Oskar Osäker: True Omnivore

by Legionary

Chapter 4: Dream Life

‘I take it all back!’ Oskar thought sourly. ‘Twilight is practically a living magnet for trouble! These past few weeks have been full of crazed adventures out of nowhere and chaotic meetings with her friends!’

It was an early morning with the sun having just risen into the sky; the Cadre Evolved was in Twilight’s library reflecting on her first month in Equestria with no little amount of negativity. The first week had started out predictably with Twilight tutoring her, usually until three but if Oskar asked the lessons would be extended to six. The rest of her day was hers to spend as she wished but even then Oskar didn’t really relax. Although most would consider spending time socializing with people to be fun, in Oskar’s case it was purely work, since Twilight had other friends Oskar set about becoming acquainted with them with the intention of one day being considered a trusted close friend, like with Twilight. So Oskar had set about “being herself” and getting to know the other ponies of Twilight’s little circle.

Applejack was a fairly straightforward person; the path to becoming her friend was quite clear and simple to the viral being. As a cowpony working on a farm Applejack would likely appreciate a pony that wouldn’t balk in the face of hard work or wasn’t scared to get dirty, since the backstory Oskar had made for Emerald Gleaner was that she was a tough traveling pony, she could easily offer her help and get into Applejack’s good graces simply enough. Oskar also made sure to take note of the rest of the Apple family though she did not make it a priority to get to know them, but she would make sure to do so when it proved vital to gaining the cowpony’s trust.

Oskar at first thought that Rainbow Dash would be more difficult than Applejack, thinking she would be dismissive of her being a ground bound pony. But Oskar’s first meeting with the rainbow maned pegasus disproved that. Dash actually thought Oskar was pretty cool for not being a stereotypical wimpy, nerdy unicorn, as well as going into Everfree without a second thought. Although Oskar still had to prove her “cred” through several obstacle filled hoof races the viral being could now safely say she had Rainbow Dash’s trust and friendship.

Rarity was definitely more difficult and would require some work but not because the other unicorn was being difficult, that fault lied with Oskar or more specifically Emerald Gleaner. No one was perfect and Oskar made sure to make her Emerald Gleaner persona reflect that, meaning that Emerald as a traveling pony who couldn’t afford and most likely would look down on frivolous things would probably not easily get along with the Rarity, who adored and designed such things. Despite this it appeared that she was winning Rarity over, who probably thought Emerald was trying to get along with Twilight’s other friends as a favour to the violet unicorn in question.

Pinkie Pie was… a different matter altogether. It appeared Oskar had made a steadfast friend just by meeting the pink excitable pony who went out of her way to plan a party just to introduce and welcome her to the town. Pinkie was definitely an unpredictable factor that Oskar would have to be wary of if she ever made any plots that involved her but as of right now… Oskar was fairly sure she had nothing to worry about when it came to the party pony.

Fluttershy was an introverted little thing but besides that one would think Oskar could become a dear friend with a little effort and persistence. Well… true as that may be, Oskar was at this point going out of her way to not meet Fluttershy at her home and only tried to talk to the pegasus when she happened to be around. Why Oskar was doing this was because of paranoia on the Evolved’s part. When Oskar had discovered the local wildlife’s startlingly high level of intelligence she had begun to become rather wary of being around them while in disguise, thinking their instincts may somehow point her out as a predator despite the form she was in. With this in mind Oskar was loath to go see Fluttershy and raise suspicions if the pegasus’ animals freaked out while she was around.

The first steps to gaining the bearers of the Elements of Harmony was what occupied Oskar’s free time in her first week until the weekend when the party Pinkie planned began. That was when the craziness that surrounded the lives of the mares Oskar was getting to know started to let itself be known. During the party Spike had suddenly gotten a message from the Princess about an upcoming event called the Galloping Gala which was quickly followed by three tickets, apparently for Twilight, Emerald and Spike. From what Oskar had recalled from Steven’s memories the Galloping Gala was this massive formal party slash celebration that was held yearly at Canterlot. Oskar was contemplating what kind of people would be there when Spike made it known that he wouldn’t be going, saying he didn’t want anything to do with “girly frew, frew stuff”. Upon hearing that, Twilight’s friends went from congratulating the three to asking Twilight if she could let one of them have the ticket. What followed was a large argument as each of Twilight’s friends stated their reasons for wanting to go and even the other ponies at the party started asking Twilight for the free invitation. Needless to say the situation worsened from there with the party being brought to an expectedly quick end. The rest of the day was basically filled with Twilight’s friends giving favours to Twilight and Oskar herself had quickly gone from amused to disbelieving of the situation as the rest of the town starting hounding Twilight to the point she basically had a breakdown with her friends and told them she didn’t want to disappoint any of them. Eventually it ended with Twilight sending all the tickets back, even Oskar’s… which the Evolved was rather annoyed about at the time. It all ended fairly well when Celestia sent Twilight a letter filled with eight golden tickets… it still didn’t explain the utter insanity that had possessed the whole town earlier though.

A few days later apple picking season had apparently come and Applejack for some reason decided to handle the entire harvest by herself. And since Oskar was now a good friend with the cowpony she had to be concerned about her when she did stupid stuff now, as a real friend would. So an inwardly grumbling viral unicorn and an actually concerned Twilight spent several days trying to convince the stubborn earth pony she needed help. Eventually they succeeded but only after wasting several days and Applejack only managing to harvest half the orchard. Oskar considered the only good point of the whole experience being that she got to get some good practice with her telekinesis in.

And now just the day before was the whole situation with Rainbow Dash’s friend Gilda who was a Griffin, never mind that the once shockingly sturdy chairs decided to break whenever Oskar tried to sit on them the day before that one. The day started normally enough with Twilight tutoring Oskar and coaching the fake unicorn during her magical exercises. Then Pinkie Pie had come in talking about some “mean and grumpy griffon” named Gilda, apparently she had come to get some advice from Twilight on how to handle the griffon. Personally Oskar thought Pinkie should have asked someone else considering how naïve Twilight still was when it came to social problems, the Evolved considered herself proven right when Twilight told Pinkie that she was jealous of Gilda hanging out with Rainbow Dash, choosing to believe the best of people. Pinkie Pie soon left after that, grudgingly taking Twilight’s advice. That day continued with Oskar going through more lessons until three thirty when she, Twilight and Spike were invited to a party being held at Sugarcube Corner in Gilda’s honor, which Oskar had been rather surprised about considering what Pinkie said about the Griffon earlier that day. The three had gone to the party and were soon treated to the sight of Gilda being the victim of several pranks. The Griffon soon had had enough and blamed Pinkie Pie for the pranks as well as insulted everyone else in the room before telling Rainbow Dash that they were leaving. Gilda, as well as Oskar, were proven wrong about the culprit of the pranks when Dash confessed that she was the one to set them up. Seeing her friend as the rude bully she was, Dash told Gilda that she could find different friends to hang out with if picking on people was cool to her. Gilda apparently didn’t take this very well and soon took off, insulting Dash before leaving, shrieking like an eagle.

‘Can’t have one normal week around here.’ Oskar groused as she watched the morning sun rise through the library window. ‘This better be a fluke and not a sign of how my time here is going to be. Bah, knowing my luck I’ll end up being stuck in the middle of an invasion or something.’

The viral being turned around when she heard Twilight enter the room, yawning and magically brushing her mane.

“Good morning Emerald.” Twilight greeted “How was everything last night?”

“Long, boring, full of eye degrading studying.” Oskar answered with a shrug. “The usual.”

“I’m sure you will have nothing to worry about.” Twilight reassured the fake unicorn as she went into the kitchen with said unicorn in tow. “Look at me for instance, I’ve nearly spent my entire life reading books and studying the academic arts and I still have perfect vision.”

The two then took a seat at the kitchen table, awaiting the morning breakfast Spike usually prepared. But the two forgot one little fact.

“Haa, haa, haa…” Spike yawned loudly as he stepped into the kitchen.

It was still rather early and this was actually the time Spike would spend energising himself to fully wake up for a day of helping Twilight.

“Gee, Twilight…” Spike began when he saw the violet unicorn sitting at the table. “Trying to copy Emerald’s sleeping habits? You’ve been getting up earlier and earlier… give me a couple minutes to wake up and I’ll start cooking breakfast for us.” Spike finished as stretched and yawned.

“Sorry Spike, take as long as you need, we can wait.” Twilight told the baby dragon who waved in acknowledgement as he went to the bathroom to wash up.

“You know I’m fine with being alone all night.” Oskar told Twilight. “You don’t have to try to teach yourself to go without a full seven hours of sleep.”

Being alone at night meant that Oskar could leave to do some covert business in town should the need arise and the Evolved didn’t want Twilight around to complicate that. The last thing Oskar wanted was Twilight to look up some obscure sleep deprivation spell just to help her study.

“Oh… was it that obvious?” Twilight asked sheepishly.

“Twilight I’m fine.” Oskar said tiredly. “I wasn’t mauled or anything by the monsters in Everfree, I don’t think anything would happen to me here in the safety of your library. There really is no need to get all obsessive.”

“I’m sorry Emerald…” Twilight Apologised. “It’s just when I thought you had been k-k-killed and I saw that meadow… and all that blood…”

‘Geez girl, get a hold of yourself!’ Oskar thought as she inwardly snorted derisively. ‘I’m your friend not your god damn husband.’

“I fully and completely understand.” Oskar reassured Twilight. “And I promised not to worry you like that again Twilight. Believe me when I say I will be going out of my way to do that.”

“Thanks Emerald.” Twilight said, giving her friend a quick hug. “I don’t mean to be such a worry wart but… well let’s move on. Are you going to be eating out here with us?”

Oskar was about to reply no and eat while studying in library like she always had in the past few weeks. But reconsidered when she thought about how Twilight was currently feeling.

“I’ll think I’ll eat out here with you guys for once.” Oskar replied as Spike entered with several plates of food.

“Oh great, you’re finally joining us!” Spike said with a smile as he placed a plate of various steamed vegetables in front of the fake unicorn. “Never thought I’d see another pony who’s as obsessed with learning as Twilight!”

“Spike!” Twilight exclaimed. “I’m not obsessed! I’m just very… well I like to think of myself as driven.”

“Sure thing Twilight, whatever you say.” Spike said as he placed his own plate on the table which Twilight sighed at.

Oskar blinked in confusion when she saw that his plate was full of gems. An expression of total and utter stupefaction almost managed to appear upon the viral being’s face when she saw Spike pick a large ruby and bite into it like an apple. After a few moments Spike finally noticed Oskar staring at him.

“Uhhhh… what?” Spike said, mid-chew.

“… You can eat gems?” Oskar finally said after a long moment of silence.

“Well… yeah.” Spike answered. “What you never noticed?”

“Hmmm, you’re always eating in the library Emerald.” Twilight stated after a moment of pondering. “I’m surprised you never noticed Spike munching on gems between meals but then you are always busy studying for your lessons and talking to our friends.”

“Speaking of which, is Applejack still mad about the… ‘Super Wolf’?” Spike asked with a smile.

“Well when I saw her yesterday she seemed to be grumbling about something.” Twilight answered. “So yes it’s very likely.”

Oskar didn’t bother to hide the smile she had when she heard that, a few days ago she had finally grown tired of a vegetarian diet and decided to raid Applejack’s farm for eggs and bacon. The thing is Oskar didn’t know just how quick Applejack would be to react to threats to her farm. Oskar had only swallowed a few eggs when not ten seconds after the squawking began Applejack arrived, rearing for a fight. The viral being had proceeded to dodge the cowpony with her natural acrobatic ability for several moments before deciding that a breakfast sandwich would be good enough and retreated. Oskar of course had considered mauling the earth pony to death since no one would think to place suspicion on Emerald Gleaner for an animal attack but reconsidered, the loss of one of the bearers in such a way would very likely raise security immensely in Ponyville, not to mention the psychological effect it would have on Twilight, which would be ultimately detrimental to Oskar’s learning.

Still smiling from the memory of the sandwiches she enjoyed in Everfree, Oskar asked. “AJ still mad about that wolf showing her up huh?”

“It appears that way.” Twilight replied with a small smile.

Oskar returned to eating her vegetables but kept glancing out of the corner of her eyes at Spike as he ate his gems.

‘Haven’t forgot about you little guy.’ Oskar thought. ‘Wonder if your jaw muscles are “that” strong or if your teeth are just that sharp.’

Soon the three finished their respective meals and headed about their normal morning routines. Spike picking up the dishes to clean them, Oskar and Twilight headed to the library to begin the usual lessons.

“Now…” Twilight began, now standing beside a chalkboard covered in writing and faceting Oskar, who was sitting at a desk. “In the third century of the princesses’ rule-”

“We already covered this portion of history.” Oskar quickly interrupted.

“What? When?!” A frazzled looking Twilight exclaimed as she started to rapidly flip through her teaching journal.

“Two days ago.” Oskar answered tiredly. “Then the day after that we covered the times table and started to move on to divisions when the day ended.”

“Ohhhhhh, I’d never thought I would say this but slow down a bit Emerald!” Twilight said as she began to scratch out several things in her journal and began frantically writing. “We’ve already covered six months of the material I had planned out! I never thought we would be getting through basic mathematics as quickly as we are history. I expected as much since you’ve been reading those books so much but…”

“Should I just get on with my telekinesis practices while you work out a new schedule?” Oskar asked.

“Hmmm? Oh yeah, sure…” Twilight replied absently as she got into detailing out a new teaching schedule in her journal.

Rolling her eyes, Oskar walked over to a case placed against a wall. Using what control she had, the Cadre Evolved levitated the cast back to her desk and opened it, also with her telekinesis. In the case were several brass weights, there were a dozen small bullet shaped weights which weighed anywhere between an ounce and several pounds. With the smaller weights were four larger discs, they were brass as well with the smallest weighed ten pounds and the largest thirty pounds.

Oskar took all the weights out of the case and placed them on her desk before putting the case on the floor beside her desk and taking her seat. With a small frown of concentration Oskar began levitating the smaller weights first and moving them about experimentally before moving onto the larger ones. Frankly Oskar felt like she wasn’t getting very far anymore with these little weights, after all she was throwing around some fairly large rocks back in Everfree, and that was only with barely any control! Huffing slightly as she felt little exertion from levitating all the weights and moving them in the air, Oskar decided to add the desk to her regimen and levitated that as well. Nodding in appreciation as she moved the other weights out of the way of desk and exerted herself, Oskar decided she had not met her limit just yet and looked around for something to levitate. The fake pony blinked in sudden realization and stopped her search for a heavy object, what was the heaviest thing there? Why the Blacklight being herself of course.

Oskar concentrated as she focused her magic on herself and attempted to levitate herself… but failed. She didn’t know why her attempt to levitate herself failed; it wasn’t that she was too heavy since she had failed to get even a grip on herself in the first place. For some reason her attempts to magically grasp herself simply did not find purchase.

‘Hmpf… fine then I won’t levitate myself…’ Oskar thought as she narrowed her eyes at her seat. ‘I’ll levitate that instead.’

The chair Oskar was sitting on lit up as it was enveloped by the fake unicorn’s dark pink magical aura and slowly but surely floated into the air. Eventually after inching her way into the air Oskar joined her desk and weights in the air.

Oskar stayed like this for a minute, her breaths coming and going steadily and loudly. Suddenly the Evolved heard a gasp and looked out of the corner of her eye to see Twilight staring wide eyed at her.

“What is it Twilight?” Oskar asked somewhat testily. “I need to concentrate, this isn’t easy at all.”

“Emerald, you're levitating yourself!” Twilight exclaimed. “You’ve only just started and already-”

“Technically I’m not levitating myself.” The fake unicorn interrupted.

“What?”

“I tried levitating myself, but couldn't get a grip for some reason.” Oskar answered. “So I settled for levitating the chair I was sitting on instead.”

“Hmmm, interesting…” Twilight muttered as she narrowed her eyes and studied the sight before her intently. “Why did you decide to do that in the first place?”

“It was… getting… too easy!” Oskar ground out before quickly setting everything down as soft as she could with a loud sigh. “Yeah, I’m definitely going to do that more often… glad this dumb thing didn’t break again…”

Twilight stared at Oskar in fascination as said viral being panted in slight exertion. After a few moments the violet unicorn nodded her head in decision.

“Emerald, you have been progressing in telekinesis very rapidly.” She stated and got the Cadre Evolved’s attention. “And I think you are prepared for your first forays into spatial manipulation!”

“Spatial… you mean I’m ready for transfiguration right?” Oskar asked with a tilt of her head.

“Well… yes.”

“Why didn't you say that instead?”

“But I just did!” Twilight exclaimed only for Oskar to roll her eyes at her.

“Well, your sesquipedalian loquaciousness aside…” Oskar began with a sly smile, making Twilight pout at her. “Is there anything I need to start practicing transfiguring?” Oskar already knew what she needed of course but “Emerald” wasn’t supposed to.

“Well I didn’t think we would reach this point so rapidly, so we’ll have to cut today's lessons short to buy some supplies from the store.” Twilight said as she walked up to her room to get her saddle bags and some bits.

Oskar sat down at the base of the stairs and waited for Twilight to come back down. A few moments later Spike walked in from the kitchen and saw Oskar sitting at the base of the stairs.

“What’s going on?” The little dragon asked when he came close.

“Twilight needs to head to the store to buy some more lesson supplies for me.” The fake pony answered.

“Huh…” Spike remarked simply. “Think I’ll come along, we’re getting a bit low in the pantry.”

“Oh, okay.”

After another few moments Twilight finally came down from her room.

“Sorry that took so long, I was sure I had put my bits in my drawer… oh, hello Spike, are you coming along?” Twilight asked upon seeing the baby dragon standing beside Oskar.

“Yep, our pantry is getting a little empty.” Spike explained and when Oskar stood up fully he quickly climbed up to stand on her back. “Are we ready to go?”

Oskar raised her brows in surprise at Spike's action but then just shrugged; it wasn’t like Spike was heavy or anything. Besides, she had seen Twilight carry Spike around like this many times before.

“Yes, let’s get going!” With that, the two unicorns plus one dragon left the house.

Shortly after leaving the house Twilight shook her head in wonder.

“I still can’t believe we’re already at this point in your education Emerald.” Twilight stated, smiling at Oskar. “It’s utterly amazing how fast you are learning magic.”

“It’s not only me Twilight; I do have a rather awesome teacher.” Oskar replied rather truthfully.

“Yeah!” Spike immediately agreed. “Having the most magical unicorn in Ponyville as your teacher is a huge advantage in learning magic. But you’re still pretty great Emerald, especially when you think about what your talent is.”

“Oh Spike, I’m sure there’s plenty of ponies here in town that are just as magical as me.” Twilight replied modestly.

“Wait, what did you mean about my talent?” Oskar asked the baby dragon on her back.

“Only that most unicorns pick up magic tricks concerning their talent.” Spike said, pointing at Oskar’s cutie mark. “But Twilight’s talent is magic so she has LOTS of tricks and learns them quickly.”

“Really?” Oskar said, looking at Twilight.

“Well… I do admit to knowing a few more spells than the average unicorn.” Twilight replied somewhat reluctantly.

“Bah, as if I’d let some over rated flank paint tell me what to do.” Oskar said with a scoff, frowning at the thought of only learning spells that concerned finding and gathering emeralds.

“What do you mean by that Emerald?” Twilight asked, a little confused over her friend’s reaction.

“Do you honestly believe I would limit myself to only learning just enough magic to find gems?” Oskar stated. “That I would stand by and watch as you learn to bend reality to your will, while I play in the dirt?”

“Emerald…”

“No!” Oskar stated firmly. “I will learn it all, from simple levitation to full on gravity reversals, I WILL not stop at just finding shiny rocks in the dirt.”

“If that’s how you feel about it Emerald then I’m behind you one hundred percent.” Twilight said with a smile. “I won’t stop until you learn everything I know and more. Besides, if a cutie mark dictated what a pony would be doing for the rest of their lives then Rarity would be a miner, not a fashion designer.”

“She would be a very glamorous miner!” Oskar agreed with a laugh. “Thanks Twilight, you are a great friend and a fantastic teac-”

“Gang way! Coming throu- ARRRGH!” A voice yelled before turning into a pained shout.

Oskar blinked before looking behind her to see two young colts on the ground behind her, their eyes spinning in their sockets from having run into the dense viral being.

“Wh-where’d that wall come from?” The chubbier of the two colts asked in a daze.

“Snips, Snails? You guys alright?” Spike asked from atop Oskar’s back.

“Y-yeah, I think so…” Snips replied as he and his friend shakily got back onto their hooves.

“Wow Miss Emerald!” Snails exclaimed. “You’re as tough as all the ponies say you are!”

“You two should be more careful.” Twilight chastised lightly. “Why were you two in such a big hurry in the first place?”

“You guys haven’t heard?!” Snails exclaimed. “There’s a new unicorn in town!”

“Yeah! They say she’s got more magical powers than any other unicorn ever!” Snips added.

“Really?” Oskar stated disbelievingly, while her knowledge wasn’t comprehensive Silver Light knew enough about current magical masters that Oskar could honestly doubt such a unicorn’s existence. “Well, consider me a skeptic.”

“Yeah!” Spike agreed with Oskar. “That honor should go to Twilight!”

“Where is this unicorn?” Twilight asked.

“Ho, she’s in the town square.” Snails said before suddenly bolting away. “Come on!”

“Yeah! Follow us!” Snips shouted back as he galloped after his friend.

“I suppose we’re putting off the shopping trip for now?” Oskar asked upon seeing Twilight walking after the two colts.

“Are you coming Emerald?” Twilight asked.

“Come on Emerald!” Spike urged from atop the fake unicorn’s back. “I wanna see who this so-called ‘most magical unicorn ever’ is.”

“Alright, I suppose my lesson supplies can wait.” Oskar stated and began trotting forward. “This sounds like somepony has an over inflated ego though.”

Soon enough the three were in the town square where a stage had been set up, on the stage was a light blue unicorn wearing a star spangled cape and pointy hat.

“Come one, come all!” She announced grandly over the crowd as the three made their way to the front. “Come and witness the amazing magic of the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

With that declaration a cloud of sparkles appeared over the show pony’s visage to the crowd’s apparent awe.

“Watch in awe as the Great and Powerful Trixie performs the most spectacular feats of magic ever witnessed by pony eyes!” Trixie continued bombastically.

“Oh she speaks in third person! I can already tell that she is just the best sort of pony you can be friends with.” Oskar commented sarcastically as Trixie let off several fireworks to the crowd’s delight.

“With that I think we can agree with each other Emerald darling.” Rarity replied.

Oskar turned and saw that not only was Rarity there but so were the rest of Twilight’s friends. Turning back to watch Trixie show off and boast for a few moments, Oskar couldn’t help but speak her mind.

“Braggart… wonder if she’ll like to see my skill at fighting up close and personal?” The viral unicorn wondered aloud.

“C-calm down Emerald!” Fluttershy urged. “Nopony wants to see you hit her!”

Oskar simply gave a deadpan look to the timid pegasus and pointed at Applejack and Rainbow Dash, the latter of which was scowling pretty openly.

“Well… almost nopony…” Fluttershy amended.

Trixie meanwhile was still showing off and wowing the crowd with her fireworks displays but she was also carefully studying their mood. It didn’t take her long to spot Oskar and see that the fake unicorn was in no way impressed with her show, so Trixie quickly trotted over to show her up and besides … it would make her feel so good to make a fool of such a beautiful unicorn.

“Well, well, well, it seems we have a neighsayer in the audience.” Trixie drawled as she came to a stop before Oskar. “Who is so ignorant as to challenge the magical ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie? Do you not know that you’re in the presence of the most magical unicorn in all of Equestria?”

“Hey ya don’t nee-” Applejack began.

“I am not blind and neither am I stupid.” Oskar interrupted. “I know very well that Twilight is right there and that she has no problem with me standing beside her.” The viral being said, pointing at the now blushing unicorn in question.

“Grrrr, Trixie was referring to herself!” The showpony ground out.

“Well how was I supposed to know?” Oskar asked faux innocently. “Since the Great and Powerful Trixie refers to herself in every other sentence when she speaks in the grating and annoying third person?”

“You dare mock Trixie?” Trixie said imperiously. “Well then, I hereby challenge you Ponyvillian, anything you can do, I can do better!”

“Really?” Oskar said in a sickly sweet tone, her head slightly tilted to one side. “You can be a better uneducated, dirt poor orphan then me? Now this I can’t wait to see.”

Silence. Dead silence. Trixie was on the stage frozen in a dramatic pointing pose, her eyes slightly widened. The crowd wasn’t much better as they stared agape at Oskar for bringing up her ‘tragic past’ so indifferently. Finally after a few moments Trixie brought a hoof to her mouth and cleared her throat loudly.

“BEHOLD!” The showpony shouted loudly as large fireworks went off, firmly regaining the crowd’s attention. Then she quickly wandered off to a different part of the stage, intent on recapturing the crowd’s adoration.

“Yeah you better run.” Oskar muttered.

“Emerald!” Twilight exclaimed as quietly as she could. “Why did you have to talk about yourself like that?!”

“What? You mean about the fact I’m an uneducated dirt poor orphan?” Oskar replied.

“You shouldn’t try to make light of what happened to you Emerald.” Twilight said with a frown. “It was a horrible terrible thing that nopony should have had to go through.”

“Oh, as if anypony cares about my past.” Oskar stated and got a glare from Twilight as well as quite a few ponies that managed to hear what she had said.

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

“Okay, I admit to maybe being a little hasty in saying that.” Oskar admitted honestly. “But really when it comes to what happened to me I don’t really care anymore, it was the past and it isn’t going to happen to me again.” The viral being said firmly before turning her attention back to the stage, it seemed Trixie had finally managed to recapture the crowd’s wonder and was back to boasting.

“…Trixie stepped in, and with her awesome magic, vanquished the Ursa Major and sent it back to its cave deep within the Everfree Forest!” The showpony announced with another round of fireworks going off behind her.

It wasn’t too long after that, that Applejack quickly grew tired of the unicorn’s showboating and stepped up to the stage in an attempt to put her in her place. The cowpony had tried to outdo the show mare with her lasso skills but was soon tied up with her own rope via Trixie’s magic. Quickly following suit, Rainbow Dash rushed onto the stage, angry that someone other than her was hogging the spotlight. Her attempt was not going nearly as well as the pegasus hoped.

Oskar frowned in quickly mounting irritation as Trixie’s ego seemed to visibly grow with each victory over Twilight’s friends. Easily pushing down her irritation, Oskar turned to Twilight who was watching events unfold on the stage.

“Why don’t you step up there and show Trixie real magic?” Oskar suggested, after all, the show mare seemed to use her fireworks rather than use her magic for effects. “The others can’t seem to outdo her showmareship, maybe having somepony who could use magic as well can outdo her?”

“Hey yeah Twilight!” Spike exclaimed in agreement. “You should go up there and show that pony how it’s done!”

“I-I don’t know you two.” Twilight replied uneasily. “Look at my friends; they don’t seem to like how she’s showing off her talent…”

“Well yeah, but what’s that got to do with you?” Oskar asked.

“If I go up there and showup Trixie with my talent I won’t be any better than her, the others might even resent me for it!” Twilight whispered urgently.

“But Twilight!” Spike complained immediately as Oskar tilted her head and gave a disbelieving stare.

“No Spike.” Twilight said with a shake of her head. “I’m not going to risk alienating my friends.”

‘Your naiveté is alienating me.’ Oskar thought in reply.

“What this jerk needs is another unicorn to show her up!” Dash muttered as she rejoined her friends.

“A unicorn to get into an awesome magic on magic contest with her!” Pinkie agreed

“A real unicorn to unicorn tussle.” Applejack added with a nod.

“Enough. Enough, all of you. I take your hint, but Rarity is above such nonsense.” Rarity stated with a dramatic toss of her mane.

“Oh don’t you start talking like her.” Oskar said with a minor glare. “Bad enough you waste all that time on frilly uselessness.”

“Hmph, I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that rather than get into another verbal spar over the merits of my profession.” Rarity stated snootily. “As I was saying before I so rudely interrupted, Rainbow Dash and Applejack may behave like ruffians, but Rarity conducts herself with beauty and grace.”

“Ugh, I just finished telling you not to talk like her!” Oskar exclaimed as Rarity ascended the stage.

Oskar shook her head as she watched Rarity perform on the stage, she could tell this was not going to end in the glamorous unicorn’s favour, even more so when she took the expression on Trixie’s face into account. Oskar took another glance around the crowd and saw that everyone else was pretty much smitten with the show mare, considering that Twilight seemed determined to not “alienate” her friends.

“Come on Twilight.” Oskar said with a sigh. “Unless you want to see Rarity lose-”

“MY HAIR!”

“Too late.” Oskar stated and snorted when she saw what Rarity was freaking out over as she bolted past. “Seriously? One little magical dye job and she loses it? Anyways, come on Twilight, I want to get my transfiguration supplies.”

“Yeah okay Emerald, let’s get going.” Twilight said and quickly led the way, managing to leave the plaza before Trixie could single her out.

About a few moments after leaving Spike spoke up.

“Twilight you could’ve easily beaten that mare.” Spike grumbled from atop Oskar’s back. “All she had going for her was her fancy fireworks. You could have outdone that, easily.”

“I’m going to have to agree with Spike, Twilight.” Oskar said. “I know of all the prominent masters of magic from my studies, and there was no mention of a Trixie anywhere, books were a pretty recent print too. I doubt she could have matched anything the personal student of Celestia could cast.”

“I really don’t want to show off guys, especially after how badly my friends took Trixie’s bragging.” Twilight said resolutely.

‘I was actually hoping she had a different reason, this is just too naïve.’ Oskar thought with a frown.

“They’re your friends Twilight.” Oskar replied. “I’m sure they would have a different reaction to you showing off then Trixie, a far better reaction since you would be a whole lot more modest about it.”

“Maybe… oh, we’re here.” Twilight stated pointing to a store and quickly trotted inside.

‘Whatever…’ The Cadre Evolved thought with a dismissive shake of her head. ‘Making her more sociable is not a priority, ergo not my problem. If she wants to think that way let her.’

With that Oskar quickly followed after Twilight into the store.

ALPHA

It was now later in the day; the sun was starting its descent towards the horizon, Oskar, Twilight and Spike were back in the library. Twilight was reading a bestiary, Spike was finishing up some chores and Oskar was doing a bit of private reading on Canterlot and the palace at her desk. The Cadre Evolved had also been busy practicing her transfiguration, as was attested by the light green wooden block on her desk.

The little block used to be pine colored, but after hours of concentrated effort Oskar managed to turn it the light shade of green it was. The sure work required for this simple change was rather disheartening at first for the fake unicorn but just as gaining skill in telekinesis, eventually Oskar would be able to make great changes in shape and form then just altering the color.

‘Hmmm… the design is… interesting.’ Oskar thought as she studied various pictures of the palace and city. ‘The engineers in me are crying though, if it weren’t for magic I’m sure the whole city would fall off the mountain face onto the grasslands below.’

The Cadre Evolved turned to glance at a book on the circular table, a book on Cloudsdale.

‘As structurally bad as Canterlot is, Cloudsdale is much worse.’ Oskar levitated the book over and opened it to a page depicting the cloud city. ‘I mean clouds? Seriously? I know they’re solid to pegasi but living that high up… and without any guardrails at all. What if a pegasus still learning to fly got too close to the edge? Do they just trust there to be a pegasus nearby to catch them?’ Shaking her head in bemusement, Oskar’s thoughts began to wander. ‘Did Dash bring Gilda to Cloudsdale? It must have been tiring for the griffin, just hovering everywhere while the pegasi just stroll about on the clouds.’

“Heh.” Oskar chuckled aloud at the thought and got Twilight’s attention.

“What’s funny?” Twilight asked, looking up from a page depicting a bear with an ethereal night sky hide.

“Did Dash ever bring Gilda to Cloudsdale?” Oskar asked.

“I… don’t think so.” Twilight replied after a moment.

“I just thought it would be funny if she did go there.” Oskar said. “She would have to hover everywhere and fly through the doors and walls.”

“Actually.” Twilight began. “Griffins can walk on clouds too, in fact… I have only read a few passages mentioning it but griffins also handle their own weather… I’m not too sure though, I may be misremembering.” The violet unicorn stated and started looking at her shelves to refresh her knowledge on griffins.

“Really?” Oskar said earnestly. “Griffins can do things pegasi can?”

“Well I’m absolutely certain they can walk on clouds.” Twilight replied absently as she searched for an elusive volume. “Whether or not they can manipulate the weather like pegasi, I’ll be finding out for certain in a few minutes.”

“Hmmm… interesting.” Oskar stated.

“Very.” Twilight agreed with a nod as she continued her search.

‘So griffins are very close to pegasi ability wise…’ Oskar thought. ‘Perhaps consuming Gilda would give me at least some sort of handle over pegasi magic?’ With that thought, Oskar sent a viral pulse though she wasn’t confident it would come back. ‘Gilda has already been gone for a whole day; she would be miles away by now, probably not even in the kingdom anymore thanks to her flight. Even if I decided to track her down the hard way, I wouldn’t be able to leave Ponyville for long periods because of thi-” The pulse came back. ‘Well, well… I expected her to be long gone from what she said before leaving but she’s practically right next door, in Everfree no less! Hmm… I can definitely collect her before nightfall but what should I say to Twilight? Well… why don’t I just tell her I’m going out for a while? It’s not like she’ll immediately assume the worst just because I want to go out for a bit.’

Nodding in decision, Oskar gathered up her books and the little wooden block to put away. That done she turned to Twilight.

“Hey Twilight I’m heading out for a little while.” The viral being said. “I’ll be back by nightfall.”

“Ah, there you are.” Twilight said as she pulled out a book from the shelf before turning to Oskar. “Okay Emerald, see you later, stay safe!”

“See ya!” Oskar shouted back as she exited and closed the door behind her.

Now outside of the library, Oskar stared up into the sky. The sun was just beginning its descent into the horizon, turning the edges of the blue sky orange. Oskar turned to walk down a street, one that was leading away from Everfree in order to avoid another repeat of someone spotting her and telling people she was heading in that direction.

The streets of Ponyville weren’t as lively at this hour but there were still quite a few ponies walking about. And as Oskar made her way to a secluded spot outside of town she saw that not only were ponies not staring at her, but were actually going out of their way to not look at her, which the virus appreciated though wondered why they were staring in the first place. Truth be told, pretty much all the colts got told off by the mares for staring at Oskar, especially those that had girlfriends.

Now nearing the edge of town the Cadre Evolved quickly ducked into an alley and peaked out to see if there were any ponies nearby. Seeing none Oskar quickly dissolved into a mass of tendrils before quickly reforming into a large wolf. Oskar took another quick look around before bolting from the alley and out of town.

Skirting the far perimeter of the town, Oskar made his way into Everfree forest as the sun continued its descent and quickly sent out another pulse once he was within the infamous woods.

‘Hmmm, it looks like she hasn’t moved.’ Oskar stated once the pulse returned. ‘That probably means she is settling in whatever shelter she found or made here. I hope it’s a cave, it’ll be a whole lot easier to corner her if I somehow spook her before getting close enough to catch her.’

Oskar’s wolf form was a gray streak as he bounded quickly through the thick undergrowth, sending out the occasional pulse to stay locked on Gilda’s position. Eventually Oskar slowed and quickly ducked into a bush before carefully looking out, before him was a cave with a light emitting from deep within.

The Blacklight being quickly shifted into a rat for its smaller stature and quickly darted into the mouth of the cave. Quietly navigating the rock floor of the cave, Oskar moved deeper into the cave until eventually caught sight of Gilda lying before a fire. The griffin fit the image of a sulky teenager as she stared broodily into the fire, her head resting on her crossed forelegs.

Seeing there was space behind her, Oskar moved to get into an ideal ambush position before reforming into his default form to take the griffin.

Carefully making his way across the cave floor, Oskar kept his eyes on the griffin. He could just let the griffin see him and perhaps let her eat him if she decided to, but Oskar rather disliked the feeling of being eaten despite the fact that anyone who did so was basically committing suicide. So the viral being continued on his way across the floor, until he finally got into position behind Gilda.

Now morphing into his default form, Oskar’s size slowly increased as he tried to keep the element of surprise. Suddenly several stones tumbled across the cave floor from Oskar’s increase in size.

Gilda turned her head to look behind and widened her eyes in surprise when she saw Oskar standing silently behind her.

“Wha?” The griffin began before Oskar sprang forward.

Leaping forward, Oskar brought his foot down on Gilda’s back with a deafening crack.

“ARRRRGH!” Gilda shouted from the sharp pain in her back before a pair of hands enclosed upon her head.

Oskar took a hold of Gilda’s beak and the back of her head as the now paralyzed griffin thrashed in his grip, her claws flew and her wings flapped wildly in panicked attempt to free herself. With a frown and tensing of his arms, Oskar twisted. There was a series of sickening cracks echoing throughout the cave as Gilda’s head was twisted to the point of nearly being wrenched off, then there was stillness, stillness and silence.

Oskar released his grip on Gilda and let her fall to the floor in a very doll-like manner. Still standing on her shattered back, Oskar stared at the body with a deeply questioning expression on his face. He stayed like this for several long moments before finally dissolving into a mass of black tendrils that dug into and consumed Gilda’s remains. A moment later Oskar was lying on the floor in Gilda’s form and grasping her head as she quickly shunted off the flood of memories, preferring to save them for later.

The Cadre Evolved lied on the floor staring into the fire in almost exactly the same position Gilda was in moments ago. After several long moments Oskar quickly kicked out the fire with her hind legs and moved to the mouth of the cave.

Now outside Oskar took a quick search of her surroundings and upon finding nothing in the vicinity she quickly reformed into a wolf.

‘I’ll save trying to fly for later.’ Oskar thought as he made his way through the forest. ‘It’s pretty dark now; Twilight might be getting worried about me. I’ll head out to Everfree tomorrow after lessons are finished. It’ll definitely be a game changer being able to fly, water won’t be such a massive obstacle anymore.’

Eventually Oskar came to the forest's edge outside Ponyville and came to an odd sight. There was a massive purple bear floating into the forest from Ponyville and suckling on the tank of a water tower like some massive baby bottle.

Oskar stared for several long moments until the bear disappeared behind the trees before turning into Emerald Gleaner.

‘What did you get yourself into this time Twilight?’ Oskar thought with a sigh as she made her way back into Ponyville.

Walking through the empty streets of Ponyville Oskar eventually came across a crowd of laughing and cheering ponies. At the very center of this crowd was Twilight, Spike, Snips and Snails. The latter three had moustaches on their faces.

Bemused look plastered openly across her features, Oskar approached the four. “Hey guys, what did I miss?”

BETA

“It was so awesome!” Spike cheered. “Twilight was just giving off massive amounts of magic and the next moment that ursa minor was floating back into Everfree!”

It was a little later into the night, the moon was high in the sky and the two unicorns and one baby dragon were back in the library. Said baby dragon was still telling Oskar all the details of Twilight’s accomplishment despite having done it several times already.

“I get it Spike.” Oskar said with an amused smile. “Twilight is awesomeness incarnate; I think I already said that much earlier today.”

“W-well I wouldn’t go that far.” Twilight said with a bashful smile, her cheeks flushed and her ears drooping. “I admit it was a fairly good display of magic but…”

“You’re selling yourself short Twilight.” Oskar responded with a slight honest smile. “It’s nice to see somepony with so much potential be so modest, it truly is. But you have to take credit for how great your accomplishments are sometime.”

“Thank you Emerald.” Twilight said with an utterly crimson face.

Oskar only shook her head at the sight, wide smile on her face.

‘How cute!’ The Cadre Evolved thought. ‘I never get tired of that look, you never really see people get so adorably flushed over little things.’

“No problem!” Oskar replied with a bright smile, stepping forward to give Twilight a hug.

Twilight gave a light smile at the embrace before spotting Spike stretching and letting out a loud yawn.

“Well it’s getting late; we should get ready for bed.” Twilight told Oskar.

Letting go of Twilight, Oskar responded. “Sure.”

“Haaaaa, think I’ll get a gem for a light snack before bed.” Spike muttered with a yawn before disappearing into the kitchen.

In a few moments Oskar and Twilight were up in their room and settling in. Twilight was sitting up in her bed with a lit lamp on her bedside table, intending to do some reading before bed.

“Are you sure you don’t mind me reading Emerald?” Twilight asked with some concern. “I could go to my library bed if it bothers you.”

“Really Twilight, it’s no problem.” Oskar reassured. “Besides, if I have a problem shouldn’t I be the one to go to the library bed?”

“You’re my guest and my friend, I’d rather it be me.” Twilight replied.

“Well I really don’t have a problem with the light.” Oskar responded and with a fake yawn said. “Good night Twilight.”

“Night Emerald, sweet dreams.”

Oskar turned over in her bed and slightly buried her face under the covers. Normally Oskar would only have to wait a half an hour at the most before heading down to the library, but considering Twilight was doing some light reading, the fake unicorn was preparing for a long boring wait. That is until a thought struck her.

‘This bed is really soft.’ Oskar thought. ‘It’s been so long since I’ve been able to lie on a bed, the best I’ve ever managed before was a mattress on the floor that would get squashed the moment I laid down. And this place… it can be so hectic at times but in comparison… so peaceful. Maybe… maybe I can just sleep for once? Yes, to sleep, perchance to dream.’ The Cadre Evolved quoted roughly. ‘Yeah, let’s give this a shot, do something that won’t hurt anyone for once…’

With that, Oskar fell to sleep instantly with a sigh… and dreamed.

GAMMA

Princess Luna stood serenely in a misty plane of gray, the air filled with large bubbles that seemed to hold entire lively worlds within.

It had been over a thousand years since the Princess of the Night was able to fulfill one of her duties, and the Moon Alicorn was savoring the return to her duties after so long. A light smile played across her features as a bubble displaying a wall eyed pegasus eating a massive muffin floated by.

Luna closed her eyes and simply took in the soft sounds that permeated the dream realm, the sounds of laughter, the sounds of happiness, and the sounds of dreams. The Moon Princess sighed deeply, so very glad to back after so long, back to enjoying the peace of-

Suddenly a horrific scream shattered the peace.

Luan’s eyes widened in shock at the terrible sound and looked for its source. For a few moments the Princess saw nothing but the usual dream bubbles that drifted here and there, unaffected by the horrific noise. But Luna managed to catch a flash of black and red at the corner of her eye and quickly bolted in its direction.

Before long Luna found herself standing before the source, her mouth slightly agape at the sight. It was a bubble like the others but unlike the other dream bubbles its surface was oily black, dark clouds churned within, blocking the view of the dream and blood red tendrils of lightning surged across its surface, lashing out at anything and everything they could reach.

Luna immediately decided that this was the worst nightmare she had ever seen, and she had not even entered it yet! Schooling her features into a determined frown, Luna leapt forward, intent on ending the nightmare and helping the pony that was suffering from it.

Luna’s ears were assaulted by horrible and strange sounds the moment she entered the nightmare. Flying in midair Luna took stock of her surroundings and saw only the black churning clouds she had seen before, but now she realized it was not clouds but smoke from a fire she was seeing. Luna quickly flew forward to get out of the column of smoke she was in.

As she did so Luna noticed an odd noise fill the air, it was almost like that of a flag snapping in a strong breeze but was more rhythmic. The Princess was suddenly sent tumbling as an attack chopper flew through the smoke and past her. Quickly stabilising her flight, Luna saw she was out of the smoke and widened her eyes at the almost alien sight before her.

It was a city, very much like that of Manehattan but the buildings here were taller, much taller. The sky was filled with unnatural blood red clouds, there was fire and smoke rising everywhere Luna looked. The sounds of horrified screaming followed by animalistic howls filled the Moon Alicorn’s ears. It was almost enough that Luna herself wanted to leave this place, but the Princess was determined to help the pony suffering from such a horrifying nightmare and quickly focused on finding the dreamer.

Using her senses Luna was able to pinpoint where the dreamer was and flew over several streets before landing on the roof of a building that seemed to overlook a battle. Strange creatures and strange machinery were everywhere. Down below were what looked to be mostly hairless apes wearing clothing running in panic, on the opposite end of the street, howling in directionless rage were twisted horrifying creatures. Most looked like a sick and twisted parody of the apelike creatures below but others were far more appalling in shape, long twisted blades of bone ripped through arms of raw muscle and tendon, blood red skinless flash shined in the light of the day as the abominations run in terrifyingly fast charges to the helpless apelike beings below. Just as the shocked Moon Alicorn thought she was about to witness a brutal massacre, salvation arrived.

The attack chopper from before swooped overhead and unleashed a storm of pod rockets along with a punishing hail of gunfire, decimating the Redlight horde. Several flatbeds charged into the fray, unloading their cargo of battle ready marines. Pinpoint gunfire along with the occasional missile flew at the onrushing mass of infected, quickly driving them back as the chopper continued to rain death from above.

Luna watched on, reason for her being here temporarily forgotten in the face of what she was seeing. The Princess thought victory for the soldiers below was now a sure thing, once again she was proven wrong. Luna nearly added her own screams to the cacophony surrounding her when a massive over muscled creature landed next to her with a crash. The abomination next to her was barely anything more than a mass of muscles gleaming with something, two black pits served as its eyes and all four legs ended in razor sharp claws.

The Hunter next to Luna smashed both of its powerful claws into the roof of the building, lifting a several hundred pound chunk of concrete from the roof above its head. With a mighty roar the Redlight creature tossed the concrete wreckage at the chopper. The chopper saw the Hunter at the last second and attempted to pull away. It was a futile effort; the wreckage hit the chopper's tail rotor, sending shattered bits of rotor blades everywhere. The chopper went into an uncontrolled spin and soon crashed into the street. The force of its impact and shrapnel from the ensuing explosion served to decimate half the marine force trying to save the civilians. The situation only grew from bad to worse as four more Hunters joined their fellow on the roof and roared out a challenge as a fresh horde of infected flooded the street.

The Hunters’ challenge was answered by an Abrams that just rolled around a corner, turned its turret and fired. The upper body of one of the Hunters immediately disappeared in a pink mist when the tank shell hit it squarely in the chest, making Luna scream in horror of the brutality of it all. The four remaining Hunters quickly leapt down into the mass of infected and bashed their way through the crowd, charging at the remaining marines and a tank once clear.

The marines and the Abrams let loose at the approaching infected hordes. One Hunter was crippled when a tank shell ripped apart its hind legs, another was brought down to a lucky headshot with a rocket launcher and another was brought down to combined gunfire from all the marines. The last however had managed to reach the marines and immediately became a whirlwind of blood, gore and death, killing six marines in its near wild swinging. The Abrams quickly reversed, ripping into the Hunter with its heavy machine gun all the while. Despite the deadly hail of gunfire tearing into it the Hunter managed to grab a hold of another marine, intending to bite into him. The marine seeing he was about to die quickly pulled out a frag grenade and forced it into the Hunter’s mouth as it bit down, killing both the Hunter and the marine when it exploded.

During this the stronger of the infected managed to reach the marine lines thanks to the distraction provided by the Hunters and began ripping into them. Before long only a handful of marines and the tank were left standing between the infected and the civilians.

Above watching it all was Princess Luna who, despite knowing this was a dream, could not help but feel an immense sense of helplessness in the face of the carnage before her. The Moon Alicorn could not but help but think what had the dreamer had suffered in order for their subconscious to create such horrors. And with that line of thinking Luna suddenly remembered she needed to find the dreamer to help them. Suddenly the noise that permeated the air seemed to become dull and muffled.

“OSKAR!” A feminine scream rang out, loud and clear.

“MOM!” A young male voice answered, as clear as the other one.

Luna stared down and found her vision drawn to one of the ape creatures below. He looked young and wore a gray hooded sweater with blue pants that seemed to be made out of a hardy material, he also had rather pale skin and very light blond hair from what Luna could see from her position.

On the street below Oskar was staring fretfully towards a woman a distance away, his mother. She had pale skin, icy blue eyes and platinum blonde hair like her son, and wore dark sneakers, tan colored pants and a zipped up white hoodie.

“MOM!” Oskar shouted again and managed to get his mother’s attention.

Finally catching sight of her son in the chaos, Oskar’s mother took off at a dead run towards him when the ground began to shake.

“COPPERHEAD!!” One of the marines yelled as the tentacle form of the beast burst from a ground at the far end of the street.

The Copperhead let out a loud ear piercing squeal and quickly took a ruined ambulance into its grasp. Just before the massive Redlight creature threw the ambulance the Abrams fired off a round that ripped out a chunk of the Copperhead’s flesh. The beast squealed as it threw the ambulance.

Oskar stared in disbelieving horror as he saw that the ambulance was falling short of its intended target and was falling towards his mother instead. He shouted and gestured wildly to his onrushing mother but she only saw the falling vehicle coming when its shadow was casted over her.

The ambulance landed with a crash, bouncing lightly when it impacted the ground and rolled forward until coming to a stop before Oskar. The young teen fell to his knees staring blankly at the blood covered crumpled roof of the ambulance. All around him the battle continued to rage as support arrived in the form of another attack chopper with fresh waves of marines.

Upon seeing the person the dream was centered on Luna intended to go to meet with the tortured soul when the world suddenly began to change.

The sounds faded away as the whole world seemed to blur, leaving only Oskar. The teen below began to change, he became slightly taller, his clothes changed, he now wore a pair of blue sneakers, tan cargo pants, a white unzipped hoodie revealing a light blue shirt and white bucket hat sat atop his head.

After Oskar’s changes the world faded back in. The buildings were not only more damaged but seemed to have these disturbing fleshy growths with orange bioluminescence coming out of them. The streets were not only filled with twisted infected beings that somehow looked worse than before, but completely rusted vehicles as well.

Oskar’s demeanor from before had changed as well, before he was on his knees in horrified disbelief, now he was kneeling down in solemn silence with a sole rose on the street before him.

Luna stared in some confusion, whereas before when the twisted creatures were leaping and snarling at anything not their kind, now they were simply stumbling about content to ignore the now older being below. The Princess looked about wildly when a now family rumble met her ears.

A Hydra burst out of the ground on the end of the street Oskar was facing. Looking up from the rose he was gazing at, Oskar’s eyes only darkened and he rose to his feet with a low growl.

Expecting a futile charge, Luna was utterly shocked when the creature below charged with incredible speed, simply shoving any infected that happened to be between him and the Hydra out of the way. The Alicorn’s shock only increased when his arms changed into brutal claws in a burst of black tendrils.

With a powerful leap Oskar landed on the Hydra with a meaty thud. The great infected beast roared in agonized rage as Oskar sunk both of his claws into it. Ripping out one claw in gory fashion, Oskar left the other in the viral flesh, tendrils extended from the blades, digging into the Hydra and anchoring Oskar further.

The Hydra roared and thrashed about but Oskar stayed put and started ripping into the Hydra with his free claw. The young Cadre Evolved sent chunks of vile flesh flying as he ripped open an ever larger gash in the beast’s side. Finally Oskar seemed satisfied with the size of the wound and quickly dissolved into a mass of tendrils that disappeared into the open wound.

The Hydra continued to thrash and roar but now great spouts of blood spewed out of its mandibles whenever it did so. Disgusting black veins rapidly covered its form along with large sores appeared, bladed tendrils began to rip out of the flesh, appearing out of the sores. With an agonized whine the Hydra fell to the ground and began shuddering as the sound of tearing flesh filled the air.

Finally with a massive explosion of blood and gore half of the Hydra was scattered all over the street. Oskar stood on the pile of meat that was the Hydra, utterly pristine despite the carnage just moments ago.

Luna stood in utterly horrified confusion of what she had seen. Before she thought the dreamer was a victim but now she wasn’t so sure. Consequently the Alicorn did not exactly know what to do, before she would have simply approached the being below and tried to help him, but now…

“Still get psychotic episodes whenever you see one of my pets, Oskar?” A voice asked with a dark chuckle.

Luna looked up to see that another ape-like being stood on one of the buildings opposite her. He wore a coat that seemed to be made out of a black shiny material, a dark gray hoodie and a pair of blue pants made out of some hardy material.

“Dr. Mercer.” Oskar greeted respectfully and leapt down from the Hydra corpse. “What do I owe this pleasure?”

“Just thought I’d check up on one of my more covert minded operatives.” Alex Mercer stated with a shrug as he took a seat on the edge of the roof. “It’s funny… when I think about it I don’t think you ever had an open confrontation with Blackwatch, always sneaking about, being… subversive.”

“But not to you sir.” Oskar calmly reassured.

“No, not to me.” Alex replied, his eyes glinting in the shadows of his hood. “Still… what’s the matter Oskar? Scared of the humans and their pea shooters?”

“I assure you sir, I do not fear any human or their guns.” Oskar said hands clasped behind his back. “I’ve just always preferred subtlety to outright warfare. If required I will enter open combat, you only need to order it and I shall do it sir.”

“But not in your default form right?” Alex asked with a smirk.

“No sir.” Oskar replied simply.

“Hmmm…” Alex sat on the roof ledge for several moments, staring coldly at Oskar content to let him stew. If Oskar was in any way put off by the way Alex was staring at him he didn’t show it, at least not openly. “Well along with checking on you personally, I also brought you something as a personal favour.”

With that Alex got up from his seat and disappeared behind the ledge to get something from the roof. Oskar waited a long moment before Alex came back into sight via a powerful leap and landed just in front of the younger Blacklight being.

In Alex’s grasp was a woman, she was whimpering pitifully and judging from the bulge of her belly, she was very pregnant.

“Got you dinner and a side dish.” Alex said as he roughly tossed the woman to the ground. “Eat up.”

Just as Luna thought she was about to witness a monstrously evil act, a voice boomed throughout the dreamscape.

“EMERALD!”

With that the dream instantly collapsed and dissolved away, leaving Luna standing in her dream realm.

‘By mine sister’s sun.’ Luna thought in response to what she had just witnessed. ‘What was that?’

DELTA

Twilight awoke to a bright new day with a yawn and brought her hooves up to rub the sleep out of her eyes. Twilight pushed off her covers and made to get off the bed to freshen up but happened to catch sight of Emerald’s bed, namely that it was still occupied.

Twilight raised her brows in surprise, Emerald normally got up really early. In fact this was probably the first time Twilight ever saw her still sleeping at this hour. Emerald was usually down in the library snacking on fruits and berries during her studies.

Shrugging her shoulders Twilight got out of bed and walked over to wake her friend and roommate up.

‘Must have just wanted to sleep in for once, can’t begrudge her for that.’ Twilight thought as she approached the bed. ‘She spends nearly all night studying and sometimes all her free time studying even more. I’d be willing to give the occasional day off if she aske-’ Twilight’s thoughts ground to a halt as she caught sight of Emerald.

The unicorn in question was in her transfigured bed but her expression was twisted into a pained grimace, Twilight being this close could both see and hear Emerald’s teeth grinding together. After a long moment the violet unicorn bolted to her sleeping friend’s side in worry.

“Emerald? Emerald wake up! Emerald?!” Twilight said before reaching out with a hoof to Emerald’s shoulder. “EMERALD!”

Emerald inhaled sharply and her eyes shot open widely as she was finally shaken awake. She stared ahead blankly for a moment, before finally closing her eyes and groaning as she brought a hoof up to her face. Opening them again slightly, Emerald stared questionably at Twilight with bleary eyes.

“Twilight?”

“Emerald, are you okay?” Twilight asked in concern. “I saw you still sleeping and was about to wake you up but…”

“Yeah?”

“Well you had this really bad pained expression on your face.” Twilight began. “And you were grinding your teeth really hard. What happened to make you like that? Why were you still sleeping?”

Emerald’s expression became serious and she sat up in bed. She stared at the covers for a long moment before sighing and turning to Twilight.

“I… I get night terrors Twilight.” Emerald replied reluctantly.

“Night terrors?” Twilight asked.

“Night terrors are… they’re basically nightmares.” Emerald explained. “Only they’re ten times worse and they happen regularly… very regularly.”

Twilight was quiet for a long moment as she digested this bit of information.

“…When you told me you only needed two hours of sleep… you were never born like that weren’t you?” Twilight asked with a frown.

Emerald shook her head, staring at her covers.

“You were never born not needing much sleep… you learned to not need much sleep as a coping mechanism, right Emerald?” Twilight asked and simply took the ensuing silence as a yes. “Oh Emerald, you should have told me. I could help you; there is probably a spell somewhere in the library…”

“As much as I wish there was a magical cure for everything, to just make all the bad stuff go up in a poof of smoke…” Emerald began. “Not everything turns out okay, not everypony becomes a hero and gets their happy ending… I’ve learned to tolerate my condition, what else can I do?”

“I appreciate the offer Twilight, I really do.” Emerald continued as she got out of bed. “I’m used to this though… long used to this. You don’t need to do anything; I’ve got a handle on it.”

“Emerald…” Twilight said sadly as she watched her friend leave the room before following after her.

‘Why is life so unfair to her?’ Twilight thought to herself as she descended the stairs. ‘It’s just so sad…’

Twilight soon arrived in the kitchen to see Emerald had taken a seat at the table; she walked over and took a seat as well. Not a moment later Spike entered the kitchen yawning loudly.

“Morning guys.” Spike greeted. “I’ll have breakfast started in a couple minutes.”

“Thanks a lot Spike.” Emerald said with a melancholy smile.

“Don’t mention it Emerald.” Spike replied, not noticing Emerald’s expression on his way to the bathroom.

“Are you sure you’re okay Emerald.” Twilight asked once she took a seat. “It looked really bad…”

“I’m fine Twilight, I mean it.” Emerald replied a little tiredly. “I’ve dealt with this for years; I think I can manage another day. So you just stop worrying, okay?”

“Okay… if you say so Emerald…” Twilight responded unhappily.

Emerald sighed and simply sat, staring at the table top in thought. The two unicorns sat in silence that neither was willing to break for several long minutes until Spike finally returned with breakfast in claw.

“Here you go guys!” Spike announced as he entered. “Another masterpiece by master che- whoa, what’s with the gloomy looks?” The little dragon asked, glancing between Emerald and Twilight.

“Just… not right now Spike.” Emerald said softly. “Here, let’s just have breakfast.”

“Uh, okay.” Spike answered confusedly as he placed the plates of steamed vegetables on table with side dishes of freshly cut fruits.

The three proceeded to eat, the only sounds being chewing and the occasional clink from Spike’s claws hitting a plate. Said baby dragon was also staring as subtly as he could between the two unicorns, wondering what could have possibly happened between the two this early in the morning.

Finally, as the breakfast was nearing its end Emerald spoke up.

“Twilight?”

“Yes Emerald?” The violet unicorn answered.

“I know my education is really important and all but…” Emerald began a little hesitantly. “Would you mind a whole lot if I take the day off?”

“No Emerald, I don’t mind.” Twilight replied with a small smile. “You’ve been working really hard these past few weeks, spending nearly all night every night studying. I think it’s fair that you take a little break every now and then.”

“Thanks Twilight.” Emerald said with a smile before eating her last carrot slice. “And thank you for the breakfast Spike.”

“No problem Emerald.” Spike replied.

As Emerald got up from the table and left for the front day she turned around.

“…And Twilight?”

“Yes Emerald?”

“I know you’re concerned for my health and it is nice to know somepony is for once…” Emerald said seriously. “And… well it may not seem like it right now… but I really do appreciate it and you. Some things just can’t be cured though.” The pink maned unicorn said before quickly heading for the door.

“What was that all about?” Spike asked when Emerald was out of ear shot.

“Well Spike… it began this morning when I woke up.” Twilight began. “I was about to get ready for the day when I saw that Emerald was still in bed. So I walked over to wake her up but when I got close I…”

EPSILON

The fake unicorn smiled brightly as she made her way through Ponyville to the outskirts. Overall Oskar considered this morning to be fairly good. The breakfast was great and she had been able to secure a day off to fully focus on developing flight abilities, the only bad parts were when she had miscalculated Twilight’s reaction to the fact she had night terrors… and the fact she had a nightmare last night.

‘I was really hoping this peaceful place would rub off on me and give me nice dreams.’ Oskar thought with a sigh. ‘Guess I’m not going to get much sleep in this place too huh? It’s too bad; I was all excited about maybe getting a dream about the bakery again. Hmmm… maybe I’ll go see if Pinkie will like some help at Sugarcube Corner? I’ll check out that little possibility later, let’s get to Everfree.’

The Cadre Evolved proceeded to hide away in an alley just before the edge of town before once again heading to Everfree in wolf form. Fifteen minutes later Oskar was in a clearing deep in the depths of Everfree, back in her Emerald Gleaner form.

‘Let’s see…’ The viral being pondered. ‘Should I turn into Gilda or some random pegasus? Hmm… nah, let’s just give Emerald some wings.’

With that Oskar turned her head to watch as tendrils extended from her shoulders before quickly forming into a pair of pearly white wings, folded at her sides. Oskar stared at her wings a bit longer, pursing her lips in thought.

‘I don’t know why but I thought something else would happen…’ Oskar thought with a brief frown before shrugging. ‘Oh well let’s get to work!’

And so Oskar did. The Cadre Evolved started simply with short glides from thick study trees, she didn’t even need wings for that, so having them was a definite advantage. Oskar would glide and flap her wings once or twice to simply experiment with her pegasus magic.

Gilda’s memories of how Griffin magic worked were an advantage, but in the end it simply was not pegasus magic. In fact Oskar almost thought she suddenly lost her pegasus magic when she was subconsciously feeling for Griffin magic, she quickly got a hold of it when she discovered her error after a few minutes.

Oskar’s wings released little crude erratic pulses of pegasus magic whenever she flapped them, And despite their obvious feebleness they were actually having an effect on her gliding. It would take a little longer for the Evolved to lose her forward momentum and start plummeting, even longer if she started beating her wings as hard and fast as possible. Now Oskar was not anywhere near close to flight that much was certain, she could flap her wings as fast and as furiously as possible but the most she would accomplish was giving the grass a breeze. This did not dissuade Oskar, all things started small and the viral being knew it.

Standing on the ground to give her magic time to recoup, Oskar took deep breaths and bounced in place to keep the energy of the workout. After a few moments of bouncing Oskar suddenly frowned and stopped before looking down at her hoofs. Tilting her head curiously to the side Oskar bounced a couple more times, making loud thuds as her mass impacted the grass.

‘What the… am I lighter?’ Blinking in realization, Oskar bounced several more times while watching her wings. ‘They aren’t flapping… so the wings release a passive lightening effect without active intent? Hmm… time to experiment.’

Oskar proceeded to do a few more bounces before removing her wings in a burst of tendrils. She then started concentrating on her pegasus magic circuitry. The last few weeks of near constant practice with her magic allowed her some control over the more finicky unicorn and pegasus circuitry, not a whole lot but far better than when she first started. Concentrating deeply, Oskar carefully called upon her pegasus magic and pulled it through the unicorn circuit and into the horn.

The Cade Evolved looked up at her horn, she knew magic was going through and out it but unlike when she was using her unicorn magic, the horn was unlit. Which made sense after some thought, pegasi wings never lit up when they were in use. But this had the effect of making Oskar unsure if anything was happening.

Oskar bounced; the ensuing thuds were noticeably louder than before. The viral being frowned thoughtfully as she ended the flow of magic to her horn. She bounced again, this time the thuds were far louder. Oskar raised her brows in soft surprise before she started to do more test bounces, switching between using her wings, her horn and nothing. After several minutes of testing Oskar nodded her head in satisfaction.

‘Okay so I can channel pegasus magic through my horn to achieve the lightening effect without the wings.’ The Cadre Evolved thought. ‘BUT, doing so is not as effective as the natural method. Even so, with this discovery I can not only somewhat practice my pegasus magic in the open but eventually I may be able to lighten myself to “normal” levels. This is useful, Applejack likes to roughhouse like a “colt”, those have been rather nerve racking situations, me being as heavy as I am I could easily end up crushing her… which is bad if that happened unplanned, I would end up having to make Emerald disappear. Which I would rather not happen, a disguise Emerald may be but I still have grown attached to the form, and it would be so annoying to start up somewhere else not to mention the loss of valuable training by leaving Twilight.’

‘Hmm… anyways, back to work.’ With that thought Oskar returned to her flying practices.

This continued on for several hours, hours filled with Oskar leaping from trees and gliding down, flapping her wings in an attempt to gain any altitude. She hadn’t managed any apparent progress by the time the sun was setting and she decided to head home, but all good things come in time.

‘This is going to take a bit of work but I will fly.’ Oskar thought decisively as she began walking. ‘Okay now that my practices are done let’s get to the next item of interest: Spike’s dragon abilities. I want them, being able to chomp down on gems like and digesting them for nutrients? What not to want? But how to go about getting the genes?’

‘Hmmm… I don’t think he sheds scales… at least I’ve never seen any lying around in my time here.’ Oskar pondered. ‘Could I put him to sleep with gas? No, I don’t have any idea of what kind of metabolism he has, for all I know he would just end up getting hyper. Well he uses the facilities like everyone else… perhaps I could tap the sewage tank after he uses the washroom... yeah I’m just going to pretend I didn’t just consider that. I could possibly pluck a scale from him while he sleeps at night… no too risky, lots of awkward questions if he wakes up from it.’

‘What else, what else… well he does have that little…’ Suddenly Oskar’s expression twisted into a disgusted grimace. ‘No, I shouldn’t! I never went that far before! But… this pretty much has a near certainty of success…’

The Cadre Evolved thought for a long moment before finally sighing and shaking her head in disbelief.

‘The things I do for power in this place…’ Oskar thought tiredly as she made her way home.

ZETA

It was now night, approaching midnight to be exact. Everyone in Twilight’s library was now asleep as the moon was raised high in the night sky, casting soft silver beams of light through windows. Upstairs Twilight was happily asleep, the bed opposite hers empty and the covers made. Spike was in his little basket down on the ground floor of the library, sleeping snugly as his blanket was tucked tightly around his form. All was quiet… until a soft knock came from the door.

Spike snorted and turned over in his bed, the knocking came again and this time made the little dragon wake up.

Spike cracked open an eye before groaning as he heard the knock at the door. He pulled his blanket over his head and called out.

“Emerald… could you get that?” Spike asked knowing the unicorn would be up by now despite being half asleep.

Again the knocking came, persistent yet not loud enough to wake Twilight on the floor above.

“Emerald!” Spike called out a little louder.

Once again the knocking came and went unanswered.

Finally the baby dragon had had enough and got up from his basket. He walked over to the front door, dragging his blanket and grumbling all the while.

“Emerald?” Spike called out as he glanced into the library on his way to the door, but he found the room empty of the late studying unicorn. He wondered at that for a moment before the persistent knocking came again. “Yeah, yeah I’m coming…”

Finally arriving at the door, Spike threw it open as the knocking came again. “I’m here! Not what do yo- Rarity!”

“I apologise for the hour darling.” Rarity said as she walked inside. “But I just HAD to come despite the time.”

Spike stared dully for a moment before quickly closing the door and dropping his blanket as he darted to the unicorn’s side.

“Rarity! What’s the matter, why are you here so late!” Spike said in an almost panicked voice. “Did something bad happen?! Should I go get Twilight?! I’ll go get Twilight!”

Just before the little dragon could bolt up the stairs, Rarity placed her hoof on his mouth to quiet him. When he calmed down she took her hoof off his mouth and stroked the side of his face.

“Shhhh, Spike.” Rarity said, gazing almost lovingly at the baby dragon. “The one I need is right where I want him.”

Spike’s face turned crimson and his heart started to pound as Rarity strolled into the library. Getting a hold of himself Spike quickly darted after her. He stopped in the doorway to the library when he saw Rarity standing before one of the windows, the beams of moonlight falling on her giving the unicorn a beautifully mystical look.

Rarity turned her attention away from the moon and smiled softly at Spike, she motioned for him to stand beside her in moonlight.

Gulping Spike walked over until he stood right next to Rarity, who smiled happily at him before turning her attention back to the moon.

“Is it not a beautiful night?” Rarity asked after a few moments of silence.

“It is… but it’s not nearly as b-beautiful as you.” Spike replied nervously.

Despite the predictability of the compliment Rarity seemed to like it, as her eyes shined with adoration and she gushed. “Oh Spike…”

Suddenly Rarity seemed to get very shy as her face flushed. After a moment the reason why became apparent as the unicorn slowly brought her face closer to Spike’s. Spike’s face turned cherry red and his heartbeat was deafeningly loud in his ears as he did the same.

After a long moment of the two just hovering out of the other’s reach, they met.

Spike considered this night to be the best one he ever had and was glad that Emerald seemed to be sleeping again. For the dragon the moment couldn’t get more perfect.

Suddenly Rarity wrapped her hooves around Spike’s neck and brought him close in a tight embrace. Spike felt the unicorn press her lips harder to his before he suddenly felt something long and warm enter his mouth.

Spike’s eyes rolled in his head as he fainted and went limp from the French kiss he was getting from his crush. Rarity continued kissing, unaware of Spike being unconscious. Finally coming away from Spike with panting breath, Rarity blinked her eyes in stupefaction at the little dragon in her grasp.

“Of thank god!” Rarity exclaimed in relief. “He fainted!”

Suddenly in a burst of tendrils Rarity was no longer holding Spike, instead it was Oskar in her Emerald Gleaner form.

Oskar gave another thankful sigh as she magically lifted Spike into the air and began walking to where his bed was. Picking up his blanket along the way, Oskar set about placing Spike in his bed and tucking him in. Oskar hoped that when the little dragon awoke in the morning he would think this night’s event would just be a pleasant dream.

‘You know…’ Oskar thought as she walked to the kitchen. ‘I was expecting to feel about as dirty as the time I played a whore in that brothel. But it wasn’t that bed… probably because of how innocent the little guy was, and the fact that the other guy very clearly wanted something else. I still feel dirty… and the taste, ugggh… he must have been snacking on gems because it feels like I have gravel in my mouth.’

The Cadre Evolved arrived in the kitchen and began digging in the pantry.

‘But was it worth it? Using myself this way?’ Oskar thought as she brought out a ruby. ‘Well…’

Out from the sides of her hoof several bladed tendrils shot out and into the gem. Soft crunching noises filled the room as the tendrils tore into the ruby and absorbed chunks of it into them. In a few seconds the gem was completely gone, not even dust remained.

‘Yes, it was an unpleasant price to pay but yes, it was worth it.’ Oskar smiled genuinely as she exited the kitchen and walked into the library. Levitating a book from the shelves, Oskar took a seat at the circular table.

‘No rest for the wicked, let’s see here… Neurology: Science of the Brain?’ Oskar read. ‘Hmmm… what did the ponies with their magic do here? Interesting…’

-TBC-

AN: And that concludes chapter four after one long wait! I’ll admit some parts are questionable to me, like the beginning and the dream sequence but I think it works out in the end. Anyway, chapter fifteen of Erika Gefallen is going to take precedence so expect another long wait for chapter five!

Author's Note:

And that concludes chapter four after one long wait! I’ll admit some parts are questionable to me, like the beginning and the dream sequence but I think it works out in the end. Anyway, chapter fifteen of Erika Gefallen is going to take precedence so expect another long wait for chapter five!

EDIT 2/13/16: Replaced with cleaned up chapter

Comments

[Art of Shadow]

Another lovely chapter, some parts feel a bit rushed compared to the rest though...

I love the way you paint the dream matrix 'what Luna views the dreams from'. Sorry, I'm horrible at comments >.<

[More Dakka]

Loved the dream sequence, I'm wondering if killing Gilda will come back to bite him in the ass later on especially since he could have just taken a feather or bit her as a rat and ran off.

[Cadmium]

This story is the best Prototype crossover i ever read here, I simply love how he acts around the ponies and i'm beginning to suspect that it isn't just acting anymore, at least with Twilight.

Carry on and release plenty of updates!

[Runa]

He's going to get found out, luna is on his trail and twilight will try fixing his brain, so he will get caught.

[TOG]

I can be your editor.

[Hypastpist]

what was Oskar thinking when s/he said

"...he has this little..."?

[ArchAIngel]

Just a bit of a typo, it is girly frou frou, not frew frew. Just a tip.

[Legionary]

And I'm back! Time to answer some reviews...

2514088 What really?! NOOOOO!!!

2514322 Well if I was intrigrating parts of Assassin's Creed then yes Oskar would only need a drop of blood, but rather make things too easy I'm keeping to the "Needs to eat brains to get memories" thing.

2514487 Gunter! "Gunter, why did you Gunt my fries~"

Yep, I love character development, don't you?

2517659 Awesome, I'll send you a PM later to detail a few things if really are up to doing some edits.

2518588 Such a great review!

Twilight was refering to her brother Shining Armor AKA this guy
th03.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2012/113/2/5/shining_armor__s_armor_by_bronyboy-d4xdjxf.png

And personally I think the last one works as is.

Finally I don't mind my story being added anywhere! But it is nice to be notified beforehand!

2520687 Get your mind out of the gutter!

"He has this little crush on Rarity so maybe..." That was what Oskar was thinking. You dirty minded little thing you

2521046 Alright, thanks!

And that was a lot! I knew appealing to the crossover crowds with this story would be a good idea!

[More Dakka]

2522108

k then so I’m guessing taking blood or a feather would have given him the ability’s not the knowledge to use them without having to learn himself like with magic.(He didn’t need spikes brains to bite gems) fair enough it will probably bite him in the ass still but now I see the why.

[Legionary]

2522200 True, everyone else may figured she was gone for good and thought good riddence but Gilda has to have friends and family elsewhere. People that would notice she went to Ponyville and never came back...

[Hypastpist]

2522108 considering what he is willing to go to to get power

i wouldnt be surprized if he tried that

[Holographic]

The longer I take to type a comment the shorter it will eventually be -and I feel like I said all I need to say in the last comment too. I'll be quick about it.

Nah! I still want to say something more. This chapter confirms what i've been thinking of. How Oskar is either making the Emeald identity as he goes along or unintentionally bending the truth. You can say that you were orhaned or that your parents were killed, but both unceremonious mean that they're not around anymore. Depending on what that dream was all about, it could have been centered on his mother dying or coercion into eatting a pregnant woman (which btw gave me unneccessary imagery, thank you). Um. It's both isn't it? Still trying to figure out how they're related other than being tramatizing.

He killed Gilda. First creature he knowingly killed that was intelligent. Well then...

[Holographic]

2520687
Honestly, one of the thoughts that crossed my mind was that she would have to extract his semen to get the genes, but then I realize the unfortunate implications and proceded to bleach my brain. Now if you excuse me, I have to use the brain bleach again for remembering...

[dakingofmuffins]

2522108 so when ponies gun find out bout Oskars disguise.

[Legionary]

2526943 Hmmm... it probably will happen eventaully, but considering Oskar's experiance with stealth and covert ops, it won't be anytime soon.

[Legionary]

2525124 Oskar's full name translates roughly to Insecure Leaping Warrior.

I love it when people notice all the little details I put in my work. I think you noticed a trend in the things Oskar tells the ponies by now, everything is either a half-truth, a truth from certain point of veiw or he simply let's people make their own assumptions and doesn't correct them.

Oskar is... unused to male attraction, it'll not be condition that will last forever... but untill then it will be funny watching his blindness to a colt's interest!

I never said that those four were the "only" the possible endings, I merely stated those were four probable ones. But... I can assure you... by the time this story is over... a Blacklight stalk will have towered over Canterlot in all it's terrible viral glory.

About the dream, you have most of everything to figure the center of the dream. But like watching the beginning and middle of a movie but forgoing the end, you do not know how it all goes together.

Did EVERYONE seriously think that Oskar was going to perform some sort of sexual act on a minor WHILE wearing somone else's form, just to get a bit DNA? Something that a fresh scraping of skin tissure would have achieved? You peope have been reading too much clop methinks :S

[Holographic]

2527300
Ooh! I'm willing to bet that those other Evolved from the begining the the story will return. I wonder how the prototype universe colaborates with equestria? I'm at a loss for how this happened... If an explaination comes along, then I'll expect something big, viral, and deadly to also crawl out of it.

So there are more parts to the dream seqence? Cool.

Hey! Not everyone lives in the gutter! This is simply a case of spending far too much time alone on the computer... Or cases like me who think things out far too hard, until they end up being an innuendo.

Among other things I might add, referencing Oskar frequently by his real name rather than his other idenity, Emerald, accentuates how much it is a mask for the purposes of espionage. Speaking of idenities, Oskar doesn't seem to have a gender idenity. The continued switches between 'he' and 'she' make me think this. In other fanfics, the main character would refer to themself as one or the other depending on choosen idenity. Oskar doesn't seem to have an opinion, as of currently.

And now, I quietly become another one of your followers, begging for new chapters on hands and knees outside your bedroom window...

[Legionary]

2527769 Errr... did you happen to speed read chapter one by any chance? The scene following the very first one has a heavy implication of who sent Oskar to Equestria and why. But I can promise that the Evolved of the Cannon Fodders will make another appearance near the end!

I sure you spend all that alone time on the computer enjoying wholesome family sites

memeorama.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/If-You-Know-What-I-Mean-Mr-Bean-Blank.png

Emerald is definitely a mask... just much how of that mask was molded after Oskar is the question.

Oskar is very flexible in regards to gender. He considers himself a virus rather then a human, and as a virus he knows that technically he can barely be called a living being. What is gender to one who can asexually reproduce? What is the meaning of companionship when a virus can only consume and twist true life to its purpose? The only person Oskar has ever trusted with his thoughts and opinion were himself during the events of [PROTOTYPE2]. Long story short he had long periods of introspection to contemplate what he was...

Oskar Osäker is only a barely living being, a virus! And a virus consumes all!

[Lord Charles]

:confession bear: every time i come to the site and open up my favorites i pry this story had been updated.

[Holographic]

2528932
Heh... Well... We got got this whole list of things happening and Oskar falls down some stairs and spontaneously lands in Equestria. I don't know whats going and I don't know anyone who would send him there either. And besides that, I don't think mlp exists in the prototype universe, unless Oskar managed to overlook his absorbed memories. The Astral Lords maybe? Mmm? I though that scene was just one of Radical's offices in England... I thought the miniature suns were the office ceiling lights and the reason why they were refered to in god-like undertones was because they are the creators of prototype's fictional world... And maybe someone is screwing around with photoshop, combining my little pony and prototype in a cubical somewhere... And that Oskar Osäker: True Omnivore is the result... But then again... Maybe not.

Also, sorry for that last review; I kinda just thought whatever came to mind.

I also aware of the idea that he may not think himself as a living creature, but I thought that he may have some semblance of attactment to his previous life. Whether or not he wants to develop a new one is the question i'm trying to ask.

[Legionary]

2532107 You seem to over think things a lot. Considering the only above average sales of [PROTOTYPE2] caused Activsion to shut down Radical, I don't think they have the money to build a bunch of pearly palaces that are as wide as the earth and as tall as the solar system is wide

I don't mind open brainstorming In fact I encourage it!

Oskar does have a attachment to his old life, I've made a few subtle references to that fondness. At this point Oskar is obliviously developing a new life, he is still... let's call it "high strung" from the life he was forced to live under Alex Mercer, so far all Oskar sees is the securing his future and eliminating threats without too much self endangerment. But... that is only how Oskar currently feels and thinks, the future is ever moving, no telling what he will be like by the time say... the Galloping Gala rolls around.

I also have thought of character interaction between "Emerald" and Rarity that just makes me... smile...

[Holographic]

2539731
I can just tell by the use of 'Galloping Gala' and 'Rarity' in close vicinity to one another that a Emerald in a dress is a ensured prophecy. I'll be waiting for the next update.

[Legionary]

2543067 Your foresight is rather impressive! I think you'll enjoy reading it as much as I'll enjoy writing it!

[Holographic]

2543910
Oh, why thank you!

Wanna know what else has impressive foresight?

[Legionary]

2544699 You are just on the ball today aren't you!

Don't want to spoil anything for you but... Emerald will happen to be present for Photo Finish's arrival at Rarity's boutique... what happens then... well you will just have to wait until I advance the plot to that point. It will be while unfortunately

But barring my sudden death I promise this story will eventually be finished!

[Holographic]

2544831
Okay, sweet. Anyways, after 4 hours and 30 minutes, I finally made this.
Edit: Gawddamnit! I forgot the eyelashes again!
oi42.tinypic.com/34pi80x.jpg

[Legionary]

2545425 (This is me laughing in joy by the way)

Oh wow! Fanart! Magnificent, magnificent fanart! You won't believe the way this makes my heart soar! Such a simple thing, fanart, yet it means so much to get it! Did you know crafting a story good enough to inspire someone to make art of it was one of my long term goals as an amateur author? It took a while but I managed it on my first story! And now this! Magnificent!

The dress is fantastic though its not what I have in mind for the dress Rarity is going to design for "Emerald". The dress Rarity is going to make... well I don't want to tell as it'll spoil the surprise. However I'm fairly certain "Emerald" will receive her dress along with the other mares of the mane six in chapter six.

This picture deserve some recognition though! One way or the other the dress will be in the story!

Once again thank you for the art!

[Holographic]

2545636
Glad you liked it.

[Legionary]

2580194 So you would have preferred that Oskar's arrival in Equestria remain entirely unexplained? Explained or unexplained there is just no pleasing some people oh well can't make everyone happy, nice to finally get a review that is at least a little bit critical.

So you would have preferred Oskar be completely and totally ignorant of the pop culture of his world, which other then the existence of Blackwatch, the super viruses and a few other things is no different from ours? Let me tell you one thing, if this story was a self insert it would be identified as such garbage and I would be completely and utterly honest about how I would act and react in such situations. There are very few ways to utterly insult me but I realize you did not mean anything so I'll bite my tongue from any further ranting.

Well I did post a WARNING didn't I? Other then me gaining spontaneous masterly in English grammar this is a situation that will not change any time soon.

[Legionary]

The number of new readers is starting to pick up. I'm going to blame Holographic for this! He started this when he put my story on that group. Curse you Holographic, curse you for making me a bit more popular!

[Xzaves]

2522400 I smell a side-plot

[Legionary]

2588710 Oh?

Is it the... blood in the water your shark nose smells?

Is your wit as sharp as you nose I wonder?

[prince mi amore mystic]

upedate ples

[Legionary]

2591625 I will, when the wake I am attending is over and I update EGAU.

[prince mi amore mystic]

2592086o ok im sory for your lose

[hs0003]

Ohh I quite like this story! I'll look forward to future updates

Have a good one!

[Legionary]

2599754 To be honest it was my mother that needed to be there, I did not need to be consoled, death is the eventuality of all things. I outgrew that hick wannabe family a long time ago.

BAH! I'm sorry you didn't need to know that, I just needed to vent. Even just a little bit...

[Legionary]

2600218 Thanks a lot! The past few days have not been very good for me but I did get inspiration for the LONG term story arc. So many wonderful ideas, to bad it'll be such a long time until I implement them. Oh well it'll be worth the wait!

[prince mi amore mystic]

yo your oc like

[Legionary]

2605594

Now that is just awesome! Except Oskar doesn't know she's sexy to colts

Heh, I feel great after looking at that!

[prince mi amore mystic]

lol YES np

[BOBthieBomber]

Why is his last name unsure in Swedish.

[Legionary]

2609262 Ah, this question again, allow me to quote myself.

It also means insecure, as well as shaky, uncertain, doubtful and unsafe. But here I'm aiming for insecure, which combined with the deeper meaning of his first name roughly translates to: Insecure Leaping Warrior. Oskar is half Swedish you see, his mother was a Swedish immigrant with bad luck in choosing cities to try to settle in.

I know it seems silly to an actual Swedish person for me to just randomly pick one of your words for a name, but I wanted Oskar to have his name to have a deeper meaning as well as imply the fear and insecurity that plagues him.

[Holographic]

2584614
oi44.tinypic.com/2wh3vro.jpg
That fanart I made last time, however much you may have liked it, does not sit well with me. And its not just because I was missing an eyebrow! It's too unpolished in my opinion. Since it irks me so much, I will make a new full-colored drawing sometime this summer. It probably won't be another dress, as Oskar Osäker: True Omnivore will most likely update before then. Just please don't post that picture anywhere. I can do much better.

Anyways, I see this story got added to another folder of the Transformations group. Enjoy your fame! See ya!

[Holographic]

I was wondering if I was the one who added Oskar Osäker: True Omnivore to the Rule63 group or the Transformations group's gender folder. I tested through the 'add to group' button. I don't know which came first, but I now know that I'm the one who submited it to both. Transformations group got hit twice in the same day. Expect to see Sam soon.

Enjoy the extra fame!

[fuckyoudeletemyaccount]

Gotta say, this might just be one of the best crossovers I've ever read! You REALLY could use an editor... or two though.

[Legionary]

2628470 Supposed to have one... He hasn't gotten back to me on any of the chapters...

[Legionary]

2627408 Meh, no problem! I was having a hard time justifying Rarity making "Emerald" another dress anyway

I've had a rather creative week! SO MANY INTERESTING IDEAS! The future is going to be grand! I promise it!

[Holographic]

2628490

[fuckyoudeletemyaccount]

2628490

By 'grand' does that possibly involve Luna having some kind of 'What the hell?' moment? I would consider that rather grand.