It had been a hectic three days since Emerald had returned to Ponyville. The very day after Emerald had gotten back in contact with Photo Finish, the mare had been utterly determined to get Emerald back in the public eye before she was forgotten. Honestly, Emerald didn’t think she was in danger of that happening, but she wasn’t a fashion industry expect like Photo was. The next few days were filled with one photo shoot after another with the occasional fashion show thrown in. The only reason why Photo Finish didn’t take advantage of the fact Emerald supposedly only needed two hours of sleep was the fact that she herself needed her beauty sleep.
And even when Emerald had finally made it through the gauntlet Photo Finish had set up for her, she still wasn’t done working. She may have finished what Photo had planned for her, but she still had an obligation to New Paradigm that she was a few weeks behind; Over Look didn’t seem to be annoyed in the least, however. The CEO was rather amiable to Emerald being gone for a while and just started a new photo shoot when she got back in contact with them.
So here she was now, wearing a pair of blue overalls, a white hardhat and safety glasses while holding a wrench in one hoof. She was standing before a plain white background with the company’s name and logo on it, a triangle within a circle.
“Fantastic, wonderful form as always Emerald!” called out the stallion photographer as he snapped shots of Emerald. “Now on the next one, I want a bit more oomph.”
Emerald didn’t sigh outwardly; she just moved to a new pose and considered it a job well down. She never knew what the photographer, Snaps Deluxe, meant when he said stuff like that. It had confused her rather terribly when she started out with him, being used to Photo Finish’s style of simply shouting what she wanted from Emerald or even moving her into a pose herself when she wasn’t feeling very patient that day. But it didn’t take long for the Evolved to just settle for switching to a new pose and hoping for the best; it hadn’t failed so far.
“PERFECT!” Snaps shouted happily and started maneuvering himself rapidly around her to take shots from different angles.
Honestly, Emerald was getting rather bored of modeling, but knew that was because she was spending the past few days doing nothing but modeling. What she needed was something to liven things up a bit, make things more bearable and fun even. But the viral unicorn hadn’t an idea for just how to go about doing that just yet.
“Now, on to another position!” Snaps shouted, still moving so fast from new angles he might as well have been a unicorn using teleport, despite being an earth pony.
At hearing Snap’s command, Emerald suddenly had an idea for how to liven things up for her. It was such an amusing and fun sounding idea to her that she just couldn’t help the sly smile that appeared on visage.
“Oh, got an idea for something new?” Snaps asked at seeing Emerald’s smile. “Let’s have a look. It has to be good, coming from you!”
Emerald just gave a smile that was maybe a bit too cheerful, and quickly moved into a pose that was very obviously different from all the others she had taken in photo shoots. Snaps Deluxe, as well as the other ponies in the room, couldn’t help but pause in what they were doing and examine Emerald’s pose.
The fake unicorn was lying on her side. She was leaning on one foreleg but her eyes were hooded, practically smouldering with an emotion the ponies in the room had a really hard time trying to identify. Her mouth was open slightly, pearly white teeth barely visible between her parted lips, the hint of a tongue just peeking out. She held the prop, the wrench, towards her mouth.
“… That’s kind of a weird pose, don’t cha know?” the mare in charge of costumes commented.
“I agree.” Nodded another mare that was the lighting specialist.
“I think… IT’S FANTASTIC!” Snaps shouted and seemed to pick up speed as he moved from position to position. “It’s new, it’s unique, and I’ve never seen anything like it before! It gets me pumping and my blood flowing! Do you have any more idea for poses like this, Emerald?”
“Y-yep!” Emerald replied with a large smile, just barely able to keep herself from bursting into a fit of laughter at the innuendoes Snaps unknowingly made.
“Wonderful!” Snaps said and made a ‘go on’ motion with his hoof as he paused his frantic movements. “If all of them are just as good as this, then I might as well scrap all the pictures I took and use the ones I’ll be taking!”
Emerald felt her mood rise several notches more and quickly switched to a new pose that Snaps found just as good as the other one, if not better.
The photo shoot lasted for an hour more before Snaps Deluxe was finally done taking pictures. The suggestive and fairly erotic poses had done the trick for Emerald and made the work she had found to be incredibly dull, to be exciting and humorous. From what she experienced and had seen of pony society, the sorts of things like erotic posing had never been seen let alone done before, so she was free to pull a bit of a half prank, half inside joke on the whole of Equestria without anyone suspecting a thing. Although, the mares who had seen the poses had found them odd, but Snaps, who was a stallion, found them appealing. Emerald found that could have meant something, but at the same time it could have meant nothing. In the end, it was already done and the virus had important places to be.
The studio that had been used for the photo shoot had been located in Canterlot, which was done on Emerald’s request as Luna intended to start the virus’ lessons that very day.
As the viral unicorn existed out of the building the studio was housed in, she noticed a rather tense feeling in the air. Ponies were going about their daily lives, but there was guardedness to their actions and a visible unease. Emerald had teleported in, rather than arrive on foot, and had been all over Equestria for photo shoots and fashion shows, and thus hadn’t noticed this until now.
Emerald began walking down the street, discreetly throwing wondering glances about her surroundings.
‘Why in the world is everyone acting this way?’ Emerald thought as she walked. ‘The only thing I can think of for the reason to this is those “Afflicted Ponies” I’ve been hearing so much about… would they react that way to their own people though? Actually, it’s more than likely they would, considering what Zecora had to go through before she got to move into town. Heh, that reminds me of when she built her house and how it just utterly stood out in comparison to the local architecture. That certainly got people talking for a while.’
As Emerald lost herself in memory, two ponies appeared from around the corner, a mare and her daughter. The sight of the mother made ponies stare, obviously ignore her or whisper to each other quietly.
It wasn’t long before Emerald noticed the change in the crowd and looked up to see the mare for herself. For the most part she looked normal, however that ended when one looked at her head and wings. The mare had a near wild mane of hair that was somewhat tamed, and her eyes were slitted. Her wings could be mistaken for the normal feathery ones of a pegasus at a distance, but one glance at a modest range could spot them for what they were; wings made up of long scales instead of soft feathers.
The mare looked to be indifferent to the reactions she was getting as she led her nervous looking filly along. However, if one bothered to look, they could clearly see the mare was grinding her teeth, though Emerald’s powerful ears could pick up the sounds of blades scraping against each other instead of grinding teeth.
Glad she kept her studying of the mare discreet, Emerald continued on her way down the street which happened to be down the same one the mare was walking up. Instead of giving her a wide berth like the other ponies were doing, Emerald just walked up to and past the mare, giving her a polite nod in greeting as she did so. This action caused the mare to blink and smile a bit at Emerald, a smile that obviously would have shown off her teeth had the mare not suddenly pursed her lips together into a thin line to avoid exactly that.
Feeling pleased that she silently showed the mare not everyone was going to judge her on her appearance, Emerald continued on her way. Not noticing how the mare stopped in the middle of the street and stared after her, ears perking up and the pupils of her slitted eyes narrowing to thin lines as she couldn’t help her lips parting into a sharp toothed smile.
‘Hmm… nope, no sign of the virus at all,’ Emerald thought as she walked towards the palace, absently deciding to take a shortcut through a park as she did so. ‘Not that it was even possible for them to still have it when I specifically called for all active strains of Blacklight to stop. It looks like the changes the brief infection started stayed. I could reverse it with some care, but… it would take a lot of time and effort… they aren’t really suffering, are they? They have enhancements, and their increased aggression would mean they wouldn’t tolerate mistreatment for long, if at all. So really, I have plenty of time to work on reversing this, although I better keep an eye out for any of them that decide to give a life of crime a try with their newfound power.’
“Hey four eyes!” a mocking voice shouted.
‘Hmm, what’s this?’ Attention gained, Emerald wandered over to where she heard the voice coming from.
Slightly leaning out from behind a boulder that was cracked in half, the Evolved spied a scene between one lone filly and three other ones. It seemed like the typical case of one child being tormented by peers for some petty reason. However, the difference here was the fact the child being picked on was Afflicted. She was a young unicorn, with a white coat, dark red hair and blue eyes. She didn’t seem to have her cutie mark yet, and had the basic features of the other Afflicted, namely slitted eyes, a wild mane and no doubt her teeth were all very sharp. Her horn, however, was much like a dagger and Emerald had no doubt that the filly would face very little problems in trying to gore someone with it.
“Y-yes Picture Perfect?” the Afflicted filly asked nervously. “I-is there something you want?”
“Oh, nothing~” Picture replied with faux friendly grin. The two other fillies with her giggled viciously. “Just wondering what happened to your big soda bottle glasses, four eyes.”
“I… I don’t need them anymore,” ‘Four eyes’ answered with a frown, her timid demeanor rapidly fading away. “Would you please not call me tha-”
“Four eyes probably just lost them during the day of the red sky!” one of Picture’s cronies suggested. “Probably when she was running around like a frenzied chicken!”
Considering the fact that the young unicorn was Afflicted, Emerald doubted she had been running around in a panic, and had been on the ground crippled by pain. Really, the Evolved could see where this was going and was tempted to just walk out and break this up. However, the more Emerald looked at the young unicorn, the more obvious her changing mood became. Instead of nervous and looking like she’d rather find a rock to crawl under, the filly was looking more and more angry, her sad broken stature being replaced by one very much like an increasingly agitated predator. The virus decided to sit back and ‘watch the fireworks’ as it were, because it was becoming increasingly clear what was going to happen and she didn’t want to miss it.
“And what’s up with this mane!” Picture Perfect exclaimed, stepping in close and touching a lock of the unicorn’s mane. “And those weird eyes of yours! You really should get contacts, you know? Because really, you just stick out even worse than before now, and I bet you even have those horrible teeth too. Who’d want to become your friend now? Good thing you have me here to point out your flaws, right?”
“… They aren’t flaws,” Emerald heard the unicorn say very softly.
“What was that? They aren’t flaws?” Picture said. “Well of course they’re flaws! They look nothing like-”
“I SAID THEY AREN’T FLAWS!” the unicorn roared into Picture’s face and caused the other filly to recoil back to her cronies who were also flinching away.
“I-Ink Well?” Picture said with shock.
A snake like hiss came from Ink Well as she crouched down slightly, looking at her tormentors with her wide open slitted eyes, the pupils narrowed down to thin, dangerous lines. Then she released a small, dragon-like roar before lunging at the other fillies.
“AHHHHHHHH!” the three bullies screamed at they turned tail and ran.
Ink hadn’t leaped very far; she had only moved a foot forward. She was staring after the retreating forms of her tormentors and panting in exhilaration. She looked down at her hooves in wonderment and awe before giving a small squee of delight.
Emerald took this moment to step out into the open from behind the broken boulder and loudly clear her throat. The Afflicted filly looked at her with wide eyes before glancing back at the direction the other fillies ran in. Ink then got a sad, resigned look on her face and seemed to steel herself to be scolded.
“That must have been fun,” Emerald stated with a smile as she took a seat on the ground just before Ink, the young unicorn throwing her a look of utter surprise at what she heard.
“…Ye-yes it was,” Ink Well said a bit sheepishly before her confidence rose as no disapproval came from Emerald. “It felt so good to finally get back at those three after so long.”
“It’s always nice when karma pays back what it owes.” Emerald nodded. “I’m guessing you have a really good memory, right?”
“Well, yeah,” Ink Well answered. “Even before I… changed, I was always good at remembering things.”
“Then you remember what it was like to not be powerful like you are now, right?” Emerald asked solemnly and got a nod from Ink. “Never forget that. Always remember what it was like to be picked on and be powerless to stop it. Too many reach for positions of power to do good, only to lose sight of their goal once they are there.”
“Oh… what do you want me to do?” the young unicorn asked, looking at her like only she could answer her questions… which was rather odd.
‘Okay, I admit these changed ponies are a bit shocking to look at, but seriously,’ Emerald began. ‘She should have someone to talk to, like her parents or one good friend. Why am I, a perfect stranger, being looked at like that?’
“Be as you are,” Emerald stated simply. “Your body may be different, but you are still you when it comes down to it. Remember, never forget what it’s like to be powerless despite being strong now, and you’ll be fine.”
“Of course! Thank you!” Ink Well shouted with adoration in her voice that made Emerald feel something was definitely off. Suddenly, the little filly looked uncertain of herself. “But… why are you so okay with me? I mean… I look like a monster.”
“You are not a monster,” Emerald said firmly. “Trust me when I say this. Mere appearance is not enough to make one a monster. You could look as beautiful as one of the princesses, and still have a rotten core and not care for the rights of others.”
“You’ve met somepony like that?” Ink Well asked with wide eyes.
“Yes,” Emerald answered simply, images of herself and those of Alex Mercer’s Cadre elites flashing through her head. “No matter what happens, always remember, you are what you choose to be.”
“I will…” Ink well said, looking down at her hooves shyly. “I won’t use my power to bully others, and I won’t let Picture and her toadies get away with bullying others too.”
“Going to be a little hero, huh?” Emerald asked with a sly smile at Ink’s blush. “A hero. I wish I had… never mind, I’ve got someplace to be and I’m sure the same can be said of you.”
“Oh my gosh, my parents wanted me home right away!” Ink Well shouted with alarm, and was gone in a near instant as she galloped away.
Emerald smiled after the little filly before frowning and continuing on her way to the palace. She felt something was off about meeting the little filly, but didn’t know what exactly. Perhaps it was the way she just immediately trusted her? Or maybe the way she hung on every word she said? Of course that could have been just the filly being too trusting of strangers; Equestria just didn’t have dangers like that. Being bullied, scammed or just meeting a rude pony was the most danger the little filly could have faced out on her own in a city.
Finding herself before the gates of the Royal Palace, Emerald put the issue of the little filly out of her mind and focused on her first day as Luna’s student. She entered the gates and found herself in the large lobby. It was fairly untouched since the last she saw it during the gala, so the fight with Discord hadn’t damaged it, though a few windows were boarded up. Off to the side was a Royal Guard wearing dark purple armour and had a dark coat, yellow eyes and bat wings; Luna’s Night Guard.
“Greetings, Emerald Gleaner,” the guard said with a respectful nod. “Her highness requested that I await you and direct you to her the moment you arrived.”
“Lead the way. I’ll be right behind you,” Emerald stated.
“Right this way.”
As Emerald followed the guard, she studied his form. When she first glimpsed Luna’s guard, she had wondered about them for a time, pondering if Luna had truly altered her guard to fit her night motif or if it was an illusion of some kind. Honestly, being even this close, Emerald couldn’t tell if it was one or the other.
“Curious?” the guard asked suddenly, looking at her out of the corner of his eye with a smirk.
“Oh sorry, I didn’t mean to stare,” Emerald apologized. “I was just wondering how you look like that.”
“I don’t mind.” The guard smiled at her. “It’s better than the reactions we usually get, but that’s to be expected when we only come out at night.”
“So how do you look like that?” Emerald asked as they continued on their way to Luna. “Is it a physical change, or some sort of illusion?”
“It’s an illusion,” the guard replied and reached towards the gem embedded in his chestplate, pressing it. The change was instant. One moment he stood before Emerald, the next there was a flash and he changed into a sky blue pegasus with normal, feathery wings, a white mane and blue eyes.
“Huh, so the armor does it?” Emerald said as she looked down at his armor, namely the eye like gem on it.
“Yep, enchanted by Equestria’s finest!” The guard smiled before tapping the gem again and returning to his Night Guard look. “I don’t know the specifics, but you’ll likely learn about stuff like this and more under Princess Luna.”
“I don’t doubt it,” Emerald replied. “So what exactly does Princess Luna have all of you do during the night?”
“Well… truth be told, most ponies are asleep at night, so the princess has free reign to do as she pleases most of the time,” the guard said a little sheepishly. “She tends to take us along whenever she decides to go to the Everfree Forest and fight a few of the creatures there.”
“She goes to the Everfree?” Emerald asked, inwardly a little worried about this revelation.
“Yeah, and let me tell you we all get our fair share of bruises from those little adventures,” the guard said while laughing. His laughter turned a little nervous as he added, “You aren’t going to tell her about that, right? She finds them so much fun, and it would ruin it for her if we don’t find it just as “invigorating” as she does.”
“My lips are sealed,” Emerald replied with a smile, miming a zipping motion across her mouth.
“Thanks. Well, here we are,” the guard said as he stopped before a large pair of doors. “The princess is waiting in the study past these doors. Congratulations on becoming the princess’ student by the way; it’s a massive honor.”
“Thank you,” Emerald said before opening the doors and walking in.
The study looked fairly homey. One wall was almost completely made up of windows that let sunlight stream in, another wall was covered in bookcases and the middle of the room was occupied by several comfy looking couches and armchairs surrounding various tables. Luna sat in one couch, drinking from a cup of tea she was levitating. Off to the side, dusting the bookcases, was a maid.
“Emerald Gleaner, welcome to the Royal Palace,” Luna greeted with a happy smile. “I apologise for the state of it. It’s normally much more pleasant to look at.”
“It’s of no concern, your highness,” Emerald said as she approached the princess. She came to a stop before the alicorn to bow briefly before taking her seat on the chair opposite the godly ruler.
“Tea?” Luna offered a floating cup, which Emerald accepted. “I must say I’ve been anticipating this day for some time. The day I find a worthy pony of my own to teach and mold like my sister has done over the years.”
“Thank you for considering me as such a pony, your highness,” Emerald said in a respectful tone. “From what I’ve heard, it must have been a bit of a negative for me to be as old as I am. All of Princess Celestia’s previous students started out at a young age.”
“Nonsense, Emerald.” Luna waved dismissively. “One is never too old to learn. My sister and I know that lesson all too well, and… Umm, yes? Do you require something, servant?”
Emerald blinked when she felt someone close in on her and heard a drawn out sniff. She turned around to see the earth pony maid sigh as she took in the fake unicorn’s scent. She stared at Emerald for a moment, her ears perked up and the pupils of her slitted eyes narrowed down to thin lines.
“You smell wonderful~” The maid said with affection, smiling softly at Emerald.
“Uhh…” Emerald said, unable to think of a reply, and Luna appeared to be in the same boat as she just sat there and blinked at the scene before her.
“Oh… oh my!” the maid shouted in mortification as she suddenly realised what she just did. “I didn’t mean to do that! I’m sorry! I just… I… Ohhhhhh, please don’t fire me!”
“Calm yourself my dear,” Luna said gently. “Gather your thoughts and tell us what happened. I have a suspicion you are not at fault here.”
“Thank you so much your majesty!” the maid said gratefully before taking some deep breaths. “I honestly don’t know what happened. I was dusting the bookcases, and next I find myself drawn to this wonderful smell… the next thing I know, I find myself sniffing her… might I know your name please? I really didn’t mean to do that, honest!”
“I agree with the princess. I don’t think you at fault either,” Emerald said as she began to have suspicions as to what else had been altered in the Afflicted ponies. “Honestly, it sounds like you have some new instincts you don’t have much control over just yet.”
“Young Emerald’s words seem to ‘hit the nail on the head’ as it were,” Luna stated. “In all likelihood, this behavior was the result of some instinct instilled in you from your new body.”
“Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?” the maid asked, her expression quickly turning from morose to eager. “Something from the kitchens, perhaps? Maybe you’d like a fresh batch of tea brewed a certain way? Since you are the princess’ student, you’ll have a room here. Would you like me to set it up a certain way?”
“There is really no need to do anything for me,” Emerald replied. She was absolutely certain all of the Afflicted ponies knew, on an instinctive level, that she was the one who made them the way they were, and reacted accordingly. It was obvious that the brief viral infection made the ponies much more open to her and very receptive to her attention; it made the Evolved a bit uneasy at how she accidently modified the minds of who knows how many ponies.
“Really?” the maid said with a disappointed expression. “Isn’t there anything I can do for you?”
“Well… how about a sandwich?” Emerald asked, and the maid nodded eagerly. “You can put anything on it and I’ll like it.”
“Be right back!” the maid shouted before galloping off in a blur.
“Well you certainly have a way with the serving staff, Emerald,” Luna said with a smile. “She was supposed to be waiting on me.”
“It seems odd, doesn’t it?” Emerald stated. “Have the other changed servants acted like that?”
“Other than exploring what they can do now and having something of a temper, none of them have demonstrated such behavior before.” Luna hummed in thought. “This brings up an issue I need to solve, now that you are here.”
“What issue is that?”
“You have seen how each pony of each tribe has been changed, yes?” Luna asked, and Emerald nodded. “Well, there is one more group of Afflicted ponies. Their changes are more… severe. They are quite alarming to look at, and can’t be mistaken for a normal pony at a distance unlike the others. The reason I mention them is because they are all housed here in the palace. Since you are going to be living here for the next week, I wish to introduce you to them so you won’t be too alarmed in the future.”
“I’m fairly certain I’ve seen worse, your highness,” Emerald replied. “I’d rather think I can keep myself from making them feel bad by reacting in any way to their appearance.”
“I find myself believing that unlikely, young Emerald,” Luna stated and got up from her coach. “They are all strong ponies in spirit, and they wouldn’t blame you for reacting, I’m sure. Shall we be off then? I believe the unofficial leader of the group is still in a nearby living room.”
“Right behind you, your highness,” Emerald stated.
The two ponies went on their way. As they travelled, Emerald wondered just what the more affected of the ponies would look like. From what Luna said, it sounded like they could be barely recognised as vaguely looking like ponies. That brought up all sorts of disturbing pictures of her time in the NYZ and all the viral abominations that roamed the streets. Just how bad were these ponies going to look? If it was too horrible, Emerald was definitely going to kick up the task of reversing their conditions up a few notches on the to-do list.
“Prepare yourself, young Emerald,” Luna stated as she came to a stop before a door. “I did not exaggerate when I said those more severely changed were an alarming sight to behold.”
“I’m ready, your highness,” Emerald stated.
Luna nodded and knocked on the door.
“Razor Wing?” Luna called out, making Emerald go wide eyed and stare at her. “Are you in there?”
“I am present, your highness.” Emerald heard a voice she knew, with certainty, belonged to Razor Wing, a pegasus Royal Guard she accidently dated for a time.
“I am here with my student,” Luna stated, “and wish to expose her to how you and your fellows look in a controlled environment.”
‘Well this is certainly going to be awkward in the extreme,’ Emerald thought with a wince as Luna opened the door to Razor’s room and lead them inside.
Emerald saw Razor Wing standing before the foot of his bed. He had changed massively, to say the least. His white coat wasn’t white anymore, and was more of a dirty gray. Unnatural cracks in his coat revealed softly glowing orange bioluminescence, and while his eyes were slitted like the others, they also were orange and glowing. Instead of the long scales that replaced the feathers on the other changed pegasi, Razor’s wings were blade wings that were very much like Emerald’s own blade wings. His mane was wild and still the color blue, but a much darker shade. He also had a dagger like horn coming out of his forehead.
“Emerald…” Razor breathed, a smile of adoration quickly making its way onto his features as he approached Emerald.
“Razor Wing,” Emerald stated, not needing to fake her shock at his appearance, but had to hide her wince at the obvious happiness he felt at her remembering him.
‘Wow, this is…’ Emerald thought as she studied Razor’s form. ‘I’ve seen one of each of these infected ponies and each of them has been changed greatly by what happened. It… it kind of reminds me of that myth about the man eating horses. What were they called again?’
“Diomedes,” Emerald muttered.
“What was that?” Luna said.
“Oh…” Emerald shook herself out of her musing and faced the Princess. “I was just thinking about a legend all of these changed ponies reminded me of.”
“A legend?” Luna said. “Hmm… perhaps you could share it?”
“Oh,” Emerald said, looking at a loss briefly before glancing at Razor Wing, who also seemed to be curious. “Well okay, but… it may not be retold as it originally was though, just so you know.”
“Just do as best as you can young Emerald. I’ll hardly be irritated by a poor telling,” Luna reassured with a smile.
“This is the Legend of the Mares of Diomedes, or the Mares of Thrace,” Emerald began, rapidly thinking up of new content and altering the original tale about Hercules taming the man eating horses. “Diomedes was an extremely skilled trainer; people and ponies of all kinds sought him out. Among all those were four mares that would one day become his most famous trainees.”
“A question.” Luna interrupted. “Apologies but what is Thrace? Is it their country of origin?”
“I… it could have been, it may have just been the name of the village they came from.” Emerald answered with shrug before continuing. “There was Xanthos the ye-… the Strong, an earth pony, Podargos the Swift, a pegasus, Lampon the Shining, a unicorn and finally Deinos… whose title was originally ‘the Skilled.”
“I feel there is a story there,” Luna stated.
“Yes… Deinos was an earth pony, and at first was content with being what she was,” Emerald explained. “But as time went on, Deinos grew increasingly frustrated with how Podargos and Lampon could outdo her. Whether it was either out pacing her from the skies or simply replicating her feats with a simple spell, Deinos grew increasingly disquiet about being just an earth pony. Eventually, she left and sought a means to retain her supremacy amongst the four. Eventually she found it. A source of dark magic granted Deino’s wish for a way to overcome Lampon and Podargos by infusing itself with her.”
“I-infusing you say?” Luna frowned.
“Yes. With dark magic enhancing her, Deinos was capable of flight and magic, and was better at both than Lampon and Podargos were,” Emerald said, now reaching her stride in storytelling. “Deinos began terrorising the countryside in blind joy of her new abilities, an act that assured she would always be known as ‘Deinos the Terrible’. The other Mares of Diomedes had stayed and continued their training in Deinos’ absence, particularly Xanthos who was determined to prove to her fellow earth pony that their race was just as capable as the others. When they heard about Deinos’ rampage, they were the first to go out to face her.”
“When the three stood before the corrupted mare, Xanthos suddenly seemed to have second thoughts about deciding to face her,” Emerald continued. “She fled in fear of the mare that was once her sister in all but blood, and Deinos declared her to be “Xanthos the Yellow!” at the top of her lungs. Despite being abandoned by Xanthos, the other two stayed and fought Deinos; all their attempts would be futile. Whatever had fused itself with Deinos had truly granted the pony her wish and made her greater at flying and magic then Podargos and Lampon.”
“It sounds to be a rather bleak legend,” Luna commented.
“It’s not over yet. When all hope seemed to be lost, Xanthos returned,” Emerald said. “She was known far and wide for being strong, but she was smart as well. Having earlier feigned being afraid, Xanthos ran around and waited for the perfect moment to strike at Deinos, and she got in the form of Deinos gloating before the other mares, rendered helpless before her unnatural skills.”
“Xanthos leapt at Deinos and grappled with her until she dropped out of the sky,” Emerald continued. “While Deinos was at one time stronger and better than Xanthos, she had let her training go in her search for something to surpass Podargos and Lampon, actually giving Xanthos the advantage at close range. With Xanthos grappling with Deinos, the other two mares were able to assault her with near impunity. Within a minute, Deinos lie beaten on the ground and the darkness that had fused with her fled when she needed it most. With that victory, the Mares of Diomedes won their place in the halls of myth and legend.”
“What happened to Deinos?” Luna asked curiously.
“I… do not know that detail,” Emerald said. “It’s just as likely Deinos had been killed soon after the darkness left as it is that she lived and was punished for her crimes.”
“Oh…” Luna said with a troubled look. “And what of their trainer, Diomedes?”
“He… took Deinos’ fall as a failure on his part,” Emerald answered. “He became a recluse and would train no one else; the four mares would be his last and most famous trainees.”
“A most interesting legend, though truth be told I don’t favour the ambiguity around Deinos’ fate,” Luna stated honestly. “What brought the legend to mind?”
“The way there are four different kinds of ‘Afflicted’ ponies made me think of it,” Emerald stated. “Podaros for the pegasi, Xanthos for the earth ponies, Lampon for the unicorns and Deinos for the uh… for the others. Thracian ponies.”
“Hmm… I do like the name, actually. Much better and kinder than calling them Afflicted,” Luna stated before frowning. “Although the name of Deinos for ponies like Razor Wing…”
“I do not mind it your highness,” Razor stated. “I doubt any of the others will mind being named after a pony called Deinos the Terrible either. After all, aren’t we a terrible sight to behold?”
“Do you… feel angry about that? About what you were forcefully turned into?” Emerald asked.
“I was angry and I was also depressed,” Razor answered honestly and flared out one of his blade wings. “The last thing I wanted was to be turned into a monster that sent ponies running at the mere sight of me. But… after a while, I couldn’t help notice quite a few positives of what I became. I’ve only had to go to sleep once this week, for instance, and everything is just so… bright and vibrant. The smells, the sounds… it’s all just so hard to convey to somepony that doesn’t feel as we do. Being able to use magic like a unicorn was just the cherry on top.”
Emerald could understand exactly how Razor Wing felt; very likely even more since her sense were far more powerful. The only reason she didn’t marvel at how the world looked, sounded and felt with so many more senses was simply because she had grown used to them.
“We are still looking into reversing your conditions, Razor Wing,” Luna frowned. “I would advise you and the rest of the ‘Thrace’ against getting too used to their current bodies. It may take us a while, but my sister and I are determined to return you all to normal and have you reintegrated into society.”
“Of course, your highness,” Razor Wing said solemnly, but Emerald was fairly certain she briefly saw a look of agitation on the ‘Deinos’ before it was quashed.
“Not only have you proven yourself right, but you have even given them a better name.” Luna smiled at her student. “Come, it’s time we start our lessons. I hope you aren’t too disappointed when I say we are going to be spending this first week doing a lot of book work.”
“Of course not, your highness,” Emerald said as she followed the alicorn out of the room. She happened to look behind her and caught sight of Razor Wing looking longingly after her before seeing she caught him looking, then he quickly shut the doors of his room.
“Good, because I learned that you have a photographic memory from my sister,” Luna said as she walked forward. “I wish to take advantage of that to get as much of the text out of the way as possible before we spend your next week here going over the practicals.”
‘There is a chance that the Thrace don’t mind the fact they have been changed all that much anymore,’ Emerald thought, only half listening to Luna. ‘Judging from what I’ve seen of and heard from Razor Wing, anyway. He could be a minority in his feelings, for all I know. But they could be growing to like their new forms… maybe. For now, I’ll just sit back and observe the situation before doing anything. If it looks like the situation is going to degrade horribly, then I’ll interfere, but until then I’ll leave things be.’
With that, Emerald followed Luna to her first lesson as her student.
ALPHA
Emerald walked off the train, Navi standing on the tip of her ear. It had been a week since she had started her lessons with Luna, and like the alicorn said, it was spent doing only book work. However, during her entire stay Emerald found herself being lavished upon by the Thrace staff. Whenever she needed even the smallest thing, Emerald always soon found herself being set upon by Thrace serving staff, ready and willing to do anything to please her. It had actually made things a little tense as Luna had been growing increasingly curious to the reason why they were acting like that and to no one else. At the very least, she hadn’t seen Razor Wing other than the first day she arrived; come to think of it, Emerald hadn’t seen any of the other Deinos either, only catching a few glimpses of them occasionally, but she hadn’t exactly gone looking for them either.
“Happy to be home, Navi?” Emerald asked her pet and got an affirming trill in response. “Yeah, me too. Didn’t expect I’d be leaving here so quickly for so long after talking to Photo Finish. Hopefully we can just enjoy a little break now that we are home again.”
Emerald immediately left the station, reaching the streets of Ponyville. It was certainly a stark contrast in comparison to when she first arrived. When she first arrived, she got stares from all the stallions for her enhanced beauty. Now the very most she got was some friendly smiles and polite greetings. She was definitely fully integrated with the town now, and the people saw her as one of their own. It felt nice.
“Emerald!” The fake unicorn heard a shout and turned.
It was Bon Bon and Lyra trotting down the street at her.
Emerald gave a hopeful though strained smile as she recalled the situation between them a few months ago, the day she came back to Ponyville from the Gala. The two of them had had been pretty mad at her for breaking Time Turner’s heart and the discussion they had couldn’t exactly be called quiet. After explaining how she felt about the whole thing, Bon Bon could understand her reasons for why she had lead Time Turner along. Lyra however was much more difficult and needed some time to accept what had happened. Emerald hoped Lyra had cooled down by now, since she had left Ponyville for several months soon after.
“Hello girls,” Emerald greeted as the two closed in. “How is Time Turner? If I may ask…”
“He is doing fine, Emerald,” Bon Bon replied and Lyra scowled a little at the question. “But he is still rather sad about what happened between the two of you, though Rose Locks has been a great help in cheering him up. He often wonders what he did to ruin things so badly.”
“I really wish things hadn’t happened the way they did,” Emerald said honestly, averting her eyes from Bon Bon. “I wish I could have returned his feelings for me, but I couldn’t. It was better that things ended then and there. It would have been so much harder on the both of us had I waited until much later.”
“Just what about Time Turner made it so you couldn’t grow to love him?” Bon Bon asked. “I know it sometimes just doesn’t work, but he is a very kind stallion and soft hearted.
‘The fact he is a stallion for one,’ Emerald thought and steadfastly ignored the fact that reason felt more of an excuse than an actual reason.
“There just wasn’t a… spark between us,” Emerald answered. “I didn’t care for him beyond what a friend would care for another friend. I know it’s horrible he had to be hurt this way when I know his feelings were honest and true, but I just couldn’t return them. It would cheapen whatever we would have if he was the only one that had romantic feelings.”
“Things like this don’t develop instantly, Emerald,” Bon Bon said gently. “Sometimes the only thing that can help is time, but I am not going to bother you about this anymore. You’ve said why things happened the way they did, and that is enough for me.”
“…Do you think I’d be able to see Time Turner?” Emerald asked.
“I really don’t think you should,” Lyra said with a huff and mild glare. “He really isn’t over you or what you did just yet. Just stay away from him for now.”
“Oh… okay then,” Emerald replied softly as Bon Bon threw a disapproving look at her friend. “I think I’ll just be on my way now.”
“Okay Emerald, don’t be a stranger!” Bon Bon shouted after the virus.
Waving absently back at Bon Bon, Emerald went on her way. She walked down a random street and wondered about what to do. She could go back to Fluttershy’s house… but now that she thought about it, she hadn’t seen Rarity when she came back. Deciding that checking back with one of her best friends would be the thing to do, Emerald headed straight for Rarity’s boutique.
The virus soon found herself before the building and was about to head in when she remembered one little issue; Twilight was staying here. Emerald frowned and sent out a viral pulse and smiled faintly when the pulse came back from a direction the boutique wasn’t in. Seeing that Twilight wasn’t in at the moment, she walked forward and entered through the front door.
“Rarity!” Emerald called out.
“Emerald!” The virus heard a joyful shout and suddenly Rarity came running out of one of the doors.
“Emerald dear!” Rarity said happily as she wrapped the fake unicorn in a hug. “It’s been so long! How are you, darling?”
“I’m fine, Rarity,” Emerald replied with a warm smile. “I’ve traveled about, seen some things, met new ponies, and learned a few things about myself in the process, too.”
“Well I certainly hope it was worth worrying all of us,” Rarity said.
“I didn’t mean to… it just sort of happened,” Emerald replied uneasily.
“What exactly happened to make you leave?” Rarity asked.
“I… so anything happen in the past week and a half while I was gone?” Emerald asked.
“I bonded with my sister,” Rarity answered with a tilt of her head, knowing that Emerald was being evasive but at the same time not want to intrude. “And ended up getting myself quite dirty I must say! But it was more than worth a bit of- okay a lot of mud to bond with Sweetie Belle.”
“Sounds like an interesting story,” Emerald stated. “Want to share stories over some tea?”
“Sounds delightful, Emerald!” Rarity said with a smile before it faded somewhat. “Oh… and you shouldn’t have to worry about Twilight for a few hours.”
“Sounds good…” Emerald replied as she moved towards the kitchen.
BETA
Celestia brought up a hoof to her temple as she read over some reports.
Things had only gotten worse since the events of Discord’s escape from his sealing. Equestria was still recovering from a minor recession it was very much still in. The destruction the “Imp”, as Luna called him, caused not only undid all they had done to reverse it, but had actually sent them deeper into recession. The already strained weather industry was stretched beyond capacity with Cloudsdale’s destruction. It wasn’t the only place that produced the weather, but it was the biggest and covered a large area. And if Luna was right, the Imp wasn’t only just responsible for deepening the hole they were in.
“Have you managed to glean anything else of the dream you saw?” Celestia asked her sister as she worked.
“I’ve been working at it, sister,” Luna replied. “I’ve studied my memory of the dream as best as I can and can’t gleam much more than the Imp, Oskar, being a conflicted being and also the Gray Fox.”
“A masterful thief and possessing incredible power,” Celestia muttered. “The potential threat we face does not fill me with much confidence Luna. We needed the Elements to defeat Discord before, while he simply used brute force.”
“His power is great, but surely the Elements would overcome him as they have done every time they have been used against a threat,” Luna stated confidently. “We now have the Elements again after locating them in your student’s home. We are prepared should he decide to assault us.”
“Possibly…” Celestia said, looking unconvinced. From what she had seen of him, Oskar was a dangerously intelligent foe and didn’t half do anything when it came to threats… That reminded the alicorn. For some strange reason Oskar, had used very little restraint for Twilight, which was very-
“Princesses!” shouted a royal guard as she came running into the throne room.
“What is it?” Luna asked with a frown. “Has some other catastrophe decided to grace our kingdom?”
“No, princesses!” the guard said with a salute as she came to a stop before the throne. “Several stacks of books and weather machines had been arriving several minutes ago in the courtyard.”
“Books and weather machines,” Celestia repeated with surprise. “Show me.”
“Follow me, your highnesses,” the guard said dutifully and quickly lead the way.
Soon enough, the two alicorns found themselves standing before several stacks of books surrounded by weather machines. Royal Guard milled about as the Princesses closed in.
“We found this note atop one of the book stacks, your highness,” a guard stated and held said note towards Princess Celestia.
Celestia magically took hold of the note and looked at the front; it was addressed to both her and her sister. Celestia ripped open the note and unfolded the message within, holding it up for her sister to see as well.
Dear Princess Celestia and Princess Luna,
Guess who! It’s me, good ole lucky Jack. It’s been a while since we’ve had any contact between each other, ey? I guess that’s because I only ever needed a few things from Equestria and after that… well, there just hasn’t been much in the way of interest. Anyway, I always keep my word, so here are the books I promised to return after I had borrowed them. I even decided to return the weather machines I stole! I know, I know. “Jack! Why did you steal them in the first place if you were just going to return them?! Also, I, Princess Luna, want to elope with you~ <3!” Well I figured there would be all sorts of nice stuff to learn from the things, them making the weather and all. But as soon as some knowledge from a few artificers I know were applied… well it turned out they really were nothing more than big fog machines, and my interest kind of bled out after that. A real shame, ey? Anyway, this ought to teach you two that good ole Jack is an honest and trustworthy sort, savvy?
Lovingly Yours (I mean Luna by the way. No offense to you, Princess Celestia),
Jack McCloud
“Well that was quite enlightening,” Celestia commented and couldn’t help the wide smile on her face when she saw her sister. Luna was red in the face and looked utterly furious. Her cheeks were puffed out as she glared down at the letter. “Now Luna, I really must advise you-”
“Dear sister, I swear on all that is good and decent if you are about to tease me…” Luna said dangerously.
“Now, now,” Celestia chided gently. “I just wish to tell you I need you right now and that you shouldn’t elope with your lover to distant lands for a while yet.”
“ARRRRGGGGHH!”
“Hehe.” Celestia giggled at her sister’s expense before regaining her composure. “In all seriousness, this is quite the boon. With half of the original weather machines returned to us, the financial strain is lessened greatly.”
“Hmm…” Luna hummed with a troubled look.
“Is something the matter, Luna?” Celestia asked.
“This letter… it clouds whether or not if Oskar was Jack,” Luna stated.
“It does?” Celestia looked at the letter. “Well, I suppose it does. From what you’ve described of his behavior, it’s rather hard to imagine Oskar acting this way.”
“Yes, but at the same time, he was a shape shifter,” Luna replied. “Acting as someone entirely different should be second nature to him. But still, it doesn’t entirely mean that he simply hired the services of the Gray Fox instead of being him.”
“Indeed,” Celestia agreed. “But either way, we have the books and the weather machines from Cloudsdale back, and this makes things easier for us. Let’s go get in contact with the pegasi from Cloudsdale and inform them of this.”
“Right.”
GAMMA
Emerald, in her human base form, was outside in the field above the cavern city which she had decided to dub the Hub, the reasoning being it was the center of their nation. She reached out towards a black shrub which had dragon scales in place of leaves.
Practice from making the meat trees had made the job of creating the dragon scale shrubs a relatively quick and painless process. It had taken a few days of work and testing, but in the end it was weeks faster than making the trees had been, and the results were plain to see. The scales of the shrub were razor sharp around the edge and were just as hard as Nidhogg’s had been in life. Of course, them being so hard meant Emerald was going to have to provide the armor makers with tools to make working with them less of a pain.
“Well, I consider this a rousing success,” Emerald said aloud as she took in the rows upon rows of dragon scale shrubs, many varying in size from small leaves to the size of ferns. Then she turned around and faced the group of dogs wearing chain mail sleeves and gloves. “You can get to work collecting the scales now, though remember to be extra careful around these plants despite the protection you are wearing.”
“Right, boss!” one of the dogs shouted before the group surged forward to set to work.
“A most interesting creation, virus,” Emerald heard Sovereign say and turned towards the Timber Wolf sitting on the sidelines. “It brings to mind ideas for more dangerous thorns to line the border of the forest with. Yes, bushes with sharp leaves that look no different from the other bushes… you have created something that is actually truly useful.”
“Well thanks for that. Always good to know I can actually succeed at something,” Emerald replied sarcastically. Sovereign’s idea for more dangerous plants were a bit off putting, but Emerald was just happy the spirit wasn’t being actively violent like before, and considered any progress to be good progress.
“You have your non-useless moments. I find myself being forced to admit that much,” Sovereign commented before taking his leave.
‘Asshole,’ Emerald thought with a shake of her head before turning to face the dogs working with the plants she made. ‘Well, making those wasn’t so hard. Perhaps I should make something more complicated? Make an actual creature with an animal’s intelligence… or should I go the extra mile and make something self-aware? In any case, this will tie into that big project I have planned out. The testing chambers have been carved out, though we still need to put steel plating on the walls, just in case and all that.’
Emerald turned away and saw Whisper Wind talking to Bluno, the shape of her stone cottage behind them half constructed and still being furnished. Whisper and the Husky Alpha seemed to be getting along fairly well.
‘Right, we have a better and lighter replacement for the steel armour we have,’ Emerald thought as she walked back towards the entrance of the city. ‘Now we just need a replacement for the underclothes and padding. Spider silk clothes sound like they can serve as a great replacement. Course I don’t know how to weave the stuff, and neither do any of my dogs even though I could make it. So I’ll have to get in contact with the Spider Families and set up a trade for their services. Hmm… maybe Tavish can help me with this? I’ll send word out to him and see what his response is.’
With that, Emerald descended down into the tunnels.
DELTA
Emerald sat off to the side and watched on as her friends let their pets play with each other.
Since she had a pet, she often took part in the weekly pet playdates everyone with a pet had. But things were a bit more strained with Twilight there, so Emerald decided to spend this playdate at a distance and just let Navi play with the others. Strangely, Fluttershy and Angel were late for some reason.
Emerald sent out a viral pulse out of idle curiosity to see where the two were, and was surprised when the pulse came back almost instantly. She turned in the direction of the pulse and saw Fluttershy with Angel on her head arriving and pushing along Discord who was in a wheelchair, some of his limbs in casts and covered in bandages.
The moment Discord came in view, everyone stopped what they were doing and glared at Discord silently, thought the pets continued to play with each other and enjoy themselves. Discord didn’t play them any mind and stared at Emerald in surprise, warning the virus instantly that Discord could identify her.
Emerald shot Discord a warning glare, telling him silently in no unclear terms that if he talked, he was going to regret it. The chaotic draconequis seemed to get the message as he schooled his features and looked away from her.
“Er, Sugercube?” Applejack began as she eyed Discord warily. “Is there a reason ya have that fella with ya?”
“I’ve been going to Canterlot to take care of him every few days,” Fluttershy answered as she began checking on Discord’s bandages and casts.
“My dear ponies, your hateful looks wound me!” Discord cried out dramatically. “Certainly you can see I am in no condition to cause a ruckus of any sort? And what is it that I have done to warrant such hate, hmm? Misplace a few baubles and taunt you, and nothing much else. Now, do I deserve such treatment? Hmm?”
“Well…” Applejack began, looking at her friends. Discord actually had a point. He hadn’t done much of anything villainous. He had appeared, taken the Elements, taunted them as he said, then the creature Oskar arrived and beat him into the ground. The only thing they really had against him was his past, and that was hard to work up any sort of negative feeling over since it was so long ago.
“We’re watching you, Discord!” Twilight shouted at him after a moment.
“Yeah! With both eyes!” Pinkie shouted as she suddenly darted in his face, pointing at her eyes with emphasis.
“Wonderful. Watch this,” Discord said, and suddenly he was gone, causing Pinkie to fall onto her face. He reappeared an instant later beside a guarded Emerald.
“Are you going to be alright sitting out in the open like this?” Fluttershy asked as she trotted over. “And please don’t take offense at their behavior. They are just protective is all.”
“Oh I’ll be fine, you darling little thing you!” Discord said as he waved her off. “I’ll just sit back here and have a little chitchat with your other friend. You go play with your pets and friends.”
“Okay… but I’ll be back soon to check up on you,” Fluttershy said before going to let Angel play.
“What do you want?” Emerald stated gruffly as she spotted Rainbow Dash arriving.
“Oh, what is the attitude for?” Discord said with an aghast look. “Surely you don’t believe I am a threat right now?”
“I do believe in facts,” Emerald answered as she spied Dash talking with the others and throwing Discord some looks. “And the fact is history recorded your deeds. It may be just words in a book to others, but I know better. You’re dangerous to keep around.”
“You wound me,” the draconequis said melodramatically as he brought up one arm he had in a sling against his forehead.
“You’re not actually hurt, aren’t you?” Emerald said as she narrowed her eyes at him.
“Oh, while I may not have lasting physical injuries, my spirit is bruised and broken, sadly,” Discord said with a shrug that would have had anyone that looked to be as injured as him wincing in pain.
“Hmph.”
“Well aren’t you the conversationalist,” Discord commented as he saw the Mane Six start up another singing routine. “Not going to join in the festivities?”
“I find all this random singing and dancing to be really annoying,” Emerald answered.
“That is too bad… and I put so much work into making the effect propagate,” Discord said sadly.
“YOU are the reason everyone bursts into random song and dance numbers?” Emerald stared at Discord.
“Oh yes!” Discord nodded happily before returning his attention to the free show before him. “It was so boring, as you can imagine; just everypony going about their business day in and day out. The only singing and dancing to be had was in theatres, and those were just dreadful! So I took some time out of my busy schedule and went to work on this magical effect that would cause those enchanted to sing and dance during appropriate events. And suddenly everything was so fun and interesting! Villains sang of their coming victory and heroes danced in triumph! It was so good I just had to work on a way to make the effect propagate itself without me needing to enchant every single newborn every few years, and it was worth it!”
“You are quite full of yourself, aren’t you?” Emerald stated with a deadpan look.
“Well I wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t, now wouldn’t I?” Discord replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world before suddenly asking. “How is it that you have not been enchanted with the effect? It’s on everything, and anypony to be born would have had the effect spread to them.”
“I guess your spell just missed a spot,” Emerald said with a shrug.
Discord wordlessly stared at Emerald out of the corner of his eyes. He was rather curious of the nature of the being beside him. There was a very small list of beings that could completely resist the spell he cast, but she didn’t seem to be a spirit.
‘To be this powerful would mean she would be very old,’ Discord mused. ‘But if she was that old, then she would be asleep, and still be sleeping, so she can’t have been born recently; her being powerful discards that idea instantly. So what is she?’
Discord used his magic to glance ever so slightly at the soul of the being next to him and had to force down the reflex to shield his eyes. It was like staring into the sun. She shined so brightly in his spirit sight. It was understandable, considering her immense power, but the sight of her soul made it very clear she was very young; she hadn’t even passed her first century yet! How was it that she was able to possess so much power at such a young age? Looking a bit deeper into the eye searing brightness revealed something strange; the very energies of her inner soul were in flux… like it was in conflict with itself. What could that possibly mean?
Discord turned his sight away from Emerald. As much as he wanted to study this puzzle further, he wasn’t lying when he said his spirit was injured and he really didn’t want to chance Emerald picking up on his spying with him being crippled as he was.
“I’m back!” Fluttershy said, managing to startle Discord out of his thoughts. “O-oh my, I didn’t mean to startle you! I just came back to check up on you and give your bandages a once over.”
“Again?” Discord said with a raised brow. “I’ve been sitting here this entire time. Surely you don’t believe me to be so moronic as to somehow injure myself further just by sitting in one spot?”
“I-I just was worried about you,” Fluttershy said, looking chastened. “You’re hurt so badly and I… never mind, I won’t bother you again. Sorry…”
“…Wait.” Discord sighed. “If you must examine me to make sure I haven’t somehow harmed myself just by sitting in one place, then you may.”
Fluttershy just smiled brightly and got to work, checking on all of Discord’s bandages and making sure his casts were on comfortably. Once that was done, she pulled out a pillow from somewhere and placed it behind him on his wheelchair. Giving him a comforting pat on his shoulder, Fluttershy went back over to the playing pets.
“Enjoying Fluttershy’s care?” Emerald asked, shooting Discord a look out of the corner of her eye.
“Of course not. She isn’t nearly exciting enough.” Discord scoffed and was quiet for a long moment. “However… I do admit she has her finer points.”
“Riiiight,” Emerald said with a sly smile.
EPSILON
“Gah!” Emerald shouted as a large clod of dirt suddenly smacked into her. “Stop that! You’re annoying me and messing up the scenery!”
The culprit merely gave a dangerous sounding rumble of a laugh.
Emerald was currently helping Fluttershy out around her property with some chores; or rather, she was trying to. Her dragon freeloader was making things much harder than it ought to have been by tearing out small chunks of landscape and tossing them at Emerald when she was most distracted, which he somehow had a perfect sense for. At first the chunks were tiny and perfectly ignorable but the dragon steadily increased the size of his ammunition as time went on and realised that Emerald was tougher then she looked; the last chunk of dirt could have easily knocked wind out of Big Mac.
“Okay, that’s it!” Emerald shouted as she caught a chunk with her magic before it hit her. “Promise or not, I’m going to punch a hole in that thick skull of yours!”
“EMERALD!” The virus heard a voice shout and made her stop the charge she was about to make. She turned around to see Twilight standing a short distance away and giving her a bland look as she stared.
“Oh my, please don’t fight!” Fluttershy shouted as she suddenly appeared out from her house, wearing overalls and a blue cap, only to see there was no incredible violence making a mess of the land many of her animals called home. “Oh, thank goodness! Hello Twilight!”
“Hi,” Twilight stated, not taking her eyes away from Emerald.
Despite the fact he was agitating the very being that could brutalise him easily just a moment ago, the dragon realised that this wasn’t something he wanted to get involved in, and retreated back to his bed of gems.
“Uhhh… hi Twilight,” Emerald greeted the unicorn who didn’t seem to acknowledge the greeting in the slightest. “Can… can I help you with something?”
“My house is finished being built,” Twilight said finally.
“Oh… that’s nice,” Emerald replied a bit uneasily.
“You are coming back with me,” Twilight stated. “I want you living with me again.”
“O-oh, well sure thing Twilight, but I figured you wouldn’t want me to-”
“Well you thought wrong,” Twilight interrupted gruffly. “Now come on, let’s go home.”
“Right, you’re the boss,” Emerald stated before turning back towards the house. “NAVI, COME HERE!”
Immediately, Navi appeared out from the door and was holding a half-eaten carrot for some reason. She blew a raspberry towards something within the house and quickly flew towards Emerald. The target of her taunt appeared in the doorway soon after; it was Angel, and he was furiously shaking his paw at Navi.
“Good girl. Make sure to save some of that for later, though,” Emerald muttered to Navi’s delight before looking at Fluttershy. “Sorry I couldn’t finish the chores! Be sure to get that lump over there to fix the holes he made!”
“I’ll be fine, Emerald!” Fluttershy shouted back and waved at Emerald.
The Evolved and her pet parasprite quickly made after Twilight who had started making her way back home already. Soon, she was beside the unicorn who didn’t seem to spare her even a glance.
“So why did you want me to come back to living with you?” Emerald asked curiously.
“Because sharing the same living space is the best way to keep an eye on you,” Twilight said bluntly, causing Emerald to make a downtrodden look. “Who knows what horrible things you’ve been up to since we used to live together?”
“I haven’t done anything…” Emerald protested lightly. “Not recently anyway. You know what I’ve done in the past and I want to stop doing those kind of things.”
“So it appears,” Twilight muttered and Emerald merely sighed. It wasn’t like she didn’t deserve to be treated like this, after all. So the virus bit her tongue and kept any protest she might have made to herself.
Twilight didn’t seem to have any more biting remarks and the trip passed in silence as Navi took to taking tiny nibbles of her pilfered carrot. Eventually, they arrived at Twilight’s new home.
This library was much more different than the last one. For one, it was made of red brick and mortar instead of a hollow living tree. It had two levels to it like Twilight’s last home did, and just as likely had a basement to house all the science equipment she would no doubt be replacing. However, one side of the building was odd in that it was mostly windows and curved in a smooth slope where some of the glass served as the ceiling as well, from what Emerald could spy through the winds the library was located in that section. When the two entered the new library, Emerald found the interior to be just as homey as the other houses of Ponyville were, though she did find herself missing the way everything looked like it was carved out of the tree in the old home.
“Hey guys!” Spike greeted as he appeared from a doorway, Owlicious appearing as well with a hoot as he swooped out of the doorway. “Nice digs, huh? Twilight, I just finished unpacking the last of the library books and shelving them.”
“Thank you, Spike,” Twilight replied. “You can go finish up the unpacking in the rest of the house. Emerald and I have some things to go over in the library.”
“Sure thing. Come on, Owlicious!” Spike said. “Let’s go set up your stuff.”
“Who!”
Emerald followed Twilight into the room Spike had just left. This Library was different than the last one. Other than obviously not being made of living wood, this library also didn’t have a spare bed, though Emerald guessed that wouldn’t last long with Twilight’s habits. This library also had two levels to it, though the second floor only consisted of a walkway beside the massive bookcase that made up one entire wall. With the way the glass wall and partially glass roof was situated, it gave the library the feeling of being a wide open space.
“Sit,” Twilight commanded as she pointed at a bare spot of floor that was soon occupied by a desk with a flash of purple light.
With a frown, Emerald did so and watched as Twilight conjured up another desk via transfiguring a small wooden figure. Twilight then placed the new desk against the front of Emerald’s and took a seat. Then the unicorn pulled out a scroll that was full of Equestrian writing.
“What’s going on?” Emerald asked in some confusion.
“You told me about your race and your world before,” Twilight replied, attention still fixed on her scroll. “And I’ve made a few educated guesses with a few other things you’ve told me, but what you’ve told me is obviously just a summary. I want to know a few things in detail. Here is the list I’ve made.”
Emerald took the list and looked it over. The evolved kept her expression from twisting into a frown as she read over the questions and the surprisingly close guesses Twilight made. Despite what she had experienced in her time on earth, Emerald did not hate humans. Being raised by someone as kind hearted and caring as Adela, Emerald had no choice but to know that humans weren’t all bad. No, humans on a whole weren’t a terrible and evil species. There was always the terrible few that made a lot of loud noise and gathered a lot of attention to themselves and basically made life more difficult, but, as mentioned, they were few and one shouldn’t define the many on the actions and decisions of one man. Most people just wanted to live their lives in peace and be left alone. They tended to get panicky when something that threatened their peaceful lives neared, but that was hardly a trait restricted to humans, as Emerald witnessed herself… though ponies definitely had far less potential for impulsive violence during times of stress and panic. In the end, humans couldn’t be defined as good or evil on a whole. The trick, however, was going to convey that fact to a member of a race that enjoyed peace for a thousand years without her immediately leaping for the evil label the moment she heard of just a few negative facts about humans. To that end, Emerald was going to withhold some details and give a minor whitewash to some facts.
“Well, for one,” Emerald began, pointing at the question about the frequency of war. “What the exact number is, is always different depending on the source. But as a whole, there has been roughly two hundred and fifty years of peace in the last four thousand years of recorded human history.”
“W-what?!” Twilight gasped, going pale. “I-I thought there were only a few dozen more counts of wars then our world, but… dear Celestia…”
Emerald winced. One question in and already she made a mistake. How to recoup this…
“Twilight, you have to consider some facts,” Emerald began somberly, mental gears working at breakneck pace. “Earth is not a world of compassion. It’s a world born of competition. Humans were part of one massive unofficial competition to determine just what species would arise to sentience first, and even when we won, when we grew smart enough to work with tools and begin our first tentative steps towards civilised society, the competition didn’t end. There were sub-breeds of humans that had also managed to reach sentience and we had to compete with them as well. Eventually via interbreeding, calamity or simply possessing a better biology, humans as they are known came to true dominance. And yes, even then the competition didn’t end.
“Societies formed and, like you noted here, they competed with other societies over resources, a lot of times very violently,” Emerald continued. “I know what you are about to say. Why couldn’t they just negotiate and cooperate with each other? Sometimes people just don’t want to make things work. Sometimes, no matter how hard you try to get through to someone, they would rather sit on everything they have than share even a small surplus via honest trade. That is when the leader has to fulfil his duty to his home, his family and his people and fight for what they need to live happily and prosper.”
Emerald knew she was whitewashing details. When it came to the game of kings and nations, a lot of times there were no good guys. There were no sympathetic reasons on either side, and both were equally guilty of being greedy jackasses. But she was damned if she was going to let her mother’s species be called irrevocably evil and judging by Twilight’s thoughtful expression she succeeded.
“Okay… I don’t like it, but I can understand it,” Twilight said with a frown, the unicorn looked down at her notes a moment before she suddenly seemed to realise something.
“Emerald, you aren’t running from this, this time,” Twilight said with total seriousness as she leaned over her desk and stared the virus in the eye. “What is… a prostitute?”
Emerald, who was expecting a much more dire question, face hoofed. Releasing a groan, Emerald looked back at Twilight and gave her a pleading look.
“Do I really have to explain that?” Emerald almost said in a tone that was almost whiny. “It’s kind of sad… and embarrassing.”
“Well I suppose I could put it off again… it’s just that Sweetie Belle and her friends have been asking Pinkie about what a prostitute was,” Twilight began, her voice shifting to a tone that was theatrically innocent and would have only fooled another pony. “And now they are thinking about trying for their prostitute cutie marks.”
There was a thud as Emerald’s face met the top of her desk. “Oh my god…”
“Who?”
“Never mind.” Emerald sighed as she rubbed her face and returned her attention to Twilight. “Fine. You want to know what a prostitute is? I’ll tell you. It’s a person who exchanges sexual favours for money.”
“Wha-wha-what?!” Twilight exclaimed with wide eyes, her face quickly growing as red as a cherry.
“You wanted to know,” Emerald said with a smug look as she took in Twilight’s obvious embarrassment.
“But… but… why would anypony… cheapen themselves like that?!” Twilight exclaimed, then quickly covered her mouth and shot a worried look at the door.
Taking the hint, Emerald carefully charged up a spell and focused her intent. Her control wasn’t restored just yet, but she could manage her old feats just fine if she took her time with it. With a bright flash of pink, the room was sound proofed and the doors tightly locked. Twilight gave her an odd look, having noticed the brightness of the spell and the long charge up time.
“I kind of had a bit of a power boost since Discord,” Emerald explained. “I’m still working on regaining my control. Now let’s get back on topic. That is to say, back to the Sex!”
“Don’t say it like that!” Twilight shouted as she covered up her crimson face.
“Heh heh,” Emerald laughed a little at Twilight’s expense, feeling no sympathy at all for her plight. “To answer your question before… well, the reason is different for a lot of people, but there are those that don’t mind having sex for money. The human race is quite… eager when it comes to bedroom antics. It probably has to do with the fact that one of our specie’s tactics was to outnumber our animal competitors and what better way to do that then to have lots and lots of sex?”
Emerald knew she was leaving out details, like how some girls just don’t have a choice when it came to selling themselves out. Sometimes they were forced into it. Sometimes it was the only way they could get any sort of income. There was a variable amount of reasons why someone would sell their body, and quite a few were unpleasant to think about.
“OKAY, I GET IT!” Twilight shouted, head on the desk and hooves covering her ears. “I WANTED TO KNOW, AND I PAID DEARLY FOR IT! I’M SORRY!”
“Geez Twilight, it’s just sex,” Emerald said with a crooked smile. “It’s not like I’m giving a play by play account of two people who are particularly long lasting and skilled in the bedroom.”
“I’m not listening!”
“Okay, okay, I’m done,” Emerald said soothingly. “What else did you want to ask?”
Twilight kept her position for a few moments before hazarding a glance at Emerald, as if afraid the fake unicorn was going to have graphic diagrams at the ready. Then she slowly sat back up in her seat and cleared her throat.
“W-well let’s see what else I have here,” Twilight began, steadfastly trying to force herself to pretend that the last few minutes never happened.
Emerald just smiled. Twilight’s attitude towards her was already better than what it was before. The virus allowed herself to hope that things might return to the way things were between the two of them.
Underneath the desks of the two unicorns, a miniature Discord lied back in a beach chair that defied gravity and stuck to the bottom of the desk. The draconequis sipped a tropical drink as he lied back in his casts and bandages, the glass of the cup disappearing as he sipped.
‘Well isn’t this just a delightful learning experience?’ Discord thought as he continued to listen to the conversation.
-TBC-