Virus.

A packet of DNA or RNA strands and enzymes inside a protein container that attaches to cells to inject its contents. The enzymes make the appropriate cuts to insert the genetic material in the right place to fool the cell into making more copies of the virus. A virus lacks many of the characteristics that regular cells have to be considered truly 'alive', and so are considered to be at the edge of life at best.

Redlight, and by extension, Blacklight, were much more complicated. The usual result was an incredibly fast infection, with the virus spreading through the body, then multiplying so quickly that the host organism was killed through sheer trauma to their tissues. Then there were the special cases, when something in the genetic code of the host was compatible with the virus; the cells changed, but were not completely destroyed; more appropriate would be to say 'absorbed', with the degree of compatibility indicating the order of the end result. Either virus could manipulate the entire structure of each possible cellular component with supernatural ease. They took the genetic material and used it to grow and adapt. They could be thought of as 'alive' in most conventional definitions.

The infected themselves, however, were another grey area.

Most simply died. The trauma killed them. The virus might - might - take the organic matter as its own and, for lack of a better term, turn into a zombie. Masses of infected flesh that walk... the original information stored into the brain was usually still there, but any consciousness was gone and replaced with animalistic instincts.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, there were those whose bodies withstood the assault, and their capacity to think was preserved. The genetic code could support a working mind.

Some took Mercer's words at face value. 'Something that looks like you and has all of your memories but isn't quite you'. Nuts to that. Forest suspected that that was just him reading too much into his own situation - after all, he did say that Doctor Alex Mercer was well and truly dead before the virus took over (being turned into swiss cheese via bullets had that effect), so obviously he'd turn into a different person!

For some values of 'person', anyways.

He lacked proper human intuition, though he obviously remembered -and learned- many things about how to act, but for her part Forest didn't feel she had changed that much besides getting certain urges. Alright, so she was more callous about topics like murder, but at the least she understood it.

Many, particularly the sort she occasionally consumed for attacking her, used it as a justification for being psychos, though. Forest didn't buy into the whole 'transhuman superiority' act; she just wanted to live. Vague goal, hazy in execution, and it confused her whenever she thought too much about it - what monster didn't care to be a monster, anyways? She sometimes didn't mind it, or even got her kicks from scaring thugs before consuming them, but she knew that, some day, she would tire even from that; those she killed were still sons and daughters, brothers or sisters, and thus once mattered to someone else.

Forest's current problem was vaguely related.

She knew that any life she took she'd have to 'carry', even without taking Blacklight into account - thanks to some overly-philosophical cook for a mafia don (obvious even before consumption; dude had a gun larger than a policeman's in a pocket of his apron; dad would flip his lid).

She never quite expected to be forced to remember.

Every victim, every perpetrator; if she or any of the infected she killed had consumed them, she knew. Bad enough back on Earth, she didn't need Shining's accident to remind her of that. The... no, Twilight had already cut through the spiral, no need to fall down it again.

However, that didn't mean that she had to like the fact that she was getting brainwashed by her own powers. Again.

Like the memory stealing wasn't enough - like making herself watch through the lives of those she consumed wasn't enough. Dear God, it was like being human all over again; always at the mercy of her biology, of the delicate balance of chemistry in the brain or her organs. Now her carefully-maintained chemical balance was being assaulted by magic.

Magic.

She would have given an eye in exchange for magic back when hell was unleashed upon New York, and now she had to suffer through mood-altering energies all around and within her.

Oh, and that strange craving for chocolate whenever Forest was female. Seriously, where did it even come from? Mother was like herself, a strawberry kind of girl; father liked chocolate as much as anypo- anyone else, but his real favorites were savory dishes.

Still, a chocolate-covered raisin went into her mouth, followed by a few more. She was grouchy - wait, what? She was unhappy and cranky- mad. She was mad at Shining Armor. Twilight, however, was making it hard to stay upset- angry; the infuriatingly sharp filly had arrived to the rather accurate conclusion that the more the act expressed the feeling of love, the more Forest would feel it.

Love-infused hugs from a cutesy pony managed to be a powerful mood-stabilizer, and soothing and satisfying, like chocolate for the empathy-sense of a changeling. Another Blacklight might have considered it galling, a humiliation, but Forest needed to keep a level head more than she needed to keep a super-predator self-image (F-buck, she was alpha for a pride of manticores, and that was fact rather than posture). She had no problem with being a unicorn mare wearing a frilly saddle (being a pony was pretty comfortable to tell the truth).

She knew better than them, she knew that she didn't need to prove anything, since she already knew. If one lived with certain types of 'pride' for too long, they would start thinking with their pride instead of their heads and stop knowing what or who they are any more. She already had her head messed up enough and had enough identity issues to be better called identity compendiums; she didn't need to add that to the list.

If she was going to be proud of anything, it would have to be herself.

She felt... cute, and that was as valid a point of pride as any. She wasn't going to watch herself through other ponies' eyes! Bad enough that she couldn't turn off her empathy, she wasn't going to surrender her other senses. She was cute, and that would not detract from her deadliness at all.

She knew, with absolute certainty, that going all out right from the start, without allowing time for Shining to cast his more powerful spells (which she would treat as potentially harmful/painful, if what Twilight said about his position in the Guard was any indication), would result in meeting about the same resistance she would expect from overripe produce. Not even a scratch, of that she was sure. She didn't need that pride; it was just facts.

Hence, the words that came out of her mouth were:

"Please don't ever do anything like that again."

Shining apologized - properly - this time, not some hurried 'sorry, Steel, please explain, I'm running late' before being tripped by a magic tendril and forced to listen to her threats. Twilight was still hugging her, asking her to never get that scary ever again.

"I will do what I can. I will get all of my facts straight." She said, then added darkly. "I make no promises if something like that happens for real, though."

Twilight swallowed a lump. The anxiety much more obvious through the physical contact, and so it was easy for Forest to guess what she was going to ask. Again.

"Did- did you-?"

"No Twilight. If it will help prevent this sort of question in the future, I'll have you know that I'm a virgin." Seriously? Was she really having that kind of conversation with a five-year-old's dream-come-true unicorn pony? "I shall not allow a pony who does not respect me to lay a hoof on me. I, however, have seen too much."

With that ominous statement, the door decided to interrupt the conversation.

Since Twilight was busy loving and tolerating the anger out of her friend (empathy was convenient like that), Shining opened the door to find their parents on the other side. Spike was riding on mom's back, as usual for their interactions, stuffing his face with donuts, also as usual for them.

Seriously, if she doted on him any more, he'd think she was Spike's actual grandmother.

"Shiny!" Mom greeted with a wide smile and a warm hug, which he didn't hesitate to return.

"Hi, mom."

"Mhrmph, mmh shmnm." Spike waved at him, tossing crumbs about, though at the very least he kept his mouth closed. His other claw held a box of donuts.

"We have the camera!" Dad said, levitating it in front with a couple of extra rolls of film, too. He had two more boxes of donuts on his back - heaven knew how many boxes Spike had inhaled already.

"Hi, dad."

"Mom, dad, this is Forest." Twilight said while giving the fake unicorn a squeeze. Not that she had a lot of give, but the disguised mare softened her body to let her.

"A pleasure to meet you." She nodded politely with a smile.

Click! The blue stallion manipulated the camera with his magic, getting ready to take another picture.

"How cute!" Twilight's mom, Velvet, cooed as she released Shining Armor - only to pat his cheeks. The light gray unicorn mare did as most (pony) mothers do - shower her children with enough love, pride and affection to be physically felt in a three-meter radius.

Forest would bet she could feel it in thirty.

F-Buck, she could feel Celestia's, though that could simply be the contact with the recipient.

"We are glad to meet any friend of our daughter's." Night Light smiled. "I hope we can see the rest soon - maybe even organize a large meeting!"

His happy tone and big, toothy smile told Twilight that maybe she had taken her attitude towards her studies a touch too far.

"Oh, I know!" Velvet said. "Maybe meet your parents as well, dear."

Velvet knew that that hadn't been the right thing to say when she felt Spike flinch. For his part, Night Light knew something was wrong when he saw Twilight and Shining wince.

Forest was calm, however, and shrugged.

"Hopefully you won't have to meet them for a good long while, since they died and all."

Night winced like his kids, while Velvet gasped behind a hoof.

"I-I'm so sorry, dear, I had no idea!" She started to apologize, but was interrupted by a raised hoof.

"Getting caught up in the past is unhealthy. While I wish we had been Equestrians from the start, which perhaps would have given me plenty of siblings due to my mother's desire for a large family, I simply cannot bring myself to think too much about it. I tired of that far too long ago."

Forest witnessed... something strange. Twilight Velvet was teary-eyed, she cantered over to her but, just before she did, Spike wordlessly slid down and held the box with both claws, turning around just in time to hold the other two that Night Light handed him. Not a word was exchanged.

'Is... are they feeling love already?' Warm, cozy, not a shred of pity to be found.

A family hug.

*****

"You didn't have to outright tell them, Shining." Forest inspected the jelly donut she held, as if contemplating eating it or not. "You could have simply said I am a refugee who lost everything; it would have been more than enough."

She bit into the pink-glazed pastry, the strawberry filling hugging her tongue and the flavor that rolled through her senses making her close her eyes in delight.

The others were a little unnerved by how calmly she spoke.

"We were told you had planned to travel the whole world, dear." Velvet tried to start a conversation, her own donut momentarily forgotten. "That is quite ambitious! What motivated you to do something like that?"

Forest finished her donut, propped her head on a hoof as the other rested calmly on the table.

"I have nowhere to go or return to." She idly picked a chocolate-glazed chocolate donut with chocolate chips with her magic. "I am tired of walking the road I have followed here. This world holds many interesting places and I merely wish to see them without being bothered or hunted."

The conversation died.

"You will always be welcome in Ponyville." Twilight said. "You'll always have a home there."

'I do have a house... but, is it a home?'

"I do like it there, yet you must understand; my sole goal has been to live, and yet, that road is rife with enemies. I have lived a long time feeling that what I have might be taken from me in an instant, because, until very recently, that was my reality." She said, and she wouldn't be surprised if it happened again. Oddly enough, the thought made her stir internally, at least more than she thought it would.

'She's got a real talent for killing conversations.' Shining thought darkly, deep to himself.

"Again, that doesn't mean I do not like it here, merely that old habits die hard. This change I experienced is just too great." She bit into the pastry, the chocolate was even better than back on Earth, somehow. Swallowing, she sighed and continued. "It's like walking down a road you can't see. I admit it; getting my bearings is difficult, but with help I think it will not be that bad."

She thought of the six girls... and a stray thought entered her head.

"I... I feel like a mare." She set down her food for a second. "I have the power to sense what others are feeling, and I can definitely feel the honesty in their greetings, and..." Her voice lowered to a whisper. "And their respect..."

"Thunderlane." Twilight realized. Forest blushed and gave her mane a quick stroke.

"I felt it. He certainly thought I was pretty when we met, but it was not until my little feat of athletics that... that he took interest." She said, turning the plate around idly. "I could tell. I was 'pretty', but then he... he felt respect for me; he took interest in me; he wanted to know me better, not just ogling my body."

She tapped her chin.

"You are not ready." Shining Armor said in understanding, to which Forest scoffed.

"Please, who is?" She sneered. "If everypony waited until they were ready, ninety percent of everything wouldn't happen. Sometimes, there is no other way to make something happen than to take the plunge."

Shining's eyes widened, and it was obvious he had gotten an idea.

"But that's the thing. I don't know if I want something to happen." She snatched the remains of the chocolate donut and stopped right before biting it angrily; she dropped it back to the plate. "I was too busy stay alive to think about that."

"About dating?"

"Let me put it this way. The most 'exposure' I had until a few years ago was holding a clothes magazine that had an underwear section, I was too busy turning gluing it into my shelter to know whether it was just the image of the article, or it if had models, though." She shook her head. "Things got much too hectic for anything, and I do mean anything."

"Huh?" Ah, right, Spike, though technically a 'baby' dragon, had a mental maturity comparable to a human boy his age, if not a touch older - he did have a crush on Rarity, after all.

"I haven't done any of the... explorations a 'healthy' growing mare would have." She said with a hint of a smirk, delighted in the knowledge that the hidden second meaning would sail right over Spike's head, but Twilight -

"Buh! I- Guh!" - would choke on her donut. Shining, too, had to have his mother pat his back to help ease the glob of spit that went down the wrong pipe.

"I'm trying to come to terms with myself." Forest ignored the siblings' predicament. "This is an entirely different place, with entirely different ways of life. Now that stallion goes and feels like I could be the most special pony in the world."

She was all too aware that she was not a pony, though, and she was not a changeling, either. Twilight noticed Forest's declining mood, and guessed the issue - technically correctly.

'It's like she's wearing a mask, but not quite... what did the princess say about that? "A mask reflects the character of it's wearer". She puts on a disarming mask... she does truly want peace.' Twilight's thoughts were much more hopeful and brighter than her brother's. 'We are what we pretend to be, huh? I hope that she can make it.'

"You are special." Velvet said, the motherly love evident in her voice. "If there is anything we can do to... help, don't hesitate to ask."

Ho ho! Right! Amazing how something so similar could be so different.

"I'll think about it. I still don't know if I want a date..." She trailed off and blinked. She brought her donut to her face, turning it, passing it from one hoof to another and inspecting it closely. "I... I think I can feel something coming from this donut."

"Huh?" The other ponies at the table looked at each other, then at her.

"I think these things are literally made with love." She said.

"I knew there was a reason I liked Joe." Spike chuckled.

"No kidding." Forest said. "I wonder what my father would say about this place."

"Oh, he was a cook, right?" Spike asked, trying to keep things from grinding to a halt again.

"Yes... makes me remember something he said often."

"Oh?" Twilight leaned a little bit closer.

"Some variation of... 'Cooking is an art and a science. Like a scientist, one must never forget the old nor be afraid of the new; like an artist, one must remember your art is both for your audience and for yourself. An artist can come from the least expected of places, and... never forget, you might just be... somepony else's favorite artist'."

Forest sighed.

"Wow." Spike smiled a bit. "He sounds like he was a cool guy."

"Well, he would also tell you to cut your hair and stay away from his aprons, but feel free to ignore him on that." Forest chuckled, and, though the mood had been somber a moment ago, the others did, too.

Author's Note

It wasn't until this chapter when I noticed the similarities between Forest and Nico Robin, making my earlier (accidental) reference to One Piece all the more hilarious.