly had collapsed to her side as well, practically coughing up a lung. Beside her, her mother continued her pained coughing fit, spittle flecked with blood leaving her mouth with every cough now.

The black dust continued to drift down serenely.


ETA


Discord couldn’t deny it anymore, he was definitely panicking. He wasn’t stupid in the slightest and was sure, given time, he could learn how to truly fight effectively with his powers, but Oskar wasn’t allowing him that time.

The crazed Evolved had been doggedly chasing him ever since the fight began with a tireless tenacity that was terrible to behold. The absolute most amount of time Discord had to himself since the start of the fight was ten seconds, and that was when he had briefly trapped him in the cotton candy. Since then, Oskar barely allowed him three before he was on him.

Discord’s lack of experience in fights where both sides were on equal standing was costing him his wellbeing as well. Blood dripped down the Draconequis’ chest from three ugly claw marks from when Oskar had gotten closer than usual and managed to rake him there, purple bruises marked Discord’s mismatched hide from powerful punches and one of his eyes was close to being closed shut by swelling.

Barely dodging another charge by his deadly foe, Discord called upon his magic again to directly restrain Oskar and give himself a breather.

Just like before, Oskar started to use pure physical force to steadily break through Discord’s shimmering barrier, his multi sectioned mouth and six eyes made for a unappealing sight to stare at. Once again Oskar started to rear his head back to bash the barrier, and Discord readied himself for the lightning fast assault that followed. However instead of a loud crack of his barrier falling, there was just a soft tinkling sound, much like that of glass shards falling on a hard floor.

Discord gasped as he felt something wrap around his neck. He looked down to see that Oskar had made use of his tail instead of his head, plunging it’s razor sharp tip through the shield and up to wrap around his neck. Looking back up, Discord saw Oskar either make a truly vicious sneer or a bestial snarl.

Oskar started spinning rapidly and Discord soon disappeared in a blur of the Evolved’s tail as it spun faster and faster vertical to the ground. Once he had reached a certain speed, Oskar let go of the chaotic being and sent him crashing near instantly into the ground before, creating a loud boom and explosion of dirt and grass as Discord hit the grasslands.

Discord was still shaking his head clear and the dust cloud hadn’t even settled when Oskar smashed down into his stomach. Discord wheezed out agonizingly and then gagged when Oskar grabbed him by his throat and picked him up. The Evolved snarled briefly in his face, sending spittle flying before taking hold of his tail with his other hand and started swinging him into the ground.

The soft dirt might as well have been solid stone as far as Discord was concerned. Each time he was smashed into the ground, it felt like hammers were being smashed into the whole of his body before he was roughly wrenched up into the air and smashed down again. After what felt like an eternity to Discord, but was actually only a handful of swings to Oskar, he was finally thrown into the ground. He stayed there for a moment, finding himself playing dead, mostly because he felt half way there, before he unwillingly released a pained groan.

Oskar towered over him and released a disdainful sniff before picking him up by his tail again. He then spun him in the air briefly before tossing him straight up. After that, Oskar teleported way up  into the air and brought both his fists over his head. When Discord reached him, Oskar brought both his fists down in a flash, spiking him back towards the royal palace.

Several seconds later, Discord crashed into the floor of the very hall he had been taunting the princesses and the Mane Six in, half buried into the broken stone.

Celestia and the others were still there, and Rarity had also regained consciousness; ever since the fight had left the palace, they had only ever caught glimpses of it from afar. They really had no choice but to watch as Discord had been interrupted before he could give them their riddle to the Elements of Harmony’s location.

The alicorn of the sun could not help the sense of awe she felt upon seeing Discord half buried in the rubble of the floor. Here was a foe that had rendered all of them helpless without a fight, a foe she and her sisters had not even tried to fight without the aid of the Elements of Harmony; here he lay beaten to a pulp and half dead from his injuries. And seeing that brought up a sudden sense of despair. Here was their undefeatable enemy utterly lain low by another being, a being that by her sister’s account and his actions was quite villainous. And now here she was, without the Elements of Harmony and a new threat very clearly greater than Discord.

“Sister… what do we do?” Luna said gravely, having come to the same realizations.

“I do not know Luna…” Celestia answered. “The Elements are missing, what can we do?”

“Run,” Luna stated simply. “Fight another day.”

“I agree,” Celestia said with a nod. “We’ll-”

With a loud crack of stone Oskar landed in the hall from the massive hole in the roof, made from his sudden burst of magic. The two princesses quickly backed away from the virus, flaring their wings as they stood protectively in front of the Mane Six. Oskar, however, only had eyes for one person.

Reaching into the rubble, Oskar pulled up Discord’s beaten and battered unconscious form. Snarling briefly, Oskar brought the Chaotic being close to his face before opening his mouth as wide as possible. Discord was then brought headfirst towards Oskar’s mouth when he was interrupted.

“STOP!” Twilight shouted, running out from behind the princesses and coming to a stop just before the monstrosity before her.

With her shout, Oskar did indeed stop and he turned one of his many eyes towards Twilight. For a long tense moment, the two simply looked at each other, Twilight calmly and sternly looking up at Oskar and the viral being looking down at her, mouth agape and Discord inches from being eaten headfirst.

“You don’t have to do this,” Twilight began evenly. “Look at him. He isn’t going to be hurting anypony any time soon. Please don’t kill him.”

The silence continued for a moment longer as Oskar stared, but then something happened, the cloud of madness seem to lift from his eyes and his grip around Discord’s neck slacked. Discord slipped from Oskar’s grip and fell to the floor with a thud. Oskar turned to face Twilight and silence reigned for the longest moment as he stared at her and everyone else.

Oskar suddenly narrowed his eyes at Celestia and Luna and raised his foot before stomping it on the floor.

Tendrils burst out from the floor under the Mane Six so fast that by the time they shouted in alarm they were already caught. Rainbow Dash’s wings were completely wrapped up along with her legs. Rarity’s legs were lightly bound with most of the attention on her horn with several tendrils wrapped around it that would constrict painfully should she use her magic. Fluttershy’s wings were wrapped up as well, but several large tendrils wrapped around her head and completely blinded her. Applejack was just tied up in general but Pinkie Pie was utterly cocooned in tendrils, leaving only two small air holes of the pony to breathe out of. In stark contrast to everyone else, however, Twilight just had a few tendrils wrapped around her waist and that held her aloft. Nothing at all was keeping her from using magic, though the death glare she was shooting at Oskar could be considered a deadly weapon all on its own.

“Surrender,” Oskar said to the two princesses, his blade wings fully flared out.

Celestia and Luna glared defiantly at Oskar. He was more powerful than them, that much was clear, but they weren’t about to cower before him. Still, they recognised just how bad the situation was; all of the Mane Six were restrained, the Elements of Harmony were missing and the being before them was strong enough to not only fight Discord, but win. In the end, the only choice for them to take was clear.

“Very well…” Celestia began, relaxing her stance but never stopping her glare. “We surrender, just do not hurt anypony.”

With a gesture of his hand, tendrils erupted from the ground and completely covered both of the princesses, leaving them in a cocooned state very much like Pinkie Pie. Oskar then paused for a moment before taking in the Mane Six restrained along with the princesses and turning back to look at Discord’s unconscious form. It was hard to tell, but Oskar seemed to look confused and uncertain.

“I won?” Oskar muttered as he kept looking between the princesses and Discord. “I won… it doesn’t feel like…”

“Yes, you’ve won,” Twilight practically spat at him. “Completely and totally.”

Oskar stared at Twilight for a long moment, his gaze locked on hers. Then he turned around and the tendrils retreated from everyone, letting them drop to the floor in confusion. Why had he done that? The Evolved walked over to one of the windows and spied the landscape. The sky was blood red, black dust rained down and ponies on the streets were writhing on the ground.
Making a decision, Oskar raised a hand and reached out.


THETA




The little filly’s lungs were on fire and she could barely stop her coughing long enough to breath comfortably. Beside her, her mother seemed to be far worse off.

Each feather of her wings appeared to have fused their bristles together and looked like a bunch of long scales. Her mane had become much wilder looking and the pupils of her eyes had become slitted. Her teeth had fallen out and were now replaced by canines. She thrashed and was spasming on the ground, snarling with flecks of foam appearing around her lips.

“M-m-mommy…” the filly said in a frightened voice between coughing.

Her mother wasn’t the only one that appeared to be suffering and undergoing intense changes. All over Canterlot, ponies were rendered helpless by the black dust they had breathed. Most were just on the ground with painful coughing fits, but others had started undergoing extreme changes to their body.

Suddenly, there was a blast of light from the palace and a wave of white light passed over everything and everyone. A clear blue sky and a relief from the pain and further change was left in its wake. All signs of the black dust that had rained down from the sky were gone, and the ponies that had collapsed to the ground in coughing fits were already feeling well enough to stand back up. However, there were an unfortunate few.

“Mommy?” the little filly asked with growing alarm and starting shaking her mother’s shoulder. “Mommy!”

“I’m… I’m okay honey…” her mother said softly, her sharp teeth glinting from between her lips and her eyes fluttering open and revealing her slitted eyes.

“M-mommy…” the little filly said and almost recoiled from the sight of her changed mother before she came closer and held her tight.


IOTA


Everyone looked at Oskar, who was currently staring at his hand after undoing the effect his increase in power had on the land. After a moment, he turned his gaze towards the ponies. Luna walked towards him and looked like she was going to say something.

Oskar then disappeared in an excessively bright flash of crimson light.

Silence reigned in that moment. Nothing went as how everyone expected things to go. Discord was gloating and taunting them with his supremacy when a foe they had not expected at all came to their aid. Then, after defeating that foe and having them at his mercy, he just let them go and left. Everyone was a tad confused of how to take it, though Twilight actually was just standing there staring at the spot where Oskar had stood with a frown.

Seeing this made Celestia think back to a minute ago when everyone was bound in black tendrils. Everyone had been securely restrained and yet Twilight was barely given any thought.  It couldn’t have been that Oskar didn’t consider her a threat as he had taken no chances with everyone else. So why hadn’t he restrained Twilight like everyone else? Why had he purposefully decided to take such a massive risk? Perhaps it was because-

“Oh my gosh!” Fluttershy shouted in alarm, gaining everyone’s attention.

The pegasus was standing beside the terribly injured Discord. Everyone had been so confused over what had just happened with Oskar that they had completely forgotten about the shape shifter’s victim.

“Please, somepony get me some bandages!” Fluttershy shouted in alarm. She was good, but there was only so much anyone could do without the proper equipment.

Celestia and Luna looked at each other as Fluttershy’s friends leapt into action. Injured as he may be, Discord was still a powerful threat and the best course of action would be to seal him away as soon as they found the Elements of Harmony. Then again, Discord was very injured and it seemed cruel to just seal him away with his injuries and the possibility his prison would preserve the wounds he had sustained.

“Caution is the better part of valour, sister,” Luna said softly as she viewed Fluttershy tending to Discord’s wounds as best as she could. “T’would be a sound move to seal him as soon as the elements are found.”

“Perhaps…” Celestia said with a troubled frown that soon turned thoughtful. “But there is a chance, a small chance, that this event gives us a grand opportunity.”

“Oh?”

“Yes,” Celestia said as she took in Fluttershy caring for Discord. “A very grand opportunity.”


KAPPA


“GURK!” Oskar stifled a grunt as crimson magical lightning surged along his form for a moment.

He had assumed his base form and returned to the cavern city of his nation. However, once the adrenaline born out of his brief bout of insanity and combat, he started to notice something; his magic was too intense and he could feel so much more. 

“Boss, are you okay?” a Diamond Dog asked worriedly.

“I’m f-fine,” Oskar stuttered as another bolt surged and made him stumble slightly.

“Ahh!” the dog shouted in shock from the sight. “Boss, are you sure?!”

“I-I don’t need h-help!” Oskar said angrily before forcing himself to calm down. “Just leave me alone for a bit…”

“Alright boss…”

Oskar sat down on a stone bench and placed his head in his hands, twitching involuntarily whenever another surge of magic blasted through him.

‘Is this Discord’s power?’ Oskar thought briefly before shaking his head. ‘No, it can’t be. It doesn’t feel chaotic. I don’t know what I was expecting, but this feeling is something else entirely. I can feel every viral creation I ever created and could feel the viral spores that had rained down from the skies. I was never able to control viral life forms from a distance all that well. Making them stumble in a general direction was the most I was ever able to do, but after Discord… it was like I was standing beside them and giving my commands directly.’ 

‘So what did consuming that blood do?’ Oskar thought and looked down at his hand. ‘I didn’t get what Discord had so… what, did it just amplify what was there? It certainly feels like it. I have so much magic flowing through my circuits now… more than I can control reliably anymore. God damn, and here I was beginning to enjoy that universal compatibility the alicorn upgrade gave to my circuits. Well, no point in complaining. I might as well as add control training back to my work list.’

‘Oh… can’t forget.’ Oskar groaned inwardly. ‘Objective Five: Claim the top of the Food Chain, complete. Operation status? Total success… not that I am feeling very happy about it.’

“VIRUS!” The Timber Spirit’s voice echoed within the cavern and startled both the dogs and Oskar.

“Huh?” Oskar said, wondering what ever could be happening now.

“I have been thinking on your words for a long time now,” the spirit’s deep voice boomed. “And after watching you claim victory over one who spits upon the cycle with contemptuous ease, I have decided to act as well.”

“Act?” Oskar asked and recalled the last major conversation they shared and suddenly grew worried. “What do you intend to do?”

“I shall teach them to not only beware these forests but fear it in totality!” the spirit boomed. “I shall wipe one of the more troublesome towns off the map! Then they shall know the cycle is not to be trifled with!”

“What?!” Oskar shouted, leaping to his feet. “Hold on a minute! It’s one thing to not want to be victimised or enslaved, but it’s an entirely other thing to kill just to teach others a lesson!”

Oskar then waited for a reply from the spirit, but the moments passed…

“Hello…?” Oskar said with wide eyes. “God damn it!”

The Evolved immediately started pacing, occasionally twitching from a sudden surge of magic. He began thinking intently of which town the spirit could be attacking and his first thought was Ponyville. Half panicking, the virus teleported to the outskirts outside the town, however Oskar had ended up arriving a bit off target.

With a small explosion of dirt Oskar tore out of the ground he had accidentally buried himself in. Looking at Ponyville with a longing expression for a brief moment, Oskar then turned towards the forest border. He waited several moments, but worry made him impatient and he ran at the trees.

‘He’s not here. Why isn’t he here?!’ Oskar thought as he made use of his sonar, his hearing and his sight to catch any sign of the spirit’s assault. ‘Okay, this just means that he hadn’t meant Ponyville. But what town could he have meant? I have no clue, no choice but to take flight and spot the attack from the sky.’

With that, Oskar grew his blade wings and intended to quickly reach the cloud level and start looking. However, Oskar ending up missing his mark by a bit.

‘AHH SHIT!’ Oskar thought as he shot past the clouds and started to see stars appear when he stopped his intensely fast ascent. He then tried to make a minor correction and lower down to cloud level but ended up doing the same thing in the opposite direction.

Nothing more than a blur to the average observer, Oskar ended up impacting the ground like a small meteor, sending up a shower of dirt and causing the earth to shake.

‘Come on!’ Oskar thought angrily with himself. ‘Get control of yourself! I can’t keep making this mistake over and over again when that spirit could be attacking a town right at this moment!’

Deeply unhappy scowl plastered across his expression, Oskar quickly got out of the crater he made and once more took flight. Again he ended up flying higher than intended but at least he wasn’t too much higher than the clouds.

Sense of urgency growing with every moment, Oskar made his way, mental list of all the towns that bordered Everfree at the forefront of his mind.


LAMDA




The ponies of Trottingham were a simple people whose main export was high quality lumber gathered from sustainable logging. For the most part, the ponies here grew vast groves of trees for their lumber but occasionally a lumberjack would get bold enough to take a few from Everfree. Normally the ponies went out of their way to avoid the dreaded forest, but as time went on and more ponies took trees without reprisal, ponies started to fear the forest less. The ponies had thought that as long as they took only from the outskirts and didn’t venture into the forest everything would be fine. This belief made them the Spirit’s target.

It began with a loud howl echoing from the forest, spooking the already tense ponies that had just gone through the sky going red. Then the trees started to shake and the ground rumbled with the impact of a great many paws. And out from the forest, their eyes glowing bright green, came a vast horde of Timber Wolves.

Ponies panicked in the streets as the snarling and howling wave of animated wood approached. Their size made their speed quick and most of the ponies were still on the streets by the time the first wolves started to reach them. One of the leading wolves leapt for a group a ponies, jaws wide open, when a blur shot down from the sky and crashed down on top of the timber wolf, sending logs and dirt flying.

This one action cause both sides to pause in what they were doing. Timber wolves stopped their charge to peer through the dust cloud at what had struck down one of their number, and the ponies stopped to see what had saved them.

Out of the crater and the dispersing dust cloud was Oskar, blade wings upon his back and unhappy frown firmly plastered across his expression. The timber wolves seemed to grow intensely confused at Oskar’s presence, while the ponies became unnerved by the look of the strange creature’s wings and how their edges seemed to be so sharp they hurt the eyes to look at them.

“I know I am the last person you expected to be standing against you but I want you to stop,” Oskar said as he threw up his hands in a placating manner. “I know why you are doing this but it doesn’t justify it. Don’t make me fight you, because I will.”

Oskar had obviously failed at talking down the spirit because the hordes of timber wolves before him seemed to become utterly enraged. With a collective howl they charged again, this time not at the ponies, but at Oskar.

“HAVE IT YOUR WAY!” Oskar shouted as he kicked one wolf, sending it’s log body scattering into the air.

The ponies took this change of targets as their chance to get to safety, and they didn’t waste that chance, quickly bolting down the street for shelter.

‘Right, these wolves aren’t exactly the most durable things around,’ Oskar thought as he scattered one wolf with a punch and disrupted dozens more when he magically picked up half a dozen wolves and sent them flying at their fellows. ‘Maybe to the average person around here they would be more of a danger, but not to me. I doubt their wooden teeth could ever hope to pierce my hide. His anger has blinded him to the bigger picture too. I can’t be everywhere, so if he truly wanted to destroy the town he could still do a ton of damage just by sending wolves all over instead of focusing on me. So really it all comes down to me taking down the wolves faster and more efficiently. Fire breath is out. I could end up igniting a house or two plus it would likely enrage him more. Hammerfists might be a good idea, but if I’m not careful with the strength of my blows I may end up damaging the homes, the same might as well be said of my whipfist. So what does that leave me? Blade, claws, bare fists and my magic. Yeah, I’ve got tons of ways to go about handling this, let’s do it!’

Oskar didn’t trust his running ability at its full power just yet; he had a hard enough time getting place to place with it let alone using it in combat. So the virus focused on his magic and fell back on his hands and feet whenever a timber wolf got close. Just like how his flying ability was now unreliable, so was his other magical abilities. When he tried to levitate a wolf sometimes that would be the result, other times he ended up crushing the wolf into splinters or accidently sent it flying off into the sky. They were both acceptable results for combat, but if he intended to use his magic for more mundane tasks he would have to be very careful.

The street was soon covered in the scattered logs of disrupted timber wolves. As fast as they were streaming out of the forest, Oskar was simply destroying their numbers faster. Eventually the Evolved had gotten his stride and was now making his way down the street, utterly ripping apart timber wolves before they could even get close with just telekinetic skill alone.

Suddenly the timber wolves not only stopped their advance but fell to pieces where they stood, leaving Oskar to stare in bemusement at the scattered logs.

Seeing that the timber wolves had been defeated, ponies began to cautiously leave their homes. Seeing the one who came to their rescue made them want to approach him and give him their thanks but his intimidating looking wings made them keep their distance. Finally one pony did finally approach him.

“Excuse me?” Oskar heard and felt something nudge his leg. Looking down, he saw a young earth pony filly looking up at him.

“Thank you for saving us and our homes.,” she said a little shyly.

“Oh… no problem…” Oskar said, caught off guard by the praise. “Just… just tell everyone to not bother the forest anymore.”

“Okay!” She nodded.

With that, Oskar’s thoughts returned to the issue of what had happened to make the spirit stop. Did he just see that he was having no effect? It was then that something that the little filly said that got him to thinking.

‘Hmm… home…’ Oskar thought and then his eyes widened in realization and he teleported away, leaving a confused crowd of ponies behind.

The Evolved found himself a hundred feet above his intended destination, but didn’t mind; the height gave him a good observation spot for what was happening below.

The spirit had apparently decided that if Oskar was going to side with the ponies then it was going to attack his people that lived in the forest. In the cleared field below, the entire force of Warhounds were battling a seemingly endless wave of timber wolves pouring out of the treeline. Despite the timber wolves being so much larger than them, the Warhounds were actually doing very well. Their well-designed armour made the wooden teeth and claws of the timber wolves ineffective, though by the looks of several wounded dogs the spirit was quickly learning to aim for the joints of the armor.

The bigger dogs were using large clubs and hammers to disrupt the large wooden wolves while the smaller ones were resorting to hit and run tactics to give their bigger and stronger fellows an opening. Interestingly, Whisper Wind was also there helping out, dive bombing as many timber wolves as she could get away with and giving the Warhounds an opening.

Oskar dropped out of the sky, shifting his arms into hammerfists and shot himself towards the largest concentration of timber wolves coming out of the forest. A near instant later, he landed with an explosion of dirt that was larger than the previous ones followed by a small forest of spikes spearing out of the ground.

Oskar’s eventful entry into the fight caught the attention of most of the timber wolves, a very much welcome development for the beleaguered Warhounds as the wolves charged at Oskar. Seeing that there was nothing here that could keep him from letting loose, Oskar did just that.

The Evolved’s hammerfists made earth shuddering blows with every strike and destroyed most timber wolves that even got close, let alone those that were hit by the fists. He was about to provide yet more assistance to his Diamond Dogs via sending many wolves flying when louds boom resounded throughout the field.

Oskar turned to see Belvedere wearing his Warhound armor, carrying what looked like a small cannon and followed by a small group of other Warhounds, all carrying the cannon like gun. Each Warhound had a pack on their back that held large canisters that were apparently the magazines for the guns. Due to their size, the packs didn’t hold too many canisters shots but there was a wagon being pulled along behind the group filled with canisters.

Upon reloading their guns, the small group faced a small wave of charging timber wolves and let loose, utterly devastating the wolves and nearly turning them into splinters in one deafening barrage of gunfire. Without sparing a single moment, the dogs then snapped down the barrel of their guns and dropped the empty canister down on the ground. They then grabbed a fresh canister out of their packs and pushed it into the gun chamber before snapping the barrel back up. The next wave of timber wolves were just as lucky as the first.

Concentrating on a large number of the timber wolves, Oskar intended to send them flying into the sky. For the most part that happened, but a great many timber wolves were also crushed into mulch as they flew. Once he did that, Oskar ran forward and came to a stop beside Belvedere.

“Is everyone alright?” Oskar asked before giving the gun the alpha held a studying look. “Nice shotgun by the way.”

“Everyone is fine, Oskar. The attack started just a short while ago and we’ve managed to hold them back with only a few wounded so far,” Belvedere stated before briefly brandishing the gun. “We were making these in secret. Wanted to surprise you. But then these things attacked and our bolt action rifles weren’t terribly useful, so we took these out for a test drive. They seem to be working well… haven’t exploded in my hands yet.”

“Okay, we are definitely going to be talking later; I don’t like the implications of that statement,” Oskar said before turning towards the treeline. “Right now we still have a fight to win.”

“Hmm… actually it looks like they have stopped coming,” Belvedere said, the field all around them covered with scattered logs and a few skirmishes between the still active wolves and the Warhounds. “Did the spirit run out of logs or something?”

“I doubt it…” Oskar said with narrowed eyes, staring at the treeline. “Something else is coming. I guess that easily.”

Oskar was proven right when a distant rumble resounded and off in the distance a large flock of birds suddenly took off. A shape began to appear through the canopy of the trees. At first it looked like the trees were rising up into the air, but it soon became apparent something had risen up from under them as the trees fell off. The shape just continued to raise up higher and higher into the air, until it was easily the size of a skyscraper, then it started walking towards the field.

The normally stoic Belvedere was wide eyed and gaping at the massive thing moving towards them and the Warhounds in the field were near panicking. Oskar, however, kept his cool and stood his ground as dogs backed away from the approaching titan. It may have been a few times bigger than a goliath, but he knew bigger didn’t always mean better.

Oskar studied the titanic being as it closed distance. It had six legs that made the earth tremble as it walked. Near what the virus had assumed was its head were several brightly glowing green spots that seemed to be eyes. The entirety of its body seemed to be made of a vast collection of tightly coiled together roots of various sizes, from impossibly huge to small and spindly. The overall shape of the body reminded Oskar of a squid or a cuttlefish… or now that Oskar thought about it really reminded him of-

“YOU!!” the spirit boomed in it’s incredibly deep voice. “YOU BETRAYED ME!!!”

Oskar stood his ground as the titanic being  towered over him and brought its head down near to him, not flinching in the face of the obvious intimidation tactic.

“YOU SPOKE OF YOUR OWN STRUGGLES OF ENSURING YOUR OWN FREEDOM!” the spirit raged. “I THOUGHT YOU AND I HAD A SHARED DESIRE AND NEED FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THAT WHICH IS SACRED TO US! YET WHEN I GO OUT TO ENSURE I AM NO LONGER THREATENED BY ENCROACHMENT YOU SIDE WITH THOSE THAT WOULD CHAIN ME! WHY!!!”

“Because I can not only understand and sympathise with where you are coming from,” Oskar began. “I can’t allow you to kill innocent people for committing a crime they had no idea in the slightest they were doing.”

“YOU HYPOCRITE!!” the spirit raged. “DO YOU BELIEVE I AM UNAWARE OF WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN DOING IN EQUESTRIA? OR THAT I HAVE SUDDENLY FORGOTTEN THE MURDERS YOU TOLD ME OF?!? AND WHAT OF THE PETTY THEFTS YOU HAVE BEEN COMMITTING? DOES THAT NOT MATTER WHEN IT IS YOU COMMITTING THESE ACTIONS?!?”        

“I am not going to defend what I have done,” Oskar said solemnly. “I know I have done terrible and unforgivable things just to save my own hide. But I am not going to do those things anymore; I am not the person I was when I first arrived here. And while I have done terrible things, that does not mean I do not have a responsibility to stop mass murder when I have the opportunity to do so. Thus I cannot allow you to wreak havoc and destroy all you wish in Equestria just to spread a message.”

“I am not your servant!” the spirit boomed angrily, though much less than before. “I am the Everfree! I am unchained and unbound eternally! I will be forever free and none shall take it from me. Not ponies, and especially  not YOU!”

“I never intended for that, ever,” Oskar said with his hands raised placatingly. “I just don’t see the need for you to go to such extreme lengths. The ponies still fear the Everfree. Just freshen up that fear in a way that doesn’t lead to anyone dying. It should be a simple enough task. I am not your enemy, I am your… your friend, and I do not want to see you go down the path I did. You’ll live to regret it… so very much.”

There was a long tense moment following what Oskar had said, and for a brief moment it looked like the massive being blinked at Oskar confoundedly. Then it rose up and seemed to take a much less tense stance as it took a few steps back.

“… Do not think I listen to you because of your newfound power.” The spirit scoffed as it looked down at Oskar, giving the Evolved the feeling that had it had the appendage, it would be looking down its nose at him. “You, a being of flesh and virus, attempt to reach out to the goodness of my soul, but you fumble in obvious ineptitude, barely capable of comprehending the idea of friendship.”

“Wow, so much gratitude for me actually trying to reach out to you,” Oskar said sarcastically and crossed his arms. “Are you going to tell that I can’t hope to even grasp the nature of your existence now Sovereign?”

“…What?” the spirit said after a moment.

“Oh it’s just that… the way you look and the sound of your voice… it really reminds me of someone by that name,” Oskar said with shrug.

The spirit didn’t appear to be listening though.

“Sovereign… yes, this name resonates with me,” he said with a pleased tone. “SOVEREIGN, for this forest is my domain, my kingdom! I command all that exist within it! I am Sovereign of the Everfree!”

“… You massive egotistical bastard,” Oskar deadpanned. “And you don’t command either me or the Diamond Dogs!”

“A triviality.” ‘Sovereign said dismissively before beginning to stomp away. “This conversation is over. Try not cause yet more chaos to that nation you love so much.”

“Yeah, how about you stop trampling your own trees you fat ass!” Oskar shouted after him, looking angry for a few moments before giving a small smile.

“Boss?”

Oskar turned around to see Belvedere and a large group of Warhounds gathered behind him. They were standing near Oskar and still looked nervous from Sovereign’s presence, though he was leaving now.

“There is nothing more to worry about, Belvedere,” Oskar said, throwing Sovereign a glance over his shoulder before giving Belvedere his full attention. “How is everyone?”

“We only have wounded, Oskar,” Belvedere answered, now fully calm. “Their armor did their job well, and everyone is going to make a full recovery.”

“Great, I’ll just give the healing process a little boost like last time…” Oskar said before sighing.

“Is something wrong, Oskar?” Belvedere asked.

“No, I’m just… today has just been a long day…” Oskar said with another sigh before squaring his shoulders. “Right, let’s get to healing those dogs shall we?”


MU


Celestia sighed tiredly.

She and her sister were in their palace, which was now missing a good portion of its roof. Ponies were running amok in a half panic, and even the Royal Guard were no better. Even now, hours after the whole battle between Discord and the Imp known as Oskar, things were still disorderly. 

Cloudsdale was obliterated, though miraculously no one was hurt. The weather making machines, however, had been utterly destroyed and would set back the already ailing economy of Equestria. While the city of clouds was the not the sole place the weather was made, it was still the major supplier and source of weather, meaning that in the near future the other purely pegasi towns and cities were going to be put under a lot of stress to even keep up a fraction of the old national production. No matter what was currently done, a weather shortage was inevitable.

Then there was the aftermath of the black dust that had rained down from the sky. Nearly every pony in Canterlot and several neighbouring towns had been tormented and briefly crippled by it, but for some ponies it had not ended. Some ponies had been afflicted terribly; wild manes, bestial eyes, unnatural canines and a new aggressive attitude was the common descriptor of the afflicted. For unicorns, their horns had become almost blade like and their magic had increased massively, all of them rating at ten with a few even going a point higher. Pegasi had their feathers turned into long scale like appendages; their flying ability had not suffered however, and in fact it only seemed to have grown even greater. Earth ponies were the less obviously afflicted than the others; they had grown extremely strong, reaching the very height of recorded earth pony development and a few reaching even further than that. As terrible as their conditions were, there were still ponies that were even worse off. They were very clearly turned into something that only had the shape of a pony but were no longer of ponies; at least the others could be mistaken for normal at a distance, but these ponies had no chance of that. One look at their forms would convince any and all that they were another creature entirely. Thankfully, these poor ponies had all been members of staff in the palace or royal guard, and thus Celestia was able to sequester their entire number within her palace where she could do everything in her power to reverse their current condition.

Finally, they still didn’t know what to do with Discord. The chaotic being was still unconscious, but had been moved to one of the more softer beds in the palace. Doctors and nurses had been brought in from the nearby hospital down in the city, but the medical staff had been rather nervous of Discord. The only pony attending to the Draconequis without any care for who or what he was, was Fluttershy. She worked tirelessly alongside nervous doctors, even correcting the professionals when they weren’t doing their jobs right in treating Discord. Truly the young mare deserved to bear the Element of Kindness with a heart she gladly bared to all when it was needed. Of course that didn’t change the fact they still needed to find the Elements of Harmony to protect themselves should Discord decide to take advantage of their compassion.

“Today is a very stressful day,” Celestia said wearily. “And there are going to be so many more days like this in both the near and distant future.”

“Indeed sister,” Luna agreed. “Plans for revitalization of the economy have been set back by Cloudsdale’s untimely destruction by quite a bit I’m afraid. Not to mention the cost of repairing the palace.”

“The palace can wait,” Celestia said with a frown. “We just need to cover the roof and board up a few windows; the main priority is the kingdom.”

“Very well,” Luna said with a nod. “This does mean that rain will be troublesome and winter will be a much more bitter affair, not to mention how poorly it will look on us when dignitaries from other kingdoms arrive.”

“We can deal with it,” Celestia said firmly. “How are the pegasi of Cloudsdale?”

“Well, a lucky few will be able to return home by the end of the day,” Luna answered as she brought up a scroll. “The rest are going to have to be housed for a time here in the capital until their skyward homes are rebuilt. Rebuilding the weather factory will take longer still of course.”

“Hmm…” Celestia hummed. “And the… afflicted?”

“Other than unsettling their fellows with their changed appearance, they appear to be doing fine,” Luna replied before a frown appeared for a moment. “It’s the more severely changed that are housed within the palace that we have to worry about. They are powerful in quite a few ways and are even more aggressive than the others. For now, they are very willing to be hidden away within these walls until something can be done for them, but how long until their aggressive nature changes that?”

“They are former palace staff and royal guard,” Celestia stated confidently. “I’m sure they of all ponies will keep themselves in check and not hurt anypony.”

“Even so…” Luna said unsurely with a frown.

“Your highnesses!” a pegasus royal guard shouted, flying in from the fairly nonexistent roof.

“Yes, what is the issue?” Luna asked the guard.

“News from Trottingham!” the guard said with a sharp salute. “It was attacked by timber wolves from the Everfree Forest!”

“No!” Celestia half shouted. “How many ponies were hurt?!”

“None ma’am,” the guard answered to the combined confusion of the royal sisters. “The town was saved by a strange bipedal creature with threatening wings made of blades.”

“Really?” Luna arched a brow. “Was this creature wearing clothes and had bare pale skin except for a patch hidden under his hat?”

“Uhhh… that sounds like the description, your highness,” the guard said after a moment.

Luna and Celestia shared a look. For what possible reason could the forest have for attacking Trottingham, and what reason could Oskar have for protecting it? It didn’t make much if any sense to the sisters, which fit in with what happened earlier today. Oskar had them at his mercy and let them all go without a word. He now had the power to face the one being they could only ever face with the Element of Harmony… and he sounded so unsure of himself afterwards as if he had no idea what to do now. Surely he had some sort of plan, but by the sound of it he had been totally surprised he had won. Why?

It was a question only Oskar himself could answer, was what the sisters decided.


NU




Oskar sighed as he rubbed his head, stressed out from the day’s events as he walked through the streets of the cavern city.

The Evolved had spent the last few hours healing up the injured Warhounds that had been in combat with Sovereign’s timber wolves. It had turned out to be an extremely time consuming and difficult task, with him no longer possessing the fine control he once had before Discord. He hadn’t made their condition worse, but making sure that very thing didn’t happen required intense concentration. Combined with everything else that happened, it just weighed heavily on Oskar, exhausting him in a way that was purely emotional and mental.

Now that he was certain no more tasks needed to be done, or any other catastrophes were about to drop on his head like an angry god, he could take a bit of time to himself. And from how he felt, the Evolved had no choice but to recognise that he needed this time. So his destination was a room that he hadn’t even seen but was meant for him.

Arriving at the “city hall,” the place where he held his demonstrations or meetings with the Alphas, Oskar entered. He then moved through the halls and went up a few staircases. Eventually he found himself before a set of obviously stolen, but nice oaken double doors. Nailed into the wall just above the doors was a board that had the words ‘Boss’ Room’ carved into it.

Opening the doors, Oskar found himself in what must have been the nicest room in the city. The stone floor was covered with many fur pelts that weren’t just placed haphazardly. The large bed was obviously put together with immense care and only the best wood was used. No doubt the same could be said of the bedding and the furs that served as the blankets. A dresser with a sheet of highly polished steel was over to the side, obviously intended for him to store and try out any outfits he had; Oskar doubted it would see much use.  On the opposite end of the room was a sitting area with a fireplace; no doubt the fireplace needed quite a bit of work considering how far deep below ground the room was. In one corner of the room was a door which likely led to a bathroom of some sort, and Oskar doubted this would see much use as well.

Closing the doors behind him, Oskar approached the bed and sat on it. He was emotionally and mentally exhausted, and drowning himself in work the past few weeks had not seemed to improve his current situation. As it was, he decided a couple hours of doing nothing would be good for him.

The Evolved lied down on the bed and sighed as his head sunk in the soft pillows. He wasn’t physically tired, just mentally and emotionally so. He didn’t intend to sleep. He just intended to lie there for a long while, at least until he felt better. Sleep was the last thing on his mind…


XI


Luna exhaled softly as the familiar sight of the dream realm appeared around her, the various bubbles of sleeping ponies drifted about and more than a few of them were obviously nightmares as their ugly oily black surface attested. It had been a long day helping her sister slog through everything that needed to be done to calm down the populace and she had been looking forward to overseeing a few dreams. However, it seemed that her work would be cut out for her here, just as it was awake.

Just as she was about to settle into her nightly work in earnest, Luna spotted a familiar sight. It was a nightmare bubble like the others, but unlike the others it had tendrils of red lighting about it, lashing out at everything that neared it. Within the bubble was the sight of a hill that was half lush and half scorched.

Seeing that she once again had the opportunity to enter the dreams of Oskar after so many months, Luna practically leapt at the bubble.

The dream world Luna found herself in wasn’t as violent to look at as had the first had been, but the meaning behind it was currently lost on her. Off to the left in the distance was a city upon an island, its tall skyscrapers were all aflame and the sky above it was crimson. Off to the right was Canterlot before during a bright sunny day; the idyllic little town of Ponyville could be spotted in the image as well.

Between these two vistas was a grass covered hill with a tree sitting on the very top of it. One half of the hill and tree was lush and had flowers blooming and butterflies flew about in the air. The other half was utterly scorched, the grass was black and patches of ground had small crackling fires that sent sparks into the air. The tree on this half was burnt as well and was missing all of its leaves, fires darted its charred branches seeming to burn in slow motion.

Sitting at the very base of the tree was Oskar, looking as he did the day his mother had died. He looked utterly miserable as he hugged his legs close to himself and clutched his hat in one hand.

Luna approached the top of the hill slowly, so as to not startle Oskar. She merely wanted to talk to creature she called an Imp and nothing else. But as she neared Oskar she began to hear a conversation.

“… Remember how she screamed at you after finding out what you had done?” Luna heard a familiar voice ask. “Your little playmate wasn’t going to play anymore. Or how about that whore you framed for murder? You couldn’t help yourself and just had to know what kind of person you condemned to death at Blackwatch’s merciful hands. Poor little Mary Anne only wanted enough to bribe her way out of the hell hole that was the NYZ… well she certainly wasn’t in the NYZ anymore afterwards now wasn’t she?”

Luna looked towards the direction of the voice and found its origin sitting on one of the branches in the tree. The alicorn searched her memory briefly and had managed to recall who the being was, Dr. Mercer, the Imp that apparently commanded Oskar.

“And despite all this gold material, the best parts truly come afterwards, you know after you and those pathetic excuses for Evolved betrayed me,” Mercer said bitingly, making Oskar let out something that sounded like a whimper. “Murdering that sea serpent, the old guard, a young griffin, her father and all of his loyal servants. Stealing valuable machinery from a nation and causing a recession, leading to thousands suffering just for your sake. The best part of all this, you can’t blame me for it Oskar. You KNOW you could have just made yourself a new form and settled down here and lived a peaceful and happy life amongst locals. But you didn’t, and you only have yourself to blame. Your friends will one day find out what you are. And do you want to know what is going to happen? Not friendship, that is for certain. They are  going to take those Elements of theirs and lock you up like the monster you are. That is what you’ll be in their eyes, just a monster. But at least you’ll always be my monster, right Oskar?”

“Now you hold there one moment you fiend!” Luna interrupted and stomped over. Oskar for his part only gave her a miserable glance before turning his gaze back down. “No pony is beyond redemption, no pony at all! However… the hardest part of redemption is not gaining the forgiveness of others but forgiving yourself. Trying to live with the consequences of one’s own actions is not something that all can shoulder alone. Having good people with you, helping you live and grow despite the terrible burden of justified guilt. You have obviously found those that you find dear do you not? Is it not clear that being with them makes everything so much brighter?”

Mercer seemed to glare at Luna a moment as Oskar slowly looked up at her with wide eyes. Then the Doctor suddenly had this truly vicious looking grin on his expression.

“Your mother would have been extremely disappointed in what you became Oskar,” Mercer said sadistically and seemed to grow intensely satisfied when he saw Oskar cover his ears and close his eyes tightly. “She would have HATED you! She would have wished you were dead! She would have wished she abor-”

“ENOUGH OF YOUR POISON, VILE CREATURE!!!” Luna boomed in anger, her eyes alit and horn glowing brightly. “BEGONE FROM THIS DREAM!”

A light leapt from Luna’s horn and struck at Mercer. The vicious Evolved recoiled for brief moment as he was enshrouded by the light and suddenly he was no more.

Luna looked down at Oskar who was now staring up at her with wide eyes, silently mouthing words.

“D-dream… dream… this is a dream,” Oskar said with horrified realization. “Y-you-your actually here…”

“Yes, and it’s time we are properly acquainted Oskar,” Luna said with a nod. “I am Princess L-”

“No, no, no, no, no, NO!” Oskar shouted as he grasped his head. “Wake up! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!”

Suddenly the flames seemed to come alive and swept over the lush half of the hill. The tree was burnt to a charred husk and the grass blackened and died. The flames continued off in the distance, consuming both Ponville and Canterlot, leaving burning ruins in its wake.

With that, a completely aghast Luna was propelled from a collapsing dream as the dreamer awakened.


OMICRON




Oskar inhaled sharply as his eyes shot open, and then he closed them with a groan before sitting up in his bed. The virus grasped the sides of his head as he started to take deep calming breaths.

‘… I deserved that for falling asleep,’ Oskar thought emotionlessly. ‘I knew Luna could go into the dreams of others. She had written down that fact herself on those papers she had in her room. Yet I got careless and fell asleep anyway… idiot.’

Along with Luna being in his dream, Oskar’s couldn’t help but think about the other occupant of that dream. Alex Mercer and the words he had said, saying how his mother would have hated him and would have regretted ever giving birth to him. And the worst part about it? Oskar found himself agreeing with Mercer.

‘Yeah, I’m a terrible person. A monster,’ Oskar thought in misery. ‘She would have completely hated what I have become, so far from the kind and handsome man she predicted I’d turn into…’

Oskar sat for several long moments in bed, basking in his own misery for what he was. Finally, his expression grew serious.

‘Well… I can’t reverse what happened but I can go return what was hers.’ With that thought, Oskar teleported.


PI


It was night, fast approaching the dawn of a new day and Oskar was near a cliff ledge chiseling marks into a stone with great care.

He had arrived here a few hours ago and had set to work on his goal. First he gathered up two large stones. He could have conjured them up, but it felt more appropriate to do it this way. Then he started carving each into a specific shape with painstaking care and slowness. Once he was done shaping the two stones, he started carving English letters into the surface of each one. Oskar had finished his task several minutes before the sunrise and stood back to study each stone.

Two gravestones sat before Oskar, the one on the left had the words ‘Oskar Osäker, Proud Son’ on it and the right had ‘Adela Osäker, Cherished Mother’. Oskar studied both grave stones for a long moment before picking each one up and sinking it part way into the ground. Once both stones were secured into the ground, Oskar kneeled before Adela’s gravestone.

‘I promise to never use his name or his form again. I don’t deserve to be your son,’ Oskar thought, feeling very much like he was dead inside. ‘Your son would have gone on to date that pretty girl you kept teasing him about, he would have opened his own bakery and started his own family, he would have made you proud… but I became this horrible monstrous thing! I’m s-sorry, so very sorry for using his name and form for as long as I did; neither he nor you deserved that… I will not ask for forgiveness, for I don’t deserve it, and even were you alive I know you rightfully wouldn’t give it. I know I deserve to die, but monsters always struggle for life and I am no different…’

With that, the Evolved rose to his feet and turned to face the cliff edge and the horizon of the rising sun. Just before the sun rose beyond the horizon, Oskar Osäker closed his eyes.

And Emerald Gleaner opened them to see the light of a new day.

The viral unicorn faced the rising sun for a few moments before looking back at the two gravestones, one of a loving mother and the other of a son who should have died the moment his mother did.

‘I’m so very sorry…’ Emerald thought with teary eyes at Adela’s grave.

Then with a sigh, Emerald started to walk away from the graves, leaving them sitting there by the Cliffside and always facing a rising sun.


-TBC-