Emerald Gleaner: Retired Monster

Chapters

Chapter 2: Taken the Black
Chapter 3: Arrested Development
Chapter 4: Striking Twelve
Chapter 5: Hashtag Drama
Chapter 6: The Pieces Move
Chapter 8: Technical Difficulties
Chapter 9: The Fist
Epilogue: Faithful Knight
Chapter 1: Homecoming
Chapter 7: Dark Deeds

Chapter 2: Taken the Black

There was a harsh moment of silence after Sophie's declaration and threat. Emerald for her part couldn't help but take in Sophie's form and see that there were several things different about her beyond the fact she looked a little bit older and mature, likely done purposefully to mimic aging. Her once shoulder length hair was tied back into a tight, stylish bun at the back of her head while her bangs stopped just above her eye brows. Her eyes were a richer blue than before and her face lacked any real flaws, resulting in a beauty that could have been considered rare if it were not for the fact it seemed to be the same story for the other female Evolved in the area. She was wearing a zipped up windbreaker that was white on the body and blue on the sleeves. She wore a navy blue skirt that ended just above her knees and wore a pair of white sneakers.

“Sop-Look, listen, I know what I did was unforgivable but-” Emerald began, one of her hands making a pushing motion back to the others and making them stand some distance back.

“No! Enough talking!” Sophie shouted and sprinted at Emerald. “I've waited too long for this, Oskar!”

“Ahhh!” Navi shouted and hopped in place furiously as Emerald was clothes lined by Sophie. She was about to charge by the blonde Evolved who now had her back to the little virus when Emerald shouted from the ground.

“Stay there!” Emerald said and quickly scrambled to her feet. Looking towards the others. “Do not do anything.”

“Hmph!” Sophie huffed, throwing a dark look over her shoulders at Twilight, Navi and Spike before facing Emerald. “Worry about yourself!”

Sophie feigned a slash at Emerald's face with her claw and quickly dropped to a knee to slash at Emerald's stomach. Emerald didn't react to the feint but didn't attempt to block Sophie's slash either and let it land. She recoiled back as five large gashes opened up on her stomach, though they closed up quickly. Sophie followed up on her successful blow by delivering a punch to Emerald's face that sent her flying backwards and landing on her back a few feet away.

“Emerald!” Twilight shouted in concern. Beside her, Navi fidgeted anxiously and Spike looked around them, wondering if any other people surrounding them was going to attack too.

“Emerald?” Sophie said incredulously as she stomped towards Emerald. “What kind of hippie dippie bullshit cover name is that? And what kind of place did you go to that it didn't stick out?”

Emerald just got up onto her knees and stared at the other Evolved as she approached, not a trace of anger upon her expression. This was in contrast to Sophie who seemed to be the epitome of hatred and anger right now, mixed in with long sought satisfaction. She came to a stop just before Emerald and scowled in frustration.

“Come on!” Sophie screamed as she kicked out and sent Emerald rolling across the ground. “You're the reason why we're all as strong as we are! Mister paranoid, mister prepared to cut loose anything and anyone. You can't have possibly let yourself go in the last three years...”

Emerald, lying on the ground, moved to sit up but Sophie dart forward and swung her foot at Emerald's head, sending her head back down onto the pavement with a force that would easily dent tank armor. Sophie straddled Emerald's stomach and immediately started punching her face. Her face a rictus of hate and rage, Sophie's fists flew down into Emerald's face. The blonde Evolved's fists came down with greater and greater force until her blows started to echo among the towering husks shadowing them. Finally she stopped, her breath coming in rapid gasps. Sophie stood up off of Emerald and picked her up from the small crater that had been created from the force of Sophie's blows.

'Emerald, what are you doing!?' Twilight thought as she grit her teeth and wrung her hands in worry. 'I've seen what you are capable of.She can't be possibly be stronger than you. Why aren't you fighting back?'

As Sophie held Emerald up into the air at arm's length, the various Evolved watching on began to mutter lowly and look disturbed at what was happening. More than a few looked like they wanted to do something but were being held back by others.

“Oh my god… you really did let yourself go!” Sophie exclaimed as she felt how light Emerald was. “Did you think that if you weren't a physical threat anymore we'd just leave you alone? That if you made yourself helpless like all of those people you murdered we'd take pity on you?! Oh no... you just made it easy for me...”

“I'll give you this, though...” Sophie said as she adjusted her grip so that she was tightly holding Emerald by her neck and shifted her other hand into a blade. “You've managed to take a lot of satisfaction out of this for me. I think I might just have to find... other things to take my anger out on.”

The entire time the expression on Emerald's face had remained one of slight worry but nothing more. The moment Sophie voiced the implication that she would attempt to hurt the others, however, that changed. The instant she heard that, Emerald's expression changed from one of near apathy to anger. Her eyes flashed orange and her hand whipped up to grasp Sophie's wrist. Sophie sneered at the resistance Emerald was starting to show but frowned when the grip tightened hard enough to start crushing her wrist and wasn't stopping. Before anything else could happen, though, Sophie was interrupted.

There was the sound of sneakers rapidly slapping down on concrete when suddenly Sophie was sent flying. She barreled through a crowd of Evolved and smashed into a building as Emerald fell onto her knees and onto the ground. Emerald looked up to see that the person who had struck Sophie was Gabriel, his leg still up in a kicking pose for a moment before he brought it down.

Gabriel, unlike Sophie, hadn't changed his appearance since the last time Emerald had seen him. He was still wearing the same white hoodie with the same black, puffy vest worn over it, the same blue jeans and the same sneakers. He turned towards her, his expression clear with concern.

“You okay there, Oskar?” Gabriel asked with a frown.

“...” Utterly tired at being called that name, Emerald just sighed and nodded.

“Good.” Gabriel nodded and turned towards the dust cloud settling over where Sophie had landed. “Give me a minute.”

Gabriel walked at a brisk pace, the crowd of Evolved parted before him, showing nervousness rather than anger that he had sent Sophie flying through their numbers. As he passed the ring of Evolved, Sophie angrily burst of the pile of rubble that had collected on her. She angrily surged tendrils over her body, cleansing it of dust and looking up with a scowl only to find herself staring into Gabriel’s very much displeased face.

“What are you doing, Sophie?” Gabriel asked.

“What am I doing?!” Sophie said in some outrage. “What are you doing?! I had him in my grip! I was going to end that piece of Mercer loving shit once and for all and then you come flying out of no-”

“We had a deal with Oskar, Sophie,” Gabriel interrupted. “Just because he's been gone for three years doesn't mean it doesn't exist anymore.”

“But-”

“NO.” Gabriel scowled at Sophie. “I'm putting you on probation, Sophie. Your authority is revoked until I can be sure you won't attempt to organize another fucking lynching. Do you understand me?”

“...Yes,” Sophie ground out after averting her eyes away from Gabriel.

“Get going,” Gabriel waved off. “Go to the bar and get a couple of strong ones or something. Just cool off.”

“...” Sophie spared a moment to send a death glare towards Emerald before walking away.

Gabriel watched her for a few moments, making sure she wasn't going to try to start something again before turning to the rest of the now loitering Evolved.

“And the rest of you!” Gabriel shouted out, his voice echoing to the tops of the smoldering towers. “Can't fault you for listening to your superiors. Just go or something.”

With that the crowd began to scatter outwards. As Emerald watched them, however, she noted more than a few were making mutterings of malcontent and sending her dark looks.

'So nice to be home...' Emerald thought sardonically before looking up as Gabriel stopped before her, his hand outstretched.

“Long time no see, Oskar,” Gabriel said as Emerald grabbed his hand and stood up from her knees. “Sorry about that. Took me a few minutes to find Sophie after I noticed her and all those Evolved missing.”

“It's alright,” Emerald said as Twilight, Spike and Navi approached. “Wasn't expecting a warm welcome anyway.”

“Muh!” Navi shouted as she ran at Emerald's leg and hugged it tightly.

“Are you okay?” Twilight asked and got nod in turn.

“Who’s this?” Gabriel asked in some confusion, a small smile fighting to appear on his face as he took in the sight of a small girl hugging Emerald.

“Her family,” Twilight answered a little defensively as she stood close to Emerald.

“Yeah... that pretty much sums it up,” Emerald said with a shrug as Gabriel's brows rose to the highest extent.

“Didn't think you had it in you, Oskar,” Gabriel stated in honest surprise.

“Her name's Emerald,” Twilight huffed.

“Really?” Gabriel arched a brow at the other Evolved.

“Hi, Emerald Gleaner here,” Emerald said with small amused smile. “Nice to meet you.”

“There is a story behind that name,” Gabriel stated. “And I want to hear it. But later. Enough hanging around these ruins. The settlement is nearby. I want to show you around a little before we can get down to sharing some stories... if you are up to it?”

“Yeah, sure.” Emerald nodded and Gabriel started to lead the way.

“Emerald, why didn't you try to defend yourself?” Twilight asked softly.

“Later,” Emerald said simply, knowing that there was nearly no way to whisper quietly enough to avoid people overhearing when those people were Blacklight.

The group of four began to follow Gabriel and the crowd of Evolved as they made their way southward.

ALPHA

The Cannon Fodder settlement was located on the southernmost point of Manhattan Island and occupied most of Battery Park. It also reminded Emerald a lot of the shanty towns that had quickly sprung up in Brooklyn after it had been declared the Yellow Zone. Save for the fact it looked a hell of a lot more cleaner and organized, also powered if the cables and power poles set up here and there meant anything.

There was a ton of people that Emerald was all but certain were Evolved. Every single one of them looked attractive. There wasn't a single person here that wouldn't be out of place on a movie as a main or side character. The men either had a rugged handsomeness going or were boyband pretty boys. The women either looked like bombshells or had perfectly formed faces and bodies without an ounce of fat. Considering the fact there still looked like there was a ton of people in the settlement even with the group that had gone with Sophie, it was very clear that a lot of people had joined up with the Cannon Fodders and were turned into Evolved themselves.

As Emerald and the others followed Gabriel into the settlement she happened to look down an alley and paused at what met her sight. Partway down the path was a half naked, completely voluptuous looking woman doing an almost silly striptease for a bunch of young teenage boys.

“Hmm?” Gabriel paused once he noticed Emerald had stopped and walked over to her side. “What's wron- Oh my fucking god.”

“HEY!” Gabriel roared out towards the scene in the alley. “You little shits stop that bullshit right now!”

The teenagers gave almost girlish shrieks and took off, either running down the alley as fast as speeding cars or leaping up several stories into the air. The woman that was doing a striptease seemed to freeze in place, her eyes wide open as they stared back at Gabriel. Finally she broke out of her shock and took off running as well, disappearing in a storm of tendrils and turning into another young teenage boy as she ran.

“It's only going to get worse when they get actual girlfriends.” Gabriel shook his head with a sigh and continued down the street. “They'll be going at it at all hours of the day and night thanks to what they are.”

“In hindsight it was probably not such a great idea to have infected the children as well before they reached their majority,” Emerald commented.

“I've made sure to do that but it's too late for the ones who Mercer infected before he died,” Gabriel stated with a shrug.

“Umm... what was that... woman doing?” Twilight asked as she frowned in distaste at what she had saw.

“Stripping,” Gabriel stated and glanced at Emerald. “Real innocent sort, huh?”

“Like you wouldn't believe,” Emerald replied. “It isn't that unique back home either.”

“Sounds like you found a real nice place for yourself,” Gabriel said and came to a stop and faced Emerald. “From the look and sounds of you, it did you a world of good too.”

“Yeah it did.” Emerald smiled readily.

“Hmm...” Gabriel said and stared at Emerald in consideration. “I doubt you would return willingly if that's the case.”

“I'm looking for someone,” Emerald said. “She has red and yellow hair and a weird name like mine. Sunset Shimmer. Did she come through here?”

“Don't know anything about a name like that but we did find a girl wandering the ruins not too long ago,” Gabriel said and motioned for Emerald to follow him.

“Come on,” Emerald said to the others and frowned when she noticed Navi was missing. “Navi? Navi!”

“Ah?” Navi said from a distance away. She was standing before a man sitting on a crate. Said man was playing cat's cradle and Navi now had a tangle of string around her fingers from trying to emulate him.

“Come here, Navi!” Emerald waved her over.

“Byby!” Navi said to the man, waving at him with one tangled up hand and ran over to Emerald.

“Stay close, okay?” Emerald asked and got a smiling nod from the little virus. Emerald looked back to Gabriel and noticed that he and more than a few other Evolved were standing in place and staring at her. “What?”

“Hey!” shouted one man.

“Hey listen!” a woman added.

There was a round of laughter at that and everyone continued on their way.

“Seriously? That’s her name?” Gabriel asked as Emerald fell into step beside him.

“Yeah it is...” Emerald sighed as Gabriel snorted.

“Well Robin Williams named his daughter Zelda so it isn’t too weird to name someone after a videogame character,” Gabriel said as the group of five kept moving south through the settlement. “Speaking of weird, I can’t help but notice you four have brightly dyed hair. Was the place you went to some kind of neo-flower child community?”

“That’s… actually pretty accurate.” Emerald tilted her head. “It’s also extremely disconnected… practically on another world actually. I have no idea what’s been going on for the last three years.”

“I can believe that,” Gabriel said as they left the thicket of shelters and homes built out of recycled scrap and rubble. “Considering just how much time and resources Blackwatch said they put into trying to find you.”

“Blackwatch is still around?” Emerald stiffened and her expression became almost alarmed. “I thought with you guys living here so openly something was done about them.”

“Oh yeah, something was definitely done about them alright.” Gabriel smiled at Emerald which disarmed her rising apprehension. “Come on, let’s get comfortable and get business out of the way before we share some stories.”

The group continued on their way. Eventually they arrived to an old park path before a barrier overlooking Raritan Bay. Gabriel sat down on a bench alongside the path and Emerald pulled along another bench so that Spike and Navi could sit nearby.

“So this girl you are looking for,” Gabriel began as he fished an iPhone out of his pocket. “She has red and yellow hair, right?”

“Yeah,” Emerald answered as Twilight sat next to her. “Don’t really have any other identifiers beyond that unfortunately, but Twilight should be able to identify her.”

“Is this her?” Gabriel asked and handed his phone over after fiddling with it for a moment.

“That’s her!” Twilight exclaimed the moment she say the picture on the iPhone’s screen.

Emerald stared at the picture. The POV was from somewhere in the settlement and somewhere outside and focusing on a girl sitting in a chair. The girl had long hair that reached the middle of her back and was a little wavy. She had pale skin and cyan eyes and had an athletic figure. She was wearing a black leather jacket that was studded around her collar and under that was a yellow, orange and purplish pink dress that had her cutiemark of a red and yellow sun emblazoned on the front. On her feet were a pair of black leather boots with purple-pink flames on them. Emerald noticed all of these details second, however. The first thing she noticed about Sunset Shimmer was the expression on her face. Sunset looked… incredibly confused, even a little scared as she looked at the people around her.

“Do you have any more pictures of her?” Emerald asked, something at the back of her mind telling her that something was wrong here.

“Sure do. Swipe the screen.” Gabriel nodded.

Emerald did so. A few pictures of her talking with people around her, a picture of someone handing her a satchel, one picture of her looking incredibly startled at seeing an Evolved shift their form which Emerald stared at for a moment. Finally a picture of Sunset boarding a Water Taxi repurposed as a small ferry.

“I took a video of her, too,” Gabriel added after a moment.

“Show me,” Emerald said and handed the phone back.

Gabriel held the phone for a moment, pressing the screen a few times before bringing it back around for Emerald and Twilight to look at.

“Who are you people?” Sunset’s voice emitted from the phone with a tone of confusion and nervousness

“You’re not from around here, are ya?”a Cannon Fodder off screen asked.

“No I… I guess not, uhh…” Sunset’s said with uncertainty. “Have… have you heard of a school called Canterlot High?”

“Nope, definitely no schools around here called that,” another Evolved stated. “You get kidnapped or something, kid?”

“I… I don’t know… I guess?” Sunset said with worry.

“Don’t even remember, either,” the first Evolved commented. “Yeah, they drugged you good.”

“I’m going to call this in,” came Gabriel’s voice and abruptly the recording ended.

“Two and a half years ago people would get dumped on Manhattan,” Gabriel stated. “Started about the time we got the island to ourselves, don’t really know the exact reasons. I guess some idiots thought we were man eating monsters that couldn’t resist a chance at a free meal the moment it stumbled into our lair. Probably were hoping we’d eat the people they’d dump here and give them ammunition against our continued existence. After we found her we thought some group of idiots were trying old tactics again.”

Emerald sighed and leaned back against the backrest of the bench. She stared out into the bay and towards Staten Island, AKA the Green Zone. Her mind was awash with thoughts and racing in the darkness the lack of information was casting over her. Sunset’s words were extremely worrying for someone who was supposed to have come from here.

“Soo… what exactly is the reason why you are tracking this girl down?” Gabriel asked. “Does it have something to do with that tiara she had with her?”

“Yes actually!” Twilight said. “She stole it and ran away with it, we managed to track her here so far. Do you have it?”

“No we don’t.” Gabriel groaned and palmed his face. “I figured it was kind of suspicious for a girl to have been dumped here and yet not have her expensive looking jewelry stolen away by whoever did the dumping. No, we gave her a bag to hide what we thought was her tiara in, called a ferry over and sent her on her way.”

“Let’s put a pause on this line of conversation right now,” Emerald said with a raised hand and turned towards Gabriel. “It’s time to talk some history. I’ve dropped off the face of the Earth the last three years and need to know what’s been going on.”

“Well that’s a long story, one that needs a good drink I think…” Gabriel said as he leaned back in the bench before looking over his shoulder and waving at someone nearby. “Hey! Get me some cold ones! Your fearless and benevolent leader commands it!”

“As long as I can get myself one!” came the reply.

“Yeah, yeah. Just get the drinks!” Gabriel waved off before turning back to Emerald. “Where to begin… exactly where you left sounds good to me.”

“Once Mercer was dead we quickly got ourselves organized,” Gabriel began. “We moved all our more important things to more secure locations and started making plans to get back at both the organization and the government that had turned Manhattan into hell on Earth. We started looting and attacking abandoned checkpoints and warehouses and got ourselves a ton of military hardware to work with. Then we set out gathering a ton of evidence of Blackwatch’s actions and all the atrocities they had unleashed upon New York and all the crimes against humanity they were still planning to commit. Ironically our biggest help in this was Alex Mercer’s own sister, Dana Mercer. She had a shit ton of Blackwatch audio and visual recordings, not to mention so many incredibly incriminating documents.

“Once we had that we started getting the major part of the plan in motion,” Gabriel continued, Emerald listening intently but Twilight staring with rapt concentration. “Using our vast collection of computer knowledge and all of our advanced military hardware we unleashed a deluge of information onto the net. Basically, we duplicated and spread every audio recording, video and document far and wide across as many websites as possible. Blackwatch’s reaction was almost instant and things started getting taken down and websites got DoS’d but we kept at it; even managed to keep our position hidden the entire time. Eventually even with Blackwatch’s efforts we spread everything we had on Blackwatch and their activities so far and wide they could never hope to stop it.

“You should have seen the reaction online- Oh awesome, thanks.” Gabriel turned to see the Evolved had returned with three beers and took the one he offered her. Thinking the third beer had been meant for himself, Emerald didn’t think anything of it and didn’t notice when the Evolved opened the bottle and handed it to a curious Twilight. “Anyway, every site from Steam to Spacebattles was buzzing and dozens of pages were filled in minutes. The next day we saw dozens of news stations broadcasting what was online and foreign nations condemning America as basically the continuation of the Fourth Reich. Politicians all over America instantly saw which way the wind was blowing or maybe even felt honestly outraged by what their government had been doing and started making calls to Capitol Hill to call for the Impeachment of President Obama. Now… considering that the guy was black I’m of the opinion Obama was out of the loop and had nothing to do with Blackwatch but he was in charge so he-”

Suddenly Gabriel was interrupted by the sound of Twilight coughing and hacking. Emerald turned to see Twilight leaning forward, coughing up a lung and in one of her hands was slightly frosted over bottle of beer.

“Hey! You okay?!” Emerald said and immediately pressed herself to Twilight’s side and began to soothingly rub her back. “Just breathe.”

“Ugh… Agh…” Twilight panted as she pressed a hand to her chest.

“Twilight, you okay?” Spike said as he darted over, Navi a few steps behind with a much more intricate design made up in her cat’s cradle rather than the tangled mess before.

“Ugggggh… yeah…” Twilight said finally after getting her breath before looking at her drink with wide eyes. “What in the world is this supposed to be?! It was like liquid poison!”

“I know some people call Bud Light piss, but liquid poison is a bit much,” Gabriel commented as he took a drink of his beer. “I mean at least it’s cold.”

“Twilight’s never had beer before,” Emerald replied after making doubly sure Twilight was alright and taking her beer from her. “They don’t even have it back home.”

“I take back all the good things I’ve thought about your new home,” Gabriel said dryly and crossed his legs before taking another sip. “They clearly tortured you into better behavior via deprivation.”

“Whatever,” Emerald said as she put the second bottle of beer on the other side of the bench away from Twilight and took a sip of her own. No doubt unlike Gabriel, she was keeping the alcohol from affecting her. She needed a clear head to get through this. “So you were saying?”

“So, Obama got turned into a scapegoat for what is forever known as Blackgate,” Gabriel said. “And a ton of other politicians on Capitol Hill got the axe, too. Had to vote in a new president in an emergency election too because Joe Biden got caught up in all of it. Don’t know why. Guess they saw him whispering to someone and assumed he was hailing hydra or something. Course everyone was mostly doing this to show the world America was doing something about its issues, not that it helped in the end.”

“Basically after it was demonstrated that yes, America really was conducting experiments into chemical ethnic cleansing of their own people the countries of the world came down like a ton of bricks on us,” Gabriel added after seeing Emerald’s interested look. “No, there weren’t any invasions or anything, though from the rumors at the time I wouldn’t be surprised if all the saber rattling had legitimate intent behind it. No, America got a shit ton of trade sanctions. Ton of reparation demands too, but that was mostly people getting greedy and lunging to get their own pound of meat.”

“So are we a third world country now?” Emerald asked.

“I wouldn’t go that far.” Gabriel shook his head and took another drink. “The trade sanctions made a bad situation worse considering we were already in a recession but we haven’t reached a point where Somalia could float over on a log and kick our ass or anything. Let me tell you though, everyone definitely knows what it’s like to be living in a country that isn’t the top of the food chain now.”

“I honestly doubt America is the only one feeling the pinch from this, though,” Emerald commented.

“Oh yeah there were a ton of people who wanted to give America basically a slap on the wrist and go on with business as usual.” Gabriel nodded. “China was leading that one. Understandable considering who their biggest trade partner was. And even now, having a country that was the leading influence in the world get humbled and crippled did a massive blow to the world economy. Lots of people made a ton of posturing about ‘decades long trade sanctions’ but I doubt it’s going to last much longer. Probably would have been over already if it weren’t for the fact no one wants to look too forgiving of potential genocide in such high publicity politics like this.”

“So after dealing with America, the UN got down to the next biggest things on its agenda; us and Blackwatch,” Gabriel continued. “Blackwatch had some plans in case of a situation like this and managed to worm its way out of putting much of anyone important to its organization on the chopping block. Someone had to pay though, so Rooks got offered up on a silver platter. Next thing we know the guy is on the plane to some gulag somewhere in Siberia. Doubt he’s actually in a gulag, though. He’s probably already in an unmarked grave after having all the secrets they could get tortured out of him.”

“So what, they left Blackwatch alone after grabbing one guy?” Emerald frowned. “You know I’m pretty certain Rooks wasn’t really Blackwatch. I think he was just a stone cold bastard that got the job done.”

“Oh no, Blackwatch gave them a bone and the UN took that bone and asked for the rest of the whole damn skeleton.” Gabriel smiled. “They basically had the organization reorganized into an Intergovernmental backed and operated by the UN and its member countries. Then they had all its tech redistributed throughout the UN and had its members selected from elite forces around the world.”

“Why would they do that?” Emerald asked though she already had a good guess. “The taking control of Blackwatch I mean. It’s pretty obvious why they would want the tech Blackwatch developed.”

“To police us of course.” Gabriel shrugged and took another sip, also confirming Emerald’s guess. “Let me tell you, there was a ton of uncertainty at the time. No one knew if the nations of the world would decide if it was more cost effective to keep us contained or if it was cheaper just to have the whole of us killed. Because that was what it ultimately came down to; how much money either option costed them.”

“That's horrible!” Twilight exclaimed as Emerald hummed an agreement through her sip of beer. “No one's life should be reduced to monetary value like that! It just isn't right!”

“That's the way the world works, Angel,” Gabriel said much to Twilight's confusion. “The suits up at top looking down on us see only dollar value and care only about getting more for themselves.”

“Considering you guys are still here, they obviously decided that keeping you contained was more cost effective,” Emerald stated as Twilight looked a little upset. “I'm guessing you did something to stack the deck in your favor as much as possible?”

“Yep!” Gabriel nodded. “There was only a couple hundred of us when Mercer died and we all agreed that a number with only two zeros behind it looked pretty tempting to get rid of to people behind some desk. So while the world was tearing itself a new one we started on a recruitment campaign.”

“Sounds dangerous,” Emerald commented.

“Without a doubt,” Gabriel agreed. “We couldn't just grab anyone. What if they let the power go to their head and think they were unstoppable? That would be doing the opposite of what we wanted and giving people plenty of reasons to want to kill us all. God knows there is a shit ton already for them to shovel into our faces. So we recruited as many people as we could while staying away from people who would go on a power trip. By the time we were done we had like two thousand and five hundred Evolved on the island.”

“And finally when the day came that some reps arrived to take a census of us?” Gabriel smirked. “Well what do you know, the debates over what should be done about us was finished pretty much the next day. Blackwatch was being re-purposed into the world's most militarized and highly advanced police force and pretty much all of New York was added into the quarantined zone.”

“All of New York is part of the NYZ now?” Emerald asked and handed Gabriel Twilight's bottle when he gulped down the last drops of his own.

“Oh yeah,” Gabriel said after taking a sip. “Before it was just Staten Island, Brooklyn and the bombed out husk that was our lovely island here. Now the Bronx and Queens got added into it. They would have gone even further and added places as far north as Yonkers and far west as Newark into the NYZ but... well, people were pissed over the quarantined zone in the first place and now they were expanding it, the amount of rioting that went on then would have put the LA riots to shame.”

“I'm guessing a lot of people blamed you guys for that,” Emerald commented as she took a gulp of her barely touched beer.

“Not nearly as much as we were expecting.” Gabriel smiled. “Turns out a lot of people were pissed over the government's ‘Nazieque’ actions that have been taking place over the last fifty or so years. Sure we got tons of people throwing around threats and blame at us but everyone already had a much more ready target in the government. Helps that the videos uploaded online were of Blackwatch shooting white kids in the face and not of us eating them.”

“Did... did they really do horrible things like that?” Twilight asked in silent horror. “Kill children?”

“Well...” Gabriel said and began fiddling with his phone when he glanced down at Spike and Navi who were sitting on the ground before them. Spike had apparently been roped into playing Cat's Cradle with Navi and was now helping her make more more complicated patterns. “Let's just say... YES and leave it at that.”

“What happened next?” Emerald asked after wrapping an arm around Twilight's shoulders.

“Well... Rooks got the boot to the grave somewhere.” Gabriel hummed in thought. “Then Blackwatch got itself a new UN appointed commander; a rather controversial case in itself. With Mercer not making them retarded anymore, Blackwatch got a shit ton more competent when it came to handling us. People settled down slightly. Still a lot of debate over whether we should live or die going on. Oh and New York is basically Rio De Janeiro's tantrum throwing baby brother now. Can't really go anywhere on the mainland without some asshole holding a butter knife in your face demanding your wallet.”

“Well considering it was basically a mutant zombie apocalypse before, I think that's a pretty damn big improvement,” Emerald commented and downed the rest of her beer.

“Always a silver lining, huh?” Gabriel asked rhetorically with a smile. “Anyway, things are still pretty damn tense. Occasionally we have to come down on one of our own like a ton of bricks or help Blackwatch do it. Never great when we have to do that but once the majority of people get the idea we're too dangerous to have around, well... let's just say me and some friends have a few scatter plans in place in case we have to take a stand against the world. Hope like hell we don't have to, but the world ain't like that...”

“Yeah, so great to be back...” Emerald muttered.

“... You do realize now that you're here, going back isn't really an option now, right?” Gabriel said after a moment.

“Maybe... we'll see,” Emerald said airily.

“I'm serious here, Os- Emerald,” Gabriel began. “The fact there was one of us unaccounted for and you couldn't be found no matter how hard they looked really got people up in arms here. Everyone was thinking that any day now Mercer's heir would start the whole thing all over again and this time it wouldn't conveniently be on a bunch of islands that could be easily blocked off. Pretty much everyone here thought the next time we'd be hearing about you again would be Blackwatch being deployed to the middle of country to deal with a massive Blacklight infection.”

“... Mercer's Heir?” Emerald said, voice dripping with cold contempt though clearly not directed at Gabriel. “Bullshit. Like I'd want anything to do with Mercer's legacy after the hell I've been put through as his dog.”

“A few of us could guess that much,” Gabriel said with a sigh. “But like I said, a few. Rest of the damn country didn't think so, bunch of documentaries were made about us and Alex Mercer and his Cadre of Elites. More than a few dedicated a a decent part of their run time to the fact you were unaccounted for. God damn, after all this time the latest one practically paints you like a boogeyman. Look... all I'm saying is maybe coming here trying to get some jewelry back wasn't the best thing you could have done.”

“Oh I'm already regretting it, but I can't exactly take it back now, can I?” Emerald asked and got a nod from Gabriel after a moment. “So... speaking of jewelry.”

“Back to business, huh?” Gabriel asked before drinking the rest of his beer and chucking both bottles off into the water. “Well it might seem like we are supposed to stay on Manhattan but we are allowed to roam the rest of the city as long it's in the NYZ, so I can call a water taxi over and get you a ride over to where we sent her. Brooklyn, specifically.”

“Ah, my old haunting grounds. Feeling nostalgic already,” Emerald muttered before chucking her own bottle off into the water. “Think I'll find us a place to stay over there. Might as well; already know the neighborhood.”

“It's probably for the best that you do.” Gabriel sighed and stood up. “Despite the fact that most of the new Evolved here in the settlement were never part of original Cannons, they still don't like you all that much.”

“Yeah, figured that would be the case,” Emerald said and stood up, followed by Twilight. “Mercer was pretty much behind all the pain and torment that was the NYZ and I'm a former member of his inner circle. Anyway, I've got something I want to do before heading off for Brooklyn. I'll be back in an hour.”

“Yeah sure. I've got some calls to make,” Gabriel waved off and walked away. “See ya around!”

“Where are we going?” Spike asked as he disentangled himself from Navi's game who pouted at him ruining their latest and most complex pattern.

“We're... going somewhere very important to me,” Emerald said evasively. “I never thought I'd ever see it again and I... let's just go. I'd rather just show you all.”

“It's okay, Emerald,” Twilight said, thinking Emerald was going to show them her old home. “Just lead the way.”

“It's not too far at all,” Emerald said as she began moving. “I only said an hour because I wanted to take my time once I got there.”

The group began moving out of the settlement. All along the way Evolved looked and stared at their passage. There were quite a few people who openly glared and even threw a few insults Emerald's way. However, most just looked a little conflicted, like they didn't know what to really make of Emerald.

It was a fifteen minute trip overall as slowly crumbling and rusting hulks that made up the Manhattan skyline passed by. The hundreds of rusting abandoned cars darting the streets now intermingled with the thickening plant growth that was breaking through the streets. The plant growth was actually pretty thick in some places that Emerald had to shift her claws a few times to clear a path for the others.

Eventually they arrived and came to the sight of what must have once been a chapel with a small graveyard surrounding it. The chapel was little more than a pile of rubble with only most of its back wall still standing. The rotor of a helicopter tail was poking out of the rubble, a clear indicator of what had destroyed the chapel.

Emerald and co. walked past the barely there steel picket fence and into the graveyard. The virus lead everyone through the graveyard. Once kept tidy with constant attention, now after half a decade of neglect, the graves were becoming weathered and the ground was thickly overgrown with grass. Eventually they came to a shallow crater that had a slab of broken concrete standing in the center, its surface occluded by grass. A storm of tendrils leapt out from Emerald and began consuming the grass and retreated, leaving a tidy, short layer of grass surrounding the slab. Emerald then stopped forward until she came to a stop a few feet away from the slab, then she fell to her knees and stared at it sadly for a moment.

“...Hi mom.” Emerald said softly, eliciting a gasp from Twilight who softly fell into a kneel beside Emerald.

On the slab of rubble crudely scratched in were these words:

Adela Osäker

Mother

1973 – 2010

“It's been a while, hasn't it?” Emerald said as Twilight pressed herself as close as she could and wrapped an arm around her. “I think it's been five years since I've visited your grave. After I joined up with Mercer properly I didn't think I deserved to see you anymore. That and I didn't want them to dig you up and taunt me with your remains if they saw me here. But... I'm back now, and I think I'm a much better person now.”

“Muhs mah...” Navi said quietly and nestled against Emerald as the older virus started to cry, wrapping her little arms around her.

“This is my girlfriend, Twilight,” Emerald said, large fat tears rolling down her cheeks. “I wish you could have met her. I know you would like her. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me. She's the reason why I'm not as bad as I used to be.”

Spike dropped onto the ground beside the group, crossing his legs under him. The air felt incredibly thick for him and he felt incredibly uncomfortable, almost feeling as if maybe he was intruding. The feeling instantly left when Emerald simply held a hand out to him and he grasped the outheld appendage.

“I like to think I'm a better person now,” Emerald said quietly as she closed her eyes. “I like to think I'm the kind of person you'd feel like you could eventually be proud of. I'm not going to stop trying to be a better person... just because I feel like I'm now not someone you wouldn't turn away from doesn't mean I'm going to stop... I just thought you'd like to know that.”

Emerald was silent after that and stayed in place, simply staring down at the crude tombstone. This moment seemed to drag on in the ensuing silence. No one was keeping track of the time or desired to. There was no knowing how long this moment lasted, it could have easily been half an hour to just a few minutes. Eventually Emerald took her hand back from Spike's grip and wiped her face clear of tears.

“I've never really told you how she died, did I?” Emerald said and it took Twilight a moment to realize she was talking to her now. “All I ever told you was that she died during a disaster...”

“You don't have to, Emerald,” Twilight said and placed her head on Emerald's shoulder.

“I want to, though...” Emerald said. “My mom and I were part of an unlucky majority that had gotten stuck on Manhattan when the first quarantine went up. Initially the first week was quiet enough, but by the start of the second close to half the island's population was infected by Redlight, a precursor to my virus, Blacklight. People who got infected by Redlight become unthinking monstrosities. Most were shambling, twisted shells of their former selves, though some went further and became incredibly fast killing machines.

“By the end of the second week we had been forced to leave our home due to fighting outside,” Emerald continued. “We escaped into the alley. It was fairly empty but it was exposed so we kept moving. The fighting had been going on in several nearby streets, not just our own. An explosion caused us to split up. I stumbled into the middle of a battle between the marines and the infected, my mother managed to find herself on the same street some distance away. We saw each other, we ran at each other... t-then a m-m-monster threw an Ambulance at the marines and m-missed and h-h-hit her...”

“You don't have have to keep going if you don't want to, Emerald,” Twilight said comfortingly.

“I froze after that and fell to my knees,” Emerald said, shaking her head at Twilight's words. “I don't know how long I stayed like that but it was long enough for the Marines to slowly push back the infected and start claiming the street. Without really thinking about it I went over to where my mother had been when the ambulance rolled over her. She looked... strangely untouched... one side of her face was bruised and bloody but that was it... she probably died from her head impacting the concrete. I hoisted her body over my shoulders and started moving. I didn't know where I was going and when I would stop but I just started moving into the alley ways. I was able to get past several streets before I was forced to hideout in an apartment block.

“I hid in there for three days. There was no power so I couldn't... use a freezer to keep her preserved better,” Emerald continued, Twilight swallowed audibly as it was beginning to get hard to listen but she stayed strong. “At some point I had to... clean her... after those three days she wasn't looking too well... wasn't smelling too well, either... it didn't matter and I hoisted her onto my shoulders again after those three days and started moving again. For some reason the infected had become rather aimless and less aggressive at that point. They would still come at you but as long as you went at a good jogging pace you were pretty safe, though that was only if the more advanced creatures didn't come after you. I kept moving and eventually I found what I had apparently been looking for; this chapel.

“It was torn up like this when I came upon it,” Emerald said. “I ran into the graveyard and dug a deep hole with my hands. Then I used some explosives I scavenged from the bodies of dead soldiers and blew a bigger hole in the ground. I put her in the hole and started filling in the hole with my bare hands. I beat back several shamblers that came at me with a piece of rebar I pulled out of the chapel's rubble and kept at it. Eventually I filled in enough of the hole to satisfy me and pulled over a slab of concrete and used it as her tombstone. I used the rebar to scratch in the epitaph and then I went further south. Eventually I ran into the main marine base there, still battling the infected. I was ‘saved’ and placed into a refugee hospital after that... the rest of that story... well, you already know it.”

There was a long moment of silence that followed that as the group simply sat before the crudely made tombstone. Finally, Emerald gave a sigh and made to stand up. Twilight and Navi let go of her and they stood back up.

“Well... that was strangely... salve...” Emerald said as she looked down at the tombstone, expression no longer sad but solemn. “Come on, let's head on back before we're actually late for our boat.”

The group left then. The trip back was made in silence, a silence that was mostly due to the fact Navi had wandered off and the group had to spend some minutes looking for her before finding her playing in a smoldering toy store. Eventually they arrived back at the Cannon Settlement and found it strangely empty of people in its streets.

“Where did everyone go?” Twilight asked aloud.

“No one likes to be around when Black Watch comes calling,” said a voice.

Emerald turned to see a man leaning out of the window of a home. He was wearing a brown coat and black shirt from what Emerald could see of him. He had faintly red eyes with crimson, spiky hair that fell just past his jawline in some places. He also was very clearly a pretty boy.

“Who are you supposed to be?” Emerald asked in some irritation.

“Nagi Springfield,” the man answered readily with a smile. “Name’s Jacob. Yes I know that was rhetorical and I don’t care.”

“Was anyone actually fine with how they looked before?” Emerald asked with a frown. “Or was Gabriel the only one? I mean I may not look like I have any right to say anything but this was actually unintended.”

“Reeeeeeeeeally?” Jacob asked with a crooked smile and leaned forward onto the window sill and rested his head on the palm of one hand, his body language clearly saying ‘I don’t believe you’. “Well I don’t know about you but I certainly enjoy the ability to bring fictional characters to life.”

“Right, so… Blackwatch?” Emerald said. “They’re in the settlement?”

“Yyyyyyyyyyyyup,” Jacob said, popping his lips at the ‘p’. “Just flew in about ten minute ago, had the big bad commander himself on it.”

“Do you know what they want?” Emerald asked.

“Nope,” Jacob shrugged. “Gabriel went to see them though and they’ve been in some meeting in the town hall ever since.”

“Right, thank you for the information.” Emerald nodded.

“See you around oh great and terrible Heir,” Jacob said and ducked out of the window, closing it behind him before Emerald could shoot him a glare.

“What are we going to do?” Twilight asked.

“Well… I need to ask Gabriel about when the ferry is coming in,” Emerald said thoughtfully. “And I’m honestly curious about just how much Blackwatch has changed with a new commander and being under the command of a group of nations… let’s go see what’s going on.”

Emerald lead the group through the empty streets of the Cannon Fodders Settlement. It took some wandering to find it but apparently either by chance or design the ‘plaza’ the Town Hall sat in front of was big enough to allow a chopper to land in. A chopper was sitting there now in proof of this fact.

The chopper was very different from the kinds of choppers Blackwatch used. There wasn’t a smooth angle or curve anywhere on the chopper. Its surfaces was made up of hard ridges and straight lines and was big enough to transport a squad of soldiers. Judging from the characteristics of its shape and surface, it was a stealth vehicle.

‘I’ve heard of these,’ Emerald thought ‘Weren’t they used to sneak those soldiers into Bin Laden’s compound?’

The choppers only attracted Emerald’s attention for a moment, however. What drew her eyes next was the soldiers guarding the chopper. There was two of them and they were wearing completely black uniforms and full face covering gas masks. The gear they were wearing was completely unlike the heavy attempt at intimidation she saw Blackwatch grunts wearing when she was last here. In fact the gear was more in line with the stuff they were wearing during the first outbreak. However, even compared to the gear they used in the first outbreak this was very different. They seemed to be completely covered in an airtight, hard black armor, possibly some kind of ceramic plating developed in the intervening years. Darting said armor in places where they wouldn’t get in the way of movement were these silvery small metal balls that stuck out. Instead of rifles, the two guards held batons at the ready which ended in fork like shapes which made Emerald immediately assumed they were a sort of taser weapon. There were two more Blackwatch grunts standing guard at the entrance of the town hall which was basically the only building here that didn’t have a slight ramshackle look to it.

The instant Emerald entered the plaza she was spotted and one of the guards instantly pressed a hand to the side of his helmet for a moment before bringing it back down. From that motion Emerald guessed she was being expected. A moment later the doors to the town hall opened and Emerald had to stop herself from gaping at who walked out in full Blackwatch gear.

James Heller, killer of Alex Mercer and slaughterer of countless Marine and Blackwatch soldiers, was wearing a Blackwatch uniform. It wasn’t the hard armor type the other Blackwatch soldiers in the area were wearing but more in line with what the grunts were wearing in the first outbreak, save for the fact he had no headwear and had his sleeves rolled up to about the midpoint of his biceps. The moment he spotted her he grunted audibly and made way for her, the soldiers standing guard at the entrance of the town hall falling into step behind him. Gabriel was there too, following Heller but keeping his distance.

“You Emerald?” James Heller asked gruffly. “Formally Oskar Osäker?”

“…Yeah, that’s me,” Emerald answered.

“Hmph,” Heller huffed and stared her down, looking like he didn’t know whether to glare murderously or just be annoyed. “You’re just a kid.”

“Wish I still was,” Emerald said simply as Twilight and the others stepped just behind her.

“Was beginning to think the whole sole survivor bullshit was made up by Gabriel,” Heller stated. “Should have known one of Mercer's goons would have been enough of a fucking snake in the grass to get away.”

“Less being traitorous and more knowing he didn't need a reason to kill all of us,” Emerald replied. “Kind of hard to be loyal to someone when you know he is likely to kill you for not being ‘evil enough’. Considering what he did before facing you that one last time it was a good thing I was 'delayed'.”

“I'd probably be making a lot of people happy if I just killed you here and now,” Heller stated. “Everyone thinks you're another Mercer, going to release the virus somewhere it can't be be easily contained, where it could do the most harm.”

“Well she isn't like that anymore!” Twilight said and stood in front of Emerald protectively. “You haven't even heard of her before Gabriel told you about her and haven't ever seen until today! You've spent all these years making monster in the dark of her, but she isn't, so stop talking about her like she's some pest to get rid of!”

“...” Heller stared down at Twilight blankly for a moment. His guards were unmoving, likely well aware their commander was more than capable of defending himself against most threats. “Kid, who she to you?”

“She's my girlfriend,” Twilight said and stepped back and grasped Emerald's hand pointedly who was now looking more than a little amused.

“...Guess you know what you're getting into,” Heller with a snort and seemed to relax noticeably. He then held out a clipboard Emerald only now noticed he had been holding. “Here, got some paperwork for you to fill out.”

“Paperwork?” Emerald said and took the clipboard and looked down at its contents.

“Every Evolved has to to register.” Heller crossed his arms. “To help keep track of the population.”

“How exactly does that work?” Emerald asked. “We are all shapeshifters. Literally nothing stopping us from making a new face and name any time we want.”

“Dunno,” Heller shrugged. “Paper pushing bastards up at the five sided puzzle palace said it has to be filled out, so it gets filled out.”

“Okay...” Emerald frowned and took the attaching pen and started quickly filling in lines.

'Name... Emerald Gleaner,' Emerald thought as she wrote. 'Age, twenty two. Address of current residence? Uhh... homeless? Photo of current appearance? Well don't got a camera for that one. Name of Spouse/Significant other and/or family. Twilight Sparkle, Navi and Spike... wait, will they think this is a joke entry? Well, too late now... List of current powers and abilities, what?'

“List of powers and abilities?” Emerald stated in some confusion. “Uhh... don't we all have the same abilities?”

“You there now?” Heller asked and held out his hand. “Just give it here, I'll scribble some random shit in on the flight back.”

“Okay...” Emerald and handed the clipboard over, she blinked when one of the guards stepped forward and held out a small camera, there was a flash as he took her picture and then he handed it to Heller.

“There, all done,” Heller said as he pocketed the camera. “Welcome back I guess. Try not to kill anyone that doesn't deserve it. I have to get back and get my secretary to do the shit ton of paperwork that's waiting for me and listen to her bitch at me for it.”

Emerald stared after him as Heller and his guards walked towards the chopper which started its engines at his approach. As the four soldiers boarded the chopper and Heller boarded last, the Commander started to close the door but stopped to look towards Emerald.

“Heard you were heading to the mainland!” Heller shouted over the sound of the rotors spinning up. “Take a boat! And nothing else!”

With that the door closed and after a few moments the chopper lifted off into the air. The sound of the rotors rapidly faded away as the chopper rose into the air and away towards Staten Island. After the sound of the chopper became faint beating in the distance, Emerald turned towards Gabriel.

“Sorry about ratting on you like that,” Gabriel said apologetically as he walked over. “But it wouldn't have been pretty if Blackwatch found out I knew you had come back and never told them about it.”

“James Heller in charge of Blackwatch,” Emerald commented. “That has to have quite the story behind that, and I guess he is the reason why my sonar doesn't work right?”

“The story isn't as complicated as you might think it would be,” Gabriel replied. “And yeah, with his help Blackwatch R&D managed to get a jammer working for the sonar. There is nowhere in the city it works anymore. Going to have track down people the old fashioned way if you're looking for someone... which you are.”

“Hmph... save story time for another day,” Emerald said as she looked up and took in the evening colors of the sky. “It's getting late and I want to find a place to settle into for night.”

“The water taxi should be arriving in a few minutes,” Gabriel said and pointed over towards the old Staten Island ferry building. “It'll be arriving at the ports over there.”

“Alright, let's get going, everyone,” Emerald said and looked around when she saw Navi had wandered off again. She quickly found her to the side on her hands and knees. “Navi! Get over here!”

“By Babbi!” Navi said and waved to the little puppy she had been playing with, which gave her a cheerful bark.

“You're really excited by being in a different form, aren't you?” Emerald stated and got a huge grin from the little virus after she dashed over. “Never used to have trouble getting you to listen to me.Guess I'll have to... punish you!”

“Heee!” Navi squealed as Emerald grabbed her and started to tickle her, she wiggled and squirmed and laughed in Emerald's grasp for a moment before she managed to get away and darted behind Twilight, peering out at Emerald with a massive grin.

Emerald smiled in turn, taking in the sight of Twilight, Spike and Navi together. She couldn't help the warm feelings that seemed to surge in her chest. Then she saw the water taxi pulling in and announcing its presence with a blare of its horn. She looked beyond it and at Brooklyn and the yellow zone. Knowing that, that place was where they were going filled Emerald with the determination to protect those she cared about from the many threats in this city.

“Come on, our ride is here.”

The group quickly made their way over to the port the water taxi had pulled into. It wasn't long before they soon found themselves settling into the many seats the taxi had. New York water taxis were able to fit many dozens of people, so with just the four of them there it felt rather empty.

“Emerald,” Twilight said as the boat suddenly jerked under them and pulled away from port.

“Yes?” Emerald said, keeping a close eye on the little virus standing on the seat next to her and staring out the window.

“Why did you let that girl hurt you like that?” Twilight asked.

“...” Emerald simply sighed and leaned back. “Because she deserves to get a few punches in for what I've done to her.”

“... What happened?” Twilight asked, frowning at running into more sins of Emerald's past.

“There was a pregnant woman...” Emerald paused and seemed to think over how to word what she wanted to say next, after a moment of this she shook her head. “Let's not get into more grizzly details... all you need to know is that Mercer forced me to kill Sophie's sister and she rightfully hates me for it.”

“...” Twilight silently sidled up to Emerald and wrapped an arm around her. “I don't like this place...”

“Neither do I...” Emerald said as the boat continued along the water to their destination.

BETA

Emerald sighed as she and the others finally left the building they had been hustled into once the water taxi docked. The procedure for an Evolved deciding to stay elsewhere than Manhattan was an extremely lengthy and irritating process. So much so that it made dealing with security at an airport tame in comparison. It was even worse because Emerald didn't exactly know where she would be staying since she had to go look for a place, though she had a feeling it was mostly the desk worker purposefully making that part difficult for her.

“That... was kind of stupidly complicated,” Spike complained as he stretched his legs. “Isn't this part of the city closed off just like Manehattan? Why is it so hard to move around to different places of the same locked down area?”

“MANhattan, Spike,” Emerald corrected as she took in her surroundings. “But yeah, I get the feeling that's mostly what happens when the person in charge of travel security doesn't like you.”

The Yellow Zone hadn't changed since the last time Emerald had seen it, which considering the last time she had seen it was after Heller tore through it, it wasn't exactly easy on the eyes. All around Emerald were rundown buildings and clearly homeless people, while covering said buildings and even the streets were the scars of battles between Blackwatch, Heller, the Marines and infected creatures. Any attempts to repair the damage the Yellow Zone had taken seemed to have been done by locals. Cracks and potholes filled in with dirt and wall damage crudely boarded or plastered over.

“Where do we go from here?” Twilight asked. “Do we find some shelter or go after Sunset right away?”

“I think we better find someplace to spend the night first,” Emerald said, pointedly looking at Spike and Navi. “I don't want to find myself wandering around this city so close to night without knowing we have a place to go to.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Twilight nodded. “Do you know a place?”

“Maybe...” Emerald hummed in thought as she grabbed up Navi's hand before she could get bored and wander off to find something new to look at. “I know Brooklyn pretty good but it's been three years... I'll take us to where a budget hotel should be. If we end up staying a bit longer than just tonight and tomorrow I'll find us something a bit bitter.”

“Wait... what do we do for money?” Twilight asked as Emerald started leading the group down the sidewalk. “As much as I want to hope for some good will, I get the feeling no place here will actually do that.”

“I have a few potential ideas of where to get some money,” Emerald replied. “I need to make sure the hotel hasn't closed down or something first, though.”

'I kinda wish I could just teleport all of you to Hawaii and deal with this on my own,' Emerald thought with an inward sigh.

That was what Emerald wished. To take Twilight, Navi and Spike far away from this city with so many painful experiences and memories. Take them to a Five Start Resort somewhere and leave them there to enjoy all the positive sides of life while she dealt with the dark side of humanity incarnate that was New York. But Twilight wasn't the kind of person she could just dump somewhere and hope some pretty sights would distract her and keep her from being incredibly hurt by such an act. No, as much as Emerald wished otherwise if she had any respect for Twilight at all she would have to keep the newly turned human with her here in New York.

Suddenly a shape darted out of nearby alley and interrupted Emerald thoughts. It was a man in front of her, wearing a badly worn brown leather jacket with a dark gray hoodie underneath. His face had a thick, scraggly beard covering the lower half of his face. Half wild eyes were opened to their widest extent as he waved a crudely sharpened kitchen knife at Emerald. There was another man behind him holding a badly dented metal bat. A shout of surprise drew Emerald's attention briefly and she saw another man, this one with a much calmer demeanor with a pair of knuckle dusters on each hand, modified to have screws poking out of them.

“Your wallet!” the man in front of Emerald half screamed. “Jewelry- cash- jus-just anything expensive!”

“Ugh...” Emerald had very nearly simply gone about punching faces in when she recalled Twilight was with her, deciding to be tad bit more diplomatic then she normally wise Emerald raised her open palms. “Look we don't have any money for you to take, okay? We're just looking to find some shelter for the night.”

“Bullshit!” the man with the bat shouted and pointed at Twilight. “She can afford to dress that nice! AND can afford to dye her hair! All of you have dyed hair! YOU HAVE MONEY!”

“And quite clearly we spent it all on nice clothes and hair dye,” Emerald said, fighting to keep any sarcasm out of her voice.

“You don't got money?” the hood with the knuckle dusters said with a leer at Twilight. “Well pretty girls can pay differently.”

“Come on, man!” the hood with the bat said pleadingly. “Why you have to be cree-”

The hood with the brass knuckles lashed out with an open hand and squeezed Twilight's rear roughly. Twilight gave a shriek of complete surprise and jumped out of his grip. She turned to face the man with an utterly confused expression. The only reason that action managed to happen at all was because Emerald had froze in shock and disbelief that what had just happened to Twilight actually occurred. That only lasted for the briefest moment, however. After that, Emerald's vision became literally red. The only reason the hood had survived what happened next was purely thanks to Emerald's promise to Celestia and Heller's words echoing in her mind.

Suddenly Emerald was in front of the brass knuckle wielding hood, her hands lashing out to two areas of his body, his collar and his crotch. Emerald grasped the collar of his jacket firmly and with her other hand squeezed down hard enough that she could feel testes burst. With a shrill scream he was swung over Emerald's head and sent flying headfirst into the hood with the bat, knocking the both of them out cold.

The man with the knife seem to freeze and his eyes widened further at the quick turn around. Suddenly Emerald was in front of him and he screamed, giving a wild swing of his knife at her... he might as well have been trying to fight an angry shark deep underwater for all the good it did. Emerald grabbed the forearm holding the knife, stopping its momentum instantly. She then brought her hand down on the weapon and shattered it. She then flung the arm to the side and opened up his torso to her and unleashed a dozen rapid fire blows to his chest in barely two seconds before grabbing onto the lapels of his coat. She harshly pulled him forward and swung her head at him. There was a sharp crack and shout of pain that filled the air and Emerald found herself holding his limp form, much like that of a puppet with its strings cut. She released him and watched him fall to the ground and lay still for a moment before groaning and curling in on himself.

'Want... to feel your blood on my blades!' Emerald thought with an inward growl as her hands were on the verge of instinctively shifting to claws.

“Emerald?” the virus heard Twilight say, instantly snapping her out of her haze. She turned to see the former unicorn looking at her in concern. “I'm okay. You don't have to hurt them anymore than you already have.”

“...Okay,” Emerald said after taking a deep breath before returning her glare back to the men on the ground. She bent down to the first hood and started going through his pockets.

“What are you doing?” Spike asked.

“We need money,” Emerald said and found forty bucks in cash and a couple dollars worth of change.

“...” Twilight bit her lip as she watched Emerald move over to the other two men, roughly kicking over the one whose crotch she crushed. As much as she wanted to protest this, they really did need money...

A few minutes later found the group back on track, Emerald quickly going through her newly gained loot before pocketing it.

“Do we have enough for our hotel?” Twilight asked.

“A budget hotel can range anywhere from forty to just over a hundred dollars,” Emerald said. “We have about ninety eight dollars and sixty five cents. Anything approaching the hundred dollar mark is the more high end budget rooms and the place I have in mind... definitely isn't. We should be fine.”

It was an incredibly strange experience to have so little to her name. Twilight had lived an entire life without want. Her parents were very well to do people. She had not only gone to the best school in Equestria but had stayed at the Royal Palace as Celestia's personal student. Then even when she was made to leave she was given her own place without spending a single dime of her own and had a royal stipend to depend on. Even when she had to share that stipend with Emerald until she started getting her own money she was hardly forced to penny pinching. Now she, Emerald and the others were on the streets with barely any money, looking to stay at the cheapest place they could find because that was all they could afford.

As she considered her changed circumstances, Twilight's mind was drawn back to the encounter with the thugs and what the man did to her. She was completely and utterly confused and alarmed by the action. Why had he done that? They were perfect strangers and didn't know each other. And what did he mean by “Pretty girls can pay differently.”?

“Emerald?” Twilight said.

“Yes?” Emerald looked back over her shoulder at Twilight.

“Why did that man do that?” Twilight said. “Why did he grab me there and what did he mean by what he said?”

“Uhh...” Emerald's eyes widened for a moment before she looked thoughtful. She hardly wanted to explain just what had happened . “He was thug. He was just being a hurtful cretin, don't worry about it. You aren't bruising, are you?”

“Well...” Twilight patted herself and winced a little when a dull ache flared slightly into a stinging sensation. “Yes, it feels like I'm bruising a little.”

“Give it a couple more minutes,” Emerald stated. “We should be getting to the hotel soon. Once we’re in our room I'll fix you up.”

“Having four walls and a locked door sounds heavenly right about now,” Twilight stated to Spike's nod of agreement.

Eventually they arrived at the hotel, a rundown building that had half of its structure torn down to make room for a guard tower that was long abandoned. From the lights coming from the front doors and many of the windows, it was still being used by someone.

Entering the front doors, Emerald saw a shabby lobby and pitted floor greet her. The wooden floor looked like it hadn't been cleaned in a few days and more than stains dotted the ceiling. Sitting at a cracked desk was a frizzy haired middle aged woman with gray streaks running down her hair. At the desk was an aged TV about the size of a milk crate that she was watching. The moment the woman saw the door open and Emerald walk in she quickly stood up and pointedly stood near the ledge behind her that had a shotgun sitting on it openly. She relaxed noticeably when she saw Navi and Spike enter behind Twilight and leaned forward on the desk with a small tired smile.

“Hey there, what can I do for ya?” She said.

“Hello,” Emerald greeted. “We're looking for a cheap bunk room. What are your rates?”

“Well...” The woman leaned back and folded her arms and closed her eyes in thought. “We got the nice rooms going for eighty a night and... the not so nice going for half that.”

“We'll take the forty dollar room,” Emerald said and handed the woman the money.

“Great!” She smiled before leaning down opening a drawer full of keys. “Here you are, room 305. It's the topmost floor. Just go down that hall and take the stairs. It should be only a few doors down when you reach the top. Sorry, our elevator's broken.”

“It's alright,” Emerald waved off and turned to the others. “Come on, let's go.”

A few minutes later, after walking up an alarmingly creaky staircase, the group was entering the room. It was about what Emerald expected. The carpet had a few suspicious looking stains here and there, not to mention the bald spots. The ceiling had some faint water stains and the walls had their plaster coming off in a few spots, revealing the bare brick beneath. The room had only two pieces of furniture, two rickety looking bunk beds at opposite sides of the room with thin mattresses on them. The room also had two windows, good thing considering the sole light was missing a light bulb, though the windows happened to have been cracked. Leaning into the bathroom, Emerald was met with the sight of an utterly tiny bathroom. There was only just enough room to get in and squeeze the door shut behind you. The rest of the space was taken up by a toilet, a sink, a mirror and a small standing shower with thin, wobbly glass walls to keep the water in. The ceiling vent's fan didn't work when she flicked the switch, the mirror had a bunch of dirty streaks and a few hardened substances on it that could have been toothpaste. The toilet was just plain unpleasant to look at.

“Well this is...” Spike began as he walked over to one bunk and poked at a mattress. Navi ran over and immediately sat on it only to stick out her tongue in discomfort. “Garbage.”

“Just give me a moment,” Emerald said and cracked her fingers before waving her open palms out at the room.

Tendrils of magic immediately leapt from her hands and struck out at the room. The cracks in the windows disappeared and they gained a pair of blinds each. The sole hanging ceiling light was replaced with an ornate ceiling fan with several lights. One of the bunks had its frame replaced with fine stainedwood and the mattresses were now much thicker and had blankets and thick pillows. The other bunk also gained a wooden frame as well but was turned into a single twin-sized bed. The carpet became much more lush and lost its stains and bald spots while the walls were re-plastered and the ceiling was fixed of its damage. A small bedside cupboard popped into existence with an electronic clock that doubled as a radio. The door on the cupboard flew open and within appeared half a dozen board games before the door closed again. A tendril of magic rushed into the tiny bathroom. Nothing could be done for the size but the toilet was sparkling clean along with the sink and mirror. The shower cleaned and turned and the vent fan was fixed and back in working order. Emerald then turned around and applied yet more magic, several locks appeared on the door and dozens of magical protective runes blazed to life briefly on the way before fading away from sight.

“There we go,” Emerald brushed her hands off and took in the room. “I'd rent this out easily for a hundred twenty dollars a night.”

“Yay!” Navi cheering before proceeding to roll around in her bunk and rapidly getting tangled up in her blankets, turning herself into a blanket burrito. “Heee!”

“Well what do we have here?” Spike asked as he opened up the cupboard. “Monopoly, The Game of Life, Mousetrap...”

“Come here, Twilight,” Emerald said as she sat down on the twin size. “Let's get that bruise fixed.”

“Alright,” Twilight said and walked over. She came a stop just before the bed and looked down at her belt buckle and her buttoned and zipped up dress pants. “Now how to undo this...”

Emerald blinked as Twilight rapidly started figuring out how to undo her belt and pants. She was a about to stop her when she thought about it a bit more deeply. It wasn't like Navi and Spike hadn't seen Twilight naked practically every day back home in Equestria. Just because Twilight and they were human now, did that make it all different?

'… Probably not,' Emerald thought and tried to keep her staring as casual looking as possible as twilight undid her pants and slid them down.

“Huh,” Twilight hummed as she pulled up her shirt to get a better look at the underwear she was wearing. It was the same shade of purple as the coat she had as a unicorn and when she turned around. “My cutiemark?”

“Awwww...” Navi said in some disappointment after lifting up her own dress and seeing the back of her underwear was bare.

Twilight then shrugged and pulled the underwear down as well before stepping forward and lying down on her stomach beside Emerald.

'Well...' Emerald paused for a moment to process her thoughts. 'That hair color is most certainly natural... right down to the streak.'

She then turned her attention back to Twilight. Actually her attention hadn't left, she simply had to refocus on the goal. The bruising was pretty minor, and could likely be ignored easily, but Twilight was already half naked on the bed beside her so Emerald set to work.

Emerald briefly motioned to point a hand and release tendrils from her palm before pausing for a moment. Briefly glad she couldn't blush unless she wanted to, Emerald placed her hand against the bruised area and released the tendrils from there to hasten the healing.

“Hmmm...” Twilight hummed patiently as she waited for Emerald to finish. After a few moments she looked over her shoulder at her girlfriend. “Emerald, you are taking longer than usual. Is something the matter?”

“U-uhh, no, nothing is wrong,” Emerald said and removed her hand a tad bit quickly. “You're all fixed and ready to go.”

“Great!” Twilight smiled and sat up and turned around to face Emerald, making no motion at all to put her clothes back on.

“Well... I guess now is the best time to start telling you all a few things about being human,” Emerald said, taking one last eyeful of Twilight before looking at the other two in the room.

“What else is there to know?” Spike asked, sitting on the ledge of the top bunk. Below him on the lower bunk Navi had wrapped herself up in her blankets again and was inching around like a caterpillar.

“Well for one thing, clothes,” Emerald began and looked at Twilight briefly. “Twilight, I already mentioned this a little to you a few years ago but most societies of humans today are clothed. The ones that lean towards nudity tend to be around the hotter equatorial regions and even then they aren't all that many. I bet you notice now your lower half is getting noticeably cooler right?”

“Hmm...” Twilight frowned and looked down. “Yes, actually. It's starting to get a little bit uncomfortable, actually.”

“Humans have a very fine coating of hair on their bodies,” Emerald explained. “It does more to aid sensation then it does any sort of insulation. Human society places a lot of emphases on wearing clothes not only for personal comfort but appropriateness. It is actually a crime in a vast majority of the world for someone to be nude. Though there is a varying levels of acceptable nudity for both genders.”

“Oh?” Twilight said with a curious tilt of her head. “It's not the same for both?”

“In same places it is but not America, the country we are in,” Emerald explained. “For instance, it is acceptable for males to have a bare torso but it is considered almost as bad as nudity for a female to have a bare chest and expose their breasts.”

“Breasts?” Twilight said and looked down, seeming to notice the protruding shapes on her chest for the first time. Cupping both of them, she looked at Emerald. “These things here? Why?”

“It's... they are just things that are only expected to be exposed only to significant others and members of the same sex,” Emerald answered. “They are considered an extremely attractive part of a woman's body. So you should always keep them covered up... when we aren't just by ourselves.”

“So we should always be wearing clothes when we are out in public?” Spike asked.

“Basically, yes,” Emerald nodded. “Probably going to have to explain this a bit more as time goes on but that is basically the main point.”

“Ah, well I'll just put my clothes back on then,” Twilight said and got off the bed to grab her clothes. Putting her legs through the holes, she bent down started putting her underwear and then her dress pants back on. After she did that she began tucking her shirt in and started fiddling with the buckle when she turned around noticed Emerald staring at her. “Oh, am I doing this wrong?”

“... No,” Emerald finally said after a moment, shaking her head. “Well now that we have a place for the night, I think you and I should head out and see if we can track Sunset again. Now that I know what she smells like I can find and follow her scent from the dock to find where she went.”

“The sooner we find her, the better,” Twilight nodded as she finished buckling her belt and turned towards Spike and Navi. “I think it's best you stayed here and keep an eye on Navi while we head out.”

“Uhh... well, okay,” Spike said. “I'll see if we can get one of those board games going.”

“Don't worry if someone tries to bust the door down,” Emerald said as she walked over and stopped beside said door. “I put a ton of runic protections on it. It'll take a lot more than any one or even a group of people would throw at it.”

“Does that happen a lot around here?” Spike asked a bit anxiously.

“... Probably more then you are comfortable with,” Emerald said and opened the door. “Don't worry! Like I said, this door won't open for anyone you don't want in here. That said... don't open for anyone but us, okay?”

“Definitely!” Spike replied.

Emerald waited for Twilight to leave and then closed the door. After locking it, the two headed back down the staircase. As they entered the lobby and were about to leave the woman there accosted them.

“Pretty young things like you two really shouldn't go out this late,” the woman said, her frown accentuating the wrinkles her face was starting to gain. “It isn't safe. Really ought to head back to your room.”

“Don't worry, we'll be perfectly fine,” Emerald said confidently. “Are you going to lock the door?”

“Hmm...” The woman hummed and closed her eyes for a moment. She opened them again as she asked, “You're one of them, aren't you? One of those shapeshifters from Manhattan?”

“...Yes I am,” Emerald answered after a moment. “That isn't going to be a problem, is it?”

“Huh... wasn't entirely sure. You're more believably pretty than the others, so...” The woman then shook her head. “You keep your friend safe, you hear me?”

“Yes, ma'am,” Emerald nodded.

“Good. I'll be locking the front after you leave,” the woman said and took out a cigarette and lighter. “The roof entrance will be open, though,”

“Thank you very much,” Emerald said sincerely and lead Twilight through the front door as the woman lit the cigarette.

“Hopefully our trip will be much quieter this time,” Twilight said as she and Emerald made their way back to the port.

“Hope for the best,” Emerald began with sigh as she expanded her senses to better guard Twilight. “Expect the worst.”

The trip back actually was quiet, but the two did notice that the thugs that had gotten a beat down either got back up and ran away or had been dragged off by someone. Eventually Emerald and Twilight found themselves back on the corner before the port facility.

“Anything?” Twilight asked as Emerald audibly sniffed.

“Yes,” Emerald said and pointed. “She went this way, and from the smell of it she was nervous; very nervous.”

“You can tell that by the smell?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah.” Emerald nodded as she followed the scent trail. “As long as your sense of smell is strong enough you can tell a lot about someone by how they smell.”

“Hmm... how do I smell?” Twilight asked curiously.

“... I don't know, let me check,” Emerald said and stopped before whirling on Twilight and buried her nose in the crook of the former unicorn's neck.

“Wha?!” Twilight gasped in surprise and then stilled as she felt the movement of air rush over her skin as Emerald breathed in deeply. She blushed in embarrassment from the closeness and then doubly so from the small satisfied smile on Emerald's face when she pulled away. “W-well?”

“You smell... veeeeery nice,” Emerald drawled with a big smile.

“Ah...” Twilight said simply, face burning. She then gathered herself as best as she could. “Perhaps we should focus more on finding Sunset rather than flirting?”

“Probably a good idea,” Emerald said with a teasing smile and continued to lead away. Suddenly a shape leapt out of the growing shadows at Emerald. The virus's arm blurred and stopped the momentum of a swung tire iron. Her fist lashed out and the attempted mugger crumpled like a puppet with its strings cut. Almost seamlessly, Emerald searched the mugger's pockets, took his money and continued on her way.

Twilight blinked in surprise at what just happened and how quickly it was resolved. She stared down at the mugger starting to twist in pain on the sidewalk before sighing and simply taking off after Emerald.

For the next half an hour Twilight and Emerald followed the trail. For the most part they were ignored by the worn down populace of Brooklyn. Twilight got more than a few stares due to her dress being more well to do than most; rich looking girls like her rarely showed up in the Former Yellow Zone and never this late at night. Eventually Sunset's scent trail lead them to a structure that must have once been a dance studio if the faded sign up front was any indication. It clearly didn't serve this purpose anymore but the lights were on so someone was using it. The two walked over to the front door and knocked. After a few moments the sounds of locks being undone met their ears and the door opened a little, a security chain keeping it from opening all the way or being forcefully done so.

“I'm really sorry but the shelter is full tonight,” said a mousy looking young woman wearing thick glasses, her eyes filled with sadness and sympathy at the sight of them. “I'm terribly sorry about turning you two away this late but we really are full. I can give you the names of a some other shelters in the area.”

“Actually we're here looking for someone,” Emerald said and immediately the woman became more guarded and the gap of the opened door narrowed. “Wait! Look, there is no easy way to say this, but we are looking for a teenage girl. She has something of ours and I get the feeling that she felt coming to this city was a massive mistake on her part.”

“... You're talking about bacon girl, aren't you?” the woman said and the gap of the door opened wider. “Has one of those weird sounding, new-age names?”

“Sunset Shimmer,” Emerald stated and the woman immediately nodded. “I bet she also had this really obvious fish out of water look about her, didn't she?”

“Yeah... she definitely did,” the woman sighed and the door closed, there was the sound of the chain being undone and this time the door opened all the way. She stepped forward and leaned back against the wall beside the door.

“Let me guess...” Emerald said. “She was here but now not anymore.”

“Not willingly.” The woman shrugged. “I told her not to leave this late in the evening but she did anyway, looking like she had some personal mission she was determined to get done. About an hour ago I heard shouting and screaming outside. I looked out the window to see her struggling against a bunch of the local gang, trying to get to the building. They then overpowered her and dragged her off.”

“Great...” Emerald sighed. “Well thanks for the info. It actually helps a lot.”

“What are you going to do?” the mousy woman asked curiously before suddenly shaking her head and raising her hands. “No, it's none of my business and I'm not supposed to care. Just don't get the shelter in trouble.”

“We won't,” Twilight promised.

“You better!” the woman said in warning, attempting a glare at the two. “If you two do, I'll... I'll... be very upset! Now just go and do whatever it is you're going to do...”

Without another word the woman quickly darted back into the building. The door slammed shut and several locks moving into place along with something heavy reached the two's ears. The shelter was definitely closed tonight.

“Right...” Emerald turned away and smelled the air. “We are getting closer. She said Sunset was kidnapped only an hour ago.”

“Emerald... I just had a terrible thought.” Twilight said with an upset frown. “What if we catch up to Sunset, we find her and she's... dead?”

'What if we find her and she wishes she was dead?' Emerald thought in reply, her mind leaping for the worst possibilities of a pretty young girl being openly kidnapped by a gang.

“There is no good answer to that, Twilight,” Emerald said, keeping her thoughts to herself. “The best thing we can do in this situation is just keep following the trail, take things as they happen and adapt to them.”

“I know, it's just...” Twilight said with a sigh. “Maybe I'm overthinking it. Everything will be alright.”

Emerald caught the scent again. This one had the taste of intense anxiety and stress to it. It was definitely the right trail to follow, considering what had happened to Sunset. She started leading Twilight down the street and eventually rounded the corner.

Twilight blinked as they turned the corner and a young woman came into view. Her form was easy to make out even in the increasing dark of the evening thanks to the street light she was standing under. She was wearing a pair of heels along with a black miniskirt and a tight, light gray blouse that exposed some of her midriff. She had a cigarette hanging between her fingers and was wearing slightly a bit too much makeup, though it did nothing to hide her pissed off expression and the bags under her eyes that spoke of many sleepless nights. Twilight found herself staring a might bit longer then she should have and the woman noticed it, her expression turning from simply pissed to outright angry.

“The fuck you want, rich bitch!” she spat at Twilight. “I ain't a carpet muncher so you can go piss off!”

“W-what?!” Twilight exclaimed as Emerald sighed.

“What, you a retard or something?” The woman scowled, pointedly flicking the ash off the end of her cigarette towards Twilight. “I don't have sex with girls you fucking dyke. You can take your goddamn money and piss off!”

Before the woman could spout anymore insults and Twilight could possibly make the situation worse, Emerald grabbed Twilight's hand and quickly pulled her along. The woman's angry mutterings drifted after them as they quickly put distance between them and her. A few moments later several men seemed to melt out of the darkness of the quickly falling night. They approached the woman and talked with her for a few moments before the lot of them walked down an alleyway.

“Emerald?” Twilight said after a few moments.

“Yeah?” Emerald said and looked back over her shoulder.

“Was that a prostitute?” Twilight asked.

“Yes.” Emerald nodded.

“They are a lot different than I'd thought they'd be,” Twilight commented.

“I know.”

The next twenty minutes were spent in silence as the two continued to follow Sunset's scent trail. It soon lead them to an area that was even worse off than the area they had just left. A great many of the buildings here were partially collapsed in some way and the ones that weren't didn't seem to have any working power. In fact most of the streetlights in this area weren't working either, forcing Emerald to guide Twilight through areas of pure darkness. A strange thing, however, was that Sunset's scent lost most of its anxiety at some point through the area, instead becoming merely nervous. It was an odd development and Emerald wasn't sure what to make of it.

Eventually the scent trail lead them to a small apartment complex. It was a mostly whole structure but with a great many broken windows that were boarded up on the inside. It looked like it was dark but the main doors hung open and a light could be seen coming from within. Emerald and Twilight were peering out at the complex from an alleyway, hidden in the shadows.

“The scent trail leads here,” Emerald whispered to Twilight. “This must be the gang's hideout. Twilight, without your magic you're only human. They'll likely have a lot of weapons, probably most of them guns though none as strong as the ones I've made.”

“So you want me to stay here?” Twilight asked then nodded in agreement. “Even if I had my magic I'm not sure if I'm good enough to deal with bullets. I've done the math in my spare time and the strongest shields I can make can't deal with all that force in such a small area.”

“If you get in trouble just shout as loud as you can,” Emerald said. “I'll be here in an insta-”

Suddenly the wind shifted and with it came the smell of blood and spent gunpowder. Emerald's head whirled around to the apartment complex. She placed her hand against the pavement and drew on her earth channeling abilities. Combining her senses and powers, Emerald started rapidly making a mental map of the complex and all it contained.

“Emerald? What's wrong?!” Twilight whispered urgently. “Did something happen?”

“I can smell a lot of blood,” Emerald said, causing Twilight to stiffen. “A lot of spent gunpowder as well. From what I can see and feel... there isn't anyone alive in that building currently.”

“No one in there?” Twilight said with a frown.

“Except corpses,” Emerald corrected and Twilight gasped. “Come on. No point in you staying here if there isn't a threat.”

“R-right.” Twilight gulped and quickly followed after Emerald as she quietly dashed across the street to the entrance.

Emerald entered the main lobby of the complex and waited until Twilight was inside before closing the door behind her. Turning around, the lobby was pretty dirty looking. Apparently the gang didn't bother to try to clean up their hideout too much. Taking in a deep sniff, Emerald was flooded with the stench ofblood, gunpowder and the smell of rot setting in. The smell was definitely not originating in the lobby; it was coming from somewhere deeper in the building.

Following the smell of blood lead Emerald to one of the apartment wings of the complex. One of the apartment doors was hanging open and from there the smell of blood grew stronger that even Twilight was beginning to notice it. Opening the door all the way, Emerald was greeted with the sight of an apartment that looked to have been made extra large by knocking a few walls down to include neighboring ones. From the looks of it the gang likely used it as a sort of rec room. Said gang was also covering the floor.

“D-dear Celestia!” Twilight exclaimed and began to retch at the sight of the corpses covering the floors.

“Hmm...” Emerald hummed in thought and approached the bodies, the wet sounds of Twilight's vomit hitting the floor resounding behind her.

The virus knelt down by one corpse, her sneakers stepping into the pool of blood around it. Dabbing her fingers into the blood pool, Emerald examined the cells. Not long dead. Whatever had happened here to have killed theses hoods had to have happened within the last forty minutes. And that time period was more than enough to ensure the brain cells of the corpses was dead as well. Looking down at the corpse, Emerald noted a sole single bullet wound on the back of the head. Turning the head over revealed the ragged exit hole on the forehead.

Humming again in thought, Emerald looked at where the corpses were located. They were all in a line, furniture moved out of the way to ensure that. Looking over each corpse in the ragged line gave the same story, a single bullet wound on the head not always located on the back but always on the head.

'They wasn't any fighting,' Emerald thought as she noted there only a single spent bullet casing for each corpse. 'They were taken by surprise... or perhaps they didn't think whoever came into the room was an enemy? Then they were forced into kneeling positions and were shot in the head; execution. Hmm... now why did this happen?'

“W-why would someone d-do this?” Twilight asked, pressing the back of her hand against her mouth and swallowed loudly. “This is horrible...”

“I do not know why,” Emerald said as she stood back up and backed up to take in the scene fully. “Perhaps this was infighting within the gang over something... that doesn't completely explain some of the clues here, though.”

“Was Sunset here?” Twilight asked. “I don't think she could have caused this but I'm dreading she had been caught up in it.”

“Give me a moment,” Emerald said and began smelling. “Have to sort through some scents.”

Sunset had been here, in this very room in fact. Her scent came up readily enough. Just as Emerald began to focus on the scent and make out further details there was the loud noise of a roaring engine and squealing tires outside the building.

“What's that?!” Twilight exclaimed.

“Vehicles, a lot like the buggies I made,” Emerald said. “Might be more gang members. If they are, then-”

“BLACKLIGHT CURSOR!” boomed a voice amplified by a megaphone. “EXIT THE BUILDING NOW THROUGH THE FRONT ENTRANCE WITH YOUR HANDS UP!”

'Cursor?' Emerald thought. 'Hmm, Latin word with multiple meanings, though I think the intended one here is Runner. Hmph, a PR friendly twist of the exact same word.'

“What's going on?” Twilight whispered urgently,

“Sounds like Blackwatch came to investigate what's going on here,” Emerald said. “More importantly, they seem to only know I am here. I could teleport back-”

“No!” Twilight said firmly. “We are sticking together for this, no matter what!”

“Alright, if that's what you want...” Emerald said and couldn't help the smile she gained.

“LAST CHANCE!” came another shout. “MOVE TOWARDS THE FRONT DOOR WITH YOUR HANDS UP! NOW!”

“Alright, let's get going before they decide to blow up the whole block,” Emerald said and quickly left the room with Twilight just behind her.

The two quickly made their way down the hall towards the lobby. However, when they entered into the room they were greeted by the sight of it filled with a dozen Blackwatch troopers. Each of them were wearing the same armor as the ones that accompanied Heller, but instead of just only shock batons these ones were wielding guns as well.

The guns they had were like bolt action rifles but of a much larger caliber than normal. In fact they looked more like militarized elephant guns with carbon fiber parts in place of any normally wooden parts. The guns also had an attachment beneath the barrel; forked, sharpened prongs that was clearly a taser bayonet.

The moment they were spotted, each soldier snapped their guns up and pointed them at Emerald and Twilight. At spotting Twilight, one of the soldiers whipped a hand up to the side of their helmet for a moment before bringing it down.

“Calmly approach the front doors with your hands up,” spoke one of them with a clear British accent, muffled by his gas mask. “The both of you.”

“Alright,” Emerald said and raised her hands and Twilight did the same, now looking upset as she realized for the first time ever she was being arrested.

As the two made their way through the lobby with their hands up the soldiers parted to both sides of them. They kept well out of grabbing distance at all times and kept Emerald in the center of their vision at all times. Despite the fact Twilight clearly wasn't Blacklight or a Cursor, they kept a few guns trained on her as well. That fact angered Emerald more than a little but the intent behind it was clear; do anything stupid and she pays for it, too.

Soon she and Twilight walked out the front doors and were briefly blinded by the vehicles pointing their headlights towards the door. Emerald's eyes cleared near instantly and she blinked as she took in the sight before her.

There were three men wearing stark white versions of the Blackwatch soldier's uniforms but sized up to account for the fact their wearers were over eight feet tall and hugely muscled. There seemed to be much more armor plating on their uniforms then the normal soldiers and they also had large packs upon their backs. The silver metal balls darted their uniform as well but there was quite a few that covered their fists which crackled with electricity, clearly stating their purpose. Emblazoned across their left pectorals in black lettering was the word: E-Code. Two of the supersoldiers had no weapons but the third one had a massive gun in his hands trained on Emerald at all times. His gun actually had the same caliber as the ones the soldiers were using but most of its size seemed from come from the massive amount of protective plating on it. The gun was dark gray and blocky, covering its sides were radioactivity warnings, especially on the large ammo box attached to the underside of the gun. Behind them the vehicles projecting the blinding light were APCs but there was large shape further behind them.

“On your knees, hands on the back of your head,” spoke the one with the gun, his voice possessing a German accent.

“What's the charge if I may ask, sir?” Emerald said as both she and Twilight did as instructed.

“Nothing so far,” the apparent leading supersoldier answered as the other two stepped to the sides of Emerald and Twilight and took up guarding positions. “But we've been told there was a mass murder on site and we've found you here. Suspicious to say the least.”

Two Blackwatch soldiers appeared from one of the APCs. One of them was carrying a large lump of roughly V-shaped black iron about the size of a large tub of ice cream. The other was carrying a pair of handcuffs in one of his hands.

“If you cooperate during questioning and are found guilty of nothing more then being at the wrong place at the wrong time,” the lead super soldier said as the two soldiers approached Emerald and Twilight, “then nothing will happen and you will likely be released in a few hours.”

“Place your hands in the openings,” said the soldier holding the lump of metal, showing the top to her revealing two holes big enough for her hands to fit into. “As far in as they can go.”

Emerald did so and the soldier pressed a button on the metal. Parts of the insides seemed to inflate and tightened the interiors until the manacles snugly and tightly held onto her hands. Emerald wondered just how these would restrain anyone since even someone with normal human strength could probably pull their hands out of this with some effort. Suddenly the manacles released a high pitched whine and several blue lights lit up on it.

“Attempt to shapeshift in anyway or try to escape the manacles and you'll get the shock of your life,” the super soldier to her side told her warningly.

Would have done a number on a normal Evolved, probably even paralyze them, but Emerald was nowhere near normal. Especially now after Randolph's visit.

The virus nodded at the supersoldier and turned to her side to see Twilight getting handcuffed. With rapid clicking sounds the cuffs fastened around Twilight's wrists tightly but not uncomfortably so. Twilight brought up her cuffed hands to stare at them in silent horror before releasing a whimper that caused the soldier who cuffed her to snort in amusement.

“Up on your feet,” commanded the lead super soldier.

Emerald and Twilight rose to their feet and the two supersoldiers placed their hands on their shoulders and began to lead them away. The two were brought past the APCs and towards the large shape behind them. The shape turned out to be another vehicle, this one a souped up armored car.

The armored car looked like it could barely fit in one lane and was extremely heavily armored, looking like its back compartment could easily withstand a tank shell. It appeared to be so heavily armored in fact it didn't have wheels. Instead it had tracks to distribute its no doubt extreme weight and not tear up any roads it drove on.

The supersoldiers led them around to its back where, instead of normal doors, it had an actual vault door there. The door didn't appear to have any mechanisms to get it to open, however. It simply had a small digital screen that showed a red, closed padlock. But at their approach the screen suddenly turned green and the sound of several heavy metal pieces scraping against each other met their ears. One of the normal soldiers stepped forward and simply pulled the door open.

Inside was a completely bare steel room with no hard corners anywhere. There was a pair of florescent bulbs as the lights for the interior. In the very center of the roof was a tiny vent with a fan covered with wire caging that no doubt would horribly shock anything that touched it. The only sources of comfort in the room was a pair of benches that were slightly cushioned.

“In,” the lead supersoldier stated.

After a moment of awkwardly clambering up inside, the door swung closed behind them with a clang and the locks snapped into place. With nothing else to do, Emerald and Twilight sat down on the benches, sitting opposite one another. A long moment of silence followed that as the two sat inside the room almost completely cut off from the outside world.

“I take it you've never been arrested before?” Emerald asked.

“Emerald...” Twilight whispered in a high pitched voice, her eyes wide as she held up her handcuffed hands in front of her face. “I'm a criminal!”

“I'll take that as a no, then,” Emerald stated and shifted her manacle around to cross her legs, the armored car jolting under them as it began moving “Welcome to the club.”

“Emerald!”

GAMMA

“And what's that?” Spike asked as he pointed at the bed.

“Bed!” Navi exclaimed.

“And that?” Spike pointed at the ceiling fan.

“Fan!” Navi said and then tilted her head in thought. “Light, too!”

“Awesome. Now that?” Spike pointed at the door.

“Door!”

“That?”

“Floor!”

“And that?”

“Auntie Moona!” Navi said then started giggling.

“Uhh...” Spike said and looked up at the moon he was pointing at and then shrugged. “I guess so! So you're feeling playful, huh?”

“Hehehe!” Navi giggled and crawled over to Spike and the grabbed one of his hands to start experimenting with all the ways her fingers can interact with his.

“I'll take that as a yes,” Spike said in amusement as he watched the young girl play with his hand. “Hands are awesome, eh? Ponies don't know how much they're missing out.”

“Yeah!” Navi smiled up at him.

“Well since you are feeling so playful,” Spike said, disentangling his hand from hers he hopped off the bunk bed and to the cupboard.

Kneeling down, Spike opened the cupboard and began looking through the games. He wasn't entirely certain just how smart Navi was, but just from looking at the name Spike could tell Monopoly was a number heavy game. Putting that aside, he looked through others.

'Chess?' Spike thought before shaking his head. 'Too boring. Mousetrap? Eh, that looks a little complicated. Hmm... how about this. Game of Life? Let's see... looks straightforward enough. I could probably walk her through some of the more complicated stuff.'

“How about we play a game?” Spike smiled at Navi, holding up the box of the board game for her to see.

“Yay!” Navi cheered and clapped her hands. “Brother play!”

“... Brother?” Spike blinked.

“Uh huh!” Navi nodded and darted over, giving Spike a hug. “Brother!”

“Uhh...” Spike smiled at the embrace but felt the title was... wrong. “No, I'm not your brother.”

“Bu-” Navi began to protest with wide eyes.

“I'm more like your uncle,” Spike said with a smile, patting the top of her head.

“Unca Spike?” Navi said with a curious tilt of her head before smiling. “Kay!”

“Now let's get the game set up!” Spike said and opened up the box. He and Navi started setting up the board and placing the game pieces. As they were finishing setting up, a thought struck Spike.

“Wait, if you thought I was your brother what do you think Emerald and Twilight are?” Spike asked.

Navi smiled widely and opened her mouth to answer.

DELTA

Diane huffed in some frustration as she crumpled up another sketch.

The clone was up on the surface sitting on the porch of her cottage. She had a painting stand set up but currently hadn’t gotten to using it just yet. Right now she was sitting on her bench trying to get a sketch going she could make a painting of. Nothing had yet to appeal to her, though.

She took the ball of paper and tossed it at a growing pile of crumpled paper. Within each was a sketch that was honestly fairly decent considering Diane had never tried to really draw something before, The odd doodle, yes, but not a full blown drawing that she would then turn into a painting. It wasn't working out so far but she wasn't giving up.

Pausing for a moment to try to find some inspiration, Diane began looking over her surroundings. The surface area of the Enclave was as busy as usual with Warhounds in training, not to mention the odd groups of Diamond Dogs who simply enjoyed trips to the surface. However, dominating the center of the clearing was a large group of Warhounds and some Diamond Dogs. There was a sort of fighting tournament going on between several of the Warhounds' best fighters.

Currently the fighting was winding down to its final fight, an intense bout between Tavish Degroot and Fenrir, the first and currently only “Direwolf” that Emerald had created. Tavish's small statue ensured he could never go toe to toe with the now incredibly tall Fenrir but he was still much quicker and used his much greater agility to full effect. Fenrir's changes helped to close most of the gap and it slowly but surely was becoming clear who the victor would be. Among the crowds, many dogs clearly found Fenrir's changed form a little off putting but a good number of veteran dogs only saw the benefits that having longer legs gave.

Diane wasn't much up for all the fighting the Warhounds liked to get into to keep their skills sharp, but looking at Fenrir did give her an idea of what to draw, or rather who to draw. Looking back down to her clipboard, she laid out another piece of paper and starting sketching.

Twenty minutes later she had a decent rough sketch of Emerald on the paper, but still it didn't feel right. She felt she was close but the drawing was missing something. Getting another idea, she also drew Twilight standing beside Emerald. That addition felt much closer but was still off.

“Hmm... maybe...” Diane muttered with a faint flushing of her cheeks as she erased the heads and began redrawing them. A few minutes later and she had a picture of Emerald and Twilight kissing each other.

'Yeah, now that definitely works,' Diane thought as several ideas rushed through her head of what to paint based on this. One idea rushed to the forefront and Diane found herself biting her lip as she blushed in embarrassment at the idea of painting it.

The clone rushed over to her painting stand and set up a canvas before quickly starting on her painting idea. The hours flew by as Diane started painting her idea. She had yet to start on the background and she had only painted some grass for the characters in the picture to stand but the characters themselves were done. Backing away with somewhat flushed cheeks she took in her painting.

The painting was one of Emerald Gleaner being affectionate with another pony, nuzzling and hugging them. The other pony in question was one Pinkie Pie. Diane didn't know why but the idea of painting Emerald being with other ponies that wasn't Twilight really appealed to some part of her and she enjoyed every moment of making the picture. In fact, despite the fact she spent the entire day painting she was ready to do more.

As Diane moved back to her painting to start making a proper background, something curious happened to her cutiemark. The three balloons on her flank began to glow softly and began twisting and shifting. They lost their shape and strings but retained their colors as they shifted from the image of three balloons to three splotches of paint.

Diane hummed happily and contentedly as her cutiemark stopped glowing and changing.

-TBC-

Author's Note

AN: And finally done, just shy of 20K words but ah well. I've gone over quite a bit in this chapter, the history of the world in the past three years, reintroduced several characters. Made Blackwatch dangerously competent. All quite awesome in my opinion, also trolled several people with a vague quote with no context >:3 That was also fun.

EN: And so Equestria’s first ship artist has been born. Next thing you know somepony’s going to be writing smut about our favorite Evolved protagonist and some random pony (Maybe even some fetish stuff. Who knows…). Though in other news, this chapter had a bit of delayed editing. The reason for that being the day it was done, yesterday, was my 21st birthday. Yay, I can drink alcohol now… which I probably won’t. But either way, managed to finish this up the day after. And good thing, too. Tomorrow I leave at o’dark hundred to fly to the opposite end of the country to spend a couple weeks with my friend. Gonna spend almost all day flying across the country and I am going to HATE it.

Chapter 3: Arrested Development

“Oh no, oh no, oh no...” Twilight repeated as she shook the cuffs around her wrists.

“Stay calm,” Emerald said softly. “Don't lose your head.”

The vehicle rumbled softly as Twilight and Emerald sat in its highly armoured vault. Despite her words, Emerald herself was more than a little worried about what was to come. It was very likely the two of them would be separated after arriving at wherever they were going to be taken. Emerald for her part didn't at all like the idea of Twilight being out of her sight in a Blackwatch facility, and with the way Twilight was taking being arrested she likely wouldn't take such an event very well either. However...

Emerald looked down at the highly advanced manacles with a glare as Twilight took deep breaths in an attempt to calm down. As long as these things were restricting her she couldn't do anything viral related.

'That's okay though, isn't it?' Emerald thought with a small shake of her head. 'I've got plenty of non-viral responses to the current situation no one knows about now, don't I?'

“You doing okay, Twilight?” Emerald asked her newly human girlfriend.

“A-about as good as I could be, I suppose,” Twilight muttered with a pout. “Considering my clean record has been permanently sullied for all time.”

“I think your record got a good bit of dirt and muck on it after you starting spending time with the wrong crowd,” Emerald said, motioning to herself as best as she could with her bound hands. “Especially when you started dating said wrong crowd.”

“Well...” Twilight's pout disappeared, replaced with a frown as she looked at Emerald sitting opposite her. “No matter how many times you describe it that way, I'm never going to feel the same.”

“...” Emerald smiled at Twilight. “Love you too.”

“U-uhhh...” Twilight blushed and looked away for a moment before returning Emerald's smile with her own.

“Well now that you feel better...” Emerald began and crossed her legs. “We've got a bit of an issue we need to plan for.”

“What?” Twilight asked with a frown.

“It's common to question people separately if there are multiple suspects brought in together,” Emerald stated. “This is likely what is going to happen to us when we arrive. We shall be separated and interrogated in rooms away from one another.”

“What are we going to do?!” Twilight exclaimed in worry, gritting her teeth.

“Stay calm, I have a plan,” Emerald said. “I can't use any viral abilities without setting this thing off, but what I can do is use magic. My idea is that I'll tattoo a rune behind your ear and mine as well and use that to stay in contact with you.”

“You think they won't search us and find them?” Twilight asked in concern. “And we would still need to talk in order to communicate with each other, or is your mind magic advanced enough for telepathic communication?”

“I've been getting it further and further along in the past year,” Emerald answered. “You'd be surprised at what I can do with it now, but no I can't do that just yet. What I can do is program the rune a bit, make it pick up your voice clearly at the quietest you can whisper. As for Blackwatch finding them, I doubt they discovered magic in the last three years. To them, the runes would be oddly placed tattoos.”

“I don't like the idea of being away from you around these people,” Twilight said and reached up with her cuffed hands to pull her ear and the hair around it. “I'd prefer it if we can stay together, but staying in contact is better than nothing.”

Emerald narrowed her eyes in concentration as she stared at the spot behind Twilight's ear. A runic circle began to appear, brightly glowing and crimson on the newly made human's flesh. After a moment, the crimson light faded and in its place was a runic circle glowing with soft blue colors. Even the average person would find a glowing tattoo more than a bit conspicuous, let alone Blackwatch, so Emerald continued along. A new circle appeared around the first and set into place, and the moment it settled the rune's light faded and its form became like that of recently painted tattoo; nothing clearly supernatural in nature. With that done, Emerald placed a rune much like the one she just formed on Twilight behind her ear as well.

“Testing. One, two, three,” Emerald whispered as quietly as she could.

“I can hear you!” Twilight said and pressed a hand against her newly acquired tattoo. “There isn't a danger of other people hearing too, is there?”

“No, the sound is projected directly into your skull, not out into the air around your ear,” Emerald explained.

“Well I guess it's just waiting until we arrive.” Twilight sighed with a frown.

“Not entirely,” Emerald said and leaned forward. “I think some coaching on how to handle an interrogation when you are the one being interrogated is in order.”

“Coaching?” Twilight asked. “Don't I just have to answer questions truthfully and cooperate?”

“Honesty and cooperation is key, yes, but there are other things,” Emerald said. “They are likely going to pressure you a little bit, ask you the same questions again and again, hoping to catch you slipping up if you are making something up. They may also attempt to pressure you into confessing into doing something you never did.”

“But that isn't right!” Twilight exclaimed. “Those who enforce the law shouldn't be attempting to prosecute the innocent!”

“They shouldn't, but it is what it is...” Emerald stated simply, causing Twilight to frown and look down at her cuffed hands. “That's why you need to keep your story straight and do not deviate from a single detail. Especially if they attempt to confuse you and change up your facts.”

“...What do I need to do?” Twilight asked in total seriousness.

“For one, we can't really mention Equestria,” Emerald stated. “Beyond you, me, Navi, Spike and Sunset, there is not another magical being in this entire world. Mentioning the fantastical nature or alluding to it would be unwise to say the least.”

“What’s our... cover story, then?” Twilight asked.

“So far we've let people assume that the place I've been ‘hiding out’ in is simply an isolated community that does without technology,” Emerald answered. “A true enough description of Ponyville. We'll let them keep this assumption and if they ask for a name we'll mention Ponyville, but not Equestria. Let them assume it is somewhere in the country.”

“What if they ask for where it is?” Twilight frowned

“... I've been turned into quite the boogeyman in the past three years.” Emerald hummed. “People have feared me for the idea that I could have appeared anywhere and unleashed incredible death and destruction and there would be no warning. We shall use that as a ready excuse for refusing to give out the location of Ponyville. That we are afraid that for the crime of harbouring someone so vilified as me, even unknowingly, Ponyville would pay the price that scores of people would no doubt be willing to inflict.”

“Alright... so don't mention anything magical at all, got it,” Twilight said. “Stick to the story no matter what... speaking of which, what is our story?”

“We'll use most of the truth,” Emerald replied. “We were tracking down someone from our home who had stolen an incredible valuable piece of jewellery and had followed her trail to the gang hideout. We had nothing at all to do with the dead gang members and found them like that before Blackwatch arrived mere minutes after.”

“Now...” Emerald continued. “We are going to be spending however long we have left before we reach our destination going over our story in detail. Ready for a pop quiz?”

“Always!” Twilight answered determinedly.

They didn't actually have much more time for the “pop quiz”. Ten minutes into Emerald drilling Twilight on her responses, they both felt the vehicle slow to a halt. Shortly after, the locks in the vault door clicked and whirred out of place and the massive armoured door swung open. Instantly the two were greeted by the sight of two of the Blackwatch super soldiers and the sound of an alarm going off.

“Alright come out of there.” One of them motioned at them before turning away and shouting. “And someone get that god damn thing turned off! Did no one tell them we were coming here?!”

Emerald and Twilight clambered out of the back of the truck as commanded, and as soon as they were outside Emerald quickly took stock of her surroundings.

Blackwatch had definitely changed up how their bases were arranged. Before, they seemed more aimed towards possible human enemies rather than infected ones. Now it truly looked like a reinforced fortification meant for something beyond human. The center of the base was dominated by a large bunker-like construction with firing slits on all sides and all levels, more than a few of which had full line of sight of each other in case they needed to fire on each other. Built into the walls were dozens of high calibre automated turrets, a good number of which had trained on her the moment she stepped out of the truck. Surrounding the base was a dozen little bunkers that, judging from the look of them, all could be raised or lowered into the ground as needed. Everywhere armour plating gleamed, but with her earth channelling senses Emerald could feel the presence of likely heavily reinforced concrete. Not only that, but Emerald could feel that this surface construction was simply the tip of the iceberg, with the rest of the base's main facilities underground.

'No perimeter walls,' Emerald thought as she and Twilight were lead towards the main entrenchment. 'Makes sense.Those walls were more useful for us as cover than any actual hindrance. Also means better line of sight on anyone coming at them openly. I haven't even seen their full security and I'm already having some trouble thinking of a good infiltration route.'

Eventually they arrived before the reinforced doors of the entrance. The two super soldiers were met by two others with a smaller, normal human soldier without a helmet, wearing a black cap instead.

“Captain Stirling, sir!” the Super Soldier standing beside Emerald gave a sharp salute. “Presenting the suspects being brought in for questioning, sir!”

“Yes, one Emerald Gleaner and Twilight Sparkle,” came the Captain's muffled reply and instantly all four super soldiers violently twitched. “Yes, yes, ha ha, the names are hilarious.”

Emerald blinked at the Captain. His accent was English in nature but his voice and facial features gave off vibes that made Emerald instantly think of an Imperial Officer.

“Yes, this is the way I speak, no I can not help it, attempting to speak in a different manner makes me sound ridiculous,” Captain Stirling spoke in disinterest before turning to the soldier beside him. “I don't need to be keyed into your radio frequency to know you’re talking shite again. So help me god I will figure out a way to bend you over my knee and beat your arse like the overgrown child you are.”

“Sir yes sir,” the super soldier stated with the smallest hint of amusement.

“Right, now if you two would stand just before the door?” The Captain waved behind him.

Emerald and Twilight did so, noticing that before the door was a large metal plate on the ground covered in yellow and black stripes. They were soon followed by the Captain and the four super soldiers. After a moment of silence, there there was a click.

“Uh, sir?” came a voice from a speaker. “Isn't there supposed to be a Cursor here? I've got three readings within human boundaries, not two.”

“Hmm...” The Captain hummed in thought. “She's just purposefully keeping herself light. Dangerous, but convenient for wooden floors. Let us in.”

With that the doors opened with a grinding of steel on steel. A long, plain gray hallway lit with fluorescent lights met Emerald’s sight and they began moving forward. As she was lead down the hall, Emerald used her earth channelling senses with every step, mapping more and more of the base each time.

Eventually they came to a hall lined with elevator doors, with one of the doors having a pair of normal soldiers standing guard. As predicted, they were to be separated. Twilight was lead to the soldiers while Emerald was lead away to another door. Twilight shot a wide eyed worried look to Emerald who gave a reassuring smile back.

“See you soon, Twilight,” the virus said with a smile.

“Y-you too...” Twilight replied nervously as they were lead away from each other.

ALPHA

Twilight twiddled her thumbs as she sat at a table awaiting her interrogator to arrive, now free of her cuffs. The room she was staying in wasn't nearly as intimidating as she had been expecting it to be. It was warmly lit with yellow lighting, the floor was covered in brown carpeting and while there was a somewhat flimsy metal table with chairs, it did also have a magazine rack. Considering this was another world's reading material, Twilight had been almost tempted to grab one to read but she was a tad too nervous to consider even reading.

“Same story over here too,” Emerald whispered through the rune communicator after Twilight shared this. “This room is pretty tame compared to interrogation rooms I've seen.”

'I wish I had your experience in this,' Twilight thought as she looked out of the corner of her eyes at the mirrored window. 'I'm so out of my own environment it almost physically hurts. I always wondered if I could be as strong as you like to say I am Emerald, to face what you faced and yet remain the person that you fell in love with. You like to say you're weak but you're still here and alive, aren't you? Adapted to horror and in the end you were the sole survivor.'

'Maybe I'm as strong as you say I am...' Twilight looked up as the door opened. 'I can honestly say I never wanted to put it to the test...'

Through the door came a woman with shoulder length brown hair wearing a dark blue work sweater with a white dress shirt worn underneath with matching dress pants. She came in looking over some papers with a bemused expression before sighing and looking up at Twilight. She gave a smile at the former pony.

“Good evening, I'm Sophie Neveu,” the woman said as she walked over and joined Twilight at the table. “I'm an investigator on loan from Interpol to Blackwatch.”

“Uhh, hello, I'm Twilight,” Twilight said with a small half hearted wave.

To her credit, the woman didn't react to the name. She simply glanced over at her papers with a bit more consideration and lifted a few pages to quickly look over them again. Taking up a pen and notepad she had with her papers, she faced Twilight.

“Hello Twilight.” The agent smiled. “Now, you and your friend Emerald were found on the scene of a very serious crime. No one is saying you did anything. What I want to know is the events leading up to you ending up there.”

“W-well...” Twilight began nervously. “Emerald and I came here because someone named Sunset stole a very valuable piece of jewellery. Letting her go just wasn't an option and Emerald was quite capable of tracking her down quickly. So we followed her here to New York, to Manhattan specifically. Eventually after dealing with the Evolved on the island we moved to Brooklyn. We secured lodgings and headed out to track down Sunset. We eventually tracked her down to a shelter and found out she had been kidnapped. Emerald followed her trail to their base but when we got there the gang was d-dead and we were barely there for a minute before Blackwatch arrived and arrested us.”

“How did you enter the Quarantine Zone?” the agent asked with a frown.

“We flew...” Twilight answered quickly.

“Hmm...” the Agent hummed and gave no outward indication of what she thought of that answer.

“Stay calm,” Twilight heard Emerald whisper preemptively. “Just remember the story.”

'Just remember the story,' Twilight thought to herself with a deep breath which the agent noticed.

“Just keep calm, miss.” She smiled at Twilight. “I'm just asking a few questions about what you two experienced up to being brought in. If you are innocent then you have nothing to fear. In fact your testimonies would probably help us track down the actual criminals.”

“Right, it's just...” Twilight began, wringing her hands. “I've never been arrested before. I'm sure Emerald has experience with things like this but I've barely been in trouble with teachers before and I-”

“It alright, it's alright!” the agent said with a big toothy smile, interrupting Twilight as she began to babble. “Now... I have some notes here, you have two youths with you? Why did you bring them to this city?”

“Emerald... isn't very trusting of others and she considers herself more then capable of protecting and providing for all their needs,” Twilight answered carefully.

“Hmm...” the agent hummed again, nodding slowly. “Now you said you flew into the city? How exactly?”

“Well, Emerald can glide and she can also decrease how much she weighs so that taking others along is easier,” Twilight answered as was taught. “Our landing was a bit harder than we expected, but we made it safely and made our way from there.”

“Hmm...” The Agent nodded again and started looking through notes she had been taking with deep consideration.

Twilight took a breath and thought back over the interrogation so far. She honestly felt she was doing pretty well and was fairly certain she had kept her story straight so far. She knew to expect much more, though, and that deeper details would be pressed about her story further.

BETA

Sergeant Trager, formally Brigadier Trager of Blackwatch, watched over his soldiers as they bustled over the crime scene. The corpses of the gangsters were long gone but their chalk outlines remained along with the blood stains. No one could see his expression with his helmet on, but his stance and the air about him made it clear he was broiling with anger and frustration.

Trager was a gray haired veteran of Blackwatch. He hadn't been around back during the Hope, Idaho outbreak but he been there when the first few runners were released for trial hunts. He was also among one of the few remaining “original” members of Blackwatch that was now called the first generation, a term he readily agreed with. In his view the “Second Generation” was useful only as grunts and fodder and the third was completely antithesis to the founding goals of Blackwatch.

As he watched a few attached investigators go over the crime scene, his communicator began beeping. Surreptitiously he received the call as it was a personally encrypted line.

“Trager here,” he answered.

“Brigadier, sir, I've got the report you wanted on the latest germ case,” a voice answered.

“I fucking told you not to call me that outside of private,” Trager muttered angrily.

“U-uhh sorry Br-Sergeant Trager, sir!” the voice quickly replied.

“Get on with it, shithead,” Trager growled, irritation remounting. The voice at the other end of the line was what Trager considered a prime example of the Second Generation of Blackwatch soldiers. Stereotypical meatheads who had more violent urges than common sense and got themselves in enough trouble to be quietly shuffled into death row. Being one of the higher ups in command at the time meant Trager was part of the group that had agreed to take in such people, despite the fact they literally had no choice but to use these men to fill in the massive gaps in their frontline manpower; he still considered the decision a mark of shame on his record.

“Yes sir, sorry sir!” the grunt said quickly. “Apparently the tranny, germ girl didn't kill that gang. It and the other girl was tracking down some girl who stole some expensive jewellery and tracked her to the dead bodies.”

“One of Mercer's pets taken in because it was looking for some stolen rocks,” Trager scoffed. “It's like bringing in Al Capone for slashing tires. Clearly something else is going on here.”

“You think Heller might take the chance to get it out of the picture, sir?” The Blackwatch informant asked.

“Hmph.” Trager considered the thought for upwards of half a moment before casting it aside. “Our Commander isn't so practical to do so. He doesn't give a shit for some rent-a-hoods getting butchered in the ass end of nowhere, and honestly, neither do I. But it would have been a convenient excuse to get rid of some choice loose ends... anything else?”

“Not really, sir,” came the answer. “There was some questioning about exactly where it had been hiding out. Some place called Ponyville of all fucking things, but no actual address.”

“Probably some Amish community in the ass end of nowhere, anyway,” Trager said dismissively. “Keep listening for anything interesting and inform me as soon as you are alone.”

“Yes sir!” the informant replied and cut his transmission.

Trager sighed as he returned to his assigned duties. After being high ranked in Blackwatch for so long, he was unused to handling such grunt work. Even now, three years after Blackwatch had been mutilated and warped by the nations of the world as their sole means of control over the “Cursors”, he still hadn't gotten used to it and missed his time as a commander dearly. Still though, even though in public he only had the authority of a Sergeant, it was a completely different story behind closed doors in certain circles of Blackwatch.

While the veterans of the True Blackwatch only numbered eighty after the two purges Alex Mercer had conducted on the organization, they still had many cats’ paws in the form of the second generation. They even had a few soldiers in their pocket from what they considered the failed Third Generation, sympathizers and soldiers who saw the viral abominations as too dangerous to be allowed to exist uncontrolled. And there was no way to truly control any of the Evolved. Anyone with a brain and some passing knowledge on the Evolved would know the rules created by the UN to manage the Evolved were about as effective as attempting to use the paper they were printed on to assault one.

'Too many fucking bleeding hearts trying to humanize a bunch of monsters,' Trager thought irritably. 'Leave that bullshit to Disney. No one but us knows just what these things are capable of.Everyone else just reads some papers and thinks they're fully qualified to make a decision about them. They've never seen a completely uninfected man turn into a fucking zombie in ten seconds flat, don't know that every single one of those things could release a city wide infection. Too busy arguing about “equal rights” and “emancipation”, going against the proper response of killing every single one of the fucking things.'

“You there!” Trager shouted towards one of the grunts.

“Sir?” The grunt snapped into a salute.

“Contact logistics. Tell them I'm calling the Soap Protocol,” Trager commanded.

“Sir yes sir!” The grunt saluted and walked away with a hand pressed to the side of his hand.

Trager allowed a small smile. While he would have loved to have Oskar vanished, he honestly couldn't do that on someone so highly exposed, at least not without some preparation beforehand. The things he could have learned from Alex Mercer's sole surviving enforcer could have been rather rewarding, but the fact that Oskar was the sole survivor was a mark of his potential threat. Trager had all the hate in the world for the Cursors but he also had respect for their power.

As it was, he allowed himself the small pettiness of getting in the way of Oskar's desires.

GAMMA

'Talking casually is good,' Emerald thought as she listened in on Twilight. 'As long as things are going smoothly with her, I'm willing to play possum.'

What was happening with Twilight was just one of many things Emerald was dividing her attention on. Aside from her own interrogation at the moment, she was also using her earth channelling to map asmuch of the building as possible. While her ability to “see” via feeling out the vibrations of the world was fairly advanced, it wasn't exactly like a real time, camera-like feed. In fact, it was more of a stop motion animation, with the quality of the stop motion determined utterly by how many vibrations there was at any given location. So far, while she identified quite a few mundane things there was more than a few interesting pieces of machinery she couldn't entirely identify even with all of her stolen engineering knowledge.

'Going to need to grab someone to mind read them,' Emerald thought as she returned more of her attention on her interrogator who was currently looking over his notes. 'Can't really play it as a smash and grab, though.This is Blackwatch after all. Going to need to do something... arcane.'

“Hmm...” The interrogator hummed. He was a french Interpol agent on loan and had been nothing but completely professional, which Emerald appreciated. “Well, I believe I have asked everything I could. Thank you for your cooperation. We'll be needing to go over a few things, but the way things are looking it seems like you'll be released soon.”

“That's good to hear.” Emerald smiled, her manacles clanking slightly on the table as she shifted in her seat.

“Someone will be back for you soon,” the interrogator said as he got up from his seat and exited out the door.

Emerald leaned back in her seat. She got the feeling throughout the entire interrogation that the man really wanted to ask her different questions. She figured what he wanted to ask was about her time with Mercer since that was the one big thing that everyone was worked up about.

'It's not like they don't have a ready source of everything Mercer related,' Emerald thought with a slight shrug. 'They could always ask Heller about him, but I guess there is a big appeal to asking the person that was actually there for it.'

“Twilight, you okay over there?” Emerald whispered after turning the transmitting function of her communicator. “Drum your fingers on the table for yes.”

“Watching” from afar, Emerald watched Twilight tap her fingers on the table briefly while still talking with her own interrogator.

“Good, just making sure,” Emerald said. “From the sounds of things we might expect to be let go very soon without an issue. I know you probably are worried about Sunset and the Element of Magic, but I think we should call it a night and head back to the others. Even with the protections I gave them I still don't like the idea of staying away from Spike and Navi for too long.”

Before Emerald could continue to attempt a silent conversation with Twilight, she felt two people approaching, one of which gave off potent vibrations no doubt due to being rather heavy.

'Oh here we go,' Emerald thought with a sigh as she sat up.

The door opened and in walked James Heller along with a young woman wearing a dark blue skirt suit. Initially, Emerald’s full attention was on Heller but the woman soon caught her attention and Emerald's eyes widened at who it was. Looking all the world like a secretary was Dana Mercer standing besideJames Heller.

Other than the fact she was his human sister, the only real thing Emerald had known about Dana was the fact she wasn't on his side and that she was explicitly off limits. Considering the fact she had never left the Red Zone the day it was formed and had been doing everything she could to dig up intel on Mercer's operations, it was clear that Dana was a woman who wasn't afraid to get involved in things that normally made the average person vanish in the night. The fact she was still here in the NYZ and apparently elbow deep in the mix of things was no real surprise.

“Well I did tell you to make sure to only kill people no one cares about,” James said as he came to a stop before the table, his arms crossed. “You did that at least. Didn't expect you to make it a date.”

“I didn't kill those people,” Emerald replied with a frown.

Heller raised a brow incredulously but Dana, who had been looking guardedly at Emerald, chose this moment to speak up.

“If you bothered to read the report they handed us,” Dana began, holding up a clipboard. “You would have seen that the evidence is pointing to Emerald and Twilight arriving at the scene nearly an hour after the mass murder was committed.”

“Eh, end result is the same damn thing,” James Heller waved off. “Dead douchebags.”

Dana sighed but the sound of a cell phone ringing filled the air. Tucking her clipboard under an arm, Dana quickly fished out her cell phone and answered with a ‘hello’. After listening to the speaker for a moment, she held her arm out to Heller.

“It's you know who,” Dana said with a smile as she waved the cell at Heller.

“That time again?” Heller asked with smile and quickly grabbed the phone before turning away and walking towards a wall. “Hey there baby girl. Had a good day?”

“So...” Dana began as she took Heller's spot before the table. “You were one of Alex's huh?”

“Sure was,” Emerald nodded.

“You're... not who I expected,” Dana said. “All the things James told me about you. Alex's silent killer who could get any job done without being spotted. The one Evolved among the Cadre who was the most pragmatic and subtle... and thus the most dangerous.”

“Sounds spot on so far,” Emerald stated simply. “In what way did I prove your expectations wrong?”

“The fact you apparently settled down and found love for one,” Dana said and pulled the chair out to sit at the table. “The fact you aren't some dark, rude bastard for another.”

“I think the proper term would be rude bitch considering... you know,” Emerald replied, gesturing to herself as best as she could.

“Thanks for the correction,” Dana chuckled. “Seriously though, coming out of that without being a complete psychopath? That's pretty impressive.”

“... It didn't happen overnight.” Emerald sighed. “When I first arrived in what I at first considered simply a temporary hideout, I was completely at ease with the idea of murdering people for convenience's sake. I guess the fact I don't murder for no reason or enjoyment was pretty decent of me. And... well, I've had proof of the fact I could have so easily gone the other way rather than getting better thrown in my face... so everyone's fears were not unfounded.”

“Didn't happen in the end, though,” Dana stated simply. “I think no matter how isolated the place you went to was, I'd think the world would have noticed if you became Alex Mercer.”

“... Yeah... I think what would happen would be quite noticeable if that happened, wouldn't it?” Emerald said with a sigh and slouched a little in her seat.

“Hmm... kinda cliche, but...” Dana began. “It was her, wasn't it? She was the reason why you didn't become horrible.”

“Hit the nail on the head.” Emerald met Dana with a ready, genuine smile. “She means the world to me. Amazing what a little bit of love can do for a person, huh?”

“Yeah...” Dana said softly, a glazed look to her eyes saying her mind was elsewhere.

“So, working for Blackwatch, huh?” Emerald asked, shaking Dana out of her musing. “Probably not something you expected or even wanted to happen considering everything that happened because of them.”

“You bet your ass,” Dana said firmly. “Blackwatch was every paranoid conspiracy theorist’s worst fears about the government come to life. Like hell I was ever going to be a part of it. But... before all this, I was going to NYU to be a journalist. I only had been writing for a few tabloids at the time but I was going in for the big stuff. I was going to investigate government and corporate corruption. I ended up getting into the thick of it several years earlier than I expected... and it turned out a whole hell of lot more dangerous than I expected, but... it was like a child's dream of adventure come to life, I guess. I wasn't going to try to back out once I was in.”

“So even though I had more than a few reservations,” Dana continued. “When Heller called me about the offer the UN gave him about being given command of a reorganized Blackwatch, I couldn't exactly leave it all to him. So I became his secretary and unofficial second in command.”

“I bet the ability to keep a far closer eye on things factored into the decision to help out,” Emerald stated.

“On my own I was only ever an annoyance for a group like Blackwatch.” Dana nodded. “I always needed some muscle in order to really make an impact. James always has my back but now I don't need to constantly rely on him to make my information matter. With Blackwatch as a ready example, the world is much more inclined to worry about what their governments are accountable for. Here I can help keep anyone from getting the un-accountability and total authority that Blackwatch had.”

“Of course along with all that power comes exposure and the eyes of the world,” Emerald said.

“I'll admit that's a bit of a downside.” Dana nodded. “But you can't be a journalist if you are afraid of attention and becoming a part of the story.”

“You two done with your little girl talk?” Heller asked gruffly as he stepped back over to the table.

“Someone's in a bad mood,” Dana said with a knowing smirk. “Let me guess, Amaya finally told you about her boyfriend?”

“Grrr...” Heller growled in reply, making Dana laugh. He turned away from her to face Emerald. “We got everything we wanted from you. You and your girlfriend can get the hell out.”

On cue, the door opened and in walked two soldiers in full gear. One came to a stop beside Emerald with shock baton at rest and another reached for her manacles.

“Wait... what the hell?!” came the exclamation from the one handling her manacles. “These are already off!”

Instantly suspicious, accusatory stares turned to Emerald.

“Woah there!” Emerald said, her own confusion on the matter clear on her face, and attempted to spread her hands in a placating manner before realizing there was no point. “I never even knew these things existed before a few hours ago. I wouldn't even know what to do with them to make them turn off like that.”

“She's got a point,” Dana said to Heller. “I guess someone could say she was actually keeping tabs on things all the way from wherever she was hiding out and figured out something from there... but why use it and then do nothing with it? Why do nothing and even wait until she got ‘caught’? She's been nothing but cooperative the entire time.”

“Peh... whatever, useless piece of shit,” Heller said dismissively though there was clearly a glint of suspicion still in his eyes. “Take those off of her and then have it looked over, see what went wrong with it.”

“Yes sir.” One of the soldiers nodded and quickly bent over and undid Emerald's apparently deactivated manacles

'And it was almost all ruined by faulty equipment.' Emerald groused internally as the soldier carried away the manacles. 'Typical... well we're on our way out.Provided nothing stupid happens on the way, we should be fine.'

Thanks to her innocence and cooperation, Emerald was allowed to be without restraints in the base, though that hardly meant she wasn't on the verge of being frog marched out the front door. Heller, Dana and one other soldier accompanied Emerald onto the large, spacious elevator. A few minutes later she was walking out the elevator and coming out of an elevator next to her was Twilight, also being escorted by two soldiers.

Emerald couldn't help her reaction. She immediately darted over to Twilight and pulled her tight into hug before giving her a kiss. As Twilight gave a surprised squeak, one of the soldiers escorting Twilight gave a disgusted scoff that quickly turned into a grunt from the other soldier elbowing him.

“Oh come on. You were questioned about a crime, not being asked why we shouldn't kill the both of you,” Heller stated gruffly as he crossed his arms.

“Oh I don't know about that,” Dana said with an amused grin. “Considering Blackwatch's old reputation, I'd be pretty willing to kiss the first pair of lips I'd see the moment I come out of a base alive.”

“Whatever,” Heller waved off. “Come on you two, get moving.”

Restricting herself to just holding one of Twilight's hands while said new human blushed crimson, Emerald continued along the hall. Before long they were out the main doors of the base and being lead out of the defensive perimeter.

“Alright, you might not have killed them but remember what I said earlier,” Heller stated firmly. “Keep the killing to people no one cares about and we're gold.”

“Yes sir,” Emerald said lightly and continued to lead Twilight away.

“...Wow, I was expecting something to go wrong every moment,” Twilight said. “I honestly thought I was going to expect you teleporting us out of there and going on the run from the law.”

“That would have been a worst case scenario,” Emerald said, her mind drifting over to considering what the wider world reaction to such an event might be. “I'm glad that simple cooperation got us out of there.”

“Do you know where we are?” Twilight asked in some nervousness as she took in the empty streets, lit here and there by street lights.

“No, but it wouldn't take much to get my bearings,” Emerald said and knelt down onto a knee. “Get on my back, we'll start roof hopping.”

Twilight did so, wrapping her arms around Emerald's neck and her legs around her hips. Emerald wrapped her arms around Twilight's legs to help keep her in place. With barely a muttered warning, Emerald then leapt into the air.

“Ohmigosh, ohmigosh, ohmigosh!” Twilight shouted rapidly as they soared into the air. There was a moment where the momentum died off and they seemed to hover. Twilight almost released her hold on Emerald’s neck to spread her arms out when they suddenly plummeted. Twilight let out a scream and tightened her arms as tight as she could when their downward momentum rapidly died off as they approached the roof of an apartment.

“Sorry about that,” Emerald said as they lighted down onto the roof with barely a sound. “I needed to get my bearings. I know where to go so I won't need to jump as high.”

“No, it's... it's okay.” Twilight shook her head. “I guess since I have wings now I really ought to get used to things like this.”

“Well if it helps you stop crashing, then by all means,” Emerald said with a smile and bent down to jump.

“Well I’ve neVERFLOWNBEFORE!!” Twilight said, her voice rising into another shout as Emerald leapt.

“Maybe I should take you flying to get you used to heights and the like,” Emerald muttered as she landed with soft thump on the next roof and leapt again. “At least we don't have to deal with your wings here and now. Sleeping beside you wasn't easy with the things smacking me in the face every few minutes.”

“SORRY,” Twilight said with wide eyes as she tried to calm down.

With Emerald practically flying over several blocks with each bound, the two of them managed to get back to the hotel in a little over ten minutes of travel. They landed on the roof and just as the owner promised, the door was unlocked. Paying it back, Emerald made sure to lock it with a tendril after entering. A minute later, Emerald was casting stand down spells for her runic protections and opening the door with her key.

Inside they were met with the sight of Spike lying on his stomach staring at a game board in intense concentration. Opposite of him, sitting cross legged with a wide, toothy grin was Navi. The two of them turned towards Emerald and Twilight as they entered and Navi's smile somehow became ever brighter.

“MAMA! PAPA!” Navi squealed and ran at Emerald with arms wide open.

“Darn, maybe I'll get to break my losing streak next time,” Spike commented with a sideways grin as he started packing up the game.

Twilight smiled warmly at the sight of a wide eyed Emerald looking down at Navi who was hugging her legs. Suddenly, her smile disappeared as she recalled what else Navi had said.

“Wait, Papa?!” Twilight exclaimed in confusion. “We're both girls! Who's Papa?”

“You Papa!” Navi smiled brightly at Twilight who gaped at her in response.

“But-but-but I'm a girl!” Twilight exclaimed, placing her hands against her chest and unintentionally emphasizing her breasts. “Can't I be Mama instead?”

“Hmm... nope!” Navi hummed thoughtfully before saying cheerfully, “Papa!”

“But-” Twilight began.

“No, Mama is Mama, Papa is Papa,” Navi insisted, beginning to look upset before Emerald picked her up and held her close.

“Don't worry too much about it, Navi,” Emerald told the little girl. “Your father just gets hung up on the little details a lot.”

“Father?! But I'm a girl!” Twilight protested again.

“See?” Emerald pointed, making Navi giggle. “Like for instance, getting so hung up she never noticed a young child referred to us as her parents.”

“But...” Twilight started to protest again before the meaning of Emerald's words struck her. She froze in place and her mouth hung open as the idea of being parent at such a young age seemed to short circuit her.

“Papa making funny faces!” Navi giggled happily.

“She sure is,” Emerald commented and walked over to Spike who was putting the board game away. “So how was she?”

“She learns really, really fast,” Spike replied scratching his head sheepishly. “I won the first game by a mile, the second was really close, the third she was noticeably ahead of me and by the fourth we practically traded places. Been on a losing streak ever since.”

“Quick learner, huh?” Emerald said, looking down at Navi. “Guess you take after me, huh?”

“Hehehe!” Navi laughed as Emerald twiddled her fingers just over her nose.

“I'm... I'm a parent now?” Twilight said softly as she finally snapped out of her stupor.

“Yeah.” Emerald nodded and walked over before holding out Navi. “And your daughter would probably love it if her Papa properly said hello to her.”

Face still frozen in one of complete bemusement Twilight mindlessly took Navi into her arms. The little girl smiled happily before wrapping her arms around Twilight's neck and giving her a hug. Twilight's expression remained frozen for a moment before slowly shifting into a soft smile and returning Navi's hug.

“Well... it's far sooner than I thought it would happen, but... this isn't terrible,” Twilight said, smiling at Emerald.

“No it isn't,” Emerald agreed and looked out the window. “And speaking of time, it's getting a bit late. Let's start settling in for bed, shall we?”

“Yeah, I was wondering when you guys were going to get back,” Spike said and hopped onto his bunk. “What happened? I guess you didn't find Sunset?”

“No, we didn't.” Emerald shook her head with a sigh. “We got pretty close, but... we ran into some issues with the local law enforcement and had to answer some questions.”

“That's too bad,” Spike said and lied back on his bed.

“We'll continue the search tomorrow,” Twilight said firmly as she placed Navi back down and got a nod from Emerald.

“So...” Emerald said, looking Twilight up and down as she walked over. “While you can go to sleep in your clothes, it is uh... noticeably more comfortable not to.”

“Humans sleep naked?” Twilight asked and started unbuttoning her shirt.

“Uh, some do,” Emerald answered and shifted her form's clothes so that she was wearing a baggy t-shirt with boxers that ended halfway down her thighs. “Most either sleep in their underwear or go to sleep wearing clothes specially made for sleeping in.”

“Underwear?” Spike said and pulled his pants down to reveal a pair of green boxers with purples stripes. “This?”

“Yes, it's basically the last possible layer of clothes you are wearing,” Emerald said. On her bunk, Navi threw off her dress since everyone seemed to be doing so, revealing a small, sleeveless white shirt and white underwear.

“So is this fine?” Twilight asked and Emerald turned to look. She paused for a moment, taking in the sight of Twilight standing there wearing only a pair of purple panties and a purple bra.

“That's... perfect,” Emerald said and quickly scooted under the covers and moved to the far side of the bed. She lifted the blankets up off the empty half of the bed and patted it.

“It's been quite the day,” Twilight said as she sat and laid down on the bed, sliding over nearer to Emerald as said virus covered her with the blanket. “And there is still tomorrow we have to be prepared for.”

“Yeah,” Emerald agreed and wrapped an arm around Twilight. “I'm not going to be here all night, I'll be up and doing some things to try to make tomorrow a whole lot smoother than today has been.”

“Okay, Emerald,” Twilight said with a content sigh as she snuggled into the virus' side. “Can you turn off the lights?”

“Sure,” Emerald said and waved a hand, telekinetically flicking the switch from her bed. “Good night, everyone.”

“Good night,” Spike said with a yawn.

“Night night!” Navi replied.

With that, Emerald lay back in her bed and simply stared at the ceiling. Minutes passed and before long a half an hour had passed and Emerald was still in bed, holding a now sleeping Twilight. She continued listening to the slow, steady beat of her heart for another minute more before sighing.

'I really ought to get going,' Emerald thought. 'We need resources and it's better to use this time for it rather then when everyone is awake. I-huh?'

Feeling movement by the base of her bed, Emerald looked down to see Navi clambering up into it as quietly as she could. When Navi saw that Emerald was still awake, she paused. Emerald paused in thought as well. The bed was already pretty cramped already...

“Come on... get in here,” Emerald said softly, lifting the blanket at her empty side up.

Navi scrambled quietly over before settling under the covers. The little girl wiggled in place for a moment before snuggling into Emerald's side with a happy little sigh.

'Yeah, after this I don't think I could ever go back to treating you like you are just my pet,' Emerald thought as she stroked Navi's hair briefly before wrapping an arm around her as well. 'I don't know why I didn't see this coming when I infected you with the Blacklight virus.Of course you would grown beyond your parasprite origins with the body you had. I'm with Twilight on this. I didn't expect this kind of thing to ever happen to me but the idea of a child isn't at all unappealing.'

Another half an hour passed with Emerald simply holding two people who loved and cared for her unconditionally. All good things come to an end, however, and Emerald couldn't justify wasting any more time no matter how much she wished to.

'Right.Off to work, then,' Emerald thought as she closed her eyes and called upon her magic.

A second later the sound of Emerald's soft snores joined the others that filled the room.

DELTA

Johnathan Dewy apparently was a very laid back fellow who took many thing in as they came. He took the fact his wife's normally light brown hair was neon green in stride as well as the fact the black and white tile floor behaved more like water. Indeed, the only thing that was even slightly bothering him was the fact he couldn't find his daughter, though he could hear her voice.

“Pass the ham and ice cream, please!” he heard his daughter say.

“Here you go, honey,” he said, holding a plate out to his daughter who took it, all without seeing her or knowing where she actually was.

The table Johnathan was sitting at wasn't only occupied by his bright haired wife and missing present daughter; there were many other people there as well, as he seemed to be having a family get together. He took the fact there seemed to be something a bit off with each person in stride as well, like the fact his seven foot tall, three hundred pound uncle was somehow able to sit comfortably on a stool with a seat so small it practically ended in a point.

Suddenly Johnathan gave a fully body twitch as an alien feeling that was like a combination of nausea, vertigo and lightheadedness assailed him. He felt that something was wrong, something was here that shouldn't have been here. The feeling seemed to not be restricted to him either as his family seemed to have a similar response.

“Uh oh...” they said as one and got off their seats in perfect synch with each other. In a goose step like fashion they each left the room through separate door.

Johnathan looked around himself in a panicked fashion, trying his hardest to find the source of the wrongness. He snapped around when he heard a thoughtful hum to find no one there. He turned again in panic at the sounds of something running at him only to see nothing. He turned sharply at the sound of something wooden snapping to be met with a broken chair atop the table and words burned into the table top.

LOOK THIS WAY they read.

Suddenly a hand gripped the back of his head and his face met the table top with a bang. He struggled and twisted to no avail. He began to feel like that of something sharp being driven into his skull, a feeling that went on and on and he screamed.

Johnathan Dewy's eyes snapped open and he quickly threw himself to the side... landing with a painful bang on the hard concrete floor. He groaned and looked up to see the small apartment he had been given when he arrived to work for Blackwatch.

'Just a nightmare,' John thought as he stumbled onto his feet. 'Jesus Christ what a nightmare... what time is it?'

Glancing over at the digital clock by his bedside, he saw it was only half past one in the morning. With a groan, he decided to use the bathroom before heading back to bed.

Far away in a place impossible for human beings to reach sat a rather familiar being.

'Well that was interesting,' Emerald thought as she sat crossed legged in a foggy realm. 'Either dream walking is so utterly alien to humans they can't help but notice it or I need to work on my technique.'

Earth's dream realm was much like Equestria's in appearance save for the fact that the dream bubbles were much more varied in appearance. Back in Equestria, pony dreams normally came in calm little bubbles with the odd stormy one for nightmares. She recalled Luna describing one of Emerald's night terrors as an angry red bubble arcing with red lightning. There were more than a few like that here among a few other unique ones. One of which was an oily looking one that had black wisps covering its surface. Emerald had been initially curious of its contents but a few unfortunate glimpses past the wisps gave her more than an eyeful of what that dream had been about.

'What does the black represent anyway?' Emerald thought. 'Evilness? Corruption? Impurity? It could be all three for all I know.Might even just be a really disturbing dream that makes you wish you forgot it like most dreams. I don't know, but in any case...'

'My test to see if my memory stealing capabilities can work in dreams passed with flying colors,' Emerald thought as she stood back up. 'I didn't really learn much, but it did point me in the right direction. Given some effort and some luck I should find some engineers who work for Blackwatch in the next few hours.'

Emerald stretched out her arms and closed her eyes. The dream bubbles around her whirled into movement, orbiting her rapidly, some moving closer and others moving further away. Eventually they settled again and the virus walked towards the nearest one.

'Whether or not I find the pertinent information, I need to wake up in a few hours so I can get to work on getting us money,' Emerald thought. 'I can't just magic up copies of any bill I come across, the serial numbers would give it away the moment someone thinks to check. Hmm...'

ZETA

Twilight awoke with a yawn and to the sound of laughter. Sitting up, she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and looked beside her. As expected, Emerald was gone. Looking over to the rest of the room she was met with the sight of Navi and Spike in their underwear playing a board game. Morning light filled the room with its warm glow as she leaned over to take a closer look. It was a complicated looking game with many plastic toys that connected to one another. Judging by the way Navi had her arms in the air and Spike had his face in the floor, the little girl was winning.

“Morning everyone,” Twilight said through another yawn.

“Mornin...” Spike muttered through the carpet.

“Heeeeey~” Navi said happily and hopped over, quickly wrapping up one of Twilight's hands in both of hers.

“Hey there little cutie.” Twilight smiled. “Having fun?”

“Uh huh!” Navi smiled.

“Ugh, I feel a little gross,” Twilight said after running a hand through her hair. “I'm going to go take a shower.”

“Have a good one,” Spike waved off. “I'll see about this new losing streak I've got.”

Twilight walked into the bathroom. It was definitely much nicer looking after Emerald got through with it, but it was still quite cramped. After spending a few minutes fumbling with her bra, she got into the shower and started to fumble with the knobs briefly before getting the water flowing and at a comfortable temperature.

'Emerald said she was going to do some things to make today easier for us,' Twilight thought as the water poured down. 'Is she getting us some more money? I'm pretty sure we burned through most of the amount we acquired from those thugs that attacked us. I'm kind of hoping we find someplace much more comfortable for all of us to stay in as well.It's kind of not the priority right now, I know, but if we can make our time here as comfortable as possible then we should try for it.'

Twilight heard the front door open, followed by a happy exclamation from Navi. Obviously Emerald was back from whatever errands she had to run during the night. Twilight quickly finished up in the shower - she almost forgot to put her underwear back on after she had quickly dried herself off - and went for the door.

“Hey there,” Emerald greeted Twilight with smile as she left the washroom. “Looking good there.”

“Really?” Twilight asked and looked down at the bra and panties she was only wearing. “I'm not exactly wearing much.”

Emerald's response to that was a sly smile that suddenly made Twilight's cheeks flush. Feeling a slight chill from the breeze of an open window, she decided to put her other clothes back on.

“So how was your night?” Twilight asked as she began redressing and Spike went into the washroom to clean up as well.

“Very productive,” Emerald replied with a smile and dug in a pocket to pull out a thick clip of money. “I went on a trip around the world and started selling random bits and pieces I conjured up to everyone that would let me make a sale on the spot. We've got more then enough money to make the next few days very comfortable. Had to make several separate trips to banks along the coast to exchange everything into local currency but it all works out. I also did some dream walking to do some data mining.”

“And?” Twilight asked as she buttoned up her white shirt and started to do her vest and tie next. “Did you find anything on Sunset.”

“I was focusing on Blackwatch,” Emerald answered as she walked over and helped Twilight out with the tie. “You know, in case they actually caught her and have her hidden away in some hole in the ground or... well I found out a lot about Blackwatch in general and so far it looks like they don't have her.”

“What do we do next, then?” Twilight asked as she buttoned up her vest.

“Well first we check out of this place and find somewhere much more spacious and comfortable,” Emerald replied. “Then I grab some things to make our stay more comfortable. Not to mention getting food for everyone as well as a few other luxuries.”

“Should we really be spending money on luxuries here?” Twilight asked.

“Don't see why not.” Emerald shrugged. “We got the money to spare and it's not like it takes any real effort for me to get more.”

“Well as long as it doesn't cause us any problems,” Twilight said and looked down to see Navi happily standing beside Emerald in her underwear, simply content to stand beside her “Mama” and look up at her. “Navi, as soon as Spike is done, you should...”

Twilight frowned as she took in some key details about Navi. Though she recently woke up she didn't have bed head. In fact, her hair was looking as picture perfect as it did yesterday. Considering she intimately knew one other person who enjoyed this condition as well, Twilight felt rather suspicious. She knelt down and motioned to Navi with a beckoning gesture.

“Navi come here,” Twilight said and Navi did so. Once she was in front of Twilight, Twilight placed her hands on the little girl's shoulders. “Navi, don't breath until I tell you, okay?”

“Kay.” Navi nodded and simply stopped breathing. As the moments passed, she started rocking back and forth on her heels until Twilight was done with her. After the first minute passed with Navi looking as comfortable as ever, Twilight looked up at Emerald with narrowed eyes.

“Emerald... what did you do?” Twilight said slowly.

“Uhh...” Emerald flushed and looked a little embarrassed. “I turned Navi into an Evolved like me.”

“Why?” Twilight pressed.

“She was... she was dying of old age,” Emerald said and Twilight gasped. “I didn't want to let her go after having her for all those years. So I turned her into what I am and she was fine.”

“Well that's fine. Yes Navi, you can breath again,” Twilight said and added when Navi poked her. “I wouldn't want to lose Owliscious either, but when in the world did this happen? And why didn't you tell me?”

“It happened after the Wedding,” Emerald answered, and seeing Twilight getting angry she quickly added, “It was the same day you came back from Canterlot and we had that argument.”

“Oh...” Twilight frowned.

“Yeah, I didn't really feel like telling you much of anything right just then.” Emerald shrugged a bit helplessly. “And afterwards... I just never really occurred to me to do so. It was an easy thing to ignore in the favour of more important things when she was just a little parasprite.”

“It's alright, Emerald. I forgive you,” Twilight said. Looking down, she saw Navi's upset look and quickly added with a hug, “I could never be mad at you, Navi. Besides, it isn't your fault either.”

“Love you, Papa,” Navi said, returning Twilight's hug and also making her twitch.

“So what I miss?” Spike asked, coming out of the bathroom drying his short hair with a towel. “Everyone have a moment and I missed it?”

“Pretty much.” Emerald nodded. “So more of the usual, really.”

“Alright, so we heading out now?” Spike asked as he chucked the towel aside and started redressing as well.

“Yeah. Navi, go put your clothes back on,” Emerald said. “We'll head out as soon as everyone is all set to go.”

Just then there was a ringing noise and Emerald dug around in a pocket and pulled out a mass of wires and circuits. Twilight stared in open curiosity of what Emerald was holding as said virus stared down at her ramshackle looking device.

“What is that?” Twilight asked as Emerald started tapping her finger on the device.

“It's an iPhone,” Emerald replied. “I took it off some guy that tried to mug me when I was out and about last night. He actually had the sense to get it cut off pretty quickly after I took it but I was already making adjustments to it. Normally you need a paid contract with a phone company for one of these to work properly. However with the adjustments I've made I not only do not have to worry about a contract but battery power isn't an issue, either.”

“I do not understand a lot of that, but,” Twilight said. “You've basically got a communication device now, right?”

“It's a bit more than just a communicator,” Emerald said, shaking her new phone in emphasis. “But that is the gist of it. I'll explain more on the way to our apartment.”

“Apartment?” Twilight blinked. “When did that happen?”

“Just now,” Emerald answered, pointing at her phone. “I sent a message requesting a place with the offer of a substantial safety deposit upon accepting our moving in. Once we move in I need to head out again and do some shopping for us but I shouldn't need to get too much. The place is already fully furnished, after all.”

“That sounds expensive...” Twilight murmured, though honestly she had no clue just how much. She had stayed at the palace without spending a penny and the library in Ponyville was given to her, so she had no point of reference when it came to housing prices.

“Provided we... catch Sunset,” Emerald began with a bit of a pause. “We won't have to worry about money for the rest of our stay here.”

“Then let's not waste anymore time!” Twilight said firmly.

“Sure.” Emerald nodded and looked to the others. “Everybody ready?”

“Yep.”

“Yes, Mama.”

“Let's get going, then,” Emerald said and opened the door for the others.

When they passed her out into the hall, Emerald turned her attention to the room, namely the runic protections she had placed on it. It wouldn't do for someone to get a room here and to find out it was nigh impossible to get into it after all. After rapidly tearing down the protections, she turned her attentions to the altered room itself. She was about to return it to how it was before but she recalled the owner, namely how she helped them and left the roof entrance open for them and didn't judge Emerald for being a “Cursor”. So with a considering hum, Emerald decided to leave the room be and closed the door behind her.

ETA

“Well that's done.” Emerald said, twirling a set of keys at the head of everyone as they left the landlord's apartment, said landlord likely still staring at the stack of money he likely had be partly expecting to be a lie. “Let's head up, shall we?”

“I was expecting a long, drawn out interview process,” Twilight commented as she closed the door behind her.

“Money is the all-purpose oil for all of society's annoyances,” Emerald replied.

Twilight just sighed at that.

Unlike the hotel, the elevator was working in this building. They were on the fourth floor within a minute and were walking down the hallway. Either the people here were rather trusting of one another or they had some bad habits as more than a few doors were ajar or fully open. One door wide open revealed a living room with a young man sitting on a couch and playing a game on his television.

“Ohhhhh~” Navi gasped in interest and strained against Emerald grip on her hand.

“Come on now.” Emerald said, pulling her back close with a sharp tug. “Don't go wandering into other peoples’ homes, especially ones you don't know.”

“Okay!”

Emerald lead the group to their apartment door and opened it after unlocking it with the key. Inside they were met with a fairly decent sized apartment, clearly meant for small families. The living room, the kitchen and the dining room were one big room and there was a short hallway with three doors.

“It's a bit small,” Twilight commented as she looked around, thinking about her home back in Ponyville. “But it's good for how long we are staying here.”

“Right...” Emerald nodded and looked over the apartment with her own eyes. The appliances were decent, but hardly top of the line. Many of the metal appliances looked old and had some rust spots forming. Even with the three years she had been gone the TV looked obsolete to Emerald. Heading down the hallway, Emerald decided to investigate the other rooms. One was a bathroom that was much bigger than the one they had before and even had a tub. Both of the other rooms were bedrooms with attached closets. One was a bit bigger than the other and was clearly supposed to be the master bedroom, considering it also had a queen size and the other held a twin. They also held some basic furniture just like the rest of the apartment did, however none of them were anything to be impressed by.

'Well...' Emerald thought and cracked her fingers. 'Let's do some renovating, shall we?'

Just like before, Emerald upgraded their living space to make it more comfortable. She gave the master bedroom a bit of a facelift and added several amenities for Twilight's sake. She gave what was going to be Spike and Navi's room some improvements; a box of toys, a shelf of books, turned the bed into a bunk and included several board games since Navi clearly enjoyed it. The bathroom was fairly decent already and all she did for that was some cleaning and restocking. The kitchen she replaced the appliances with many shinier, stainless steel versions and the dining table with a glass one, also replacing the rather rigid wooden chairs with comfy, modern looking ones. The living half of the main room got a facelift as well; the couch, paintings and arm chair that wouldn't look out of place at the home of an elderly couple were replaced with much more modern looking versions. Emerald spent several minutes on the TV, creating a replica of the latest flat screen from 2012 she had been aware of with matching remote. The room came with a satellite receiver and Emerald decided not to touch that just yet.

“Right,” Emerald began as she turned the TV on and handed the remote to Twilight. “I need to actually be seen running chores for us and for it to take some time, otherwise people living here will get suspicious. I'll be going grocery shopping as well as buying a few choice things for us. Shouldn't take more than two hours at most. I'll be back by noon.”

“I know you don't need me to tell you of all people this, but,” Twilight began and gave Emerald a hug. “Stay safe.”

“I will,” Emerald replied. “I'll make sure to armour up the front door a bit before I leave. This place looks safe enough so I'll save the heavy fortification for later.”

With that, Emerald spent five minutes placing runic protections around the front before finally leaving. Twilight turned to the TV remote Emerald had given her. She then began to look over the remote, very carefully reading each and every button.

“Navi and I will go take a look at our room,” Spike said as Navi bolted ahead of him to their room. “See what Emerald did with it.”

“Okay Spike.” Twilight nodded as she walked over to the couch and sat on it. “I'll be here figuring this device out.”

After spending the next minute looking over the buttons and testing a few out to see exactly what each did, Twilight began to properly channel surf with some effort. Most of the channels didn't mean much to her and one outright frightened here with a low groaning sound and pair of wide, open staring eyes peering at her. Eventually after quickly flipping through a dozen channels from the scary one she came to a stop on a channel marked “Fox News”. Interested in getting to know a bit more about Emerald's world, she decided to stay put.

“-tensions in the Middle East reached a critical point earlier this morning as the resurgent Taliban grows their influence from their centre of power in Afghanistan,” an older looking man said solemnly as he stared into the camera. “Allegations of responsibility for assassinations of various political officials outspoken of their opposition to the terrorist group are widespread. Experts are predicting a new onset of conflict in the region and another hike to gas prices.”

“You know, it's horrible. We had this group on a run only a few years ago,” said a young blonde woman who was sitting beside the man. “I have nothing but sympathies for the people who have to actually live there, but I can't imagine this shocking turn around. How did it get like this?”

“I'll tell you why. It's because America isn't there holding the leash,” the man replied confidently. “It's because three years ago a little something called “Blackgate” happened and all the vultures in the world saw their chance to try to take the big dog's place at the top. Now we are seeing the consequences of it and now with everyone having had a go at taking care of themselves they want America to come back and take care of them.”

“Even so, there are some people in this great country of ours who think we got what we deserved,” the woman replied, sounding like she didn't think much of said people.

“Those same people are as likely to sympathize with a slug as they are to nations that aren't their rightful own,” the man said and looked off to the side for a moment. “My apologies to viewers at home, this is a very hotly debated topic here at Fox and we've gone a bit off track.”

Twilight frowned. Something about this news reporter made her not like him all that much. She didn't exactly know if there even was other news channels to watch, however, so she decided to stay here for now.

“Sociologist expert Daniel Jackson was interviewed by one of our reporters earlier in the week,” the news anchor stated in a much calmer voice. “He was given the tough questions that's been on everyone's mind for the past three years. Should we really allow the Cursors more rights? And should we even allow their continued existence? Are they government property? Here's what he had to say on these subjects.”

Twilight's frown only deepened on hearing these words as the scene on the TV changed to a well furnished room with two heavily stuffed leather chairs and two men sitting in them.

“Thank you for agreeing to our request for an interview so quickly, Dr. Jackson,” said what must have been the reporter, a handsome looking man wearing an expensive looking suit.

“Uh, yes of c-course,” Dr Jackson nodded, adjusting his glasses. He was a young looking man with circular glasses and short brown hair, and wearing a suit as well. “I've only been out of university for a year. I couldn't help but leap at this opportunity.”

“This is a great opportunity for us as well, Dr. Jackson,” the reporter smiled. “Now Dr. Jackson, in the short time you've been out of university you've managed to become one of the better known experts regarding the Cursors and their place in modern society.”

“Well, expert is a bit far, but I guess I am the most publicly known due to my willingness for public speaking regarding this...” Jackson stated and gathered his thoughts. “I mean I've only written a single paper on the Cursors' abilities and how in day to day society-”

“Of course, of course, sorry interrupt Doctor, but,” the reporter broke in. “We only have so much time here for questions.”

“Uh... sorry.”

“It's no problem, Doctor,” the reporter said and brought up some notes. “Now the first question. People feel the Cursors are too strong, too dangerous to be allowed outside the NYZ and honestly I too agree with them on the sentiment. Even the weakest of them is supposed to be able to tear apart a tank with their bare hands.”

“Fear is a common response, especially for things we can't entirely control,” Jackson answered.

“And what do you mean by that, doctor?” the reporter asked. “The Cursors are all kept within one area. Other than the infamous Heir himself, none have ever been outside the quarantine walls.”

“Yes I've looked at the paperwork of all the rules the UN put in place to regulate the Cursors, as well as seen the defences myself,” Dr. Jackson replied with an adjustment of his glasses. “Now I'm no military strategist, but neither am I an unintelligent man. From what I understand of their physical capabilities, the Cursors don't need air as dearly as we humans do. The rules put in place by the UN appear to be there only to make it appear either that they are doing something or the situation is under control. Because just from reading up on some of their abilities it's clear the established rules are so flimsy they might as well not exist. And while the walls are quite clearly heavily guarded, there is nothing really stopping the Cursors from uhh... from pulling a Pirates of the Caribbean basically and walking out via the floor of the bay. I doubt the ships we keep out there are enough to stop all of them if they decided to leave via that route.”

“So what you are saying is that...” the reporter began. “Is that the Cursors are uncontrollable and nothing would stop them should they wish to leave the quarantine?”

“Well basically... but the thing is, is that they are people as well and as people they want to be accep-”

“Now on to the next question, Doctor.” the reporter continued. “This is a widely and hotly debated one even three years later. Should the Cursors be allowed to exist?”

“...Now to begin to explain this, I must go to a controversial topic,” Dr. Jackson began. “Genocide. The purpose of it is to eradicate a specific population and its culture. Failing that, then by fear of death and violence driving them from the country and far from their influence. When one looks at history of genocide and its end result, the truth is that it unfortunately works.”

“Genocide works?” the reporter said, wide eyed.

“Yes...” Dr. Jackson sighed. “Compare populations of pre-WWII of the Jewish in Germany to modern numbers. Modern Jewish populations roughly number two hundred and fifty thousand, only half that of pre-war populations in the nineteen thirties. You'll find the same immensely decreased numbers of targeted populations everywhere a genocide has happened.”

“Very informative,” the reporter commented. “But how does this tie into the original question.”

“Because how genocide succeeds would likely meet failure when it comes to the Cursors,” Jackson answered. “They are a population group unlike anything this Earth has likely ever seen in its billions of years of existence. Incredibly strong, more durable than most man made metals, faster than anything alive, more senses packed into them then any life form on the planet, genetic immortality. And though this is a bit of a guess on my part, they likely can asexually reproduce, that is... make babies with only one parent. And... they can take any shape they so wish.”

“Long story short,” Jackson continued in the silence that followed. “Genocide on the Cursors would almost certainly fail because it would only ever take one individual to repopulate.”

“So what you are saying is,” the reporter began. “That if we let them out they could become an unstoppable wave?”

“W-well... in the worst case scenario-Look, this comes back to what I was trying to say before. They as a people are tryi-”

“Final question,” the reporter broke in quickly. “There was a law passed a while ago. I don't have the details but basically it goes like this: Any lifeform created by a group or individual is owned by said group or individual, thereby allowing the copyright of life forms. Do you, Doctor Daniel Jackson, believe that the Cursors are property of the United States Government? They were, after all, created by the Blacklight virus, a viral bioweapons created by the government and thus should rightfully fall under this law of ownership.”

“...” Jackson stared for a moment, now more than a bit suspicious about the intent of the interview. “I do believe that would be, uhh... slavery, and that we had a rather big war about it little over a century ago.”

“Of course, of course.” The reporter smiled. “I do believe we are done here, Doctor. Thank you for coming.”

The reporter then leaned over and reached out his hand for a handshake. Dr. Jackson paused and the video abruptly cut there and switched back to the news room.

“There you have it, ladies and gentlemen,” the male news anchor stated solemnly. “From the mouth of an expert to your ears. We here at Fox certainly can’t tell you what to think but there is all the information you need for an opinion right there. Now, switching gears here. Aspiring Presidential candidate Donald Trump voiced his goals towards becoming the Republican Nominee for President earlier this week. We had a team at the rally to record what he had to say. Roll the footage.”

Twilight frowned at that, still unsure how to take what she had been watching and listening to. She was of the opinion that the interviewer could have handled the interview better. Suddenly the channel changed and Twilight was met with a cartoon pink skinned girl in a pink parka holding some kind of strange gun-like weapon.

“Then I'll use my Ball Blam Burglerber!” the girl proclaimed.

“Huh?” Twilight blinked and looked down to see the remote she was holding was gone. She turned to look for it when she was met with Emerald leaning over the back of the couch and holding the remote. An expression of calm as she simply watched the cartoon for a moment before turning to Twilight.

“Watching Fox News, huh?” Emerald stated as she placed the remote on the coffee table. “I would take everything they say with a pinch of salt, they tend to lean towards sensationalism. If you want some nice news reporting you might want to watch the Daily Show instead, but that's just me... I always didlike the splash of humour Jon Stewart added to everything.”

“Oh...” Twilight said and faced towards the screen, watching the pink girl riding an odd looking rainbow coloured unicorn with a really long body. “So everyone in this country isn't all like that.”

“Don't let the shouting of people who like to get all the attention colour your view of others,” Emerald stated, standing up right and crossing her arms. “Experience has taught me that the average person doesn't really care for the grand schemes that politicians and their like get up to. They just want their peaceful way of life to go on. This fact is known to those same politicians and they will often phrase things in ways that make it seem like it will be a massive threat to the average person.”

“So don't let them use my fear against me, is that it?” Twilight asked as she continued to watch the cartoon.

“Basically,” Emerald replied and moved over to place both her hands on Twilight's shoulders. “I know this world is strange and very frightening in many ways to you. There is darkness, there will always be darkness, but that is not all there is.”

“You are being very strangely positive, Emerald,” Twilight commented, looking over her shoulder at the virus. “I'm not complaining, but it's very surprising.”

“I guess it's because back home I'd often make up threats hiding in the shadows to satisfy my own paranoia.” Emerald sighed. “I don't need to make up anything here. I don't need to lie to myself about the existence of a threat. It's all very true here. I'm back in my element.”

“You're not really reassuring me with that kind of talk, Emerald.”

“Just remember that there is always good in spite of evil.” Emerald squeezed Twilight's shoulders. “Enough good men and woman went down swinging in futility against my claws to prove that fact to me.”

“...” Twilight stayed silent. She had the crimes of Emerald's past reminded to her enough times that this time didn't have the impact it usually did. It did remind her that Emerald, despite her immense strength, did not have much self respect and that guilt plagued her heavily.

“I'll be cooking us some brunch,” Emerald said in the silence, releasing Twilight's shoulders. “I'll tell you when it's done. I'll just be right behind you after all.”

'Is it really just making up threats in the dark for the sake of your own paranoia, though?' Twilight thought as Emerald left. 'How many threats have assaulted Equestria, and how many were put down quickly and ruthlessly because you were constantly preparing for the next big hidden enemy around the corner? Every year since I've moved to Ponyville there's been a massive threat against the Kingdom.First was Nightmare Moon, then there was Discord, then the Changelings, then Sombra and then there was your evil alternate self. So many threats and getting more potent and dangerous with every year.After all this, could anyone really hold it against you to keep preparing?'

'Honestly, I think I should join you. I could do with learning a few more aggressive spells,' Twilight thought as the pink cartoon girl battled a strange heart creature. 'Other than that, I... I feel like I am beginning to think you are being too hard on yourself... is that a bad thing? Is it because I love you that I feel this way? I wish I could ask Cadance or the Princess for advice, but all I have is my own feelings to guide me now...'

Twilight let her mind drift aimlessly and watched the cartoon. It was honestly pretty good and entertaining and apparently was on again as soon as it was over. Before long, twenty minutes had passed and Emerald's calls to her knocked her out of her binge watching. Almost reluctantly, she tore herself away form the TV and that was when she actually noticed the wonderful smell in the air.

“Mmmmm!” Twilight let out a moan. “Something smells good!”

“Finally noticed, did you?” Emerald called out from the kitchen a dozen feet away. “You became a real couch potato over there.”

Twilight turned around to see Emerald setting two plates down at the table. Spike and Navi were already there with plates of their own. Twilight walked over to the dining table as Emerald started to quickly and magically clean the dishes and place them back in the cupboards. By the time the former unicorn sat down at the table, Emerald was already done and moving to do the same.

Twilight looked down at the brunch Emerald prepared. There were pieces of what was clearly potatoes, some toast to the side, a glass of orange juice. However that was were her recognition of what was on the plate ended. There was these long, thin brown strips that seemed a little greasy looking along with a bigger, thicker brown slab, then there was these small, yellowish-white puffy things.

“What's this?” Twilight asked.

“Steak and eggs brunch,” Emerald answered. “Specifically, homemade hash browns, orange juice, toast, bacon, steak and scrambled eggs... Navi, don't eat with your hands. Use your cutlery.”

“Mmmmmm~” Navi moaned, chewing on the steak in one hand and bacon in the other.

“This is pretty great,” Spike said, wrapping a piece of bacon around a fork and eating each piece whole.

“Eggs?” Twilight frowned as she poked at said eggs on her plate with a fork. “And what exactly is the steak and bacon?”

“Meat,” Emerald replied simply.

“M-meat?!” Twilight exclaimed as Navi worked out her knife and fork and started tearing into her steak with gusto. “I can't eat this, Emerald! I”m a-”

“Human,” Emerald stated, pointedly magicking up a mirror in the air before Twilight's face for a moment before eating a mouthful of eggs. “Which is an omnivore, not an herbivore. You could try eating leaves and grasses, I'll be waiting for you in to bathroom when your stomach inevitably disagrees with your choice.”

“Is this really my only choice?” Twilight pouted down as she forked a piece of bacon.

“There is such a thing as a vegan diet,” Emerald answered as she ate a piece of steak. “I could buy vegetables that will provide you with the needed nutrients you would primarily get from meat. However... I just finished spending pretty much every dollar we had on getting us a better place to sleep, as well as stocking up enough food to last us till the day we are supposed to leave, not to mention buying a few other miscellaneous things. I can get you these things but I would also need to get more money for it. Just please give it a try, Twilight.”

“Oh... okay Emerald, I'm sorry for making this such an issue,” Twilight said before taking a breath and putting the bacon in her mouth. She waited several moments before finally chewing it and swallowing.

“And?” Emerald asked after biting her toast.

“...It's good,” Twilight said but still had a frown on her face as well as a guilty look.

“You're imagining the animals on Applejack's farm right now, aren't you?” Emerald asked knowingly and got a nod. “Don't. The animals on Earth are nowhere near like those in Equestria. The vast majority of them are ruled by their instincts on a day to day basis. The only real thing they care about is the fact they are alive and fed by the time the sun falls, rinse and repeat.”

“Oh.” Twilight blinked. That honestly did make her feel much better about eating the meat. No longer feeling any guilt about eating beings that one could have had a conversation with and be good friends with, she started digging in. It honestly was pretty good.

“Done!” Navi said happily.

“Navi, what have I told you about eating so fast?”

“Sorry Mama...”

Twilight smiled, feeling warm and happy emotions bubble up in her chest.

THETA

'Decided to go the extra mile, huh?' Emerald thought as she looked down at the gang hideout from a nearby rooftop.

Emerald had left the apartment ten minutes ago. Before she had done so, she had done two things. First she had introduced Spike and Navi to a Nintendo Wii U and left it to the two of them to get it hooked up and running. Next she armoured up the front door with some runes, just something to immediately alert her and keep the door standing in the face of breaching explosives. Then after leaving she made straight for the gang hideout she had tracked Sunset to yesterday.

'So much chemicals in the air,' Emerald thought with sniff. 'I bet even normal humans can smell this from a good distance away. Certainly annihilated any scent trails.What to do... should I really even bother?'

Emerald sat down on the roof ledge and rested her head on her hands. There were so many hints and evidence pointing towards the idea that before yesterday Sunset Shimmer had never set foot on Earth before. She found herself rather hollow at the idea of being stuck on Earth after making a home for herself on Equestria, after making friends and being responsible for the well being of all those in the Enclave only to be stuck on Earth?

'Back in my element?' Emerald thought mockingly of her past words. 'What a load of bullshit. I don't want to be here, I want to go home and leave everything behind. I don't want to have to deal with this shit but I'm going to have to... jeez, look at me. I used to be able to stand on two feet just fine despite the fact everyone wanted me dead... no, I was never fine, was I? It took having loved ones and friends to realize how sick I was. I don't want to go back to this, everyone hating me and enemies no matter where I look... I... I...'

Emerald shook her head and stood back up. Deciding she needed to distract herself, she decided to move forward and just keep moving until something happened. After only a minute she left the deserted area of Brooklyn and was hopping over streets with people in them. The car population hadn't really recovered all that well after the two viral disasters, and the recession that followed soon after meant that people jaywalked freely without much issue.

“MONSTER!” Emerald heard shouted after her as she leapt across one street. It slid off her current state of near total apathy like a drop of water on steel. She just kept going. Landing on the edge of one building, her attention drawn to some angry shouting. She turned to see two young teenage boys trying to fend off an older man who was trying to pull off the backpack of the slightly older boy. Without really thinking about it, Emerald transfigured a blade in her hand and let it fly.

The man let loose a scream as the blade sunk into the back of his knee with a thump. He collapsed to the ground holding his leg, panting in agony. The two boys stared for a moment before looking in the direction the blade came from and saw Emerald perched on the ledge. The virus watched as they simply took off running, leaving the man on the ground who was cursing and slowly crawling away.

Emerald looked down towards the man for a moment, she probably could send another knife flying, this one with a much more lethal destination and no one would know or care. Deciding that probably giving a man likely permanent damage to his knee for petty thievery was heavy handed enough without adding death into the mix, she left him to whatever fate awaited him and continued forward.

Emerald continued roof hopping without stopping, occasionally getting a shouted insult following her but paying just as much attention as the first. She came to a stop briefly when she ran out of roofs to hop and was left facing the bay. She turned and started hopping in a different direction. Eventually her ears caught the sounds of people fighting and she immediately turned for it.

Within a minute Emerald was sitting on the ledge of a building overlooking a wide open back alley. There was two people fighting in the alley below but it wasn't a real fight, it was more of a spar. One was a beautiful, curvy woman wearing a short black skirt with suspenders, a small, tight sleeveless white shirt, a pair of red boots and padded red gloves along with a pair of hard elbow pads. Her hair was long and dark brown, easily reaching down to her tailbone and held together with dark red binding. The other was a massive mountain of a man that was almost grotesquely muscled and somewhat out of proportion considering how small his head looked. He had a hair styled in a crew cut and was wearing a pair of black pants and a white muscle shirt with black boots. Along his bare arms were many surgical scars. The sight of these made Emerald certain that if his back and stomach were visible, there would be clear distortions from subdermal armour plating. This man was clearly an off duty super soldier.

Emerald watched the two fight. The woman was small and agile and made use of inhumanly acrobatic flips and jumps to maneuver around her opponent. The Super Soldier was clearly fast as well but not as agile as his smaller opponent was. Whenever she leapt too close when dodging a blow he would instantly punish it with a crushing chop of his hand. Not that the woman wasn't strong as well. Whenever she managed to find an opening she'd deliver a punch that would send the soldier skidding back several feet.

'Well at least she is aware that a miniskirt is hardly the most appropriate thing for a fight.' Emerald thought as the woman give a high kick, revealing a pair of biking shorts under her skirt instead of panties.

“Oh!” the woman exclaimed as she suddenly caught sight of Emerald sitting on a roof ledge, holding a hand up to her sparring mate she raised her other one in a wave. “Hello over there!”

Emerald hopped off the ledge and landed onto the concrete with a loud thump and walked over to the two sparring mates.

“You’re him, aren't you? You're Oskar?” The woman asked with an eager smile before gasping and putting a hand to her mouth. “Oh sorry, I meant to say her, not him.”

“That's alright,” Emerald said. “And yes, I used to go by Oskar before. My name is Emerald now.”

“Hi, my name's Trisha.” The woman smiled brightly and held out a hand. “I wasn't around when it all started. I joined up soon after. I've been hoping to meet you one of these days.”

“Really?” Emerald arched a brow as she grasped Trisha's hand. “I didn't think anyone would be looking forward to me ever showing up.”

“Well... yeah, that's kinda true actually,” Trisha replied, tapping a forefinger against her temple.

“Are we done for today, Trish?” The super soldier asked with a Russian accent.

“Uh yeah I think so, Artyom,” Trisha said. “Aren't you going to introduce...”

Artyom started briskly walking away and Trisha sighed at the obvious show of ignoring Emerald.

“Uhh... normally he's a pretty friendly guy.” Trisha said with a sheepish laugh.

“Hn, not really insulted.” Emerald crossed her arms and shook her head. “I'm just glad I don't have a shoot on sight order on me. Course it might be the wider world just hasn't heard of me reappearing just yet.”

“You have to have hope, Emerald!” Trisha said confidently, her hands clenched tightly before her. “Three years you were out there in the world, everyone was afraid you were just waiting for the best moment to strike, to let loose some more viral hell on the world. But you didn't! All those years with no one watching your every move and you didn't hurt anyone! It has to count for something, doesn't it? They'll give you a chance, I know it!”

“You're pretty optimistic, aren't you,” Emerald stated.

“Someone has to be,” Trisha said with a huff. “Sure there are plenty of assholes in the world but that's no excuse to let them get you down and be an asshole too! Besides, people can always surprise you and show they can be good. I mean you did, didn't you?”

“True enough, so...” Emerald said. “Tifa Lockhart, right?”

“Heh, yup.” Trisha smiled and brought up crimson clad hands. “My “Cloud” didn't turn out to be a slim anime pretty boy, though.”

“Huh?” Emerald blinked before realizing. “You mean Artyom?”

“He think he's so subtle,” Trisha said with a giggle. “But he isn't. My big Russian teddy bear who wants to be the stoic, handsome lady killer who gets the girl.”

“What is he, exactly?” Emerald asked. “In the first outbreak we had D-Codes, in the second we had Orions. The first outbreak killed all the D-Codes and it was the same case for the second, and it also saw the destruction of all their means of making more Orions. Did they reinvent the D-Codes?”

“Yeah, they did,” Trisha nodded. “Apparently they managed to retrace their steps in the D-Codes and made E-Codes. They are supposed to be a bit stronger and faster than the D-Codes along with some unmentioned other improvements... so what exactly are you getting up to around here? Almost none of us tried to help you when you needed it back on the island.”

“I managed well enough,” Emerald waved off. “I've got an apartment already.”

“Wow, you're good!” Trisha blinked. “Did you use any financial aid?”

“Financial aid?” Emerald asked.

“Yeah we get a set living income from the UN, adjusted for local prices,” Trisha said. “Mostly because people realized most of us likely wouldn't be able to get jobs. So to keep us off the streets and using our powers for ‘evil’ they give us all a livable income.”

“And all it takes is being capable of killing thousands of people by yourself,” Emerald remarked snidely.

“Hmph, I guess you managed on your own, huh?” Trisha huffed and crossed her arms, facing a little away from Emerald.

“Yeah, although I might go get some of that money as well.” Emerald said with a shrug. “It's there, might as well take advantage. Anyway, I have to get going.”

“Don't be a stranger!” Trisha said as Emerald started walking away. “I'm usually around one of the parks around here!”

Emerald leapt onto the roof of a nearby building and started moving. When she was a few blocks away from where she had run into Trisha she came to a stop, now at a loss of what to do.

'I suppose I could see if I can find Sunset's scent trail again,' Emerald thought. 'See if I can find whatever dark basement she had been chained up in or a ditch her corpse had been tossed into. Well... I have the rest of the day to do that and I really want to investigate the viral sensors Blackwatch has. I have all the technical data in my head but I want to see a sensor first hand.'

Decision made, Emerald looked around herself to make sure no one was watching and teleported with a subdued flash of pink. An instant later she arrived at her destination and took a look around.

The moon was airless and silent due to lack of atmosphere. In those respects, quite a bit different from the Equestrian moon which a normal person could survive on with little protection. Looking over to the side, Emerald saw the base left behind by the moon lander. Nearby was the flag and plaque they had left behind, said flag turned pure white due to radiation exposure.

Emerald was about to sit down and set to work but a certain desire got in the way. She proceeded to hop towards the moon lander's base and came to a stop before its leg. She went down onto one knee and reached out with a hand. With a flash of light a metal plate appeared in her grip and she set it down leaning against the shining leg of the lander. Standing back up, she studied her work.

Emerald Gleaner was here

Suck it NASA

'A bit childish, but I couldn't help it,' Emerald smirked before hopping a short distance away.

Emerald sat down and set to work. Pieces of metal flashed into existence in the air before her, followed shortly by various pieces of circuitry. Soon the air was filled with hundreds of parts of various sizes, from screws to circuit boards. Pieces rapidly flew together and started connecting, plugs pushed into place and metal plates were securely screwed together. Before long she had a roughly bar stool sized piece of machinery that had clear glass on one end.

Grabbing a power chord floating in the vacuum, Emerald channelled a recently learned magic and provided power to the newly created device.

Emerald needed to have the sensor active and working for her to personally examine because despite the stolen memories she couldn't help but doubt the info. After all, the information crudely matched several design ideas of a practice that was literally a world away. But now that she had it before her and actively working, she couldn't doubt the truth any longer.

Blackwatch's new viral sensors worked via artificially recreating the viral pulse and constantly filling the air with it. The jamming process had a much wider range than the sensing part did. However now that she had something other than herself using the pulse right in front of her she also couldn't deny a fact about it.

The viral pulse was magical in nature.

IOTA

Belvedere sat at a desk doing some paperwork.

He often did stuff like this. Of course it was a bit more complicated before the Enclave actually had paperwork to fill out which required him constantly running everywhere and checking on everything. Emerald had a very hands off approach when it came to her dogs. As long as what she wanted wasultimately followed through with, she almost entirely let them do as they pleased. However Belvedere preferred to keep a much closer eye on the day to day happenings of the Enclave and had reports on everything sent to him every few hours. It was a good flow of work for him but he still had quite a bit of free time he was disgruntled by. He preferred to keep busy at all times, an old habit of his time as a slave. If you weren't working towards the gem quota or stealing food for the others you were wasting time and harming everyone. And the last thing the Greyhound Alpha wanted was to harm his charges through some controllable fault of his own.

Currently he had run through all the news reports on activity in the Enclave; they were still very busy. While no new major projects were being put through due to Emerald's absence, she more than made sure there was a backlog to go through. One of which was making sure the “reparations” were paid for completely.

The whole reparation situation irritated Belvedere quite a bit. For the first time in a long time the Dogs had surplus of everything and others of course wanted what the former slaves had. If it was his decision he would have just ignored the Griffin demands. There would have been plenty of people willing to take his side due to the offer of meat fruit. Ultimately it wasn't his decision, however, and it was already long made. He wasn't going to waste time complaining, though feeling irritated by it he was more than willing to.

Thankfully Emerald had managed to do a bit of political work of her own and managed to have the vast majority of the reparations paid for by other people. The only real issue was all the iron and refined steel certain Principalities were demanding.

'The Storm Claws are certainly asking for a lot of steel,' Belvedere thought as he looked over a shipping manifest for the last reparation transports heading out. 'Far more than can practically be used... hmm, whatever could they be planning?'

Belvedere got up from his seat at his desk and walked over to a large window. The view overlooked the new expansion to the Enclave. Brand new buildings were raising up everywhere, all of them looked finely built due to the skills of immigrant dogs and training of present dogs finally paying off. To Belvedere it was a glorious sign of further growth and prosperity his people hadn't seen since the Old Kingdom.

'Whatever it is...' Belvedere thought, laying a paw on the revolver at his waist. 'They better keep it over there where it belongs.'

Many miles away from Belvedere's new office in the Enclave, Bon Bon and Lyra were making their way through the city streets of Canterlot. They were in the city because Bon Bon had been called by the Council of Advisors that had attended Queen Chrysalis. It had been the first time in years since Bon Bon had anything to do with the leading authority of the changelings beyond simply sending love back through the feed, so the former infiltrator had little idea of what to expect.

“I'm sure they are going to reward you or something,” Lyra said in an attempt to comfort her friend. “You've always sent back more love than was expected, didn't you?”

“I did thanks to you,” Bon Bon replied, nuzzling her best friend briefly. “I hope Trixie is doing well by herself.”

“Probably eating all of our snacks,” Lyra muttered as they continued along, some ponies pausing to stare at Bon Bon's appearance.

“Should make sure to get back fast then,” Bon Bon said softly. “Last thing a show pony like her wants is to get chubby, I'll see about getting her out of the house and joining me on my runs.”

Eventually they arrived to a district set aside for the changelings. It wasn't a rundown area by any means, but all the sad looking changelings were certainly taking the visual appeal down. They then came to a large, three story office building that likely served as the seat for the Advisory Council. Inside were some stocky looking changelings at guard in the lobby; likely the few survivors of the changeling army sent to invade Canterlot.

“Infiltrator Bon Bon?” one of the guards asked.

“Yes, that's me,” Bon Bon nodded. “I believe the Council commanded me to see them.”

“They are awaiting you in the meeting room down the hall,” the guard said and pointed hoof. “Your friend has to stay here.”

“See you in a bit, Lyra,” Bon Bon said to her friend. “I shouldn't be long.”

“I'm sure everything will be fine!” Lyra smiled toothily at her friend.

Bon Bon nodded. She wasn't at all worried about what the Council may want with her. She just preferred to answer any commands sent to her as soon as possible. Lyra was simply misinterpreting Bon Bon's quick response for urgency. Before long, Bon Bon found herself entering the meeting room and standing before the Council.

The room was warmly lit and the Council numbered five, all sitting at fold out chairs facing the door Bon Bon entered. They were all very old and elderly, having been retained from the Queen before Chrysalis and were never replaced. They certainly all looked like they wished they had been replaced as each had a look of weariness to them.

“Infiltrator Bon Bon,” a councilmen said, the silk-like material that was his hair was so full of holes he was practically bald. “It's been years since we saw you last.”

“I have come as commanded.” Bon Bon bowed. “What does the Council wish of me.”

“We have called you to inform you of an important decision regarding our hive,” spoke a female council member, her hair set up in a prim bun but had a few loose strands hanging down the front of her face. “It's been several months since the death of the Queen and we've spent the time mourning her passing. But the future of our hive requires that we have a Queen. YOU are among several potentials for Queen.”

“Me?!” Bon Bon said incredulously before catching herself. “Apologies for speaking out, good Council members, but I'm just an infiltrator. I don't believe I've done much of anything for such an honour.”

“Your years of quiet service and exceptional shipments of love speaks for you,” a councilman replied. “But other than that, the fact you are known to be a friend of Emerald Gleaner for another. We are hoping to court her for a business arrangement regarding the remaining changelings of Canterlot.”

“Is that fine?” asked another council member with a raised brow.

“O-of course!” Bon Bon quickly bowed again. “Whatever the Council wishes, I shall do my duty.”

“If you are chosen, it will be our duty to follow your commands,” the female councilwoman said pointedly. “You may leave now. You, like the rest of our people, shall be informed of the ultimate decision soon.”

Bon Bon bowed again and backed out of the room. Before long she and Lyra were walking out of the office building's front door with the latter badgering her about what happened.

“Come on!” Lyra complained. “I want to know! Tell me!”

“I'm sorry, Lyra. I was just gathering my thoughts,” Bon Bon said with a bit of a strained smile. “The Council is considering me as a potential choice for becoming the next Queen of the Changelings.”

“You're going to be Royalty!?” Lyra gasped. “Bon Bon, that's awesome!”

“Maybe,” Bon Bon replied with a frown. “The biggest consideration they have for choosing me is the fact I'm Emerald's friend.”

“...” Lyra went silent at the mention of Emerald, knowing what the shapeshifter had taken from Bon Bon. “So they want you as Queen because they want to do some business or something with Emerald? Well... do you think you'd be alright with something like that?”

“Lyra, you know I don't have it in me to hate someone,” Bon Bon replied with a sigh. “I was very angry with her but I couldn't keep it up for long. Nothing is concrete about me becoming the next Queen, but whatever happens, I will do my duty.”

“Now... if we hurry, we can get back in time to start making supper.” Bon Bon smiled at her friend. “Race you to the train station?”

“... Sure.” Lyra smiled.

-TBC-

Author's Note

AN: It took me forever to get this out but I finally did it. I hope everyone likes everything I had managed to go over in this chapter, there was a lot. Some people may complain about the lack of Sunset Shimmer, don't worry she'll get plenty of attention sooner or later… Also I ended up having to cut a decent sized part of this, due to nowadays being quite politically charged and deciding I didn’t want to needlessly rile people up.

EN: Yeah we spent a good… I’d say five to ten minutes debating what to leave out and what to keep in. And ultimately it was decided that posting something like that at current point in time… would probably be a bad idea. Maybe a year or two in the future, fine. By then, it’s past events and open to satire. But as it’s current… yeah, it’s being left out. Either way, fun new chapter to edit. Particularly liked Navi being given more character and introduced as a full fledged family member rather than a pet now. Also enjoyed the couple video game references. Cookie if you can spot them, point them out and name exactly what is being referenced. Other than that… *looks at script* Something something politics. Blah blah religion. Good night everybody.

Chapter 4: Striking Twelve

The raccoon made anxious growling noises as it paced in circles.

Emerald sat cross legged before it in a forest. After discovering the viral pulse was magical in nature, she immediately went back to Earth and one of the forests. Next she had found an animal and caught it in a magical barrier. The pulse was magic and unless something major had happened with Blackwatch since she left the world, then Emerald was practically centuries if not millennia ahead of them in that field. So after catching an animal, Emerald spent most of the day testing and experimenting magical fields in an attempt to find one that would block it.

'I've locked the sensor onto the biological signature of this raccoon,' Emerald thought as she looked over the readings the sensor was showing on its small screen. 'The pulse these sensors release seem to be a bit more powerful or possibly refined than the normal pulse since it ignores cockatrice genes. Nothing refined I've tried blocks it out, but...'

Emerald adjusted the barrier around the raccoon and the readings on the sensor suddenly flat lined.

'Doing the magical equivalent of surrounding the target in a solid cage of lead does the trick,' Emerald thought with a sigh. 'It's very crude though, and it also blocks out a huge amount of other things; useful if I'm sneaking around but if worn casually it'll be conspicuous how I don't show up on other types of sensors. I need to work on it a bit more to refine it and find the exact thing that will block out the pulse.'

With another sigh, Emerald released the spell and created a piece of jerky before tossing it at the raccoon. Said animal quickly grabbed the piece of food and poked cautiously at where the invisible barrier had been before quickly running away.

'Of course I might have a lot of time to work on the barrier...' Emerald thought miserably as she magically annihilated the sensor. 'Sunset Shimmer very likely doesn't know how to get back so I'm likely stuck here for the foreseeable future... god damn it all, of course this had to happen after I made friends and started to get my life on track.'

Thoughts of her life back in Equestria also brought up thoughts that had been plaguing her since the incident with her alternate universe self. She put those thoughts aside just long enough to teleport back to New York and sit on the ledge of a roof, watching the sun slowly lower in the skies and turn it a myriad of warm colors.

'The Alternate Discord sacrificed his life to go back in time and alter one event,' Emerald thought with a miserable expression. 'The one event he must have influenced must have been the decision I thought I made to not kill Twilight. But I never made that choice. Someone made it for me... I had my mind warped and twisted in order to ensure I made a decision that wasn't evil... does this mean I can't be trusted to do good? Is all the good I did meaningless? Was it all the result of someone else's decision and not my own? Is everything I do devoid of meaning now? Is my mind still warped by the Alternate's last act?'

These thoughts haunted Emerald. She wasn't absolutely certain if that moment was the one the Alternate changed, but it was the point of divergence that Oskar mentioned in front of him. So if it wasn't that moment, what could he have possibly changed instead? No, it had to be that one moment, which meant Emerald ultimately couldn't make a decision to not commit evil without someone forcibly altering her mind.

Emerald's brooding was interrupted by the sound of a woman's scream cut shout into muffled shouts. The virus stood up. Maybe if she knew it would be just a mugging she would let it be, but the victim being a woman removed all inclination of ignoring it. Emerald leapt rapidly across rooftops and came to a stop on a ledge overlooking an alley. She arrived in time to see a man dragging a woman away from the street, hand clamped over her mouth and other hand reaching the purse only to chuck it aside. Emerald narrowed her eyes as the man reached for the front of the woman's jeans.

The man let loose a howl of pain as a knife sunk into his elbow with a solid thump, and the woman immediately took the chance to rip herself out of his loosened grip just as Emerald landed on the pavement. The virus darted and grasped his face with her hand before sending him flying into the brick wall behind him where he fell down to the ground and curled up in pain.

“Thank you! Thank you so much!” the woman said gratefully after collecting her purse.

“Get somewhere safe as fast as you can,” Emerald told the woman. “Don't need to tell you this place doesn't get any safer once the sun is fully down.”

“I will. Thank you so much!” the woman said before taking off at a run.

Emerald turned her attention to the attempted rapist still on the ground. If he was just a mugger she likely would have just mugged him in turn and let it be. However, his actions reminded her of what happened several days ago when Twilight had been roughly grabbed. He wasn't going to come away from this with just a beating...

“Ugh, fuck off bit-hurk!” the mugger said as Emerald grabbed him before she snapped his neck.

After carefully snapping his neck in such a way he was rendered a quadriplegic and not killed, Emerald proceeded to dig around his pockets. After some digging around, she found thirty five dollars and sixty cents. After pocketing the money, Emerald considered the mugger for a moment. She had been inclined to simply send him into space, but that would have killed him quickly enough. With a shrug, she sent him to the forest she had left. Either he died of exposure or a passing animal would eat him; either result was acceptable.

Emerald left the alleyway and walked out into the street. The woman was long gone and it was getting steadily darker. The virus was left at loss of what next to do when the sight of a bar at one end of the street caught her attention. She had drunk beer earlier when she first arrived but hadn't allowed the alcohol to effect her system. This time, however, she felt the desire to just let go for a short while; just drink until her issues seemed too far away to really care about. That's how it worked when you got drunk, right?

'… I really shouldn't. Common sense says this likely isn't going to go as well as I hope it will,' Emerald thought as she started towards the bar. 'But it's not like it can get any worse than it already is...'

Emerald opened the front door and stepped inside.

ALPHA

A loud explosion startled Twilight from her reading.

She looked up from her book to see Navi playing one of the games Emerald bought while Spike sat beside her and watched.

“Navi, sweetie, could you please turn that down a bit?” Twilight said.

“Kay, Papa.” Navi nodded, reached over and pressed the volume button on the remote a few times.

Twilight briefly watched Navi's character battling alien creatures with a futuristic looking gun before returning to her reading. The book she was reading had been one among several that had apparently been left behind by the previous renters of the apartment. Originally she had been reading a book she had assumed to be a bit more sophisticated from its title: Fifty Shades of Gray. She had stuck to it a little stubbornly up to the first sex scene before quickly closing the book and pretending she had never found it in the first place. The book she had taken to reading instead was a history book she made absolutely certain was a history book.

'World War II. The very idea of an entire world awash in war is horrifying to imagine,' Twilight thought. 'But I'm glad that people here were willing to work together to bring down evil and tyranny.'

It was probably for the best that the book was a bit focused on the Third Reich and the many battles that lead up to its defeat. Other more in depth history books would likely mention that a good many “undesirables” were kept prisoner in the brutal POW camps after the war was over in Europe, or the fact the Soviets got up to far more widespread killing. Not to mention the kind of horrible war crimes that were common place in the Pacific Theater of the war.

Another explosion took Twilight's attention away from her reading. She didn't exactly approve of Navi and Spike playing violent video games, even though in her experience the violence was pretty cartoony compared to reality. But Spike and Navi wanted to play the game because the cover had a large robot that reminded them of the Biogears the Enclave had. Of course Navi would want to play something that had something even vaguely to do with her “Mama”, and it appeared that Twilight's own Biogear: Equinox had a bit of an impact on Spike when he saw her fighting in it.

'Well... as long as it doesn't do them any harm,' Twilight thought, chuckling when Navi groused aloud about how long it was taking them to get their giant robots.

BETA

Jared Smyth was the last to enter the bar following his group of friends. The four of them had finished a rather long shift at work and was here to relax a bit. It was pretty empty inside, there was only one person at the bar besides the bartender and a few groups sitting in the booths. That was okay; everyone was tired and wanted to relax, not party.

The group quickly bought their bottles from the bartender and claimed a booth. The four quickly got up to some small talk, darted with the occasional bout of laughter but it was fairly quiet for them overall.

“Oh hey, that's a girl!” one of the friends said with a point towards the bar. “I couldn't tell with all those baggy clothes on.”

Jared turned towards the bar and saw that the sole person there had removed their hoody and hat, revealing a far more slender looking frame and feminine looking head of pink hair.

“How pretty does she look?” one of the guys asked. “If she's too pretty she might be ones of those.”

“Eh...” another grunted as he leaned out of his booth a ways. “She's up there but I wouldn't say she was too good to be true up there. Not that it matters. You already got a girl at home, Tom.”

“Doesn't mean I can't take a look around every now and then, can't I?” Tom said half jokingly.

“Not according to most women,” the man said as he stopped leaning out of the booth. “Speaking of which, no one mention to mine I was taking a look see.”

“Hmm... she looks a bit too skinny for my liking,” Jared's remaining friend commented. “I like em a bit more curvy than that, especially in the chest and ass area. You wanna take a shot at her, Jared?”

“Can't hurt I guess,” Jared muttered in reply and moved to get up. “Worst things she does is tell me to fuck off.”

“Here's hoping you're feeling lucky,” Tom said, raising his bottle along with the others.

'I don't want to get lucky, I want a girlfriend,' Jared thought inwardly as he made his way over to the bar.

“Hey there,” Jared greeted as he placed a hand on the back of the stool next to the girl. “Mind if I sit here?”

Instead of answering, the girl sat upright and spun her stool around in a full revolution before facing him with a cheerful smile and giving him a thumbs up. She then faced the bar again and grabbed her bottle before proceeding to down most of it.

'She is either a quirky girl or a very nice drunk,' Jared thought as he took his seat. 'I'm fine with either or both.'

“So my name's Jared. What's-”

“I'm not gay you know,” the girl said with a pout, leaning on the counter with an elbow.

“Wha... I didn't say you were.” Jared furrowed his brows in confusion.

“You implied cause, ya know?” she said before making kisses at him before looking confused herself. “Or maybe I am? There was this one guy, he kissed me and I kinda got freaked out because for me it came out of nowhere, ya know? But now that I think about it, honestly it was probably because it came with no warning and not because, ya know.”

“No I don't,” Jared said, deciding he wished he had remembered to bring his bottle with him.

“Course ya do, I mean you got a penis so you must.” She nodded sagely before scratching her temple with a wondering look. “Speaking of penises, all excuses I made before aside, ya know, I'm not sure if I dislike them now that I think about it. I mean the guy... you know the guy I mean, right? Cause ya know... he must have been hung like a horse!”

“Alright,” Jared said and waved down the bartender for a bottle of his own, the girl beside him proceeding to giggle at what must have been an inside joke. “So does that mean you're... bi?”

“Ya know what... I don't know.” She smiled cheerfully before proceeding to make a pumping motion with her arm. “Maybe I just need to find the right one and I'll be all over that like a Candiru. Not that it matters anymore, ya know?”

“I guess I do.” Jared smiled and held his bottle to the girl. “Cheers.”

“Cheers!” The girl smiled toothily before clinking her bottle with his and then proceeding to down the rest of the contents before ordering another.

Jared smiled as he took a drink of his beer while Emerald took a much more conservative drink of her new bottle. He decided that even if nothing came of this relationship-wise, he wouldn't mind getting to know the girl next him if her sober self was even half resembling her drunken self.

Suddenly the music that was playing in the bar was interrupted by the sound of the jingle before a news report. Jared looked up at the TV that hung attached to the ceiling and saw a news anchor sitting at a desk.

“We interrupt this programming with an important broadcast,” the news anchor said as he quickly looked over a stack of papers he held in his hand. “In perhaps a show of indifference by the Blackwatch Commander, the widely known “Heir” of Alex Mercer was announced not with a personally delivered announcement, but simply through the filing of the Heir's registration papers when they reappeared on Manhattan Island a few days ago.”

This fact was met with murmuring and from the few people that were in the bar. Jared's attention was firmly locked on the TV as well but the girl next to him seemed to not be paying it much attention.

“And where was the infamous and feared Heir?” the anchor said with a raised brow. “According to sources in Blackwatch, they were living in an isolated community somewhere in the country, almost completely cut from the world and living a peaceful life. In fact, according to sources the only reason they had shown up at all was to track down a thief who had stolen a priceless piece of jewelry.”

“Currently, the Heir goes by the alias of Emerald Gleaner and is in the body of a young woman,” the anchor said as a picture of Emerald Gleaner appeared on screen; the very one that had been taken when she was registered.

Jared looked at the somewhat bemused looking expression of Emerald on the screen before turning to look at his drinking companion. Her expression was relaxed and anything but bemused but it was definitely her. He felt a brief burst of panic and looked behind him to see his friends quietly urging him to come over with their hands. He seriously considered it before forcing himself to calm down, Emerald had been completely friendly and had done nothing to drive him off and just a moment before he had been thinking about how he would like her as a friend. Taking a breath, he spoke with as even a voice as possible.

“So, got history, huh?” Jared asked and took a sip of his beer.

“It's b-b-bullshit,” Emerald replied, eyes instantly watering with tears and suddenly Jared had wished he had run. “My mom dies, I have to bury her myself, I get stuck on Manhattan scavenging for food and shelter, I almost die when winter comes around and then as the cherry on top, Alex Mercer comes along with all the answers to my problems and pain. All at the low, low, low price of my soul and happiness.”

“Uhh... I'm sorry? Please stop crying,” Jared said, feeling absolutely helpless.

“I spend two years in hell doing the devil's work, killing and eating innocent people just to not get murdered,” Emerald muttered, her head lying sideways on the countertop, tears streaming down steadily. “And then finally, finally the chance comes around to betray him and not be under his thumb anymore. I'm free and end up somewhere better for the next three years. I find friends, I find a new home and I get to do good without stopping myself because I think the slightest act of kindness will get me killed. But of course that has to be ruined too... turns out nothing I did good had any meaning because it was only because of someone else’s sacrifice that I can do that... and now I'm back here and everyone apparently spent the last three years terrified of me... it sucks, ya know?”

“Well...” Jared began, mind a void and grasping at any straw he could. “Is it so bad you needed help to do good?”

“What do ya mean?” Emerald pouted at Jared in confusion.

“Well I mean... people often volunteer for charity things like working the soup kitchen or heading out to help other countries,” Jared began as he tried to put his thoughts into words. “Does it make it any less meaningful if a hundred people got together to help people out?”

“... No, I guess...” Emerald's pout became a bit less prominent and her tears stopped flowing.

“And the person you mentioned,” Jared said, encouraged by seeing his words have effect. “They sacrificed themselves so you can do good, right? Doesn't that mean the good you do has more meaning and not less? They gave their life so you can be the best person you can be and by doing good you've been giving their sacrifice meaning.”

“...” Emerald frowned in intense thought and concentration and the moment she accepted what Jared was saying was like seeing the sunrise her expression was so brightly happy.

“Feeling better?” Jared smiled.

“MUCH!” Emerald said and reached into a pocket before tossing a wad of cash onto the counter. She then put her bucket hat back on and started putting on her hoodie.

“What are you doing?” Jared asked with a frown.

“I'm going to go home,” Emerald said with a bright smile as she finished putting on her hoodie and started striding for the front door. “And make love to my girlfriend!”

And with that, Emerald left out the front door.

'Damn... she already had someone,' Jared thought as he downed the rest of his beer, though he couldn't find it in himself to be disappointed by that. He was more upset by the fact he forgot to ask for her number since she seemed like fun.

“Great job, nice guy,” Tom said from the booth he was sitting in. “You sure got her engine purring and raring to go.”

Jared mimed a tipping of a fedora he didn't have before flipping off Tom while finishing his beer.

GAMMA

The moon was out and shining down on Twilight through the bedroom window.

Twilight was still reading her book but was now lying in bed under the covers. The lamp on the table beside her was on and casting more than enough light for her to read. Emerald had conjured up several pairs of clothes for everyone to change out of and wear; Twilight was wearing a pair that she correctly assumed to be her sleeping clothes. She was wearing a lilac tee shirt with her cutie mark on the front with a pair of dark purple fluffy pants that were covered with little books.

'I hope Emerald is doing okay,' Twilight thought as she read up on the Battle of the Bulge. 'I wish she would made it back before I go to sleep, but if she is too busy then she is too busy. I understand.'

Suddenly there was the sound of a door opening and closing followed by footsteps. Twilight smiled as she placed a bookmark in her book and placed it down on her lap. It could only be Emerald. Her runic protections would keep out anyone who didn't have some sort of magical lockpick or high explosive.

“Emerald!” Twilight smiled as her girlfriend entered the room. “Any luck?”

“Not with finding Sunset, unfortunately.” Emerald briefly shook her head. “But I'm hoping my luck is going to improve right now.”

“Well we have one more day to find her so we should have plenty of time,” Twilight answered as Emerald shifted her clothes to her own sleeping clothes.

“Hmm...” Emerald crossed her arms and looked down at her clothes. After a moment, she nodded and her clothes changed, her baby blue boxers turned white and shrunk down to a pair of much more form fitting panties. Her white baggy tee shirt kept shrinking down and changing shape until it became a small, almost skin tight, lacy camisole with a large midriff.

“So... how do I look?” Emerald asked with a bright smile as she folded her arms behind her head and took a pose.

“U-umm...” Twilight held her book tightly against her chest, suddenly feeling she was being given one of those kind of questions that had only one good answer. “You look incredibly... alluring Emerald, and beautiful as you always are.”

“Alluring, huh?” Emerald asked with soft smile. “Someone deserves a reward, and I think ya know who.”

“You're my fillyfriend, Emerald. Of course I wou-...” Twilight paused as Emerald crawled onto the bed, giving the impression of a prowling cat as she approached her. “Umm, Emerald?”

“Yeeeeeessssss?” Emerald drawled dreamily as she slipped under the covers and pressed herself against Twilight's side.

“Somethings a bit differe-Eeek!” Twilight gave a squeak when Emerald stuck her face in her neck and started kissing her there.

“Twilight, how long have we been together?” Emerald asked as she snuggled in close and started entangling her legs with Twilight's.

“O-over two y-years,” Twilight stuttered as Emerald's hands started to explore. “Emerald w-what's going on?”

“Let me clarify what I said before,” Emerald said and pulled the blanket off of Twilight, placing her book aside and then straddling her stomach before turning off the lamp. “When I hoped my luck was going to improve, I misspoke, ya know? What I meant to say is that you are going to get lucky.”

“Wha...” In a moment of utter randomness, Twilight's mind drifted to the last time Emerald had been straddling her. It was in Everfree forest though the mood then was definitely much clearer and not as confusing as it was now.

“Still don't get it, huh?” Emerald grinned knowingly. She leaned down, pressing her body against Twilight's, her face inches from the former unicorn's. “My innocent little pony, my hero, I'll show you what I mean.”

Then Emerald kissed her. It was completely different from all the other times they had kissed. In comparison, those had been simple parting pecks on the lips. This, however, was a kiss that was searing in its intensity. Twilight's eyes widened and her heart suddenly started to beat deafeningly in her ears as she knew what was happening.

“Em... Emerald we...” Twilight panted when the kiss finally ended and she was staring into Emerald's eyes that seemed to twinkle in the dark of the room, her brain seeming to have short circuited and refusing to form sentences. “It's...we should...”

Emerald's body started to writhe against Twilight's as she started planting feather light kisses along her neck. Her hands started to get a bit more lascivious and moved on from simple exploration to full on groping. Twilight gave a whimper before grabbing Emerald's head with both hands and gently but sternly pulled her away until they were facing each other again.

“E-Emerald... please wait...” Twilight panted, her cheeks flushed and heart beat almost the only thing she could hear. “W-we shouldn't... we...”

“Twilight...” Emerald smiled softly and gently pulled the other’s hands away before grasping her shoulders. “If you want this to stop then you only have to do one thing.”

Before Twilight could ask what Emerald meant, the world went spinning and suddenly she found herself on her hands and knees. Quickly taking stock of what happened, Twilight found Emerald had spun the two of them around and now her girlfriend was under her.

Twilight stared down with wide eyes at Emerald laying beneath her. She was simply laying there with her arms above her head, her eyes wide open and accepting as she smiled at Twilight. The former unicorn couldn't help but feel like she was now the one pinning Emerald down. This combined with the feeling that Emerald gave off was close to short circuiting Twilight's brain again. She knew Emerald was incredibly powerful. If she wanted to she could probably shatter the moon and devastate whole worlds, but as of right this moment? She looked so vulnerable, so fragile...

“Emerald...” Twilight said softly and leaned down and began to kiss her girlfriend, trying to replicate the searing kiss the other had just given her a moment ago. She wasn't sure she managed it completely, but the way Emerald's eyes twinkled when she pulled away gave her hope she wasn't terrible.

“Emerald...” Twilight said again, her cheeks flush with embarrassment as she realized an issue. “I... I don't know what to do... if you were a stallion, then I'd... but you're a mare, so I...”

“Shhh,” Emerald placed a finger against Twilight's lips. “It's okay. Consider this your first lesson on how two women make love.”

Emerald reached up with a hand and slipped it under Twilight's tee shirt. Unbeknownst to Twilight, the the surface on Emerald's palm shifted and changed and became much like the famous toxic frogs of South America, save that there was nothing toxic about the chemical that oozed out of her palm. Twilight gasped in a breath of air the moment Emerald's palm met bare skin and her nerves came alive. The feeling only grew stronger as Emerald's palm slowly made its way towards her waistband.

“Ah!”

DELTA

Twilight awoke with a yawn, the light of the morning sun shining down finally disturbing her deep sleep.

Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she pulled the covers off herself and moved her legs out of bed before realizing she felt rather breezy. Looking down, she saw she was completely naked. Twilight's cheeks turned bright crimson as she looked around and saw all of her pajamas and underwear she had been wearing last night scattered about the room. Looking behind her, she saw that the other side of the bed was empty. Straining her ears, she could hear voices coming from the main room of the apartment.

Twilight set about dressing back up and trying to make her cheeks stop burning. After a few moments, she was dressed back up and heading out into the apartment. She walked into the kitchen to see Emerald fully dressed and putting a pendent around Navi's neck.

“Wear this all the time, okay?” Emerald told the little girl.

“Yes mama,” Navi said with a smile which she quickly aimed at Twilight before scrunching up her nose. “Eww, Papa smells funny.”

“She just needs a shower is all.” Emerald chuckled as Twilight's blush returned. “Go play with Spike.”

“Because playing with someone who never misses almost no matter what is so much fun...” came Spike's audible mutter.

“Go easy on him now,” Emerald laughed as she patted Navi's head and shooed her along.

“Oooookay...” Navi said with a small huff.

“Sooo...” Twilight began as Navi joined Spike on the couch.

“Is something wrong, Twilight?” Emerald asked, stepping close and grabbing both of Twilight's hands in her own.

“Well...” Twilight began and looked over Emerald's shoulder at where Spike and Navi were. “Let's continue this talk in the bedroom.”

“Lead the way,” Emerald said.

A few moments later the two were back in the master bedroom. Unable to find a good way to start the conversation, Twilight quickly fixed up the bed before laying down atop the covers, and Emerald shortly joined her. After a moment of silence she turned on her side to face Emerald and her girlfriend did the same.

“What's wrong, Twilight?” Emerald asked, her face inches away from Twilight's and bringing up vivid memories of being this close from last night. “Is this about last night?”

“Yes... yes it is,” Twilight sighed. For her, this was embarrassing and hard to talk about, but Emerald looked nothing but attentive. “I mean... I e-enjoyed what happened a lot but... it's just when I imagined us being intimate with each other, it was on our wedding night.”

“Wedding?” Emerald said with wide eyes. “Do... do you think about us getting married often?”

“More often as time goes by,” Twilight answered. “But I've been giving the idea a lot of serious thought after we suddenly got a child. And you know... the thought brings nothing but happy feelings to my heart.”

“I've got to admit, I like the idea a lot too,” Emerald said and placed her forehead against Twilight's and clutched one of her hands tightly. “Are you mad at me for taking your virginity before we were married?”

“...No I'm not,” Twilight said softly after going over her feelings. “After everything we've gone through together, everything we've experienced, it seems a little petty to me to get mad over something like this. I guess after being intimate for the first time I just wanted a heart to heart.”

“Well... if you aren't mad at me,” Emerald began and started to caress Twilight and give her a light kiss. “Would you like to continue our lesson before you get cleaned up?”

“Uhh...” Twilight flushed bright red. She honestly wasn't against the idea too much, but... “As much as I like to learn, today is the last day, Emerald. You NEED to find Sunset today if we want to go home.”

“...” Emerald paused at Twilight's words. She opened her mouth to say something before stopping herself. After a moment, she nodded determinedly. “I will find her and I will bring her here before sundown. I promise you I will.”

“I know you will, Emerald.” Twilight smiled and hugged Emerald close before giving her a kiss. “Good luck.”

“I will find her,” Emerald promised again and suddenly she was gone with subdued flash of light.

Twilight stayed in bed for a few moments longer, luxuriating in the afterglow of their talk before getting up and heading for the bathroom to shower up.

EPSILON

Emerald sat cross legged on a gravel covered ground, staring down with intense focus at her modded phone. Beside her a scanner occasionally crackled with radio dispatches.

It was an hour before noon, but Emerald had already got a lot of work done. The first thing she did was find high ground, which she had done by heading to the roof of one of the many skyscrapers in Manhattan. Next she quickly put together several networking machines and transmitters. Using the large amount of knowledge she stole from the dreams of people who worked for Blackwatch, she began accessing their digital records. Ensuring her position couldn't be pinpointed without her being alerted to the attempts, Emerald had set about looking over records of crime in the last few days. She knew Blackwatch didn't have anyone matching Sunset Shimmer's description, however it was possible that Sunset was involved in or maybe even orchestrating events behind the scenes. If that was so, then Emerald expected there to be some kind of sign of this; a villainous pony was still a pony after all.

She had been utterly right with that assumption. Looking over the records of crime and suspicious activity over the last few days brought up quite a few interesting trends. Namely several gangs suddenly forming together even when said gangs had been violently fighting each other the day before. Another was the disappearance of a Blackwatch patrol sent to give a look over the area the newly formed small army of gangsters were sighted around. Another, more heavily armed patrol had been sent in to find what had happened when they too seemed to suffer the same fate. Reinforcements, however, had discovered survivors of the patrols holding out in an apartment complex beating back shockingly relentless gangsters. Their mission report had been that they had come across the previous patrol but it turned out they had turned traitor for the small gang army and badly ambushed the other patrol. There wasn't any more mentions beyond this but Emerald got the distinct feeling this kind of thing wasn't going to be tolerated by Blackwatch. Wherever the stronghold was, was going to have the full firepower of Blackwatch land on it like a ton of bricks.

“Beginning Operation,” crackled a calm voice from the radio.

Almost immediately, Emerald's scanner was inundated with fire teams sounding off and orders followed by the sounds of gunfire.

“E-Code Devastators Fireteam in position,” reported a deep voice.

'React fast and hit em hard,' Emerald thought as she began rapidly disassembling her listening outpost. 'Sounds like Commander Heller alright. Better get there before she gets killed or taken into custody.'

As soon as Emerald was finished taking apart her listening outpost, she started straining her ears and instantly the sound of the city flooded her hearing. Emerald started tuning out the background noise - people talking, the sound of car engines running, water rushing through pipes, the hum of electricity - and focused entirely on the gunfire that grew more prominent with every bit of audio she cut away from focus. A half instant later she had a rough location of the fighting and teleported to a quiet spot that was nearby.

Popping into view with a subdued flash, Emerald quickly rushed up the stairwell of the dilapidated building she had teleported into. Running out onto the roof, she quickly took stock of her surroundings and saw helicopters gathered in the distance.

Emerald began to roof hop but kept her distance. The helicopter had a very long range of view and she didn't want to be seen too close to the fighting; if she was seen farther away, it would be much more likely for them to dismiss her as just a curious onlooker. She began circling the sight of the battle from a distance, her sharp eyes taking in the sights as easily as if she was there on the scene. With the distance she was at it was hard to find a good vantage point as any one point only gave her view of one part of the fighting.

'How's the weather today?' Emerald thought as she took in the sky. 'Cloudy, perfect...'

Emerald teleported again, this time arriving high in the sky before landing silently upon a cloud. Manipulating the cloud subtly, Emerald lay belly down on the cloud's surface as a small hole formed through it. Peering through the hole, Emerald took in the site of the battle from a bird’s eyes view.

Helicopters circled the gang stronghold which was a multi-story factory with long, broken windows and an equally broken sunroof. The fighting around the structure had stopped, and everywhere Emerald looked she could see nothing but dead gangsters and Blackwatch soldiers holding the perimeter. Looking through the broken sunroof, Emerald could see quite a few dead Blackwatch soldiers, though whether they were the traitors or loyal soldiers she couldn't tell. She also saw a pretty good spot she could teleport out of sight to, provided she was fairly small.

Casting the “lead” barrier around herself, Emerald shifted down to the size of a rat, condensing biomass and burning off the excess as she rapidly shrunk. Taking a long moment to focus, Emerald teleported, arriving with a “flash” subdued enough to be as bright as a lighter's flame.

Arriving in the space between a curled up corpse of a soldier and the wall of a crate, Emerald clambered up the body and quickly took stock of her surroundings. There was a ton more bodies in here than she had initially seen and now with as close as she was she could see the difference between traitor and loyal soldiers. The traitors had a crudely made symbol of a sun that was half red and half yellow, made with paint. The same was true of the gangsters. Two bodies of the many dead stood out in the room as they were far larger.

Scrambling over onto the large corpse of a E-Code, Emerald saw its armor pockmarked with many impact zones from low caliber bullets, likely from the gangsters. The means of death was clear from the large bloody holes in the helmets. Guns designed to hurt beings that had no vitals proved to be quite lethal even for super soldiers, especially in the hands of the skilled.

Tuning her ears, Emerald heard fighting still going on in the building but coming from below. Quickly following the new sound, Emerald darted down a set of stairs. There seemed to be at least one body every meter and from the bullet casings everyone had fought to the very end. As she reached the basement level, the number of corpses rose sharply, all of them Blackwatch; loyal and traitor alike along with two E-Codes. The sounds of fighting grew louder, the echoes of which Emerald used to create a mental picture of a very large man and a winged humanoid locked in combat. Seeing no one else nearby for the moment, Emerald quickly shifted back into human form and rapidly built back density that was burnt off. She crept to the door surrounded by blood and corpses and peered within to spy the end of a fight.

The basement of this factory was wide open and filled with columns to support the structure overhead; there were a bodies here too. There were only two living people in this room and one of them was losing a fight very badly from the looks of it.

Sunset Shimmer had a demon-like form for some inexplicable reason. She was wearing a red and yellow dress that was designed to look like flames. She had a long red and yellow pony-like tail and a pair of leathery bat-like, red and black wings. Her skin was bright red and her hair spiraled straight upward. Her ears stuck out and were very long, the whites of her eyes had turned black and upon her head sat the stolen Element of Magic. She wasn't looking very well, covered in bruises, cuts and what were clearly bullet wounds. She was apparently rather durable, however, as apparently the large caliber Blackwatch guns had left shallow, painful looking craters in her flesh, rather then blown massive holes in her body like they did on anything that wasn't a super soldier or Cursor.

Opposite Sunset was the E-Code. His armor was heavily pockmarked and had more than a few bloody holes shot into it from powerful Blackwatch weapons, but other than a quickness of breath, he didn't seem at all the worse for wear. His fists were up and ready, covered in blood and crackling with electricity.

“Why... why can't I...” Sunset muttered as her eyes and the Element of Harmony glowed with black and blue flames.

Emerald didn't know what Sunset had intended with that, but the only thing the E-Code did was sharply shake his head before charging her.

Distracted by her attempt to use her magic on her opponent, Sunset only had time to attempt to jump back and flap her wings to gain some distance. The E-Code managed to grab hold of a booted foot and swung her sharply, bashing down a concrete column and ripping the steel beam within out of its bolts. Sunset landed a few feet away in a shower of shards and moaning in pain.

The E-Code quickly followed up on his advantage by darting forward and planting his foot in the middle of Sunset's back and gripping the base of both of her wings. With a twist there was the sound of bones snapping and flesh tearing followed by an agonized scream. The E-Code tossed aside the wings and reached down again, grabbing the back of Sunset's neck and her leg. Raising Sunset above his head he dropped onto crouch before bring Sunset onto his knee. There was a loud crack and Sunset fell onto the ground, screaming and writhing in pain, her legs twitching briefly before lying limp.

'About now would be the time to act,' Emerald thought as she shifted her arm into a blade. She was about to charge into the room, the E-Code completely wide open as he stared down at Sunset, breathing heavily through his gas mask; however, she paused as a memory flashed through her mind.

“They sacrificed themselves so you can do good, right?” a recent memory echoed. “Doesn't that mean the good you do has more meaning and not less? They gave their life so you can be the best person you can be and by doing good you've been giving their sacrifice meaning”

'… I don't know if you are a psychopath like most Blackwatch were back then,' Emerald thought as she stared at the back of the E-Code. 'You might be, but you might also be a loyal soldier who was told to come here and are just doing your duty. I might regret this, but I'm going to assume you are the latter. I won't kill you.'

Emerald shifted her blade away and reached out with a hand wreathed in a glowing pink aura. The E-Code was just reaching for the side of their helmet when they suddenly shot up into the air and crashed through the concrete ceiling. Distantly, the sound of breaking glass followed soon after.

Emerald entered the room proper once the E-Code was sent flying. By the time she had the strength to fight one the D-Codes, they had already been extinct, but she knew the strengths and abilities of the Orions fairly well. Being thrown through a solid barrier of concrete would hurt but it wouldn't kill an Orion. Emerald was fairly certain that an E-Code was at least just as durable as an Orion.

“Pl-please...” Sunset said looking back at Emerald with wide eyes, weakly rolling herself onto her back. “Don't hurt me... I-I can't move my legs...”

“...” Emerald stared down at Sunset Shimmer with an expressionless gaze before simply plucking the tiara from Sunset's head. With a shudder and full body twitch, she rapidly changed back to the form of a normal human. Her clothes were undamaged, but her body certainly was, as blood stains rapidly formed and dirtied Sunset's dress.

Emerald looked up towards the hole when she heard the sound of boots stomping across concrete floor and the crackle of radios. She looked back down at Sunset where she cried tears of agony as she weakly tried to crawl away to safety, paying little heed to the fact her back was broken only moment ago. Emerald magically pulled Sunset to her and tossed her onto her shoulder.

As Sunset gave another scream of agony and the sound of broken bones grinding together resounded in her ear, Emerald pointed her palm towards the floor. A ball of fiery red energy left left her palm and impacted the floor, sinking in a ways before hissing and starting to angrily spit spouts of molten fire.

Above, several squads of Blackwatch soldiers rapidly moved through the floor of the factory, waving their rifles back and forth and scanning over their surroundings for threats. They quickly advanced on the hole in the floor where the E-Code had burst through, though just as they were about to reach it a large spout of flame burst from it. Some soldiers startled back by it and tripped back, but most simply quickly backed away. The flame didn't die down and was only growing in intensity.

“Fall back, fall back!” called the officer in the group and the soldiers quickly sprinted for the door they had entered as the flames started to explode outwards.

Outside, the soldiers holding the perimeter moved for cover and helicopters pulled aways as flames rapidly consumed the stronghold and all that was left within.

ZETA

With a flash of light, Emerald appeared in a dark, dusty room.

Flipping a switch, she turned on a flickering bulb that hung from the ceiling by a single wire. From the looks of the room, it was either a forgotten storage shed or a basement. Dropping Sunset with all the care of dropping a sack full of garbage, Emerald moved towards her as another scream filled the air.

Panting in pain, Sunset lied on the ground for several moments, waiting for the horrific throbbing in her back to die down. She gave a wheeze as she turned herself over, causing sharp spikes of agony to erupt in her back as she did so. Looking up, she saw Emerald leaning against the wall, arms folded over her chest and just enough out of the light for her eyes to be fully shaded in the shadow of her hat.

“Do you know how many people you got killed?” Emerald asked, no hint of emotion in her voice.

“I'm... I-I'm sorry...” Sunset said softly, averting her eyes.

“Are you?” Emerald asked. “Or are you sorry you didn't get away with it?”

“I didn't mean for ANYONE to die!” Sunset protested, tears welling up in her eyes.

“Really?” Emerald questioned. “Then what happened with that first gang?”

“I... they were shouting these horrible things at me... I-I just...” Sunset sobbed and shuddered from the memory of what happened. “I just told my minions to make them stop and they... they...”

“So it's all one big accident, is that it?” Emerald asked calmly. “Just like all those dead people back there?”

“I DIDN'T MEAN FOR ANY OF THIS TO HAPPEN!” Sunset screamed before sobbing and tears started to flow in earnest. “This place is just horrible! First I end up in a world I've never been to before, then I got stuck starting from scratch here, then these guys tried to kidnap me and started touching me and pulling my clothes off! I had to use the Element of Magic to try to save myself and then I transformed and became this winged thing. I was able to enthrall people to my will and I went to their home base to do the same to the rest of them, then I... I learned to be careful with my commands.”

“And of course because you had magic and humans didn't, you must have felt untouchable,” Emerald stated. “The power to warp and twist minds to your will. Those poor, pathetic, squishy humans had no hope of resisting your power. Tch, you're lucky Heller didn't come down himself and kill you with his bare hands.”

“... You have magic...” Sunset said after a moment, turning bright blue, wondering eyes to Emerald. “You teleported us out of there. How? Who are you?”

“I am Emerald Gleaner. I volunteered myself to come along to retrieve the Element of Magic you stole,” Emerald replied, holding up said tiara pointedly.

“That didn't-”

“Do you have a way back to Equestria?” Emerald asked, her eyes narrowing at the girl in the shadow of her hat.

“N-no...” Sunset said slowly.

“Then the only other thing else you need to know is that you have ruined my life,” Emerald said calmly, pushing off the wall and slowly approaching Sunset. “Tell me why I shouldn't spend the next four hours torturing you slowly before leaving you behind for whatever fate intends with you?”

“P-P-PLEASE DON'T!” Sunset's eyes widened at Emerald approach and her hands scrabbled for purchase as she attempt to pull herself away. “Don't hurt me! Please don't! Please!”

“I'm not hearing any specific reason,” Emerald replied in a monotone. Her eyes flashed and started glowing orange as her hands shifted into a pair of claws with cruel, jagged edges.

“Ple-plaese no, don't hurt me, please I'm sorry!” Sunset kept pushing herself away until the back of her head impacted a rusting metal drum and her voice rose into a desperate shriek. “Pleasepleasepleaseplaseplease-”

Sunset's pleading stopped and she simply stared up at Emerald as she stepped past the sole light in the room. With the light behind her, Emerald's entire front was cast in shadow. The only thing Sunset could really see was her outline and the glow of her eyes that in this moment looked so inhuman and unfeeling. Sunset started crying and sobbing loudly as she stared up at Emerald, fat tears rolling down her cheeks in tiny rivers.

Emerald stood staring in the silence that was filled only with Sunset's crying, her mind racing with thoughts. She had thought of Sunset Shimmer as a murderous thief with only selfish wants and desires, but that was perhaps too simplified a judgment of a person. Sunset Shimmer was ultimately a pony and the experiences she went through on Earth likely traumatized her deeply. Standing here now looming over Sunset Shimmer with her utterly at her mercy; she didn't see some criminal she would have gladly put down without another thought. She saw a child making stupid, costly decisions no one should have made.

With a sigh, Emerald took off her hat and sat on the ground before Sunset. She wrapped her arms around her knees and simply stared at Sunset, looking more irritated then furious enough to torture someone. Sunset stared back with wide eyes, confused but still very frightened of being hurt with her being as vulnerable as she was.

“I'm not going to hurt you,” Emerald stated. “I am still very, very angry at being stuck on this world and away from my home because of you, however.”

Sunset didn't answer, relieved that she wasn't going to be hurt but still scared that saying anything might make Emerald change her mind. With the specter of imminent torture no longer hanging over her, however, Sunset realized that the brief surge of adrenaline had acted as a pain killer. She released a groan of agony as her back started to throb again. Seeing the pain she was in, Emerald moved to her side and reached out.

“No wait!” Sunset shielded her head. “I didn't mean it! I'll be quiet!”

Emerald ignored Sunset's response but couldn't help but feel a stab of shame at her reaction to her getting close. She reached out with her hands and tendrils rapidly extended. It probably would have been better for Sunset's mental well being if Emerald used magic for this, but she hadn't done much in the way of practice in this specific field.

Sunset Shimmer gasped as she felt her aches and pains start to rapidly fade. She brought her arms down and froze in place when she saw Emerald reaching out with her hands, tendrils extending out into her body. After a moment, the tendrils pulled back into Emerald's hands and backed up a foot from Sunset.

“You... healed me?” Sunset frowned and moved to try to get up, but her legs were as unfeeling as ever.

“Not fully,” Emerald corrected. “Your back is still broken. It's just healed over now.”

“Oh... w-what's going to happen to me?” Sunset asked, nervously glancing at Emerald from the corner of her eyes. “Are you going to just leave me here?”

“No, I'm taking you into my custody,” Emerald stated. “When I find a means of reopening the portal from this side, your ultimate fate will be decided by Celestia, whatever that may be.”

“...Okay,” Sunset said, hugging herself, somehow looking far younger and smaller when she did so. “I don't have a choice, do I?”

“No you don't,” Emerald said sternly, making the girl flinch.

With that, Emerald scooped up Sunset in her arms in a bridal carry with little warning for the other. Sunset gave an alarmed yelp and then quickly looked away and tried to ignore the fact she was helpless in the arms of someone who threatened her. Carrying Sunset Shimmer in a manner much more comfortable for her, Emerald walked over to the light switch and flicked it off. Then there was darkness for a moment followed by a flash of light.

An instant later, Emerald arrived in the living room of her apartment. She had arrived just behind the couch which currently had Navi, Spike and Twilight in it playing the Wii U together on it.

“Ahh!” Twilight shouted in surprise before turning around, seeing who Emerald had in her arms she gasped. “Emerald, you got her!”

“Ahhhh, NOO!” Spike shouted as Navi cheered victoriously. “We were winning for once!”

“Off the couch,” Emerald said as she walked around to the front of it. “She can't walk.”

“She can't?” Twilight questioned as Emerald laid Sunset Shimmer down on the couch after Navi and Spike vacated it. “What happened?”

“Twilight...” Emerald said with a sad solemn expression that made Twilight feel like her stomach dropped. “I have some very bad news...”

ETA

The stairwell was brightly lit, unlike the very first time they had been here, mostly thanks to Emerald making little magical fairy lights out of boredom that bounced back and forth around the room.

Emerald was standing at the very base of the stairs, leaning back against a wall and staring up at the point where the portal was supposed to be. Spike and Navi were sitting together. Spike looked sad while Navi looked confused and didn't seem to understand what was happening. Twilight was sitting a few steps up, her eyes red as the odd tear streamed down her cheeks; she had been crying a lot more heavily earlier. Sitting beside Emerald on the floor was Sunset. Though it was discomforting for her to be this close to Emerald, she had chosen this spot out of fear that if the portal actually opened she'd be left behind.

Since they had several hours before midnight, Emerald had questioned Sunset a lot about what she knew about the portal. Sunset knew that the portal opened once every thirty 'moons' and that for some reason on average it opened once on average every ten days on the world she had been on. Of course Emerald's next question had been what in the world 'thirty moons' translated to.

'Thirty moons...' Emerald thought with a roll of her eyes. 'What does that even mean on a world where the phase of the moon is dependent on what someone feels like it should be that night? Well apparently she meant once a month roughly and the portal opening more often on her end likely means that time moves differently on both worlds... maybe. This isn't the same world as the one Sunset went to. Time here could be moving at the same speed as Equestria. The only way to find out is to see if there is any activity with the portal a little over a week from now... that is, if I don't manage to open it here and now.'

There was little hope of that happening, unfortunately. While Emerald's skill with magic had been growing by leaps and bounds even for her, trying to get any meaningful hold on the portal was unlikely. Maybe if the portal actually had an exit that was like the large mirror on Equestria's side, but it didn't have such an exit and so it currently felt like the tiniest point of magic to her senses. No matter how much she tried, the tiny point that marked the exit to the portal just slipped past her attempts to magically grip it.

And so it was that they were here, watching the portal as time ticked away to zero, hoping beyond hope that something happened with the portal before it closed that let Emerald grab hold of it in someway. This was pure torture on Emerald. She was the only one there with both use of her magic and skill in it and she wasn't able to do anything.

“...Here it comes,” Emerald said aloud after checking her phone. She pushed off the wall and stared up into the point where the portal was in the ceiling. Sunset shifted nervously, Spike sighed, Navi looked up with wondering eyes and Twilight buried her head in her hands.

Seconds ticked away, energies fluctuated as the portal neared the exact point it would close but remained as elusive as ever to Emerald's reach. Just a moment before the clock struck twelve, however, there was a burst of magic and the portal opened. Surrounded by a ring of energy, an arm wrapped in a silken sleeve burst forth from the portal and reached out with a grasping hand.

This was so startling even Emerald paused for an instant, and then she whipped her hand out as well. Her hand grasped the other as she reached out with her magic. She could feel it now. The portal was larger to her senses and she could- and just like that it was gone.

There was a splatter of blood and a scream from Sunset. Emerald stared forlornly at the severed arm hanging in her grasp as Sunset Shimmer panicked from the sight of blood covering her unfeeling legs. Feeling the genetic makeup of the arm, she could feel the presence of several genetic markers that belonged to the augmentations she created for her Diamond Dogs, somehow expertly altered to work on a human form as well.

“W-who... who was it?” Twilight asked, her eyes wide but not looking panicked or sickened by the sight.

“Feels like one of my dogs.” Emerald sighed and consumed the arm before turning her senses to the portal. She could actually still feel it there, but now it felt even smaller then before. She might as well try to pick up a single molecule with just her fingers.

“What do we do now?” Spike asked as Navi next to him looked sad herself from picking up how sad everyone else felt.

Emerald just sighed in answer and turned to Sunset to give her a hand in cleaning herself. She really had no other ideas or answer for him right now.

THETA

Belvedere walked down a hall in the Crystal Palace. At his side walked Fenrir, or rather said wolf diamond dog towered.

Fenrir towered over practically anyone these days, even Padfoot who had been the tallest dog in the Enclave. He also had a quickness and nimbleness about him that normally had purely been the realm of slim and slender dogs like Belvedere. His stronger, longer legs also made it so he was much more comfortable standing upright then slouching over like most dogs. He was currently wearing a long sleeveless coat that ended about the middle of his thighs, the back of which held the icon of the Enclave emblazoned proudly.

Belvedere was taking the lead as the two of them walked down the hall. The first and currently only Direwolf in the Enclave was a few steps behind, wordlessly acknowledging the greyhound's authority over him. If there was one thing Belvedere appreciated about the older and much more skilled dog was his complete and total professionalism, though it also came partnered with his passion in what he was doing which Belvedere found annoying at times. Still though, Belvedere had to admit that Fenrir's increase in height only added to his air of lordliness.

Glancing about with his eyes, Belvedere could see more than a few crystal ponies watch them from afar and talking amongst themselves. While it was acknowledged that Emerald helped them a great deal, the fact she was injured by the Crystal Heart as well as Sombra hurt her standing in most of the local's eyes. This fact apparently extended to her followers as well.

“Seems the crystal ponies are a bit suspicious of us,” Belvedere commented aloud to his travel companion.

“Let them gossip among themselves,” Fenrir scoffed. “So long as that is all they do I do not care to acknowledge it.”

“Of course,” Belvedere said simply.

“You do not agree?” Fenrir asked.

“I am inclined to ignore them as well...” Belvedere replied. “But I am also aware that one's reputation often holds great weight in political matters.”

“You are our acting leader in the Lady's absence,” Fenrir nodded. “It is your duty to consider such things. Give me an enemy and I shall destroy it, for I am the mail about your fist.”

'And there's that passion again,' Belvedere thought before giving himself an inward shrug. 'I can't complain, I suppose. It does get the blood in the soldiers pumping.'

Not long after, the two finally arrived to the room containing the mirror portal. The two crystal pony guards standing guard at the doors opened it for them at their approach. They entered and found a small crowd in the room. The three princesses, Emerald and Twilight's closest friends were there.

“Ah, Belvedere,” Celestia said with a friendly smile and approached the Diamond Dog. “I realize we've never properly been introduced to one another and the one other time we've met... well it was a very tense time for us all to say the least.”

“Princess Celestia,” Belvedere stated blandly, no trace of emotion in his voice or face. “Personally I consider Nidhogg escaping from his prison and into the Old Kingdom to be entirely your fault. I place the destruction of an entire nation and the blood of half a million dogs to be on your hooves. However, for the sake of diplomacy, this shall be the only time I voice this opinion and will be civil to you this day forth.”

The silence that filled the room after these words was heavy enough to crush steel.

“Ah... that's...” Celestia began with a strained smile, pain evident in her eyes. “That's very kind of you, Belvedere.”

“You are very welcome, Princess.” Belvedere nodded and walked over to an empty spot of the room to watch the mirror.

After that the conversation died off. Once Celestia had returned to her fellow princesses, Luna looked ready to stomp over to give Belvedere a piece of her mind but was held back by Celestia. It took an hour before the conversation regained any liveliness. After another hour passed, however, the ponies in the room started giving the mirror more and more worried glances as time passed without the others reappearing. As the final hour arrived and time ticked down to its final minutes, the atmosphere in the room turned extremely tense. Belvedere was worried as well, but expected Emerald and co. to explode out of the mirror mere moments before it closed. Fenrir looked unmoved, likely fully convinced that Emerald would make it back no matter what. It was as the final seconds ticked down, with Emerald's friends making alarmed shouts, some of them needing to be held back lest they try to burst through the mirror themselves that Belvedere finally reacted.

Face contorted into a scowl of concentration, he sprinted forward to the surprised shouts of the ponies in the room. He reached the mirror in a second but didn't run through. He stopped himself by grabbing the frame before plunging his other arm through, paw wide open and grasping for anything to grab hold of. The instant he felt a hand grasp his paw, he started leaning back to pull what he held back through the portal. Half a second later he fell to the floor missing his arm up to the middle of his bicep.

“I felt her. She held my paw. I could have pulled her back,” Belvedere growled under his breath as Fenrir suddenly appeared at his side so fast he could have teleported. “This is my fault. I should never have expected anything involving ponies to be straightforward. I should have done something to ensure she came back in time.”

“Do not focus on that, it helps no one,” Fenrir said as he tore a strip of cloth from his coat and quickly tied it tightly around Belvedere's stump. “Instead, focus on the fact your duties have been extended indefinitely until our Princeps returns soon.”

“And how, pray tell, do you know she'll return to us in a timely manner?” Belvedere narrowed his eyes at Fenrir. “The pony she had gone after had been gone for nearly a decade.”

“No pony, no matter how skilled or how great their potential, could compare to the Lady. She'll be back, and soon,” Fenrir answered as he studied the tourniquet he made. “But most of all, I have faith she will return to us.”

“Tch.” Belvedere scoffed but inwardly agreed that he couldn't waste time on what if’s. Mind racing with several thoughts, he turned to Fenrir. “Tell me, doesn't the new Orion Serum give their drinkers greater healing abilities?”

“Yes.” Fenrir nodded. “It will allow you to regrow your limb but the Princeps locked it away until her return.”

“We'll see just how firm those locks are supposed to be,” Belvedere stated simply and rose back onto his feet. Looking around, he noticed the ponies in the room were quite distraught over the portal closing. Rainbow Dash was beating on the mirror with her hoof while Pinkie and Fluttershy were being comforted by Cadence.

“They look unhappy,” Belvedere commented before gesturing to the door. “We have business. Let's leave them to it.”

It was only ten minutes later that any of the ponies remembered the dogs and noticed they were gone.

-FIN-

Author's Note

AN: And another chapter! This one done in FAR quicker time than the last one. This one must have been surprising for a lot of you, I know a few were expecting this arc of the series to not last very long. But I have some plans for this arc that I hope you will find very interesting. Also another thing about this chapter... my first written Lime! Yeah looking forward to what you think of that part :P

EN: I dunno. Didn’t feel very… “lime-y” to me. Maybe just my personal thoughts towards the matter. Guess we’ll leave that up to the readers to decide. And since Legionary was so nice as to put the idea in my head. Who wants to see an extended, unrated version published separately from this story?

AN2: Personally I was rather amused when you saw Drunk Emerald and immediately assumed she would cheat on Twilight. It was too cliche, not to mention I recall a few commenters feeling they would be hugely disappointed if something like adultery was brought in to make things difficult.

EN2: First off, it was a logical conclusion… sort of. Alcohol makes idiots of everyone. Second, like you care about what readers think. I can almost guarantee you at some point in the past there have been commenters ready to lynch you for something stupid.

Chapter 5: Hashtag Drama

Sunset Shimmer's breath came in short, panicked gasps.

She ran forward aimlessly, all around her a blank canvas of black. The darkness seemed to come alive and black limbs rushed towards her. She felt its hands along her body, clutching, clawing and squeezing. Releasing screams that were constantly interrupted by a hand that kept trying to cover her mouth, she twisted and thrashed until she finally managed to rip herself out and away.

The instant Sunset managed to free herself she found herself surrounded by people. They weren't looking at her and facing in random direction in the dark void. Some were various, rough looking young men wearing hoodies or bare chested and others wore full body covering black armour; all had a crude symbol of a sun in red and yellow paint on them. Sunset Shimmer continued running forward while all around her strangers silently fought unseen enemies before dying horribly and messily. Some were torn apart by explosions, others had massive, bloody holes blown in their bodies as they collapsed to the ground.

Sunset started sprinting desperately, horrified tears streaming down her cheeks as she tried her best to ignore the horrors occurring around her. Soon enough the last man died and his falling copse faded away from sight along with the rest and Sunset was left alone to run in the darkness. Suddenly an armoured fist flew out of the darkness and she crumpled to the ground. Panting, she moved to try to get back up but her legs refused to respond. Looking down, her eyes widened when she saw that in place of her flesh and blood legs were a pair of wooden marionette legs.

Suddenly a high pitched, spine chilling wail filled the air. In the far horizon of the darkness came a wall of flames that seemed to stretch on forever. Before this wall of flames was a figure shrouded in shadow that walked at a leisurely pace towards Sunset.

Sunset Shimmer immediately started to crawl desperately along the ground, her wooden legs dragging uselessly and noisily along the ground behind her. As she moved along the ground as fast as she could, she looked over her shoulder to see the figure's progress. Every time she looked, the figure seemed be far closer, almost as if it was leaping meters at a time each moment she wasn't looking. Desperate to get away, Sunset practically began throwing herself forward to move faster. Suddenly the walls of flames appeared and shot around Sunset, surrounding her with fire that seemed to reach miles into the air.

Terrified sobs racked Sunset's body as she stopped her movement before a raging firestorm. She released a scream of terror as she felt something grab her and roll her over onto her back. The shrouded figure was on her. It now sat on her waist and was leaning over her, and despite the flames all around them the figure was still covered in indescribable darkness, the only thing visible being its eyes that seemed to blaze brighter than the fires around them.

Sunset subconsciously held her breath as the figure's hands reached down and grabbed her head. Fingers splayed along the sides of her head before resting its thumbs and forefingers around her eyes, forcing them wide open and staring into them.

“Murderer...” came a harsh whisper before the two thumbs left their spots. They positioned themselves over her eyes and grew sharp talons before plunging down.

Sunset gasped and sat up, swinging her arms before bringing her hands up to her eyes. She felt herself tip over and fell with a short shout and landed with a thump, laying still a moment before groaning. Looking up, she found herself to no longer be in a plane of darkness but an apartment early in the morning. Beside her was a couch with a blanket that was half pulled off and still partly wrapped around her body.

'Just a nightmare,' Sunset thought with relief as she began the arduous task of pulling herself back onto the couch. 'Guess I deserve it... I can only imagine what my parents’ reaction would be to everything I've done... probably smug. Knew all along I'd be trouble.'

After probably spending far longer than was necessary pulling herself back onto the couch, Sunset rested her head on the armrest and covered her legs up with the blanket. She stared at the blank TV for a few minutes, idly wondering what time it was before reaching out and grabbing the remote.

'YOU WERE THE CHOSEN ONE!' came a voice from the TV the moment she turned it on. 'IT WAS SAID YOU WOULD DESTROY THE SITH, NOT JOIN THEM!”

Sunset frowned and quickly changed the channel. She looked up at the info bar when it popped up and groaned audibly; it was barely six o'clock. After the nightmare she just had she didn't feel like trying to go back to sleep though. So with a sigh, she began channel surfing, trying to find something good. None of the channels were familiar to her, however, and were completely different from the ones she had gotten used to. Eventually she came to a set of channels that had to be bought and frowned at the odd names.

'MILFs gone wild?' Sunset thought in some confusion. 'XXX Latino Paradise? The heck kind of shows are these? Whatever... they're unavailable anyway.'

Sunset was about to continue channel surfing when a small voice startled her and nearly sent her flying out of the couch again.

“Hi~” Navi said softly from the opposite end of the couch, peering over the armrest at Sunset.

“H-hey...” Sunset greeted back, hand over her thundering heart. “D-did you want something?”

“Can I please use the TV to play games?” Navi asked politely.

“...Sure, go ahead,” Sunset replied after a moment and held the remote to the little girl. It wasn't like she had found something interesting to watch. Might as well watch someone play video games.

“Thank you!” Navi said happily, bounding over next to Sunset, grabbing the remote from her and giving her a quick hug as well.

“U-uhh, no problem,” Sunset said, hesitantly patting the little girl's head.

Giving Sunset another smile, Navi quickly made her way over to the TV. Putting it on the right mode, she then turned the Wii U on before looking for a game to play. After a moment, she picked one out and quickly placed the disc in the console before taking a seat in front of the couch and before the coffee table. An image flashed across the screen along with the game's title.

Super Mario Bros. U

Sunset lied back and rested her head on the armrest. She hadn't ever really gotten into video games. She had left shortly before the ones in Equestria grew beyond a mostly text based state and the ones in the other Earth hadn't garnered her attention. But considering she was now crippled and basically under house arrest, she wasn't going to snub any means of passing the time.

It wasn't long before she was watching Navi control a little man wearing blue overalls with a red shirt and hat. She spent the entirety of the first level messing around, jumping and punching random things, almost running the clock down to zero when she finally went for the exit. The next level she spent very little time messing around and ran straight through, and in the third one she managed to complete it in less than a minute thanks to consecutive jumps that practically had her flying through the level. It was just as Navi was finishing the first boss with no damage that Sunset was beginning to think the game was easy.

“Do you want to play too?” Navi asked her as she victory screen played.

“Well...” Sunset considered. She had nothing better to do and then there was that eager hopefulness that was so clear in the little girl's eyes... “Sure why not?”

“Yay!” Navi cheered and darted over to grab a controller.

Sunset wiggled in place to get into a bit more comfortable position on the couch. She grabbed the controller when Navi held it out to her and settled in for some relaxed fun.

An hour and a half later she found herself staring at a screen that seemed to be silently taunting her. On it was a small bar that had the word 'Continues' and a number two that ticked up to three.

“Would you stop running ahead of me?” Sunset groused, now sitting upright and focused on the screen.

“I'm sorry,” Navi said and smiled brightly at the older girl.

“Ugh.” Sunset shook her head but refused to give in. They were on the same side so technically she was still winning... just not as much as Navi was. Honestly she wasn't doing very badly at all and Navi having learned to hold back from playing with Spike was trying to adjust her skill to play with her. It was just when things started to get hectic that Navi forgot this and started tearing through the level, often leaving Sunset scrambling and failing to keep up.

“Nonononono, Naviiiiiiiii!” Sunset said through gritted teeth as she rapidly pressed buttons on her controller. After a tense moment, she sighed. “Saved it, no thanks to you.”

“Well... keep up.” Navi giggled but did pause her inexhaustible forward movement to wait for Sunset's character.

“Momma's girl, Navi says keeps up,” Sunset muttered under her breath and didn't have much more time to mutter anything else as Navi started moving again.

Despite the unexpected difficulty playing with someone as skilled as Navi added to the game and her apparent mood. Sunset was actually enjoying herself. She wasn't afraid of challenges, and playing games with Navi accomplished what she ultimately wanted, to be distracted from her current situation.

“Grrrr... made it,” Sunset said with a sigh and leaned back. “Aren't the bosses supposed to be hard compared to the levels?”

Navi just shrugged.

Sunset was about to prepare for the next level when a very familiar sensation rose up from the parts of her lower half she could still feel. She made to get up and only stopped herself from tumbling face first into the floor thanks to remembering that her legs no longer worked at the last moment. She remained sitting on the couch for several moments, staring wide eyed at her legs as suddenly the reality of having legs that didn't work washed over her.

“Are you okay?” Navi asked, walking over and coming to a stop next to Sunset.

“I need to use the washroom,” Sunset said, crushing down embarrassment as it wouldn't help here. “I can't get there without crawling. Can you go wake up your... mother and get her to help me?”

“Hmm... nope!” Navi shook her head, and before Sunset could voice any protest the little girl reached over and wrapped her arms around Sunset's waist. “I can help you!”

“But you're just a little...” Sunset began before she was suddenly near effortlessly lifted up by Navi. Considering Navi was easily half Sunset's height, the act of carrying the older girl was a tad awkward for her, but she was willing to give it her all. After a few moments Navi had moved Sunset so that her upper body was resting on her shoulders and upper back while her lower half was dragging upon the floor.

“Were you an Earth Pony or something?” Sunset asked as she looked down at the little girl under her.

“Nope!” Navi smiled and started running for the bathroom.

“Gah!” Sunset shouted as one of her legs caught a chair in the kitchen and sent it tumbling over. “I don't need to go that badly!”

ALPHA

“I don't need help peeing in the toilet!”

Emerald snorted in some amusement as she listened in on what was going on in the apartment. Currently she was in bed, wearing sleeping clothes but not the risque outfit she had put together to seduce Twilight the other night. She was spooning Twilight who was currently pretending to be asleep. Considering what had happened last night, Emerald was more than willing to humour Twilight's desire to sleep in. That and she also felt much of the same.

The virus continued to stay in bed as the ruckus in the bathroom died down and the sound of people moving back into the living room soon followed. She stayed spooning Twilight, quietly holding her close until the sound of Spike's voice joined the the two others in the living room. It was then that Emerald decided it was time to stop pretending they could ignore everything.

“Twilight, it's time to stop pretending to be asleep now,” Emerald said to her girlfriend, getting a sigh in response.

“Sorry,” Twilight said and reached over to grip Emerald's hand with her own. “I guess it's kind of childish of me to want to hide in bed and hope all the bad things go away.”

“No, that's just normal,” Emerald replied. “It's when you try to do that seriously instead of a brief coping mechanism that it becomes childish.”

“And this of all worlds isn't conductive towards that kind of behaviour,” Twilight said as she wiggled out of Emerald's hug and started to get out of bed.

“Well... helps if your parents are rich,” Emerald commented and get out of bed as well. “Which... yours are, if I recall.”

“Yes, because Equestrian bits are going to be so much help right now,” Twilight said sarcastically, glancing at Emerald with a smile. “I'm going to have a shower and get cleaned up. I'll see you in the kitchen. We'll get started on talking about what we need to do while we wait for the portal to open again.”

“I'll get started on breakfast.” Emerald nodded and walked out of the bedroom, clothes shifting to her casual wear.

Emerald walked into the kitchen. Looking over into the living room, she saw Spike sitting on the floor next to Navi, also playing, and Sunset was on the couch. She was still playing as well and seemed to be more clearly enjoying herself now that she had someone to share the irritating ace that was Navi. At hearing Emerald's approach, Sunset sent an almost fearful glance towards her.

The virus shrugged the look off and turned towards the fridge. She quickly started gathering ingredients to make a full breakfast. It was only a few minutes before everything was beginning to sizzle atop the stove. Considering there were five mouths to feed, the pans on the stove were quite full of cooking foodstuffs. A few minutes before things were finishing being cooked, Twilight walked into the kitchen and sat at the table.

Emerald felt there wasn't much chance of everyone eating together just now and quickly got a set of chafing dishes she had made earlier on. She put the food away in the dishes before grabbing a cup of coffee for Twilight and sitting at the table.

“Thank you,” Twilight said quietly after grabbing the cup from Emerald. “So what's the plan?”

“Well, first things first,” Emerald began and glanced towards the living room where the others were sitting. “I'll have to enroll Navi and Spike in the local education system. I don't intend for them to be going to a school, I'll just be grabbing some home schooling packages for the time we are here.”

“That's good.” Twilight smiled. “I have nothing against human children, but I want Spike and Navi kept close, plus this will be an interesting chance to compare education. I'm curious to see if Spike will need any help for it.”

“Nothing about Navi?” Emerald asked.

“If she learns anywhere near as fast as you, then all she needs is to be shown once or twice,” Twilight replied. “And she'll be good until the next part.”

“True.” Emerald nodded. “I've already reinforced the runes on the apartment to the furthest I can take it, but I'm also going to be going out and about, keeping an ear to the ground basically and looking out for people deciding to have a go at us.”

“Is that going to be a big problem?” Twilight asked with a frown.

“This isn't like Equestria,” Emerald said with a bit of an annoyed sigh. “Where someone in power can say I'm good and people will mostly ignore me like how it goes with Discord. People in power can say all they like, but it doesn't change the fact I'm the sole surviving member of Alex Mercer's personal Cadre. Some people will avoid me like the plague the moment they see me, some will talk a big game but won't do anything even if they had the chance, some won't care and some will try to punish me in some way.”

“Emerald...” Twilight said with concern as she reached out and held the Evolved's hand. “I know you will always protect us from anyone who wants to harm us... but please do the same for yourself. Don't let others hurt you even if you feel they deserve the right.”

“Don't worry Twilight, everything will be fine,” Emerald said and squeezed Twilight's hand comfortingly. What she didn't mention was the biggest and possibly only reason she let Sophie get away with attacking her was because she knew her quite personally. If she had been a stranger, Emerald would not have cared nearly as much and simply swatted her aside. The likelihood of meeting another person she had known as closely as Sophie was very low.

The idea of someone trying to attack her made Emerald think of a previous idea to take Twilight and the others to some tropical resort and spend the entirety of their stay there. While she hadn't gone through with it before because she didn't want to disrespect Twilight by doing that, she had a feeling that was no longer an issue now. However, the idea was no longer as practical as it was before her presence had been announced. Emerald had a feeling that now she had been reintroduced to the world at large that the force of nature that was the various internet communities had already managed to gather some key facts about her and the people she cherished.

“Other than ensuring our safety, there isn't really anything to do but to waste time until the portal opens again.” Emerald shrugged.

“Well they certainly found a means to pass the time.” Twilight nodded towards the living room with a smile as Spike let loose a loud cheer and Navi gave a giggle. “Hmm... I can think of a few personal projects I'd want to work on in the time we have here.”

“Projects?” Emerald asked. “Even now when you don't have magic?”

“Especially now.” Twilight nodded with a determined look. “Do you have anything to work on as well?”

“Tons, it's just that most of it requires me to actually physically work and build things,” Emerald said. “Which I want to do at the Enclave, not here on Earth. Eh, I can work on a lot of theory while I'm here. There are a ton of equations and design work I need to do for a project anyway. Might as well get on it here and now so I can get started on laying down actual frameworks as soon as we get back.”

“Right. I'm going to head out now,” Emerald continued as she stood up from her seat. “It's a bit early yet, but I want to visit a few spots before getting started on anything serious.”

“Oh, oh!” came some excited shouting and suddenly Emerald had Navi clinging to her leg. “I wanna come too! Please Mama!”

“Well... are you sure?” Emerald asked after a moment. “I'm not exactly going anywhere exciting.”

“I wanna be with you, Mama!” Navi pouted up at Emerald.

“As long as you be a good girl, then sure.” Emerald smiled softly before picking up Navi who immediately clung to Emerald happily.

“Awww. Have fun you two.” Twilight smiled at Emerald.

“Breakfast will stay warm in the chafing dishes for a good few hours,” Emerald said as she walked towards the door. “Eat whenever you guys want. We should be back by lunch at most.”

“We'll be fine, don't you worry.” Twilight smiled after Emerald as she opened the door and closed it behind her. She continued to sit at the table for a few minutes, nursing her coffee before heading over to the living room where Spike and Sunset continued playing. She watched for a few minutes before leaning down on the back of the couch's backrest and prodding Sunset's shoulder.

“So...” Twilight began. “Sunset Shimmer. I don't think we've been properly introduced to one another...”

BETA

“This is my old high school,” Emerald explained. “With everything that went on, it's held up about as well as expected.”

“It's exploded looking,” Navi pointed out.

The multi-story high school looked as abandoned and dilapidated as any other building in Manhattan. It was covered in moss and lichen, all its windows were broken and some of it looked like it collapsed in on itself but it was still standing. And yes, there were more than a few faded blast marks from explosions as the little virus pointed out.

“Yeah, it is.” Emerald smiled down at Navi. “Come on, let's go exploring.”

“Okay!” Navi hopped in place excitedly before running ahead of Emerald.

It quickly got dark inside the high school. There was some light thanks to the occasional hole blown straight through all the floors of the building, but it clearly wasn't enough to give a decent amount of light. Not that it mattered for either Navi or Emerald. The both of them had natural night vision powerful enough that it was bright as day inside the school.

'This is Mama's school!' Navi thought as she ran over to a set of lockers. 'This must have been the best school in the whole wide world, ever! Mama's so smart, I want to be as smart as she is.'

With that thought in mind, Navi immediately started opening lockers, pulling the door right off whenever its lock was still working and digging around for things to learn from. She grew rather despondent when all the books she found turned out to be rather mouldy and water damaged.

“What's this?” Navi asked after digging around a pile of junk in one locker, pulling out a small square plastic packet with a circular shape poking through the surface.

“Garbage,” Emerald answered simply, magically chucking the packet from Navi's hand into the junk pile. “Make sure your hands are clean after digging or touching anything, okay?”

“Kay, Mama.” Navi nodded and looked down at her hands, a brief surge of black tendrils covering them.

“Let's keep moving,” Emerald said a bit softly. “This way.”

Navi quickly moved over beside Emerald and grabbed hold of her hand. The little virus looked this way and that as they moved through the building. She knew the building likely didn't look like this way when her Mama had been learning here, but she liked to imagine it. So busy imaging it, she almost didn't notice the large wall of rubble blocking their path.

“Huh... I don't feel like going around,” Emerald muttered and waved a hand. A glowing aura surrounded the rubble and there was a flash, followed by a rush of air. “Transmutation is so useful, huh Navi?”

“Ohhhh~” Navi gasped at the disappeared rubble pile, its absence allowing a pillar of sunlight to shine into the building. “I wanna learn how to do magic too, Mama!”

“I'm sure your father would love to hear you say that.” Emerald smiled down at the little girl, placing a hand atop her head. “I'll be happy to start teaching you magic, Navi. We'll start tomorrow, okay?”

“Kay!” Navi smiled and the two of them continued along.

After a few minutes of travel and ascending some stairs they arrived to a dirty, ruined classroom. Emerald hadn't entered this room immediately. She had remained at the doorway for a moment, her expression one of total solemness and sadness. She then entered the room followed closely by Navi.

Navi looked all around her. The room looked like a classroom, though it was an utter wreck. Most of the combined chair and tabletop desks were tipped over or in two pieces, the teacher’s desk at the front was missing and in its place was a hole. Above the teacher's desk was a hole letting in sunlight and the whiteboard was covered in spray painted symbols and words. The shattered windows overlooked the street before the school and let in a dusty breeze.

The little virus followed Emerald as she walked over to the corner of the classroom nearest the windows. She watched Emerald look around some of the upturned desks before picking one up and standing it back up on a specific spot. Emerald then sat in the desk, unmindful of the dirt and grime covering it, wiped her hand over the top and revealed a specific spot. Navi walked over to the side of the desk and peered down onto the spot Emerald uncovered. There was an image of a coffee mug scratched into the surface of the desk. On the mug was a heart and within the heart were two chibified faces. One had a small smile and wore a bucket hat while the other had long hair and bangs that stopped just above its eyebrows. Navi thought the one with the hat looked like her Mama before she became permanently pretty and the other reminded her a lot of her Papa.

Navi looked up at Emerald who was now leaning back in her seat and looking down at the image with a somewhat mournful smile. Navi didn't like it when her Mama became sad, and quickly darted around the desk to give her a tight hug and smiled up at her in hopes it would make her happy. It seemed to do the trick as Emerald gave an amused grin down at Navi before standing up and picking Navi up, returning her hug.

With Navi still firmly attached to her front, Emerald walked over to the broken windows and jumped through them to the ground below. After they landed, Emerald shifted Navi around until she was on her back before breaking into a run.

Grin widely plastered on her face, Navi closed her eyes and raised her head up. She felt the wind pass her face and through her hair as Emerald rapidly sprinted up to speeds of at least two hundred miles per hour, the sudden jerking and leaps as Emerald took turns at speed with ease taken in passing by both Evolved. To the little girl it felt far too soon when Emerald started rapidly slowing down before skidding to a halt.

Looking around, Navi found the street as overgrown and ruined as any other to her eyes but she knew Emerald would have stopped here for a reason. Dropping down from Emerald's back she quickly fell into step beside her as said Evolved walked towards a burned out building tucked in between two five-story buildings. The building might have stood at least two stories at one time but now all that stood was the walls and foundations of the first floor. Walking through the near nonexistent doorway revealed an utterly filthy linoleum floor covered in shattered furniture and the slowly disintegrating piles of burned wood.

Navi left Emerald's side and kicked her little foot into one of the many junk piles that covered the floor. When a metal clinking sound met her ears, she leaned down and dug around until she picked up a broken salt shaker with its metal lid still attached. With a shrug she chucked the broken salt shaker back into the pile before turning to see what Emerald was doing.

Emerald wasn't doing much. She was simply standing beside what remained of a metal counter with her hand resting on a partly crushed, weather worn cash register.

Navi frowned again and started looking for something interesting. She started poking around junk piles again but other than random pieces of broken furniture and burned wood she didn't find anything even remotely interesting. With an annoyed huff she walked over to the other side of the ruined structure, past Emerald who was now standing before the cash register and looking around with a blank gaze. Walking through a doorway that was only that because it still had a doorframe, Navi came into an area filled with rusting stoves.

There were junk piles here as well, but they had a lot more interesting stuff in them that was visible at first glance. Kneeling over by one pile, Navi started digging. Most of what she started pulling out was some bakeware with cutlery mixed in but she did eventually find something that caught her sight. It was a plaque. It had a dark stained wooden back with a gleaming black metal front, and engraved into the front were many silvery words which she couldn't make heads or tails of. Also attached to the front of the plaque was a silver spoon somehow untarnished despite the years.

Navi turned the plaque this way and that, attempting to make out something about what was written on it. However, as smart and as fast a learner Navi was thanks to her current state of being, it was simply no help in the face of a language she didn't know.

'Ah! I know!' Navi smiled as an idea struck her. 'Mama knows everything! She'll know what this is!'

With that, Navi clutched the plaque tightly in her hands and ran back to Emerald. She darted back into the main area and saw her Mama hadn't moved from her spot. Navi darted to Emerald's side and reached up and gave a tug on the older virus' sleeve.

“Uhh.” Emerald shook her heard sharply and looked down at Navi. “Something wrong, Navi?”

“Mama, do you know what this is?” Navi asked and held the plaque up to Emerald.

Emerald narrowed her eyes as she took the plaque before they widened in shock once she got a clear view of its front. Holding the plaque in front her, Emerald turned her back on the cash register and fell down onto the floor with her back pressed against the metal counter.

“Mama...” Navi said in worry, wringing her hands as she saw Emerald begin to cry silently. “Did I find something bad?”

“...No. No you didn't, cuddlebug,” Emerald said with a wide smile and quickly pulled Navi against her side. “You found something I thought was long gone.”

“What is it?” Navi asked as she snuggled in close.

“This is...” Emerald paused for a moment, clearly deep in thought as she considered her next words before smiling. “This is the reward your grandmother got for winning a baking contest.”

“Grandmother?” Navi said questioningly.

“Yes, you had a grandmother. Remember the tombstone I went to visit?” Emerald said and a wide eyed look of realization crossed Navi’s features. “She used the winnings from the baking contest to come to America.”

“I wanna see what she looks like!” Navi smiled up at Emerald.

“Sure thing...” Emerald smiled at Navi. “I know just where to find a picture for you.”

There was silence for a long moment as the two remained sitting on the floor together, Emerald staring at the award in heartfelt nostalgia and Navi happy to snuggle with her. It was after a few minutes that Navi began to fidget.

“Mama?” Navi said.

“Yes?” Emerald looked down at the little Evolved.

“I want to go play now,” Navi said and looked around. “Can we go somewhere nice?”

“Sure thing,” Emerald said and stood up, tucking the award against her side. “Come on, we'll have to take the slow way.”

“Okay Mama.” Navi nodded and then hopped onto Emerald's back.

After a moment of making sure Navi was holding on tight, Emerald then burst into a sprint down the street, hopping over, swerving and even kicking aside the odd rusting car in her path. Some distance away in a crumbling apartment building came the flicker of sunlight upon glass and the sounds of clicking.

GAMMA

About an hour later found Emerald in the Green Zone, walking down a street with Navi at her side holding her hand. Emerald wasn't in her normal form, which had gotten Navi rather curious as to why. Her only explanation was that it was to make taking her somewhere nice less annoying. Currently Emerald was using a form that was fairly average joe in terms of looks and “uniqueness”. A woman wearing jeans, a white blouse and a tan leather coat with blond hair set in a ponytail with a purse hanging from her shoulder. Navi was the more eye catching of the two, if only for her bright purple hair.

“Maybe I should have chosen something more punk looking...” Navi heard Emerald mutter as she got another stare from a passing couple.

“Huh?” Navi looked up.

“Nothing, honey.” Emerald smiled down at Navi. “We're almost there.”

A few minutes of walking later found the two arriving at the park, the corner of which held a playground with various equipment for children to play on. Said park also had a handful of children already there along with a small group of adults off to the side.

“Oh!” Navi hopped in place excitedly. “Can I go play with them, Mama?!”

“...” Emerald was frowning in some clear worry at the sight of the children and the other adults in the playground, but after taking a look at Navi's pleading expression it changed to an optimistic smile. “Go on, cuddlebug. Make sure to play nice, and carefully. I'll be sitting on the bench over here. Make sure to listen for my voice. I might want to say something to you.”

“Kay, Mama!” Navi nodded before taking off towards the playground.

Navi ran into the large sandbox that contained most of the playground equipment. She darted towards the centre which was dominated by a “castle” with many means of climbing and little toys attached. There was a sort of courtyard which had a merry-go-round on it, with another girl that looked slightly older than Navi. The girl was wearing jeans with a pink hoodie and had shoulder length brown hair.

“Hi!” Navi greeted cheerfully as she slid to a stop before the merry-go-round. “I'm Navi!”

“Navi?” The girl frowned as the merry-go-round slowed to a halt before gasping in delight. “That's just like my game!”

“What game?” Navi asked in interest.

“My 3DS game, Legend of Zelda,” the girl answered. “You get a little fairy that helps you! I would show you, but... mommy says I shouldn't be playing video games at the park and took it away.”

“My names in a game?” Navi said with wide eyes. “That's so cool!”

“Yeah!” The other girl nodded. “My name’s Mary Ann. Can you push me around?”

“Okay!” Navi stepped forward and grabbed hold of a bar.

“Not too hard now,” Navi heard Emerald say and nodded before giving a gentle shove.

“Ahahahahaha!” Mary instantly started laughing excitedly as she started spinning fairly fast. Timing it well, Navi hopped on board after a rotation and joined her new friend. Waiting a few moments for the merry-go-round to slow down, Navi occasionally started kicking off the ground to keep it going at a decent pace.

“How good are you?” Mary Ann asked after a moment of spinning. “My older brother says I'm really good, but I think he's lying.”

“Uncle Spike says I'm almost too good to play with.” Navi smiled before looking a little sad about it. “I have to hold back on him or he won't like playing with me anymore.”

“Hehe, that's funny!” Mary giggled. “What school do you go to?”

“Mama hasn't put me in any yet,” Navi replied. “She says she isn't going to and that it's better if stay home and learn.”

“Oh no. My mommy says kids who learn at home don't learn good!” Mary gasped.

“Nuh uh!” Navi shook her head. “My Mama is so smart! She can teach me anything! She even said she'll teach me magic tomorrow.”

“Oh, magic tricks are fun!” Mary said with a smile.

“Change the subject,” Navi heard Emerald say. “Do not say anything more about magic than you already have.”

“Ummm...” Navi looked around for something and saw a little boy approach. “Who's that?”

“That's Timmy!” Mary said in a loud whisper. “He's dumb!”

“No I'm not!” Timmy said as he skidded to a stop next to the merry-go-round. “Dumb girls who don't play with dumb dolls are dumber!”

“Girls aren't dumb!” Mary protested. “Navi's smart and gonna learn magic!”

“Magic’s dumb,” Timmy said.

“Nuh uh! It's-” Navi halted an instant, stopping herself from talking about how Papa can teleport, turn things into other things and float. “THE BEST!”

“I bet you it's not!” Timmy shouted.

“Bet what?” Navi narrowed her eyes, kicking a foot out and bringing the merry-go-round to quick halt. “Are we playing a game? I can beat anyone that isn't Mama.”

“Girls can't play games!” Timmy said confidently and held out a hand. “Rock, paper, scissors! I win, then girls are dumb!”

“I'm not gonna bet anything,” Navi said and held out her hand as well. “I'm gonna win no matter what.”

“Do you even know how to play?” Emerald said from afar and Navi frowned as she watched Timmy begin bobbing his hand and Emerald explained quickly. “Paper beats rock, rock beats scissors, scissors beat paper. Spread out two fingers for scissors, flat hand for paper and fist for rock.”

Navi nodded and watched Timmy's hand; it moved as if in slow motion. She saw it beginning to open and spread fingers out wide. Reacting with extreme reflexes, she stuck out two fingers. Time seemed to speed up again as Timmy frowned and huffed in anger.

“Best two out of three!” he declared and started bobbing his hand again. This went on for several minutes until finally the boy was left hopping in anger at losing twenty to zero, though he was hardly keeping count.

“Grrr... girls are still dumb,” Timmy muttered, now completely out of steam from constantly losing.

“Timothy honey, it's time to go!” came a voice.

“You too, Mary Ann!” added another.

“Come on!” Mary said and grabbed hold of Navi's hand. “I wanna show you to mommy!”

“It's okay, Navi. There's no harm in it,” Navi heard Emerald say reassuringly as she frowned and looked back towards her. “Just listen carefully in case I want to say something.”

“Hey there, who’s your new friend, Mary Ann?” asked a smiling, middle-age looking woman who had the same hair as Mary but much darker skin.

“This is Navi!” Mary said excitedly. “She has the same name as like my game!”

“Navi, huh?” The woman crouched down with an amused smile. “Reminds me of Robin William's girl. That's some really pretty hair you have, Navi. Where's your mom?”

“Thank you.” Navi smiled and pointed off towards a somewhat distant bench. “Mama's over there.”

“Well Mary Ann has to go home right now, but maybe we'll see you when we come back to the park again,” the woman said and took Mary's hand.

“Bye, Navi!” Mary waved back at her.

Navi returned the wave but stared after Mary's mom. She was wearing some nice clothes that complimented her but remained fairly modest. Looking over to the side to where Timmy was standing, she saw him standing before another woman, looking shyly down at his shoes and the woman throwing the occasional amused glance towards Navi. The woman was blonde, her clothes were fairly girly girl, lots of pink with a bit of skin revealed. Seeing those two made Navi think of her own Mama. Emerald was definitely beautiful, but she wore such baggy clothes. Even for Navi, she had to admit it was a little scruffy looking. With this thought in mind, Navi took off at a run through the playground and towards Emerald, ignoring the other children and parts of the grounds she could have started playing on as well.

“Hey there, Navi,” Emerald sat up at Navi's approach. “Something wrong?”

“Mama...” Navi began and stepped right up to Emerald, resting her chin on Emerald's knee and looking up at her. “How come you don't look pretty?”

“You don't think I look pretty?” Emerald said, the corner of her mouth arching in some amusement.

“Mama is beautiful,” Navi replied. “But auntie Rarity talks about how dressing pretty is super important too! How come you don't dress as pretty as you look like the other girls, Mama?”

“Well technically I'm not actually a girl, Navi,” Emerald answered and reached over to pat Navi's head.

“But your clothes should be as pretty as you, Mama!” Navi protested.

“Heh...” Emerald smiled and reached over and quickly grabbed Navi, picking her up and laying her across her lap before proceeding to tickle her, making her squeal in laughter. “Somebody seems to have spent a bit too much time around Rarity I think.”

Navi just giggled as she wiggled and squirmed in place in a futile attempt to avoid Emerald's fingers.

“Come on, I have some chores to do,” Emerald said and sat up, moving Navi around so that she was on her shoulders. “Let's get you home to play with your uncle so you aren't bored.”

“Okay,” Navi said and rested her head atop Emerald's. “Can I get new games?”

“We'll see,” Emerald replied as she started down the street. “Give me a few days to think about it.”

“Okay, Mama.”

DELTA

HOTgluon24 said

WTF!! Why she still walking free for!

HollowedPure666 replied

You mean “he”

69Nazidiet69 replied

You mean “it”

A few days later found Emerald lying on her back on the ledge of a roof of an apartment complex, staring up at her phone. She had worked on it some more and now it merely looked rather bulky instead of a mess of wires and exposed innards it was before. Currently she was on it surfing the net, mostly going over various reactions of people about her online.

5unnyH3NTA1 said
She looks like a hot fuck, I have a Cursor girlfriend. Convinced her to go perma horny for a full twenty four hours. Week later she still hasn't ended it constantly begging for my dick every day

DaveSnider replied

Pics or it didn't happen

G4d_Z00k5 replied

Video or it didn't happen

PrideAbove_20-13 replied

You wanna fuck terrorists boy?

11_TheDoctorIsIn_11 replied

Yay, the muricams are here

It was going about as well as could be expected given the reality of the internet. As expected, there was a literal ton of people who seemed to have broken their caps lock in place and simply screaming for her blood, the sheer abundance of which drowned out the people who were trying to be optimistic about her. Then there was the inappropriate people who seemed rather “taken” with her.

StudMuffianCaillou1812 said
Saying my own separate comment instead of replying to Gluon so it doesn't get instantly buried in a storm of comments about the proper pronoun for a shapeshifter, again. The big reason for why Emerald isn't getting arrested has to do with the registration papers she signed with Blackwatch. They had a international pardon for all crimes, instantly applicable to all member countries of the UN. Before she signed that she was fair game. After? As far as the law is concerned it's ancient history and she can't be put on trial for it. A lot of people have been making comparisons to the Germans taken in operation paperclip and the like, it's kinda like that except she doesn't have to do anything for anyone beyond follow the law.

Xx_ShadowLord_xX replied

TL;DR

('-')_BeNice_('-') replied

It's like a hundred words, pop some pills for your ADD and learn some patience

Emerald had also been digging through comments and replies chains, looking for the diamond in the rough among them. So far just from doing this she was able ascertain a few facts about what people now knew about her on the internet that was true. They knew she had been lynched on Manhattan, though such information had always been “From a friend of a friend”. Clearly some Evolved were willing to spread news about her which wasn't much of a surprise. They knew she wasn't living on Manhattan and was staying somewhere in the Brooklyn area since she was seen most there. They knew who the people she mostly likely cared about and loved were, extrapolated from pictures and her registration papers and they knew she had been brought in for questioning barely a day after registering.

'Honestly, this whole thing about me has almost completely taken public attention off the whole fiasco Blackwatch just went through a few days ago,' Emerald thought with a sigh. 'Sure it doesn't take away all the official pressure for answers Heller is likely dealing with right now, but now he doesn't have much in the way of public pressure so he is pretty free to focus his attentions on one front right now.'

“Well lookie who we have here!” Emerald heard a voice say.

Quickly looking to her side towards the roof, what met her sight was Jacob wearing a black V-neck Tee-shirt and tan cargo pants with a pair of white sneakers. Trisha was there as well, closer to Emerald and crouching down so she was at face level with Emerald. She was wearing a different outfit from before as well. She was wearing a sleeveless black shirt that zipped up the middle and left a slight bit of midriff. On her lower half she was wearing a half skirt, the back of which stretched down to her feet but the front only went up just slight past where her thighs began. Under her skirt she wore a pair of fairly modest shorts that ended just above her knees and on her feet were a pair of dark blue and white sneakers.

“Hi!” Trisha smiled brightly at Emerald before her mouth curled downwards in concern. “So are you feeling okay?”

“...Well, about as well as expected, considering,” Emerald said and shook her phone in emphasis at the two.

“Yeah, figured you would be in a bad mood after that.” Jacob nodded a little. “I mean it's not every day you are public enemy number one and then get off scot free. So I figured you needed the help of some friendly faces. Unfortunately, all I could find was Trisha and myself... sorry.”

“I know we only just met, Emerald,” Trisha said, rolling her eyes at Jacob's words. “But I hope you are willing to give me chance to prove I can be good friend.”

“You don't have to handle me with kid gloves, Trisha,” Emerald replied and pocketed her phone. “I've gotten the beginnings of the psychiatrist treatment before. As long as you aren't a dick, I'll give you a chance to prove just that.”

“Great!” Trisha smiled cheerfully and stood up. “Now get up, we're going for a bit of fun and some good eating!”

“Oh?” Emerald said and did just that. “Where we heading to?”

“A new place opened up about six months ago in the Green Zone,” Jacob said. “Trisha and I've been going there fairly often. It's an arcade with an attached pizza place.”

“Pizza and games, huh?” Emerald said as she shoved her hands into her belly pocket and followed the two to the other side of the roof. “Sounds like a decent time.”

“It's not just cheap, gimmicky arcade games, either,” Jacob explained as the group of three walked. “You know games like sitting in a fake race car with a steering wheel controller and the usual dancing game clones. It has a whole sections devoted to the classics! So we'll be playing the best arcade games of all time. Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Centipede, just to name a few. And yeah, we'll be playing a few crappy modern ones too...”

“The two of us have been working on this awesome dance routine for the dancing game,” Trisha said as the three of them lined up at the roof ledge. “We took inspiration from a few YouTube videos. And not only that, but they recently got a Rock Band section to play so the three of us can expert mode a few songs.”

“Hup,” Emerald said and the three of them burst into the air, easily flying over the street and landing on the next roof over with a thump. “And then once we do all that, we'll get to the eating?”

“Oh yeah.” Jacob nodded with an eager smile. “They have this little gimmicky Titan Pizza deal, where you get this massive pizza and if you manage to eat it all you get it free.”

“Course the deal doesn't apply to us, and for good reason.” Trisha smiled, folding her arms behind her head, licking her lips with eyes closed. “Doesn't make it any less of a tasty feast.”

“Oh yeah, sounds like a good day alright,” Emerald said as the three of them lined up at the next ledge. “So what are we waiting for? We have to take a water taxi to the Green Zone and that's already going to eat up a bit of time.”

“First one to port gets first choice of games we play!” Jacob announced and leapt.

“Hey! At least say one, two, three first!” Trisha protested and jumped after him.

Emerald smiled happily and chased after them.

EPSILON

“Hello again!” Jacob announced bombastically as he burst through the front door.

“Damn it, Jacob,” spoke a man in white business shirt, black slacks and a tie, clearly the manager. “If the two of you weren't such good customers, I'd legitimately be pissed about having to reboot the games every week.”

“It's the three amigos, today!” Jacob corrected as Emerald and Trisha followed in soon after.

“Doesn't change up much...” the manager replied and paused as he stared at Emerald a moment.

“...Would it be better if I didn't look like my mugshot on TV?” Emerald asked after a moment.

“You aren't changing nothing,” Trisha said firmly before looking at the manager. “Because you didn't do anything to need to hide like a criminal.”

“Well technically...” Emerald began and stopped with a smirk when Trisha swatted at her shoulder.

The manager seemed to have taken the hint and held up his hands apologetically before heading into his office behind the front desk, walking past the teenage cashier who was looking more than a bit nervous. Jacob approached the desk and started slapping down cash and chatting with the cashier like the encounter a moment ago didn't happen. After a moment, he had a bucket full of tokens and rejoined the other two.

“Now since I won, first stop is Nostalgia Alley!” Jacob declared and strode through a pair of glass doors, the sounds of music and myriad sound effects washing over them when they opened.

“Yeah, yeah. We'll play your shitty pixel games,” Trisha said, following soon after with her arms folded behind her head. “Then we'll get to the good stuff.”

“Have you seen some of the modern games nowadays?” Jacob said as Emerald entered the arcade proper as well. “Plenty of returns to the golden age, only have to look at the top sellers on Steam to see that!”

“Oh yeah, only they show up like every other tenth game,” Trisha replied.

“Details!”

“So where's this Alley of yours?” Emerald asked.

“Right here!” Jacob declared with a grin, pointing up at a sign covered in figures from the 80's and 90's of arcade gaming and in the centre in bold writing was “Nostalgia Alley!!!”. This sign was set before a long, curving path filled with machines on both sides.

“The good times start now!” Jacob smiled and walked forward.

The following few hours turned out to have been complete truth on Jacob's part.

“Aaaaaaaand KILL SCREEN!” Jacob declared as the screen before him became glitched and the sound of Pacman dying resounded. “Next up is Donkey Kong.”

Emerald hadn't been entirely sure about the whole thing despite her words earlier, but she did actually enjoy herself here.

“How are you still bad at this, Trish?” Jacob asked. “We come here at least once a week.”

“Because I hate fucking poorly designed games that are hard for the sake of being hard!”

Emerald was fairly certain that if she was here by herself it wouldn't nearly be as fun. At most, she would have just been contently killing time.

“Fucking finally!” Trisha said as M. Bison's death echoes filled the air.

“Aww, now I'm bored...” Jacob huffed.

“No, I played your damn ancient shit!” Trisha said angrily. “Now we're playing the good stuff!”

Were Trisha and Jacob her friends now?

“Yes!” Trisha laughed happily, making a brief pose with two gun controllers in hand.

“How are you having fun at this?” Jacob asked as he and Emerald played coop on a neighbouring machine. “This is practically aim bot'ing.”

Hard to say, really... they only just met but they were of the same “race” if one wanted to play that card...

“Pinball!?” Jacob exclaimed. “And you get mad at me for liking old games...”

“Oh shut up!” Trisha said as she managed to aim a ball just so and make her machine light up like the fourth of July. “This has so much more finesse to it and you know it!”

“What finesse? Hit the ball, make the pretty lights go off...” Jacob replied and Trisha gave a kick to his pinball machine, making it tilt. “HEY!”

Trisha did say to give her a chance to prove she could be a friend. And didn't Emerald herself have quite a few people back home that were unquestionably her friends?

“Oh god damn it, I hate this!” Jacob said, sitting inside a racing machine and holding a steering wheel. “Give me an actual controller any day.”

“Oh come on, it's immersive!” Trisha laughed with a wide grin and pushed the stick into the next gear.

Just because Trisha and Jacob weren't ponies and were from Earth didn't mean she couldn't grow to trust them, now, did it? Sure they weren't as naturally inclined to kindness and innocence like a pony was, but there was nothing wrong with being human, right?

“Now this is my kind of game!” Jacob grinned as he rapidly hit his drums and rhythmically pumped the floor pedal.

“I love this song, it's so fast!” Trisha laughed as she and Emerald played the guitars.

All things good things come to an end, however, and before long Emerald found herself standing beside the last game Trisha and Jacob wanted to play before going to get something to eat. It was the dancing machine. Apparently the two of them had been practising a routine just for this game. Instead of just rapidly tapping the pads on the game board as they were directed on the screen, the two of them were actually dancing. They weren't paying the screen any mind, having clearly fully memorized the song and every single step command in it. They actively danced and switched game pads every few moments to the cheering of the audience.

Speaking of the audience, they had gathered quite the crowd. There was a handful of people who were watching them the entire time, but it had grown immensely when they got a perfect playing Through the Fire and Flames on expert. Emerald was the only one standing close to the machine, but there was a ring of people cheering on the two. It grew especially loud whenever Trisha threw in a few sensual, sashaying movements into her dance. When the song finally ended and announced their perfect score, the two ended it off with a flashy pose to the raucous cheering and clapping of the crowd.

“That was perfect!” Trisha smiled widely as she and Jacob stepped off the dance pad.

“Looked like it, too,” Emerald commented before nodding towards the doors and holding up the token bucket. “Want to cash in the remaining tokens and go have some pizza?”

“Hell yes.” Jacob nodded and took the bucket from Emerald before quickly striding for the door. “Time to eat!”

The three spent a minute getting back about ten dollars in remaining tokens before heading to the other side of the building that made up the pizzeria. After ordering their massive pizza and confirming that they were all Cursors, the three simply chatted time away. It was a quick half an hour later that their massive pizza pie was carefully carried over by two servers and onto their table. It was at this time that their topics had drifted to life on Manhattan.

“I think we all could do much better than homes looking like they came straight out of favelas,” Trisha said as she took a pizza square and bit into it. “I mean we only really need to look up some carpentry, electrician and plumbing and practice it a bit. Going into manhattan and tearing apart buildings for spare parts. If we put some real effort into it, Cursor Town can actually look like a proper settlement instead of an upscale do-it-yourself slum.”

“Maybe... but that would involve work,” Jacob said with a shrug before grabbing a piece of pizza and eating it whole.

“Just because we can live forever and we've basically been given a free ticket by the government doesn't mean we get to be lazy,” Trisha said pointedly, grabbing another piece. “We can't spend the next few centuries resting on our laurels waiting for the world to just decide to accept us. We have to start making improvements ourselves, show people we are just people too; show them how we can not only be a part of their life but an active part of society. Restricted to this city like we are, we can't do much just yet but no one says we have to start big right away. Simply making Cursor Town look nice is a good first step.”

“Well if you are still driven about it, why don't you just start on your own home right away?” Jacob asked after gulping down another piece. “I'm sure people will get tired real quick of their own places looking like eyesores compared to what you already likely got blueprints for.”

“Because I don't want people to start making things looking nice out of jealousy and spite.” Trisha shook her head. “I want us to decide as a community to make the place we call home look like an actual community. Where people live, love and grow.”

“You see, that's your problem, Trisha,” Jacob said, quickly gulping down two pieces. “You care too much about what other people think. Whereas I don't see the point, give it six decades or so and things will ease up and people will have grown accustomed to us. And the ones that still see us as something to destroy will be old and just be seen as a bunch of racist grandpas.”

“That's the kind of thinking we need to avoid,” Trisha said with a shake of her head. “This isn't the middle ages. We don't have to wait for a whole generation to die off before we start seeing changes in society. We can work together and show people that there isn't anything to be afraid of, that we can live together peacefully and happily for a better future.”

“Oh no, I'm not getting into this,” Jacob said and got up from his seat, grabbing a few more pieces of pizza as he did so. “It's been fun, you two. I'm going to use my pile of disposable income to pay for the pizza and leave. Let's do this again sometime... you know, hopefully without the soap boxing involved.”

With that, Jacob walked away towards the counter. Trisha stared after him, crossing her arms under her chest and shaking her head. She turned her head and looked towards Emerald apologetically.

“Sorry if I sound kind of preachy,” Trisha said. “I feel very strongly about this...”

“Oh it's alright.” Emerald smiled, swallowing down a piece of pizza. “I don't mind at all. It's actually kind of nice to hear that line of thought being voiced.”

“Yes, I just feel like if only we extended a hand to one another and gave just a bit of trust, Cursors and Humans can accomplish wonders,” Trisha said passionately. “It doesn't have to be this way. We don't have to be content with just not killing one another... anyway, listen to me waffle on. How have you liked the day so far?”

“It was a lot of fun,” Emerald said honestly. “I forgot what playing video games was like after so long. Certainly took my mind off trolls on the internet.”

“That's great!” Trisha smiled happily before her smile turned into a thoughtful frown. “So why the baggy boys’ clothes?”

“Well... technically I'm not a girl.” Emerald shrugged and started biting into another piece of pizza.

“Neither am I, if you get into the whole shapeshifting virus thing,” Trisha said thoughtfully. “Is there a reason you are hanging onto those clothes? I heard from the others that those were the same clothes you were wearing when you first got recruited. Do they mean anything to you?”

“...No, I suppose not,” Emerald said and looked down at herself. “I guess I just saw no point in it.”

“Well at the risk of being really obvious, I'll say this. You are beautiful, Emerald,” Trisha said. “There is nothing wrong with that or even having clothes that accentuate your appearances. I mean I for instance don't have to wear clothes Tifa wore in her various appearances but I honestly like how her outfits looked in all of them.”

'Huh. That reminds me that this isn't her actual body,' Emerald thought. 'Not that it's much of a surprise, but now I'm curious. What did she look like before? Did she think she was so unappealing to look at that a whole new body was better? Or did she just really like the idea of twenty four hour cosplay of Tifa Lockhart? Was she even a girl before? She could have been a man... then again, does it really matter at all?'

“Well if you think I need a change...” Emerald began, looking down at herself again before looking up at Trisha. “Sure.”

“Great!” Trisha said and got up from her seat. “Let's go find a nice rooftop for you to model a few sets of clothes.”

Emerald nodded and quickly finished off the piece of pizza she had been chewing on and rose from her seat as well. On the table, the large pizza platter holding a pizza so large it would have floored most people who attempted to eat it lied near empty. The two left the pizzeria through a side door leading directly outside. The moment they did so, however, Emerald saw something flying through the air, a slush drink flying towards them. Giving it a slight telekinetic push midair resulted in it splattering harmlessly into the pavement a few feet in front of them. Looking in the direction of the throw, Emerald saw a group of teenagers standing a distance away.

“Shit! You throw like a retard, Mike!” one of them spoke before the lot of them sprinted away.

“Oh yeah,” Emerald stated blandly. “I just remembered the rash of pettiness I'll have to wait for to die off. That will be sooooo much fun...”

“Well at least they missed.” Trisha shrugged. “Imagine if they hit? It would have taken us all of one second to clean ourselves off.”

“Oh the humanity,” Emerald commented before leaping up into the air and onto a nearby building, Trisha a few seconds behind.

“Alright, just stand in the center there,” Trisha said and took out a phone. “I'll just start looking for clothes to look at. This shouldn't take too long.”

An hour later found Emerald still standing in place and somewhat impatiently tapping her foot. The past hour had definitely convinced Emerald that Trisha enjoying constantly cosplaying as Tifa was a strong possibility, Trisha had spent more than a little bit of time looking up clothes to try on herself when she should have been looking for things for Emerald. Eventually, Emerald was given a new outfit... well, almost.

Currently Emerald Gleaner was wearing sky blue t-shirt that fit her far better than the baggy shirt she had worn before. Atop it was a thin, informal white vest that ended about the middle of her belly and was currently unbuttoned. She was wearing a much more figure hugging pair of tan coloured slacks that ended just past her knees. On her feet were a pair of white sneakers with blue highlights as well as short socks that ended just before her ankles. Her hair was restyled, now long enough to reach the middle of her back and pulled into a ponytail. She was still wearing her bucket hat, which Trisha was at odds with.

“It... it's almost great but that hat... I feel like it's bringing it down,” Trisha said, framing Emerald with fingers from a distance and staring at her with one eye closed and tongue sticking out in deep thought.

“The hat, huh?” Emerald said aloud and took it off to look at it. It had been with her for years, very close to a decade in fact. From her normal life, her mother's death, her induction into the Cannon Fodders and then the Cadre, her entry into Equestria and finally to her return to Earth. Honestly though, it was just a hat in the end, nothing even all that special. It wasn't like it was given to her by her mother. It had been something she had one day grabbed off the rack and bought. Nothing more, nothing less. With that in mind, Emerald began thinking of new hats for her to wear for a moment before deciding on one.

Black tendrils surged briefly and Emerald returned her hat to her head. It was no longer a bucket hat, but a white crochet hat with a short, stubby beak on the front. On the side, incorporated into the weave, was her cutiemark of a bucket full of emeralds. The instant Trisha saw her, she gasped in delight.

“It's perfect!” Trisha clapped her hands briefly before darting over and taking Emerald in from all sides. “Oh wow, you look like such a cute nerd now!”

“Excuse me, a cute what?” Emerald chuckled.

“Yeah huh.” Trisha smiled widely before giving a short squee and pulled a very surprised Emerald into a hug. “You look like the kind of girl who likes to go to the library.”

“So a bookworm, huh?” Emerald said with an amused look before starting to poke Trisha with a bladed finger until she let go. “Huh, so I go from drop dead gorgeous back home to adorable enough to hug here. Of course...”

“It's probably just me.” Trisha laughed sheepishly before stepping back a bit and pulling out her phone. “Cute things just get to me really easily.”

Trisha then took a picture of Emerald and stepped forward, phone outstretched for Emerald. The virus took the phone and looked at the picture. At the risk of sounding a bit vain, Emerald had to admit she did look rather cute now that she wasn't wearing frumpy clothes anymore.

'Hmmm...' Emerald hummed in thought with a smile. 'I wonder what Twilight will think? Oh, and speaking of which...'

“Thanks so much, Trisha.” Emerald smiled and returned the phone. “I had a wonderful time, but it's about time I head home before Twilight starts to get worried about where I am.”

“No problem. It really was a fun day, wasn't it?” Trisha smiled before she grinned wider. “Oh, we should all go out on a girls’ night out one of these days. The two of us and Twilight! Introduce her to the night life in the Green Zone.”

“Well... it's an idea,” Emerald said as she began to walk away. “We'll see.”

“See ya later, Emerald!” Trisha called out.

“See ya, Trisha,” Emerald smiled and waved back before leaping away.

'Right. Let's start making our way home, shall we?' Emerald thought as she landed in an alley with a soft thump and began walking.

ZETA

Trisha walked down a sidewalk, her gaze locked to the phone in her hand. On the screen of said phone, text in Cyrillic appeared one after another.

The Cursor was still in the Green Zone and it was still brightly daylight out, thus there was little need to be on the look out for muggers, unlike the Yellow Zone. That wasn't to say the Green Zone was perfectly safe. Despite being the most well off part of the NYZ, there was still a bit of danger that started to appear late in the evening and at night. Since it wasn't evening yet, however, Trisha had little worry of having to deal with the odd asshole hiding in the shadows.

“Hey there!” came a voice. “Talking to your boy toy?”

“Ugh...” Scratch that, there was at least one asshole out and about. “If I say yes for once, will you stop calling him that, Jacob?”

“Sure,” Jacob said and fell into step beside Trisha.

“Then yes.” Trisha rolled her eyes.

“So... what's he saaaaaying?” Jacob drawled.

“He says he's healing fast and should be back on the streets in the day or so,” Trisha answered with a grateful smile. “I'm so happy he's okay... I mean he was the only E-Code to survive. I think it was the first time I cried out of happiness in my whole life.”

“Well... I'm happy too...” Jacob said a little awkwardly, wrapping an arm around Trisha's shoulders and squeezing her tightly. “I guess...”

“You're just glad you didn't have to try to put me back together if I fell apart because of grief,” Trisha said jokingly, corners of her eyes glistening with wetness as she looked to Jacob with a truly happy smile.

“You know me ALL too well,” Jacob replied with a massive grin before letting go of Trisha. He pointed a thumb at the nearby entrance of a building. “Ready to report to her majesty, the glorious Condescension herself?”

“...” Trisha looked at Jacob in a little concern for a moment before shaking her head and walking towards the door. “Please don't call her that when we are this close to her. She might just hear you one of these days.”

“What's she going to do?” Jacob said with a shrug. “Kick me out of her fanclub?”

“Ugh...”

The two entered the building. It was an apartment complex and after a few minutes of walking down halls and up stairs they came to a stop before an apartment. Trisha held her hand to the door knob for a moment, there was a sound of clicking and with a snap the door lock opened. They opened the door and entered.

They were met with the soft sounds of a TV as well as some quiet conversations. They walked into the main room of the apartment that was divided into a kitchen and living room and separated by a banister. There were six people inside the apartment, two of which were a couple sitting in the living room with one of them laying their head on the other's lap as they watched TV. Trisha and Jacob were about to walk past them when Jacob had a double take at the couple.

“Sword Art sucks ass,” Jacob muttered as they moved past, clearly not quietly enough since the girl shot him an annoyed look.

They walked into the kitchen where the others were, three of them standing around the dining table which was covered in documents and photos. Sitting at the table, staring intensely at some photos, was Sophie.

“Hmm... interesting, she looks just like...” Sophie muttered softly before sitting up at Trisha and Jacob's approach. “You're back. How was it?”

“All three of us had a lot of fun,” Trisha answered lightly, eyes glancing down to the photos and saw a number of ones of Emerald and Twilight. “I'm fairly certain she considers us her friends now.”

“Good,” Sophie said with a slight frown. “Hopefully before long he'll let his guard down and slip something we can use.”

“Her,” Trisha corrected.

“Excuse me?” Sophie looked to Trisha with an arched brow.

“She is a woman,” Trisha stated. “She identifies as a female.”

“Careful,” Sophie said. “I'm beginning to think this friendship goes both ways.”

Trisha just raised her brows in expectation at Sophie and stayed silent.

“...” Sophie stared back for a moment before closing her eyes and took a deep breath in clear annoyance. “Fine, she. Do you have anything else to report about her?”

“Well, considering we have to interact with her personally, we are trying to not to actively follow and spy on her,” Jacob replied. “We've noticed it's incredibly hard sometimes just to find her. Trisha and I have been trying to ‘run into her randomly’ out in the open but she always seems to just disappear.”

“Yeah, I can't imagine what it's like for the ones who have to actually spy on her,” Trisha said, looking to the other people standing around the table. “We've been having trouble just trying to meet her.”

“Yeah, our team has been having trouble actively spying on her,” A man said, crossing his arms. “Every time we've followed her and tried to observe what she does from a distance we just lose her. Never fails. It's clear she's very good at getting around without being seen or noticed. Maybe we could have a bit more luck if we stayed closer, but I don't like the idea of risking discovery.”

“That fact alone makes me suspicious,” Sophie said as she moved some papers around and looked down at a photo of a building. “If she is so innocent, why is she skulking around? She's hiding something...”

“I've been watching the apartment,” spoke a woman. “I haven't been able to hear anything at all. I set up a few hours after they moved in and I heard nothing, absolutely nothing at all. It was like there was no one living in the apartment. Then a few days later I started hearing things, but nothing save for indecipherable mumbling.”

Sophie frowned. She wasn't the only one, as everyone including Trisha and Jacob joined her. How in the world had Emerald managed to soundproof her apartment in such a way a Cursor couldn't hear anything? And within the same day she had moved in as well?

“Of course I haven't been restricting my spying to just attempting to listen in on her conversations,” the woman continued. “I've been spying on her as best I could through the windows, which isn't easy, either. She's been keeping the curtains drawn on the windows a lot. The one window that's remained uncovered most of the time is the kitchen window so I haven't learned a lot through that. However, what I have learned is that Emerald was able to have a lot of appliances inside replaced. I've been doing some research on some prices. With the appliances and the price of the apartment, she would have long used up the monthly living wage we get from the UN. So she is getting a lot of money from somewhere.”

“What are you up to...” Sophie muttered, glaring down at a picture of Emerald.

“Do we honestly need to be assuming she's up to something?” Trisha asked and everyone looked towards her, Sophie glared up from her seat “I mean she's been out there just living her life for three years and did nothing everyone expected her to do. She even has a family now... can we honestly expect her to be the next Alex Mercer after that?”

The Cursors surrounding the table either didn't outwardly express any emotion or at least looked thoughtful. Sophie, however, looked like she was about to leap out of her seat at Trisha. Forcefully pushing herself back into her seat, she stayed there for several long, quiet moments, her eyes closed in thought. Finally, after what felt like forever but had only been barely half a minute, she opened them.

“Look, I am aware not everyone feels as strongly about this as I do,” Sophie said in a surprisingly calm voice. “No one here has lost someone or even was hurt by Oskar. No one here had their sister murdered by Oskar, had been forced to watch a video of her being eaten alive.”

Trisha winced at blatantly having Emerald's past crimes thrown in her face. She looked away from Sophie, unwilling to speak up in defense of Emerald in face of what was being said. Indeed, what could she say? That it was in the past? That Sophie should get over it? Trisha wouldn't be able to look herself in the mirror ever again if she did say any of that.

“But ultimately this isn't about what I've lost, about what anyone here in the NYZ has lost to Oskar. No, this is about what is being threatened by her mere presence here, about what we all stand to lose,” Sophie said and stood up suddenly and got everyone's attention with what she said. Sophie looked towards Trisha, her gaze locking firmly with the other Cursor's. “Trisha, you talk a lot about how we as a people need to start working together if we ever want to be a part of the world again any time soon. How we and humanity have a bright and shining future together and that we only need to start trusting one another to take it. Well Oskar is threatening that future.”

“What do you mean?” Trisha frowned.

Sophie didn't answer immediately. Instead, she quickly strode around the table and into the living room. The two Cursors on the couch quickly stood up at her approach, looking tense and nervous.

“Remote!” Sophie barked and one of the two quickly tossed it to her. Quickly bringing up the guide, Sophie punched in the numbers for a news channel before looking back at the group in the kitchen. “I mean this.”

The channel changed and instantly the room was filled with the sound of a man talking and chanting in the background. On the screen was a large crowd gathering together in protest with many signs. One sign the camera seemed to focus on read “VIRAL HIMMLER!!!” and below that was a fairly butch looking mock-up of what must have been Emerald wearing an SS peaked cap. Sophie switched the channel a moment later to another news station. There was a man talking, but beneath him was a large digital banner that loudly announced “ONLINE PETITION TO REVOKE PARDON REACHES ONE MILLION!”. Sophie switched again and this time it was of a man and a crying woman sitting in chairs opposite one another, the woman was scarred and had a picture of a young child on her lap. Along the bottom of the screen was a digital banner that read “SURVIVOR OF BLACKWATCH AND CADRE CRUELTY SPEAKS UP.”

“The eyes of the world are on Oskar,” Sophie said, tossing the remote back on the couch. The channel remained on and filled the room with the woman's story of her capture and near slaughter in a Blackwatch “experiment”. “Whether we asked for it or not, it's her actions that the world will judge us by. Not Trisha and her idealistic blog online, not Jacob and his using his entire budget to stock up soup kitchens, not even Heller's under the desk working with Gabriel to cover up whenever one of us decides enough is enough and tries to go on a killing spree will help here. All it will take is Oskar screwing up even once and the vultures will descend and blow the story sky high. And you'd better believe they'll exaggerate wildly. Good luck trying to make the world accept us then.”

“We were kept in a cage for nearly a month, all packed in and barely a hole in the corner to relieve ourselves in.” Sophie walked back to the table and her seat as the woman's story filled the air. “Just enough food and water not to starve. Then they finally shipped us out and brought us somewhere new... I remember seeing the building and being marched down into the basement thinking 'oh god this must have been what it felt like to be in a Death Camp, being marched into an incinerator with guns at your back.' I then remember thinking and wishing it had been an incinerator they were going to kill us with. They marched us into a box and I knew, I knew they were going to feed us to a monster. I remember hearing something heavy moving and growling... I remember the door opening and running for my life, screams and roaring behind me, trying to find something to hide behind or under, anything! I remember praying and hoping to god I would at least die quick... and god instead decided I would be saved instead...”

“The two of you already fulfilled your obligations,” Sophie said to Trisha and Jacob. “Your jobs are more long term oriented, anyway. Head home and do whatever. As long as you don't screw it up with her, I'm going to be hands off on this whole ‘being her friend’ thing.”

“Sure thing, Sophie,” Trisha said quietly with a nod before walking away with Jacob just a step behind her. Behind the both of them, Sophie returned to studying the papers and photos before her with a driven, almost obsessed look in her eyes.

Trisha and Jacob left the apartment and soon the building as well. They walked together down a sidewalk in total silence. They stayed in silence long after they reached the point where any Cursor could have possibly overheard them from a distance. It was only later when the two of them were at the edge of Staten Island, the Green Zone, leaning on a banister overlooking the bay that they talked.

“I don't like this, Jacob,” Trisha said, lines of drying tears on her face.

“I know...” Jacob sighed.

“I can't fake being a friend,” Trisha said softly. “I'm going to end up feeling she is one before long. And it's only going to hurt so bad whenever I have to go report in to Sophie.”

“Well you have to admit that Sophie does have a point,” Jacob said seriously. “The Cursors' future is now resting on how the world sees and reacts to Emerald from here on out. Making sure one person doesn't ruin the lives of thousands of others with one thoughtless action seems like a good cause, doesn't it?”

“It does, but...” Trisha began and then just shook her head in silence.

“Oh Trisha...” Jacob sighed before giving a soft smile at his friend. “Why is someone like you here?”

“Someone with their head on straight has to keep an eye on things, don't they?” Trisha said with a strained smile at Jacob.

“Don't hurt yourself now,” Jacob said with a shake of his head before pushing away from the banister. “You should go visit Artyom. That's gotta make yourself feel better.”

“Where are you going?” Trisha asked after his parting form.

“Going to go spend all my money on food for soup kitchens,” Jacob said with a cheeky grin back at her before going on his way.

Trisha smiled back and turned her gaze back towards the bay, eventually drifting it towards the Yellow Zone, Brooklyn.

'I know you aren't a horrible person, Emerald,' Trisha thought firmly. 'I know it! You'll prove everyone wrong. You'll show that not all of us let the past define who we must be moving forward.'

Trisha remained leaning on the banister for a moment longer before pushing off herself. Rolling her shoulders, she began walking towards the port.

'Right. One report done. Time to make the last one to Gabriel.'

ETA

Emerald exited the elevator and walked down the hall. She was making her way to her apartment when she heard a familiar voice say something completely unbelievable.

“I would never have sex with a zombie!” Emerald heard Twilight say. “Well... unless he sent me flowers...”

“...” Emerald stood frozen in the hallway for a long moment simply blinking her eyes. “...The fuck?”

Emerald looked towards the door of her apartment, but that was not where Twilight's voice had come from. She looked to her side where one of the apartment doors hung half open. Deeply and utterly curious as to why she heard Twilight's voice come from the apartment, she walked inside. Inside was an apartment very identical to her own including the living room with a TV and video games set up. In the living room was a man sitting on the couch playing video games on his TV.

'Huh...' Emerald blinked as she took in the sight of a scantily clad cheerleader fighting zombies. 'Her voice sounds exactly like Twilight's. That's incredibly funny.'

With a small grin, Emerald began to back out of the apartment quietly when she noticed she actually recognized the man on the couch. It was hard to forget the face of the man who somehow talked some sense into her drunken mind.

“Jared?” Emerald said aloud and startled the man on the couch who looked towards her. He blinked widely with an unrecognizing stare for a moment before his eyes cleared up.

“Emerald?” Jared said in clear surprise. “How did... where did you come from?”

“The door was open,” Emerald pointed behind her. “And I live down the hall... I thought I heard a voice I recognized and couldn't help investigating.”

“You live in the same building?” Jared asked with raised brows. “What an incredibly massive coincidence!”

“Yeah, I just live a few doors down in 405,” Emerald replied and smiled. “Honestly thought I wouldn't see you again for the good you did me that night.”

“Oh yeah, interesting night for all of us,” Jared nodded. “Though for one of us it was probably pretty fun.”

“I suppose so.” Emerald shrugged with a smile, recalling what she had rather loudly said that night before leaving the bar. “Well it was nice seeing you again, but I really have to head home now. We'll meet up again later and I’ll introduce you to some people.”

“Well I wouldn't mind meeting your girlfriend,” Jared replied. “As well as anyone else, I guess. Only people I hang out with are guys from work.”

“I'll see you later, Jared,” Emerald said and walked back out of the apartment, closing the door behind her.

Emerald's already good mood improved even more after meeting someone she thought would be a one-off encounter. She had a smile on her face when she walked to her apartment and reached for the knob to unlock and open it. Suddenly, a loud gasp interrupted her as she gripped the knob. She turned to see a woman staring at her with wide, fearful eyes. They remained staring at each other in silence for a moment when the door suddenly opened.

“MAMA!” Navi shouted happily, flying through the air and impacting Emerald's torso.

“H-hey there, cuddlebug,” Emerald said with a grunt as she actually stumbled back a step. “Oof, someone's getting a bit heavy. You need to kick up your exercises a bit more, I think.”

“Awww, Mama!” Navi protested with a little pout. “I've been exercising all morning!”

“In that case, you need to cut back on your eating then, shouldn't you?” Emerald asked as she shifted Navi into a more easy to carry position before walking into apartment. “You wouldn't want to get so heavy you'd go through the floor, now, would you?”

“No, Mama...” Navi said as they entered the apartment and closed the door behind them, leaving the woman to stand and stare blankly.

Emerald entered her apartment to see Spike sitting in the living room, playing on the brand new PS4 and one of the games that was brought with it. Sunset wasn't with him. Instead, she was sitting in her conjured wheelchair at the dining table. She was next to Twilight, trying not to look like she was really interested in what the other girl was writing out on her papers. Emerald placed Navi back on the ground and that was when the little virus noticed Emerald's changed attire.

“Mama, you look so pretty now!” Navi gasped in delight, placing her hands against her cheeks, eyes wide and taking in Emerald. “See! I told you, you should dress pretty too!”

“What can I say?” Emerald said with a smile and small shrug. “A friend of mine said I should dress nice too, so I figured you and her must have had a point.”

“Yeah... but...” Navi said with a smile before it turned into a sad frown. “Where did your hat go, Mama?”

“My hat?” Emerald questioned and went into a crouch in front of Navi, placing a hand behind her, black tendrils surged rapidly on her palm. “You mean this?”

“Oh!” Navi's eyes widened and they seemed to sparkle with desire for the hat. She seemed to not be sure if it was okay for her to ask for it though, and restrained herself to simply hopping in place anxiously.

“I've got a new hat now, Navi.” Emerald smiled widely and placed the bucket hat atop Navi's head. It was a bit large, but a quick alteration fixed that. “There we go, it's all yours.”

“Oh yay~” Navi hopped in place happily before giving Emerald a tight hug and a kiss. “I love you, Mama!”

“I love you too, Navi,” Emerald replied happy, feeling like all was right with the world.

“Awwww...” Emerald heard and turned her head to the side to see Sunset Shimmer gushing at the sight of the two. The instant Sunset saw Emerald look at her, she realized what she was doing and with flushed cheeks turned her head away in intense embarrassment. Beside her, Twilight continued working at her paper, full attention and focus upon whatever she was writing on it.

“Go show Spike your new hat, Navi,” Emerald said, placing the little virus back down with a pat on her head. Navi grinned widely and quickly darted over to the front of the couch in the living room.

“Uncle Spike, look at my hat!” Navi proclaimed as Emerald walked over to Twilight's side to get a closer look at what she was doing. At first glance, Emerald saw a wall of equations covering each of Twilight's papers, each one with a massive x scrawled over it save for the one she was currently writing on. Looking over her work, Emerald could tell Twilight was attempting to work out something complicated from the sheer amount of arcane math covering the page. Looking closer at her work, however, Emerald saw that Twilight was focusing a lot of the equations into complicating a rather simple formula that was literally grade school level. The algorithm for channelling magic. Emerald spent a moment looking for the reason why Twilight was going over something so basic when she realized there was a key part of the algorithm that was missing.

“You're trying to figure out how to use hornless magic,” Emerald stated and got a distracted hum from Twilight in response “I know you probably want to figure this out yourself, but I think it would be much better and much easier if I helped you out here.”

“No cheating,” Twilight said firmly with furrowed brows as she tried out a long line of numbers and figures. “A horn on my head would be incredibly conspicuous and I doubt some external method of channelling would be so simple for me to grasp.

“Well...” Emerald began. Twilight did have a point. The former unicorn had spent her whole life channelling magic with a natural foci that was a part of her body and connected to her magical circuits. Simply giving her a “wand” made completely of unicorn horn would likely be slowing going. “True. You do have an advantage, though. You are an alicorn. That means you have magical circuits lining the whole of your body instead of clustered in and around your head like a unicorn's circuits. An earth pony mostly infuses their magic with their body but they can also push it out of their body and into the world around them. Obviously it's not the same as the way a unicorn can manipulate the world, but it's a path that is provided for us.”

“Huh... you're right!” Twilight's eyes widened and she turned to Emerald with a smile, blinking in surprise at Emerald's changed appearance. “Uh wah?”

“I got a bit of a makeover.” Emerald smiled a bit before backing up and performing a pirouette. “How do I look?”

“Emerald, I... wow!” Twilight smiled as she took the sight. “I'm so used to your normal outfit, you look so... pretty? Beautiful? Um... cute? I'm actually having a hard time finding the right words.”

“That much of an effect, huh?” Emerald asked with a sly smile before striding over and straddling Twilight's lap. “Today's been a very good day for me. How about I show you my appreciation, huh?”

“Uhhhhhhhh...” Sunset blushed as she took in the scene. Twilight's face was flushed but she was grinning up at Emerald who was on her lap, smiling softly down at her. With face becoming a red that was only a few shades short of the red in her hair, she pushed away from the table and rolled off towards the living room so fast she almost flipped over.

Nearly ten hours later found Emerald staring up at the moon from atop a building in Brooklyn.

The virus was lying on her back staring up into the sky, and resting atop her chest was a tablet-like device. Mind buzzing with thoughts, Emerald brought her device up and looked at it. The screen lit up and showed what was on the screen. It was a sketch, more specifically two sketches that seemed to be two different viewpoints of the same object. On one sketch there was an X-like shape with each of its arms thinning into a small, tapered point and in the centre of the X was a circle. On the other sketch was a trident like shape. The central prong was far longer than the other two and extended with a thick base until halfway down it thinned abruptly and maintained width until ending in a tapered point. The two prongs on the side were only a third as long as the middle prong but thinned into sharp-looking points.

'Planning out projects and the like is great and all, but at the rate I can work on theoretical I'll start running out of things to plan out in a few days,' Emerald thought as she pocketed the tablet, stood up and started making for the building edge. 'Never thought I'd say this but... I need a hobby to pass the time.'

“SHIT!” shouted a voice from below as she reached the ledge.

Emerald leaned forward and looked down. She saw a man running up with what initially looked to be a gun, but upon closer inspection was a spray painted toy gun. Behind the man were two men with knives in hand, clearly hoods attempting to mug someone.

Crouching upon the ledge, Emerald formed two short stilettos in her hand. She paused for an instant, gauged the slight breeze, calculated the weight of the blades, measured the distances involved and how fast the two hoods were moving and took into account the angle. She went over all this in barely half a second and let both blades fly.

Twin shouts of pain filled the air and the man who attempted to ward off predators with a toy took a single glance back to see both thugs on the ground, the handles of knives protruding from their rumps. He paused for a moment before quickly redoubling on his running while he had the chance. Behind him, the two men struggled on the ground and groaned in pain for a few moments before going still.

Up above, Emerald stood back up and walked away, leaving the two thugs who had a fast acting sleeping agent running through their veins. She had spent two more nights running all over the world selling things she magically created. She had no need to steal pocket change from thugs anymore.

As she walked away, a thought suddenly struck Emerald. She briefly glanced back in the direction of the thugs she attacked before looking down at her hand and forming another knife. She examined it for a moment before tendrils surged again and changed its shape and appearance. She then held it up towards the moon.

'A hobby, huh?' Emerald thought as a shadow in a familiar shape was cast over her eyes.

THETA

A fist larger than most people were tall cocked back and shot forward, a deafening crack of stone shattering resounded.

Moon Dancer, Whisper Wind, Diane and Flandre sat upon a stone bench together as they watched a cloud of dust form. Towering above all and barely squeezing between buildings was a Biogear, its fist extended into the wall of a building.

Several days ago, Belvedere had informed the Enclave that Emerald's return from her current journey had been unexpectedly delayed indefinitely and until she returned he would continue running things in her stead. He then began attempts to break into the Orion building where the latest serum was being stored. First attempt had been the largest, strongest dogs taking their claws to the stone. When that had failed, the next attempt had involved explosives ending with shot from a howitzer, which also failed. Rather than make progressively scaled attempts to break in, Belvedere then organized the passage of a Biogear into the city to punch the wall. If that didn't do it, then likely only Emerald could. Thankfully that had worked as was proven when the dust cloud settled. Revealed was a dent with a hole big enough for dogs to enter one by one.

“Now that that's done,” Diane said as Belvedere entered the newly made hole and the Biogear very carefully started to back out of the city. “Anyone here free today?”

“I have to head back to Canterlot for a while,” Whisper Wind answered. “I'm supposed to keep a friend of mine out of trouble until Emerald came back to see her, herself. I mostly came back for some money to help do that.”

“I have to go visit my sister,” Flandre said. “I miss her and she misses me. So I'll be gone for the next few days.”

“I have a lot of backlogged projects Emerald set aside for me as well as several personal projects of my own, but...” Moon Dancer shifted anxiously in her seat as Diane gave her wide, hopeful stare. “I guess I can take the day off...”

“YES! I've got something I'm so excited to show you!” Diane said happily and pulled Moon Dancer into a tight hug.

“Hehehehe~” Flandre giggled at the sight of Moon Dancer struggling in Diane's grip.

“We have to get to packing and heading out.” Whisper Wind smirked at the pair. “We'll just leave you to it.”

“D-Diane!” Moon Dancer managed to get out. “Need to breathe!”

“This will be so great!” Diane said and let go of Dancer, jumping off the bench and already starting to trot away. “Come on!”

Taking a moment to gather her breath, Moon Dancer got off the bench and started off after Diane at a much more sedate pace. The two made their way out of the city, walking past a slowly moving Biogear and taking a tram to the surface; a ten minute trip all in all. Once they arrived topside, they began moving towards the small area where the sole ponies in the Enclave had set up their homes. Diane's home was a decent sized cottage between Whisper's older home and Moon Dancer's newer one.

“So what exactly are you going to be showing me?” Moon Dancer asked as they approached Diane's home.

“Umm... w-well it's something I've been spending a lot of time on,” Diane said a little nervously.

“Now that I think about it, you have been closed up in your home for the last few days,” Moon Dancer commented, raising a brow at Diane's nervousness. “It must have been quite the passion project if you spent all that time working on it exclusively.”

“Yes... yes it was.” Diane smiled and opened the door to her home.

The front door immediately opened up to the living room of the house which itself wasn't something that really stood out, though there happened to be quite a few blank canvases filling this space. There were two doors in one corner leading to two different rooms. When Dancer got closer she saw one led to the kitchen and dining area. Diane stopped at the other door and nervously looked back at Moon Dancer before opening the door.

It was a hallway. At first Moon Dancer didn't see what it was was that Diane wanted to show her, until she looked at the walls. There were pictures hung up on the wall, each clearly painted by Diane. Moon Dancer walked into the middle of the hallway and examined each picture. Diane stood nearby, looking incredibly anxious at Moon Dancer's reaction.

“Well... my first thought is that these mares are being unusually affectionate with one another,” Moon Dancer commented as her cheeks flushed as she took in one the pictures with two mares very clearly kissing one another. “Uhh... they aren't just friends, are they?”

“No, I've been getting a little inspiration from Emerald,” Diane said softly.

“Right...” Moon Dancer said, continuing to look at the pictures. She did notice that while one of the mares was different each time, the other one was the same in each one. The one mare had a pure white coat with a slightly curly blonde hair with pink highlights. She also had quite a few faded scars covering her body with another crossing over an eye. “I'm very confused about my own feelings on this. I mean I think they are all very well done, but... well is there a reason there is one mare with three others?”

“I've actually got no reason for it beyond I like working with this one,” Diane explained as she walked over to one picture. “I think I want to give a shot at giving these three pictures a story.”

“Painting and writing?” Moon Dancer stated with raised brows. “That's quite the combo. I never realized you were that talented.”

“Hehe, well you never know what you're good at until you try.” Diane giggled and smiled widely.

Moon Dancer walked closer to one picture and examined it more thoroughly. The scarred mare was very affectionately nuzzling another mare. The other mare was a unicorn wearing jewellery, fine regal clothing, well applied makeup and mane styled in a delicate coiffure. She had an ice blue coat with bluish-purple hair with a dark pink streak and purple eyes.

Diane watched Moon Dancer taking in her paintings with a smile, happy someone could enjoy them. Unbeknownst to the both of them, Diane's cutie mark glowed softly. When the glow faded, the three splotches of paint had transformed into three paintings, two of them blue and one yellow.

Far below in the tunnels spreading out in vast networks in the territory of the Enclave, a group of changelings had gathered together. These weren't your normal, garden variety changeling, however.

“The Queen Mother is trapped in another world,” Vata spoke mentally to his fellows around him. “Fenrir says quite confidently that she shall return to us eventually.”

“She has proven to be capable of incredible feats,” another changeling spoke, her name Cela. “I trust in his words. She shall return. However, we must solve an issue.”

“We are few in number for all our training and abilities,” spoke another, Ambly. “It is clear the Queen Mother does not completely trust the world to not have its plotters and wishes for us to be a means of discovering them when the time comes. But with only twelve of us, our ability to properly do so in this wide and vast world is limited.”

“We need more,” Cela spoke. “We need a Queen. Who among us shall be chosen?”

The circle of twelve looked among themselves for a moment. Becoming Queen wasn't a question of qualification here, as they all shared knowledge and neither was it a question of gender as the transformation was beyond such things. More, it was a question of who was willing to become the one to very likely spend the next few years constantly spawning children. All of them turned out to be willing to bear such a responsibility. Eventually it was decided that Ambly, a male, would be the one to undergo the metamorphosis.

“Ambly. We as the entirely of our hive choose you as our Queen,” the Eleven spoke as one as they surrounded Ambly and pressed their horns to his head. They began bringing forth their store of love and emotions to flood Ambly's form. “Today, your life as Ambly ends. When you emerge you shall be our Queen. Queen Ambrosia.”

A blinding glow surrounded Ambly's form, then there was the sound of cracking and a thump. When the light faded, Ambly was no longer recognizable as such. His flesh had bulged outwards until he became a long, cylindrical shape covered in cracked and stretched carapace. His eyes and horn were still in recognizable positions and the lower half looked a lot like bulging abdomen of an earwig that glowed bright orange.

Two of the Changelings stepped forward and lied down next to the cocooned form of their growing Queen. Though they all shared mental connections with one another, a physical presence was still very comforting. It was then the group collectively noticed the growing chill in the air and frost already covering the floor.

“Our Queen's growth requires food,” Vata spoke. “She is already drawing in the natural energies in the air to further her growth. We must go out and collect more food.”

With that, the nine Changelings faded into the chilling darkness, the cocooned Queen lied still, incapable of movement as ice already started to form. Her attendants ignored the slight discomfort of the cold and remained at her side.

-TBC-

Author's Note

AN-Hoo, this took a while unlike the last chapter. I really enjoyed the internet comments part of this chapter, it was fun making up the names. I also think the arcade part came out really well, I'm pretty happy about that one. This chapter has some Homestuck references here and there sorta to celebrate the release of the credits for Homestuck.

EN- Took a while to edit, too, but that’s usually the case. Granted, not nearly as long to write it, but this is coming as a delayed edit. Sorry to all of you who waited for the edit, but real life schedules sort of clashed on this one. Maybe now you can see how well or not I do my job if you compare before and after. Either way, here’s the edited version. Also. OC-ception. Legionary here created an OC, who created another OC, who has now created an OC of her own in order to make out with other OC’s.

AN2- Which are kind of poorly disguised versions of Emerald and her friends.

EN2- I saw the one described as a mix between Rarity, Twilight and Rainbow Dash. Kind of an odd mixture, but then again it’s not the strangest thing to come out of this fandom.

AN3- Nah, literally one of Rarity’s previous generation versions of her.

EN3- Huh… well okay then. But either way, one more comment to make about this chapter. And I hope everyone gets it. Nanananananana-

Chapter 6: The Pieces Move

A group of eight young men sat somewhat packed together in a white cargo van as said van drove down the street, the moon shining overhead.

The leader of this gaggle of men was a “veteran” gangster of twenty eight years by the name of JJ. Jeffery Jefferson, otherwise known by others as Roach. Roach because he had a habit of managing to escape sticky situations just before they could get worse, as well as managing to survive several gunshots and stabbings, seemingly no worse the wear. Of course Roach would never let others know this but his every movement tended to cause aches and pains like an early onset of arthritis; a life of violence had its “hidden” costs.

Currently Roach and his gang were gathered together in their totality and heading out to spend most of their money buying hardware for themselves. The battle several days ago had drained Brooklyn of dozens of gangs and now there was a power vacuum everyone was rushing to fill. Roach didn't intend to become a big name. Sure he would talk a big game but everyone who didn't want to be walked all over did that. Big names got big targets. What he and his boys needed was some high grade hardware to make anyone who even glanced at them have second thoughts. What they had now, knives and handguns, would make the average man on the street back off, but the oncoming rush of gangs wanting to be king of the hill? In all likelihood, Roach and his boys would get forced into compliance and be made to fight some other gang wanting to be a big name on the streets. It was just good luck he knew one of the local arms dealers who currently had a “surplus” and was promising a discount.

Roach and his gang continued driving along. They had two white vans. The first one full of gangsters and the following one with only two guys up front, the rest of its space meant to carry extra guns and bullets. Unbeknownst to this caravan of gangsters, a shadowy shape spied their progress from afar.

Eventually the gangsters arrived at a warehouse near the docks. It was a fairly tall structure scarred by the second viral outbreak and surrounded by rusting storage containers. Blackened metal sheets marked where viral growths had been burned off as well as hundreds of small holes marking the scene of battle. Milling around the front of the building were half a dozen men trying to look inconspicuous, the bulges of guns hidden under their coats clear to see. Roach pulled his van to a stop before the large overhead door and one of the guards walked over.

“Hey, Roach!” a large, shirtless man greeted. “Boss was expecting ya. Give me a minute an’ I'll get the door opened.”

Roach nodded and waited as the other man quickly darted inside. There was a brief screech of metal before the door started raising. Once it was high enough for his van to enter, Roach drove forward and was quickly followed by his other van.

Inside the warehouse were many stacks of wooden crates Roach knew to be full mostly of random junk to hide smuggled gun parts and bullets. The noise of grinders and sanders filled the air, while in the distance men wearing coveralls worked at tables to remove register numbers from guns.

Roach's two vans came to a stop within the warehouse and he and his men started exiting them.

“ROACH!” boomed a friendly voice. “How's life treating the odd job crew!?”

Outside, the guards were reminded they were supposed to keep an eye out for anything suspicious by the presence of a buyer. They spread out and started to surround the building itself. Two stood in front of the entrance while the four others scattered. One of the guards started to round one of the corners of the building before suddenly being pulled around it.

“Trying and failing to kill the whole lot of us, Marcus,” Roach replied confidently, crossing his arms. “Been doing a bunch of little jobs here and there. Got money to spend. A whole lot of it.”

“Big spender today, eh?” Marcus grinned and crossed his arms. “Got a whole lot of hardware. Some really sweet gear, too. Here, I'll show ya!”

Back outside, two of the guards started looking around the storage containers together. They were already becoming complacent again. One was just looking down the way while the other was giving cursory looks down between containers with a flashlight. As the two passed another space between containers, the guard with the light suddenly widened his eyes. A dark limb lanced out and pulled him into the space within a second, the other one barely half turned in reaction to the slight noise when a cord shot out and wrapped around his neck. He choked silently for a moment before a tug on the cord pulled him head first into the corner of the container. There was a bang and the man fell to the ground, unmoving, before he was dragged into the darkness.

“The hell was that?” said one of the door guards, having heard the sudden bang and gave a shout. “You guys kicking shit over there?!”

Silence met the shout as the other guard jogged over from around the corner.

“Seen enough movies to know where this is going...” muttered the other guard as he quickly pulled his handgun out, clumsily cocking it.

“Find your fucking balls, man,” the other door guard said, but at the same time got his gun out as well. “Let's all check it out.”

The group of three, guns unholstered, approached the containers warily. They were halfway there when two objects impacted the backs of two of the guards. There was a “poomf” followed by a wet splat and suddenly two of the door guards were covered in a sticky, sap-like substance that weighed down their limbs, only just stopping short of fully covering their face and leaving their eyes and noses uncovered.

The last guard whipped around, staring at his downed comrades with wide eyes. He looked up when movement caught his eye and he only had just enough time to see a large, dark shape dropping down towards him.

Back inside the warehouse, Roach and his crew watched on as dozens of guns with freshly ground off registration numbers were laid out on tables. There were quite a few rifles and handguns there, but what caught everyone's attentions had gotten a table all to their own.

“Shit...” Roach said as he picked up one of the guns his crew was now whistling and marveling at. “This really a boom tube?”

“Oh yeah!” Marcus nodded, rubbing his hands together. “Managed to grab ‘em after all the fighting a couple days ago. Only got a few of them so they don't got that discount, just so you know.”

“I'm not complaining,” Roach said with a grin as he tested the gun's weight and sighted down its length. “From what I hear, these things can even kill one of those roid monsters Blackwatch has running around.”

“Can't say anything about that.” Marcus shrugged. “Some of my boys got caught trying to spy on the big fight so I can't say if the armor the big guys were wearing is appropriately badass or not. I like to think these bad boys can mess up anyone's day.”

“If it can make a Cursor think twice, that's good enough for me,” Roach said and put the gun back down. “How much?”

“Now these are top of the line, bleeding edge gun technology,” Marcus said as he started into his selling spiel, picking up a rifle and starting to gesture to each part. “Not to mention the lack of a constant supply. Got plenty of bullets, but not a whole lot of extra stock coming in, ya dig? Taser attachment is a custom job too, so once that's out of juice ya might as well pull it off and tape on a knife. So I'm thinking a good t-”

Suddenly the lights went out and everyone looked up. It was clearly a power issue since the sound of grinders working away at guns died off as well. Instead of getting suspicious, however, Marcus just got frustrated.

“Ah fucking bullshit, man!” Marcus cursed and chucked the rifle roughly back onto the table. “Again!? Ey, Bubba! Get over to the fuse box and fix that piece of shit!”

“Right, boss!” One of the men that had been grinding nodded and quickly ran off into the dark.

“Nothing works right in this fucking city,” Marcus muttered and ducked under the table briefly before coming back up with a box. Opening it, he pulled out a flashlight. “Got a police force with a trillion dollar paycheck, ain't got enough to spend on fixing shit.”

“Ain't that the truth,” Roach agreed. “So how long is this going to take?”

“Got a box of shitty spare fuses in the back with the fuse box,” Marcus explained. “Should be back on any minute now. Anyway, we can do business with flashlights.”

“Yeah, my crew isn't that big so I'm thinking about arming everyone with an assault rifle,” Roach said. “And buying two boom tubes for when shit hits the fan.”

A guard with an assault rifle slung along his back wandered over to the back where Bubba had gone. While Bubba was Marcus' general, all-around repair and handyman, there was a reason the man was in a gang and not working a steady nine to five job. Making sure Bubba didn't try to skip a few corners in an attempt to fix something more quickly and end up killing himself was a part of the job. The guard walked into the back room and frowned at the lack of light from a flashlight. Moving his own flashlight towards the fuse box, he was met with the sight of Bubba slumped against wall. The guard started forward with a curse upon his lips when he felt something wrap around his neck and he fell towards the ground. He struggled and thrashed and attempted to cry out, but the pressure around his neck was immense...

“AK-47.” Roach smirked at the rifle he held in his hands.

“Accept no substitutes.” Marcus grinned for a moment before frowning and looking off into the dark. “What the hell is taking so long? Did somebody go make sure that dumbass didn't shock himself again!”

“I'll go take a look, boss!” a guard said and jogged off.

“So I bet Blackwatch would throw a bitch fit if I was seen carrying this around, huh?” Roach asked, holding up the “Boom Tube” for emphasis.

“Oh yeah.” Marcus nodded. “Those guns are supposed to only be made for them and they are very expensive. Use special bullets, too. Now I can't really get any more of those, but what I can get are rounds that can put down an ele-”

Suddenly a shout of shock and pain filled the air and everyone turned in its direction. Several guards ran in the direction of the shout as Marcus quickly pulled out a magnum. Roach made sure his boom tube was loaded as his boys fidgeted in place, gripping their new assault rifles.

“Yo, what's going on over there?!” Marcus shouted. “Talk to me, damn it!”

“Bubba and two guys are unconscious over here!” came an answering shout. “Someone's here!”

“The fuck...” Marcus muttered and took a look around his surroundings. He only saw darkness, intermittently lit up by flashlights and a bunch of young gangsters suddenly nervous and clutching guns. “Get your asses in gear and look around! And open the front door!”

Men starting searching the warehouse, most doing so in pairs while another ran up to the front to open the overhead door. Suddenly there was the sound of something swishing through the air followed by the brief screech of metal. Then there was the rattle of a metal chain falling to the floor.

“Boss, something broke the chain!” came a shout followed the sound of a door rattling. “Side door is jammed, too!”

“Well kick that shit down!” Marcus shouted back, now beginning to feel a bit nervous. Suddenly a loud bang filled the air along with the sound of wood shattering. Marcus turned to see a collapsing stack of empty wooden crates with several men on the ground sprawled nearby. The explosions seemed to have mostly dazed them, but there were some clear injuries from wood shrapnel. Suddenly another sound that, from personal experience, Marcus knew to be the sound of heads impacting unyielding concrete. He spun around in place to see a flashlight roll into view from behind a wall of crates.

“Oh what is this bullshit!” Marcus shouted, gritting his teeth. “Everybody get the fuck over here!”

Suddenly movement caught the weapon dealer's eye and he just managed to see the blur of a spherical ball land among Roach and his boys. There was a bang and suddenly the air was filled with incredibly thick smoke. No one could see a thing, especially not the guards that had been outside the sudden smoke cloud. Suddenly shouts of pain and surprise started filling the air, and Marcus immediately started waving his hands in an attempt to clear the smoke. By the time any sort of visibility had started to come back, all Marcus could make out was nearly a dozen bodies on the ground and a shape slipping around the corner of a wall of crates.

“Boss, you okay?” one guard shouted as he and the others quickly surrounded Marcus in a crude protective circle.

“No I'm fucking not!” Marcus replied angrily, just barely keeping from pistol whipping the guard. “Who the fuck is fucking with us!?”

“Jesus Christ, man!” Roach said as he and two of his sole remaining boys joined Marcus and his guards. “Did Blackwatch find out you scavved their guns?! Are we getting picked off by fucking Spec Ops or something!?”

Marcus considered the idea seriously for a moment before shaking his head.

“If it was Blackwatch, we'd be dead,” Marcus answered as he lifted up his pistol and scanned the darkness.

“Well who the fuck is it?!?” Roach turned around and scanned the darkness fruitlessly, his extreme caliber gun not feeling at all comforting when he couldn't see the enemy. “Fucking Batman?!”

Marcus was about to lose his temper and vent his anger and frustration on Roach when suddenly, with a metallic clang, something impacted the receiver of Roach's rifle. A moment later, the sound of more impacts filled the air. Roach and Marcus were staring wide eyed in nigh incomprehension of the object that had sliced into Roach's rifle. The object sticking out of the rifle and completely disabling the rifle was a batarang.

The other armed gangsters in the group were having similar reactions as their own weapons suffered the same fate. Then, when the sound much like a flag fluttering and snapping in the wind resounded above them, they looked up as one and saw a black shape descend towards them.

ALPHA

“Are you in a safe location, miss?” the voice on the phone asked,

“Y-yes I am... I... please hurry...” Emerald replied in a nervous voice.

“Just stay where you are, miss. A patrol will be on site shortly,” came the calm response.

“A-Alright...” Emerald answered and hung up. “Ugh...”

Currently, Emerald was crouched in the dark shadows of an alcove atop a building. Considering her current appearance, she had been immensely tempted to find a nice corner to loom like a gargoyle atop of it, but she had been too afraid of screwing it up by getting spotted to risk it. What was her current appearance? Well...

If anyone happened to posses Cursor levels of sight they would see that crouching in the shadows, seemingly shrouded by the darkness and wearing a caped cowl, was Batman himself. More specifically it was the Batman from the upcoming and highly anticipated Arkham Knight game. Emerald had honestly been at a complete loss of which version of the caped crusader to go out as. Not because none of them had been very good, but because she had been excitedly indecisive. If Emerald could be honest with herself, choosing which Batman to go out looking like had been the first time she had been giddy about something since she had been a small child. Which of course, somehow led into her feeling like she was having heart palpitations due to stage fright of all things after she had finally chosen and headed out. Despite the fact that, as Batman, it meant that the only things anyone should really see of her is her fist out of the darkness, she was still having a bit of performance anxiety about the whole thing.

It even bled into her target hunting when she was going out looking for a major crime to break up. Due to the fact that Blackwatch is supposed to be a law enforcement entity and not a political one, they had little authority when it came to the city it was stationed within. Though if the Mayor of New York tried to pass some state law that interfered with the Cursors, Blackwatch had all the justification in the world - literally - to get involved. This ultimately meant that Blackwatch's multi-billion dollar budget couldn't be spent on things to improve the city itself. A tad short-sighted, but the organization as it exists now was only three years old. Arguably, things would get better as the system was refined by the UN. This in conjunction with the US' current financial troubles meant there were quite a few thriving smuggling rings within the city.

'The trick wasn't finding a smuggling operation, the trick was finding the right kind,' Emerald thought as she carefully emerged from her hiding spot and ascended to a rooftop with a viral tendril disguised as a grappling hook. 'There were a ton bringing in a bunch of odd food, more bringing in cheap jewelry that only looked expensive, more bringing in actual medicine with only a bit of drugs. Honestly, any of them could have worked for my intentions but I was looking for something a bit more... appropriate. I wanted to find an arms dealer to mess up and what do you know, I even got lucky and found a guy heading to one so I could bust it in the middle of a deal. Hmm....'

Emerald frowned as she came to a stop before a ledge, carefully leaning out of the shadows and peering out onto the empty streets as she fought the intense desires to stand on the roof's corner to loom. Now that she had gotten her first big take down, she was a bit upset with herself acting “out of character”. Would it have mattered to Batman if it wasn't a big time smuggling ring? That it wasn't some people trying to bring in high powered guns into a troubled city or even smuggling out people to be sold as slaves somewhere? Actually, now that she thought about it, it was kind hard to say so since there were so many versions of the Bat, some of which used guns freely and just plain killed people.

'Well it doesn't matter, does it?' Emerald thought as she leapt a gap and came to a stop atop a roof corner, this time freely looming over the edge. 'I'm going with the only interpretation of him that matters. The one truest to the state of being that which is Batman.'

With that she turned away and melded into the dark, racking her photographic memory for all the smuggling rackets she had come across in her search of an arms dealer. There was the faintest flash of light, the only sign of her use of a teleportation, and she was gone.

BETA

“Yeah... I know... no confessions yet...”

Dana Mercer stood at the ready, smartly dressed in a very clearly expensive dress suit. She was standing in an office - James Heller's office - whilst holding a clipboard that was barely holding all the various papers and documents that she placed in it. James Heller's office was quite opulent as a sign of the massive budget it had at its disposal. The furniture was all stained oak and the room had wood paneling and wooden flooring. Heller's desk was a massive custom-made piece with enough surface area to force anyone to stand up to reach things on the opposite end. His chair was another custom-made piece, and was likely more expensive than the desk if only for the simple fact he had insisted on a chair with wheels. Quite an engineering conundrum to account for someone roughly two tons in weight. Finally there was what appeared to be an extremely large painting on the wall behind the desk; it was actually a large TV screen that switched between different scenes every now and then.

“Look, I am literally working around the clock now to ensure this doesn't happen again,” Heller spoke into the into the phone, sounding perfectly calm, but Dana knew better and guessed correctly that James was doing all he could to hide any anger he was likely feeling. “Twenty four seven, ever since the whole thing went down... You have my word Mr. Secretary-General, there won't be another battle in the NYZ any time soon... Yes, I understand. I'll make preparations for their arrival. Good day, Mr. Secretary-General.”

Dana Mercer watched as James struggled against himself with all his might to not smash his phone onto its charge station before burying his face in his hands. There was a long moment of silence before he let loose a loud growl of anger and frustration that likely would have easily scared off a Goliath. Dana for her part simply walked over to his side, leafing through her sizable collection of papers before dropping a few on the desk surface.

“So let me guess,” Dana said casually. “The UN wants to post observers to keep a closer eye on things?”

“Yeah, pretty much...” Heller muttered before roughly picking the papers up and looking them over. “The hell is this?”

“My reports on the Old Guard,” Dana answered. “It seems they are denying any and all involvement with the firefight in Brooklyn. Shocking, I know.”

“Like fuck they haven't got their fucking slimy fingers in whatever the fuck that was!” Heller snarled, slapping the papers down onto the surface of his desk. “They started doing their usual monster experiment shit and set it loose in some fucking twisted experiment! Since some kind of firebomb self-destruct got triggered just when we are about to capture the damn thing. What else could have fucking happened?!”

“The only other explanations is that we either somehow missed a monster somewhere or someone has the same genetic engineering capabilities as Blackwatch does,” Dana replied with a frown. “Both are very bad but also kinda unlikely to say the least. But at the same time...”

“Yeah?” Heller looked up at Dana after she didn't answer.

“Hmmm... no, it was just a thought I need to check up on before mentioning,” Dana replied with a shake of her head before suddenly placing fingers against her ear after a moment she got an odd expression, one that seemed to be a mix of amusement and disbelief. “What? Really? Wow...”

“What the hell is it now?” Heller groused. “It better not fucking be another battle. Just finished promising that wasn't going to happen again anytime soon.”

“We recently got an anonymous tip about gunshots from the docks and...” Dana began and looked briefly stumped of how to explain what she just heard. “It's probably best if you just saw for yourself. The patrol that responded is streaming a live feed with a camera right now.”

“Alright, let's see what's going on now.” Heller sighed and turned his chair around to face the painting. “Put it up.”

Dana brought out her communicator and started tapping on it for a few moments before pointing it at the TV and pressing on it one more time. Instantly, the calm scene of an African Savannah was replaced with that of a live feed from the inside of a warehouse. There were several bright lights set up and several Blackwatch soldiers were standing guard, mostly in a circle around a certain spot. Said spot had a large group of rough looking men completely restrained by cuffs around their wrists and ankles. Each cuff also had another chain linking to another cuff, making movement near impossible without perfect teamwork and coordination.

“It was fucking BATMAN, man! He broke my arm!” one of the men shouted loudly before giddily adding. “It was fucking sweet!”

“Fuck you!” responded another restrained man who released a pained groan. 'Uggghhh... my goddamn hand's broke, my ribs are broke and my head feels like it wants to split open...”

“The hell?” Heller muttered with furrowed brows, he stood up and approached the screen. He reached out with a hand towards Dana who quickly handed over her earpiece. “Tell me what's going on here. What the fuck’s this about Batman?”

“Sir!” Saluted a soldier on the video feed. “We found them tied up like this. We started investigating the area and found gun parts everywhere along with ammunition of every kind. We also find a few of our own guns here, likely scavenged from the recent fighting.”

“That gives me a reason to throw their asses in prison but doesn't explain exactly what the hell happened there,” Heller replied.

“Well uhh, sir, it appears the suspects are claiming to being attacked by someone dressed up as Batman,” the soldier answered and bent down to pick something up before revealing it to the video. “Fully functioning bat-gadgets included, apparently.”

Heller's brows raised to their highest extent as he took in the image of the batarang in the soldier's hands. He was silent for a moment before he suddenly began chuckling and eased backwards into his chair. He spent a few moments considering the weapon before speaking again.

“Alright, what about the suspects?” Heller asked, a bit of cheer still obvious in his voice. “How badly are they hurt?”

“Bruises, broken bones and nothing of which would have any long term consequences,” the soldier answered, bringing up a military iPad to read off a report. “As long as they get proper medical attention, they'll make a full recovery. Most any of them might get is an arm that is slightly wonky at flexing.”

“HA! Yeah, sounds like Batman alright.” Heller laughed. “Right, get the scum through medical and lock ‘em up.”

“Right, sir!” The soldier saluted again. “And uhhh, sir? What about Batman?”

“Well, vigilantism is a crime...” Heller began faux solemnly. “But I think in this case we can consider it in the same severity as jaywalking. In other words, don't bother unless you feel like it. I mean I woulda just downed their asses as fast as I could, to hell with the injuries they might get.”

“Same, sir,” the soldier replied with a small chuckle.

“Alright. Anything else I should know about?” Heller asked.

“Nothing from here, sir,” the soldier responded. “But from what I hear, this isn't going to be the last time we get something like this tonight. Been hearing about several more anonymous reports made in the same likeness as the one for this one.”

“Ha, busy night for the Bat. Heller out,” James said with a grin before removing his ear piece and handing it back to Dana.

“So we've got a vigilante,” Dana commented as she turned the TV back to painting mode. “Considering how many people there are with ‘super powers’ in this city, I'm surprised it took as long as it did.”

“Pretty much,” Heller said as he swiveled his chair back to his desk. A small frown returned to his features as he started considering more serious problems. “If some Cursor wants to play superhero, then they can go knock themselves out as long as they don't start racking up a death count. Otherwise the UN would start getting on my ass about it. I've got some more important shit to worry about than someone in spandex.”

“The Old Guard,” Dana stated.

“Yeah. As much as I want to just get rid of them, they've covered their bases politically,” Heller said as he began rapping his fingers on his desk. “Even if I could, I wouldn't unless I was putting them six feet under, I'm not stupid. Just removing their positions isn't enough to stop them from stirring up some serious shit. Better they're here where I can keep as close a watch on them as I possibly can rather than scattered all over the country.”

“I'll make to start using my resources to start digging up as much information as I can,” Dana replied and started leafing through documents again. “Hopefully next time we'll get some forewarning.”

“Let me know as soon as you find anything, Dana,” Heller said as he leveled a glare down at the papers on his desk.

“As soon as I find anything, James.” Dana nodded before turning around and leaving through the oak double doors of Heller's office.

Since Dana was supposed to be Heller's secretary, her own “office” was literally next door. More of a well furnished waiting room worthy of a secretary rather than an office, but it would have been weird if the room before Heller's was nicer. Her own desk wasn't nearly as large as his, but the wall behind her was lined with secure file cabinets. Quickly sorting her many documents and filing them away in their proper areas, Dana's thoughts wandered back to the meeting.

She had a thought she hadn't mentioned to Heller. It was the idea that while the Old Guard were cold blooded killers, they weren't stupid either. They weren't the psychotic leadership that Mercer had put in place once he had fully infiltrated the black ops organization. Suffice to say, a monster on the loose just wasn't in the Old Guard's style and Dana heavily suspected that something else was going on.

Immediately, Dana's thoughts wandered over to the idea that Emerald was in someway involved before shaking her head.

'I'm the one who defended her last time and even I still get twitchy about her,' Dana thought with a frown. 'Goes to show just how much a bad reputation can have an effect on people. But... she reminds me of someone else, who had been seen as a monster but was protective of those he cared about. Speaking of, I think it's about time I talked to Gabriel again and see how things are.'

With that, Dana sat at her desk and put her ear piece back on. Linking it to her computer, she started to make a skype call.

GAMMA

Emerald sat on the floor with crossed legs, and sitting atop of said legs was Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight had finally finished her hornless magic equation and had been spending as much time as she could trying to use it. However, getting her magic to cooperate and move through a material that wasn't as magically resonant as unicorn horn was proving to be rather difficult. Emerald had full confidence Twilight could eventually do it on her own, just like the equation, but in this part it would be simpler to have a bit of help.

The two of them were sitting on the living room floor with Navi nearby, also practicing her magic. Navi was making massive leaps and bounds with every day she practiced. Already she was moving things around telekinetically, a feat that was leaving Sunset Shimmer gaping at the younger girl. Spike was in the kitchen working on lessons of his own, much more conventional compared to outright magic lessons. While Spike wasn't nearly as studious as Twilight was, he was actually a little interested to see how his own education compared to Earth's own system. So far he seemed to be doing well enough, even figuring out problems on his own rather than asking for help. Goes to show you didn't need to be an obvious intellectual like Twilight to be smart.

“You can do it, Twilight...” Emerald said softly as she reached out with her magic again. “Just concentrate...”

A tendril of magic left Emerald body and entered Twilight's body through her back. There was a moment of resistance from Twilight's own well of currently inaccessible magic and then it was gone. Emerald's magic intermingled a little with Twilight's for a short moment, a strange sensation of intimacy assailing the both of them followed by feeling of the both of them somehow being one and still separate. Ignoring the feeling, Emerald “gripped” on some of Twilight's magic and ever so slowly started pulling a small amount out. It was hard to describe what Emerald was doing with Twilight. It both was and wasn't as simple as just pulling a strand of Twilight's magic out, and having the other girl remember the sensation of her own magic leaving her body. It was more akin to learning how to make the Vulkin hand sign in a way. At first you wouldn't be able to make the symbol without simply forcing the fingers into the sign. However, practice it enough and eventually your brain would learn the muscle memory necessary to make the sign without forcing your fingers into place. This was the same idea behind what Emerald was doing with Twilight's magic. Admittedly this exercise meant that Twilight figuring out the hornless equation was somewhat pointless. However, Twilight was the type who would want to know the science behind what she was doing, not just how to do it.

Once again finishing pulling out a strand a magic, Emerald watched as as it retracted back into Twilight's body before it suddenly stopped. Feeling growing excitement inside of her, Emerald watched as the magic started to steadily spread. Eventually, Twilight's entire body was covered by her own pink aura for a moment before it suddenly flashed brightly. When the light faded, Twilight took a deep breath and exhaled it loudly before smiling widely and a bit tiredly.

“I did it,” Twilight said softly with a grin. “I did it!”

“Uh... wow...” Sunset said honestly, blinking at both Twilight and Navi who was now attempting to levitate herself, making little hops that had ever so slightly slowed down descents.

“I knew you could do it.” Emerald smiled and wrapped her arms around Twilight's middle.

“No thanks to you,” Twilight said with an elbow to the girl whose lap she was still sitting on.

“Hey! What did I do?” Emerald asked with a faux hurt frown before it turned into a sly smile.

“You made yourself smell like vanilla,” Twilight said pointedly. “It was rather difficult trying to concentrate on magic when you smell like delicious cake.”

“Cake, huh?” Emerald said with grin, gently grabbing hold of Twilight's chin and moved her face into much more easily kissable position. “Bite me.”

“That's horrible,” Twilight stated but did start to kiss Emerald. However, her eyes widened and she backed away to stare at Emerald a bit incredulously. “Did... did you make yourself taste like chocolate?”

“Maybe?” Emerald smiled. “You like?”

“UUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!” Sunset Shimmer groaned loudly, face buried in the palms of her hands. “Please stop... it's hard to quickly get into my wheelchair to get away.”

“Alright, alright...” Emerald said and both she and Twilight got up from the floor. “We'll celebrate later, I suppose.”

“Ugh...”

“I'm going to get right into practicing,” Twilight said and joined Navi at the coffee table. “It's going to take a while to get anywhere, but now that I can cast magic hornlessly, progress will be a lot more clear.”

Emerald smiled and walked into the kitchen where Spike was still sitting, giving the schoolwork his total attention. She walked over to stand behind him and briefly looked over his shoulder. He was doing pretty well.

“How are you doing, Spike?” Emerald asked.

“I wasn't sure what I was expecting,” Spike said as he leaned back to observe his work. “I didn't know if I was ahead or behind and I'm still not sure...”

“You're pretty damn smart, Spike,” Emerald said, ruffling the former dragon's hair. “You were Twilight's assistant for years. You'll be fine.”

“If you say so,” Spike said with a shrug before getting back into it.

Emerald walked around Spike to the opposite side of the table. She took a seat before digging into a pocket and pulling out several envelopes. Apparently tons of people already knew her mailing address and had sent her a lot of mail. She had tossed most of it, seeing as most of it contained things like hate letters and meaningless threats as well as packages that contained things like literal crap. It might have affected a normal person, but it was already water under the bridge for Emerald. It was hard to even give such things any attention beyond the time it took to throw them away. The only real concern she might have had about such people was if they came after her and her family with the intent to cause harm. Then she would have to hope they were in an already out of the way place so she didn't have to deal with people watching her brutally kill them. The remaining letters came from official sources, addresses of TV networks to be exact so Emerald already sorta knew what they would be about.

'Let's see if I'm right...' Emerald thought as she opened the first letter. 'Dear Oskar Osäker. Sorry Fox, you already alienated me. Good day, Miss Emerald. Blah, blah, blah, request to interview, blah, blah. I think not. Let's see... request to interview, request to interview, request to interview. Is that all they want? At least this final one here doesn't take itself ser- wait.'

Emerald looked over the address of the details of the letter again, her eyes drawn to two words specifically: Comedy Central. After that, she started reading the letter again, this time much more carefully and taking in each word. After she was done reading, she leaned back and started to consider the letter seriously.

'Well... why not?' Emerald thought and took her phone out to take a picture of the letter and one of herself. 'I wonder if they still film in New York or if they had to move the studio?'

Emerald then started rapidly typing out an email with two picture attachments. After sending it, she looked towards the living room. Navi had given up on attempting to get straight to self levitation for the moment and was now levitating multiple objects, Twilight was still trying to do something more than a light show and use her magic for something practical. And Sunset Shimmer was watching the both of them closely with a studying gaze.

'Well, since everyone is working on something productive, I ought to get work on the formulas for my projects again,' Emerald thought as she got her custom iPad out to work on some plans.

DELTA

In a dark room full of cigarette smoke, several old men sat around a table. They all wore uniforms of some kind, either a simple camo suit or Blackwach hardsuits sans the helmet. All of them were old with the youngest looking to be around his late forties. Their expressions weren't happy in the slightest, all of them bearing frowns with one outright scowling.

“Can someone explain to me what the hell happened exactly?” One of them demanded. “Or even how the fuck that happened without anyone here finding out about it beforehand?”

“Everyone here knows what the others are up to,” another man replied. “No one has been running some experiment behind the scenes that just got loose.”

“It doesn't explain how one of our own just decided to jump ship and join up with a fucking monster and some dumbass gangbangers!” came the angry retort. “I knew Captain Henderson for close to thirty years. He was a true believer in the cause and an absolute professional. Now he just suddenly jumps ship out of the blue?! Let me be blunt, WHAT THE FUCK?”

“Okay, calm down. I agree with the sentiment but getting furious about it isn't going to help,” said one that stuck a nearly burned away cigarette butt into an ashtray. “Let's go over what we know.”

“Well one thing, Heller is pissed as fuck and blaming us,” came the reply of a man still wearing his hardsuit. “Of course he doesn't believe our claims of innocence and if it weren't for the UN breathing down his neck we'd probably have to deal with him going on the warpath.”

“I blame the second generation for the “release the monsters” reputation we have now. Dumbass pieces of shit they are,” stated another with a sigh. “Even some of our own privately asked me if we really didn't have anything to do with that.”

“That is irrelevant to the situation,” said the first angry commander. “The fact of the matter is that there was a monster that literally came out of nowhere because everyone here knows Heller would never make something like that. Which means we have competition.”

There was silence for a long moment as everyone digested that statement.

“...Do you think it's possible the Chevalier set up another group in America?” asked the second commander. “They haven't talked with us ever since Blackgate...”

“Let's... let's consider all our options before we leap for the worst possible one,” spoke the suddenly very calm first commander. “Long periods of no communication isn't unheard of since our founding. Continuing on... whatever this thing was, it was able to subvert minds to create minions. Spreading a highly mutative virus that turns whoever it infects into monsters was a potent weapon on its own, but outright mind control?”

“That has the potential to change the balance of world power forever,” spoke the third commander solemnly. “And chances are whoever made it can do it again. If we can't have such capability, no one else should.”

“You've been rather quiet, Trager,” commented the second commander.

“I've been thinking about some details that were mentioned in the debrief the sole surviving E-Code gave us,” Trager said with arms crossed, eyes glazed over a little from his mind in deep thought. “The monster he fought sounded like some kind demon, par the course for viral monstrosities, but... he also mentioned that it was wearing a Tiara.”

“...Wasn't Mercer's traitor here for some stolen jewelry?” the first commander voiced aloud.

“It was, but...” The Second frowned. As much as he wanted to bring in Emerald... “It seems like a bit of a reach that there is a connection between what the thing was wearing and the Traitor.”

“I admit it is a bit of a stretch and likely a coincidence.” Trager nodded in agreement. “But what else do we have to go on? We might as well follow this lead and confirm if it's a dead end.”

“Our first step should be confirm what kind of jewelry the Traitor was after,” the third commander stated. “If it was a tiara, then it's a point in favor of a connection between the two.”

“Looking at the intel in the database right now...” Trager spoke as he quickly tapped on an iPad he pulled out. “Damn, nothing specific. Just says she is here for missing rocks.”

“Hmmm... should we set Heller on this lead?” asked the Second. “That way we can work on this through official channels. Unless it's Heller or Dana Mercer asking the questions, most of the germs on the island aren't cooperative at all. Plus if something is found we can officially arrest her.”

“No. If we do that we surrender most of our control over the use of the information gathered.” The Third Commander shook his head. “It will slow down information gathering a lot but eventually we'll find out what we want to know.”

“I'll send out some feelers,” spoke the second commander. “See if we can find a germ that's willing to talk to a Blackwatch soldier that isn't flashing his badge for some reason.”

Trager smiled. It was likely this wasn't going to bear fruit, but hopefully chances were the connection was there. And then he and the rest of the Old Guard could come down on Emerald Gleaner like the wrath of god.

EPSILON

Belvedere leaned back in his seat and looked over his stack of paperwork. After making sure there were no mistakes, he nodded and placed the papers in the out tray on his desk.

It had only been a few days since Belvedere had managed to break into the Orion building to access the locked away serum, and only one day for the full effects of the serum to take their course in his body. His legs were now longer and after feeling ravenous the entire time he had regrown his own arm as well. He was now in his office finishing up on some of his work.

'Certainly much easier to do this with two arms,' Belvedere thought as he swiveled his chair around and looked out his window. The new city center was always being worked on. The Wolverines were helping with the construction as well handling the heavy labor as ordered by their commanders. The new city center was nearing completion now and already had some sectors in use and being lived in.

'All of my work is done, unfortunately,' Belvedere thought with a huff. 'What to do now...'

Belvedere considered exactly what to do with his free time for a few moments. He looked down at his legs and thought of the fact that he was still wobbly moving around on them. Deciding he was going to both tour the Hub and train his legs a little more, he got up and walked out of his office.

A few minutes later found the Regent of the Enclave strolling down the completed areas of the new city center with a somewhat wobbly gait. He found himself being reminded of Manehattan, though the towers weren't as tall, they ended at a stone ceiling overhanging the entire city and instead of ponies, Diamond Dogs roamed the streets. Many of the dogs were construction workers building up the rest of the city and wolverines hauling heavy loads of stone and steel.

'I wonder if I'll ever get used to this sight?' Belvedere asked himself as he passed a small group of spiders being lead along by Flandre. 'I hope not.'

After taking in the sights and sounds of the growing city, Belvedere decided take his tour back to what was quickly becoming known as Old Town, the original settlement area they had established when they first arrived in the Everfree over three years ago.

Once he arrived back in Old Town, Belvedere couldn't help the feeling of nostalgia at the sight of the still very much lived in, comparatively crude buildings here. These were the homes that he and the others had built themselves under the guidance of their elders. This was the first true city of Diamond Dogs in over a hundred years settled in a wildly free and dangerous forest. And it was all thanks to Emerald Gleaner's leadership. She may not have been a Diamond Dog, but he could honestly understand why many dogs in the Enclave had come to think of her as their version of Celestia.

He paused suddenly and tilted his head. There was a loud voice reverberating towards him up from an alley. Curious at this, he followed the voice to its origin, getting louder and clearer as he neared. It wasn't long before he found himself in a courtyard shared by surrounding apartment complexes. Said courtyard was full of Diamond Dogs looking towards the far side of the yard where Fenrir towered over everyone.

“She came to us from a world alien to our understanding!” Fenrir bellowed, his voice clear to all in the courtyard. “She arrived immortal, immune to all sickness, capable of recovering from any ailment and was strong! She wandered among the ponies, she saw their way, and though she found a few she cherished she felt no attachment for the whole! And then she found us! The Diamond Dogs!”

Belvedere raised a brow and looked over the crowd, specifically those in it and their reactions. There were many families from what he could see, couples with newborn pups or pregnant mates or even both, couples with pups that looked to already be ten or so years old but with another clearly on the way. It was from among these that had expressions of interest, attentiveness and even fervor. There were other dogs here, ones that were by themselves. These ones looked to be here purely to pass the time with something, though even among them Belvedere could see these same expressions play across their faces at times.

“She came to us at our lowest. Scattered packs and enslaved dogs forced to play the part of the slaver!” Fenrir addressed the crowd, spreading his arms grandly. “She came to us from a position of power and we feared she would be no better then the Dragon, but she demonstrated even the strong - especially the strong - can be merciful! She defeated the Dragon and gave us the choice that was taken from us. She let us choose to serve or find our own way!”

'What exactly is going on here?' Belvedere thought with a tilt of his head. 'I knew Fenrir was rather loyal to Emerald, but to the point he'd actually deify her? Well, she did give him everything he could have wanted back to him.'

“She returned our lost kin to us and led us to a new home to establish a city to surpass the Old Kingdom of the past!” Fenrir continued his preaching. “And it was from there her works of greatness were only beginning! She would free us further from the shackles of our own hunger! She would not only return to us a nation but make it one the world had no choice but to acknowledge and respect as a rising power! And through her power, those who choose, those who are willing to embrace the change and growth, are bestowed a fragment of her own greatness!”

'Should I do something about this?' Belvedere thought with a hum before shaking his head and turning away. 'No, I think this is one of those things that only her holiness should handle. I think she'd take great glee in this. Oh yes, I can already imagine the joy on her face when she comes back and discovers she is being worshiped like a god. Now, on to business...'

Belvedere walked away from the congregation and decided to next make his way to the surface. Walking through crowds, he couldn't help but notice how he towered over most dogs now. Before, he tended to stand on his hind legs more often than not thanks to his lithe build. Suffice to say, thanks to that habit he was used to standing a bit taller than most dogs, but it was rather noticeable even to him how he was now a full head and shoulders above most. Of course, now thanks to his longer legs it was very awkward and uncomfortable to attempt a more “natural” stance but you had to take the good with the bad.

The Regent Boss of the Enclave soon reached the tunnel to the surface. Before, it was a rather crude system. You either walked the entire way or hitched a ride on the cargo trains running things to the surface and back. A lot of work had gone into improving just that. The tunnel had been expanded upon quite a bit and now had five rail lines leading to the surface, two of which were made to hold a tram system and dedicated to getting people to and from the surface.

'I remember when we had these bolt-bare, cobbled together steam engines running these lines,' Belvedere thought as he boarded the tram and took a seat. 'Amazing how much things can change in only a few years.'

The tram Belvedere had boarded indeed was a rather loud far cry from the alarmingly scrappy looking steam engines they had before. In fact, these trams wouldn't look too terribly out of place on Earth. Some people might comment they looked a tad on the old side compared to the sleek lines of Europe, but it was still a technological leap.

Little over a minute later, Belvedere along with several other dogs left the tram once it arrived. He paused to bathe in the light of the noon sun for a moment before continuing along. When it first cleared out, the surface area the Enclave claimed as their own was nothing more then a slightly churned mess of dirt. There was quite a lot of plant life active up here now. The dragon scale bushes were still here and possibly in even greater quantities to armor up the many thousands of wolverines now staying in the Enclave. The golden apple trees were everywhere as well, and there were always plenty of dogs collecting the fruits of these trees either to eat straight away or make into delicious juice and cider. Emerald had been moving surface operations towards more nature accommodating construction and in return for the decency, Sovereign had moved trees around with no harm to their health when asked.

Belvedere walked along a paved path leading away into the trees. It wasn't too much of a barrier. They cleared up into the next claimed area fairly quickly. The first thing that met his sight was the Great Fox now grounded and being retrofitted. There was a ton of armor plating covering much of the Fox's original hull and the large balloon that provided much of the lift was now completely gone. The top deck was now mostly covered by a steel structure. Overall, the Great Fox resembled an Ironclad more than its original state as a cargo vessel. It even had smokestacks to vent away waste energy created by the new levitation core designed by Moon Dancer. That last part was important to Belvedere. The retrofitted Gray Fox was one of the major things the Enclave had created without input of some sort from Emerald on the technical side of things, it was purely Diamond Dog engineering and magical expertise from Moon Dancer. Honestly, the levitation core likely could have been better, not to mention the propulsion jet engines to provide further mobility likewise could have been more efficient, and weaponry was constantly being added and removed to balance firepower and staying power in a prolonged fight. But in the end it was still something they made and something they could work on to improve themselves. There was even plans to lay the groundwork for several more ships like the Great Fox once the design was finished being optimised.

The Regent Boss then turned his attentions to the other interesting sight in the clearing. It was the training grounds of the Enclave, now vastly changed from the difficult obstacle courses they had originally been to account for the fact their users were Super Soldiers. It was now in use by over several dozen Warhounds, or more specifically the Direwolf branch.

So far there were nearly four dozen Warhounds who had made the leap and became Direwolves as soon as the option became available to them. Belvedere expected there to be well over a hundred Direwolves by the end of the month. As he watched the new Direwolves train and do their best to get used to their augmented forms as quickly as possible, he spotted a sparring pair. It was Tavish and Padfoot sparring with each other. Tavish appeared to have already mastered his altered proportions by the way he practically danced around the lumbering hulk that was Padfoot.

Belvedere smiled slightly at the sight of both of them, reminded of how full of energy Tavish was once his legs finished growing in. The little Alpha had been practically over the moon about the fact he was ever so slightly, if you squinted just right and exaggerated a little, above average in height now. Then Padfoot had made his own appearance at that moment, standing a full head above Fenrir and soured the “little” Alpha's mood instantly.

'We have so much to show Emerald when she gets back,' Belvedere thought as he crossed his arms. 'I wonder how surprised she'll be?'

The Regent Boss of the Enclave, rising power of Equis, turned his gaze skyward with some hint of a grin.

'Either way, I know she'll be proud.'

Many miles away, another leader of state was attending a bit of business of her own.

Princess Celestia stood at the Canterlot sky docks awaiting the arrival of a dignitary. Normally Princess Celestia wouldn't be here and would be back in the palace busying herself with her duties until the dignitary arrived and was met by a servant. But this dignitary was quite different, even so that Celestia wished to meet her as soon as she arrived rather than at Celestia's earliest convenience as would be the norm.

Celestia, flanked by two Royal Guards, watched in interest as a sky ship very distinct from all the others moored here eased into the harbor. It was made of a wood of some kind and that was pretty much the only similarity it had with neighboring Equestrian skyships. The ship was long, sleek and thin and seemed to be made entirely of polished white petrified wood that could have easily been mistaken for ceramics. One could still see the grain of the wood along with the occasional knot along the entirety of the hull. Its triangular yellow and blue sails were positioned in line with the hull much like the sails of a sloop. Embedding in the front, gleaming with the light of the sun were two large yellowish-orange gems, massive polished amber placed like two great eyes on the ship. Those two weren't the only pieces of shaped amber placed in the hull, but they were the largest, the rest being far smaller and spread evenly along the sides.

The people who made the ship were a member city state of the Eldeer Conclaves. Highly withdrawn, secretive, dismissive of most and a few of their people were incredibly long lived. They could trust and indeed had done a lot of political dealings with the member states of the League, while practically a small army of Conclave diplomats stood at the ready to speak with and interact with the members. That said, if the dignitary had been a simple diplomat Celestia wouldn't have gone through the trouble of awaiting their arrival. No, the entire reason why she stood here to meet with the dignitary had been because she was a Conclave Warlock.

Said Warlock was now descending the disembark walkway. The people of the Conclaves were entirely deer and it was no different for the Warlock. Deer were a tall, slender species, taller than ponies, faster, more agile but physically more frail. But as tall as deer naturally were, they still were a bit shorter than Celestia's statuesque figure. The Doe Warlock seemed to dyed her fur coat a snow white, icey blue eyes were accentuated by black paint over her eye sockets and lids. A thin black line of paint ran right from her nose up the middle of her snout. She wore a dress robe of sorts that was blue with yellow accents. Unlike most of the dresses ponies wore, it wasn't made to surround most of her legs and nor did it even fully cover them. The front half of her robes were sleeveless and other half had a half dress like design that covered the back of her hind legs but reached only halfway down. Along with her dress she wore a chest plate made of that petrified white wood which was embossed with a large polished amber. Finally she had a cap-like helmet that covered the back of her head and the top, an elegant singular artificial antler was attached to the back of it sticking up straight towards the sky. Adorned on this one antler was yet another piece of polished amber.

“Ah, Princess Celestia. How gracious of you to await upon my arrival,” the Warlock commented with an easy smile as she approached. “I do hope you have not been waiting long?”

“It is quite rare that any nation has the opportunity to pay host to Warlock of the Conclaves,” Celestia replied. This fact was especially true for Equestria who the Conclaves seemed oddly standoffish with. “Unique circumstances require unique responses.”

“And circumstances are quite unique of late, are they not?” the Warlock said before giving a short nod. “Alas, my manners seemed to have left me for I wish to get to the point of my arrival as soon as possible. I am Warlock Taleena of the Iyandan Conclave. Shall we speak as we make for the Palace?”

“Of course, though I must point out it is hardly a private setting to conduct any negotiations,” Celestia replied as she and Taleena began walking.

“Ah, but Iyandan feels no need to hide our forthright dealings with the venerable Diarchy of Equestria,” Taleena answered smoothly. “But you are right. Perhaps the topic shall of be of trivial matters for the time being? I have heard talk that one Emerald Gleaner has been indisposed for quite some time, leaving an underling to rule in her place?”

“Ah, it is true.” Celestia nodded. “She accompanied my student on an important task which had unexpectedly extended into a prolonged affair.”

“Oh?” Taleena said with clear interest. “Ah, though I wish to ask further, I doubt such would be prudent. How goes the business of Equestria? I admit my knowledge of local affairs is not as all encompassing as I'd like. The most recent I know of is that Equestria is in unsteady economical straits.”

“Equestria has been suffering from a series of highly disruptive events these past few years.” Celestia nodded. “We've been struggling to return from this depression, but thanks to the trade partnership with the Enclave we've been able to spring back incredibly fast. Along with that, the Enclave has been very willing to take up most of the costs for joint projects between our nations.”

“Ah, speaking of projects, I saw that the iconic skyline of Canterlot has changed quite noticeably,” Taleena commented, looking pointedly towards where Cloudsdale used to float. “Whatever has happened to the famed weather industry of Equestria?”

“One calamity too many, I'm afraid,” Celestia replied solemnly. “After being destroyed once before, the pegasi of Cloudsdale decided to live on firmer ground. The weather industry has been moved and rapidly set up in Ponyville.”

“Ponyville? My, what a coincidence. Is that not where all the famed product of the Enclave flows through nowadays?” Taleena asked.

“Yes it is,” Celestia answered. “It's turned into quite the boom town. Who knows, maybe in a few short decades Ponyville will be the site of a new city? Despite the negatives of it all, we are living in quite exciting times.”

“May fate favor the bold,” Taleena intoned instinctively before gracing Celestia with a charming smile.

Celestia returned the smile readily as the two of them continued on their way to the palace. She wasn't fooled by the Doe's friendly overtures. A thousand years of maintained minimal contact with Equestria suddenly broken only now? Perhaps Emerald was rubbing off on her in the wrong exact ways, but she was suspicious of hidden motives.

Either way, Princess Celestia would do her best to prepare for the future.

-TBC-

Author's Note

AN: And done, took far longer then it really should have but at least it's finally out. It's going to be a bit yet but as you can see the shoe is going to drop, plenty of people going about their business skulking in the dark unaware the game they're playing switched from D&D to Call of Cthulhu

EN: Not much to say this time. Good chapter, can’t wait to see Emerald’s interaction with whoever sent her a letter from “Comedy Central”. And laughing because I called Batman last chapter and lo and behold, there it is. Other than that, Happy New Year to all readers out there-

AN2: Whoops, accidentally typed in FIN instead of TBC

Chapter 8: Technical Difficulties

Sophie glanced at her watch despite knowing the exact time of day at any given moment while she ascended floors via the stairs. An action one could call an anxious habit.

Currently the now Double Agent Cursor was in an apartment complex, specifically Emerald's apartment complex. Normally, even in disguise, Sophie wouldn't dare come too close to the building let alone enter in her base form. So why was she doing so right now? It was as she approached her intended floor that Sophie felt the vibration of her phone.

'Right, let's see...' Sophie thought as she pulled the device out from pocket and perused its alerts.

[Target has exfiltrated the structure], stated a text. [Attempting to follow at distance]

'Right. If Batman is who I think it is, this won't be a simple rescue,' Sophie thought. 'I should have plenty of time to work... should.'

Sophie hadn't missed out on watching the interview a short while ago, despite her hate of Emerald. Most people would have taken Emerald's quote of Bruce Wayne as just that, considering her history, but Sophie wasn't most people. She saw a connection, a potential trail onto something greater and took hold of it with a passion. Using another advantage that was only recently proven to be such, Sophie had also impersonated a gang leader and had the girl who Twilight looked like kidnapped.

Of course this was all clearly taking several gambles in a row and hoping they all paid off. There was no proof that Emerald's quote was anything more then just that. There was no proof that Emerald cared for the girl whom Twilight looked like. With these two uncertainties combined, there was no promise she wouldn't walk face first into Emerald at any moment in the apartment complex. Ultimately, the question was this: was Sophie flying by the seat of her pants?

'Sometimes you just need to take a chance make a gamble,' Sophie thought simply with a shake of her head. 'They don't pay off often, but when they do... hmph. And it's not like the whole goddamn wait and see stuff with Trisha and Jacob is paying off. All it's doing is making me doubt my own people. Trisha is too much of a goddamn bleeding heart busybody to properly do her job. It's just all up to me.Figures...'

Sophie reached her intended floor and walked down the hall towards a specific apartment. She came to a stop before the door and rolled her shoulders around for a moment, then she reached out and knocked firmly on the door. After a few moments the door opened a crack and the person on the other side opened the door a crack with the security chain on.

“Hello?” Twilight said before she gasped and her eyes went wide in recognition. “Oh... what do you want?”

“I just want to talk,” Sophie said as neutrally as she could. “Can I come in?”

“I'm not sure I like the idea of someone who attacked the one I love being so close,” Twilight replied with narrowed eyes. “In fact, just having you on the other side of the door is still too close for comfort.”

“...” Sophie clamped down on her initial reaction to lash out angrily and quickly thought of means of talking her way into the apartment. Quickly going through what Trisha told her about Twilight, she rapidly put together a small plan.

“Did... Emerald tell you why I don't like her?” Sophie asked calmly.

“...She said that she had killed your sister...” Twilight said and a lot of her guarded expression softened.

“Did she tell you how it happened?” Sophie said, sensing an opening, and when Twilight reluctantly shook her head she continued. “She ate my sister. My pregnant sister. The act was recorded by another Cursor called Roland and the video was later shown to me. I had no choice but to sit there watching a video of my own sister being horribly murdered.”

A look of utter horror crossed Twilight's features for a moment before it slowly was replaced by one of grief as she clenched a hand over her heart.

“So yeah,” Sophie said and crossed her arms victoriously. “I think I had reason enough to attack her when she finally showed up again.”

“Look, I can fully understand your hate and anger,” Twilight said gently but with a firm look in her eyes. “And because of that I am willing to put what you did before behind us, but I will not tolerate any further attacks on Emerald.”

“... Alright.” Sophie said, shoving down her broiling rage at the thought she didn't have all the right in the word to savage Emerald for her crimes against her. “May I come in now? Like I said, I just want to talk.”

“Very well,” Twilight said and briefly closed the door to undo the security chain. “I'll hear what you have to say.”

“I won't take too long,” Sophie said, taking out her phone as she entered the apartment.

“I hope not,” Twilight said as she glanced at the clock. “It's getting late, Emerald usually comes home to at least check on us if she is going to be out all night. I'm not sure what she would think of you being in the apartment.”

“Indeed,” Sophie simply said and fought down the twitching desire to remain a while to force a confrontation.

“So what did you want to talk about?” Twilight asked as she and Sophie sat at the table, the TV in the living room playing in the background.

“What did Emerald tell you about her life before the first outbreak?” Sophie asked, tapping through screens on her phone.

“We did go over that part of her life a little,” Twilight said. “Though I am far more aware of everything that happened afterwards.”

“Okay.” Sophie nodded simply before turning her phone over and holding it out towards Twilight.

Twilight took the phone and looked at the image on the screen. She frowned and was about to ask why Sophie was showing her a picture of herself when she stopped at noticing several details about the picture. The hair was all black instead of purplish blue with streaks of pink and purple. She had never once worn the hoodie in the picture and the woman she appeared to be standing beside she had never seen before. And just looking at the background of the picture, she didn't even recognize the location the picture was taken.

“Her name is Tabitha Lensington,” Sophie said. “She was a girl Emerald had a rather large crush on before the first outbreak, and if what I heard was correct, the feeling was mutual at the time.”

“...Okay.” Twilight nodded and returned the phone to Sophie. “But why show me this picture? What's the point?”

“I find it interesting that the two of you look so alike one another,” Sophie said neutrally as she pocketed her phone. “Makes me wonder if the biggest, maybe only, reason Emerald likes you is the visual reminder of better, happier times.”

Twilight was about to verbally disregard such thoughts as ridiculous, since when she and Emerald started dating she was a pony at the time, when a realization struck her. Emerald had never been as physically affectionate now as she was back in Equestria. She was still affectionate of course. They hugged, they kissed and they cuddled together in bed as they went to sleep. But the kisses Emerald was prone to giving her now, the ones in the past just couldn't compare. Even the hugs had a feeling of passion to them and a reluctance to them whenever they parted. And that wasn't even getting into the fact they were having sex now, something Emerald hadn't even hinted at wanting to experience with her before. While Twilight could have simply explained it before as waiting for marriage, her experience with current human culture showed her that Emerald simply did not desire such contact with her at the time. So what had changed to cause large steps in affection? It could have only been the fact she was human now and not a pony since the change in behaviour wasn't gradual in the very least.

“I think I'll take my leave now,” Sophie said and got up, taking the expression of troubled deep thought on Twilight's face as a victory. “Wouldn't want to overstay my welcome, after all.”

Twilight barely acknowledged Sophie's leave, her thoughts bustling with the idea that Emerald was only truly attracted to the form she was in and not the one she was born in. But after the front door closed behind Sophie, Sunset Shimmer sat up on the couch where she had been laying down. She frowned towards the door before turning towards Twilight.

“You don't believe any of that, do you?” Sunset asked.

“Well...” Twilight began, wringing her hands nervously. “She does have a few points.”

“Seriously?” Sunset arched a brow in incredulity.

“Well… I mean, Emerald and I...” Twilight said. “It's only recently we started... s-started having seeeee... look, you're right, there is nothing to be concerned about. There is no point in making an issue out of whatever she's said. It's not a problem, not a problem at all.”

“...No, it definitely is now,” Sunset said with a shake of her head. “It obviously bugs you. Just talk to Emerald when she gets here and get everything sorted out.”

“I will not,” Twilight said firmly, crossing her arms and looking away from Sunset. “It's not a problem. No use in making a mountain out of a molehill.”

“Ugh,” Sunset threw her arms up in the air before getting up. “Where is that damn phone?”

Outside the apartment, Sophie began rapidly making her way down the stairwell and turning into a random person for some safety. It may have seemed like a bit of a waste to use the opportunity to have Emerald's loved ones alone just to cause some domestic strife and yes, it probably was. However, while Sophie was willing to do a lot to cause Emerald harm, she was less willing to lower herself to the level of her enemy.

'So am I just flying by the seat of my pants?' Sophie thought. 'Pretty much, but better to use any opportunity to stir shit up than to let it pass you by. Besides, you never know what can happen and I'm sick of waiting this out.'

Sophie felt her phone vibrate and pulled it out. She looked at the message that was sent to her and smirked when she saw Emerald and her old crush sitting together on a rooftop, talking.

ALPHA

“It was kinda lucky. I was famous enough for people who bothered to look me up to find out about my history,” Tabitha said, sitting before the ledge of the building with her arms wrapped around her knees. “But not enough for most of them to care. The only problem was that most people who wanted to get to know me were only doing so because they thought I knew a lot about you before it all kicked off. As if I kept some kind of secret to myself from the media and government when they questioned me.”

“We didn't even know each other's names at the time,” Emerald said with a shake of his head. The virus felt his phone going off and vibrating, before he quickly pressed the mute button and continued. “Umm... sorry to interrupt but do you mind if I ask you something?”

“Shoot,” Tabitha said with a curious look towards Emerald.

“This probably sounds a bit weird, but do you mind if I switch back to my normal body,” he asked, motioning down to his old male form he was currently using. “This... it just doesn't feel normal for me anymore.”

“Heh. Go ahead, I don't mind,” Tabitha said with an encouraging smile.

“Thanks,” Emerald said, and with a surge of black tendrils she was back to what she considered normal.

“I never get tired of seeing that,” Tabitha said, her eyes glittering with curiosity. “It's such a fascinating sight to watch. How does that feel?”

“Hard to explain,” Emerald said and held up a hand, which shifted rapidly between a number of forms from various species she had sampled. “My whole body is like one large muscle that can flex and extend itself in any way it sees fit. It just feels like movement to me, about as normal as getting up and walking for you.”

“Wow,” Tabitha smiled before tilting her head in interest. “So I saw that interview. Sounds like you managed to get yourself cleaned up pretty well.”

“I like to think so,” Emerald replied. “The outbreaks were hell even on the side I was on.”

“Especially on the side you were on,” Tabitha said. “I was lucky. I was visiting my Aunt Crystal at the time of the first outbreak.”

“Your parents?”

“Were taking the day out on the town along with my brother,” Tabitha said before sighing and leaving a long pause. “...On Manhattan.”

“I'm sorry...” Emerald said and shifted in place uneasily.

“Don't be. You didn't kill them, after all,” Tabitha said and stared off into the moonlit sky. “They were celebrating his acceptance into West Point and were going to take him to my aunt's place for all of us to celebrate together when it all happened... I can hear your guilty conscious from here. Stop that.”

“I...” Emerald began and slouched forward as she crossed her legs.

“Look, if anything, I should feel sorry for you,” Tabitha said and reached over to place a hand on Emerald's shoulder. “At least I still had someone to look out for me. You lost the only family that mattered and had only yourself.”

“But-”

“Right, right, it doesn't excuse anything,” Tabitha quoted and grinned at Emerald when she scowled in annoyance at her.

“Fine. I don't want to go through all that again, anyway,” Emerald huffed before asking. “Who exactly is your Aunt Crystal, anyway? She isn't actually your aunt, is she?”

“No, but she's been in my life for the longest time,” Tabitha answered before tilting her head at Emerald. “How did you know?”

“Just a lucky guess,” Emerald replied, thoughts of a certain princess in her mind. “So still living in the NYZ, huh?”

“Not for much longer,” Tabitha said with a shake of her head. “We were finally OK’ed for leaving the quarantine. We got a new place right next door to my Aunt Celina in a nice, small town far from here. A nice, safe and boring town. I honestly can't wait.”

“You never know the value of peace and quiet until it's gone,” Emerald said. “I hope it's a lasting peace and quiet for you.”

“Well, what about you?” Tabitha asked.

“Me?” Emerald said and sighed as she surveyed the city before her. “I guess I - and those I care about - will be here...”

“Well look on the bright side. At least you won't be alone this time!” Tabitha said encouragingly before getting a sly smile. “And speaking of which, I can't help but notice a certain someone resembles me quite strongly.”

“Eh heh... w-well yeah...” Emerald said, actually flushing as she briefly looked away from Tabitha sheepishly. “Just so you know, the whole appearance thing honestly didn't factor into us getting together at the time... u-uh, that was meant as reassurance. Not saying you don't look... ugh...”

“Hehehe!” Tabitha giggled.

“If I was getting your coffee for you, I'd have poured some milk in it,” Emerald said with an expression that was some odd mix of a scowl and pout.

“You wouldn't dare!” Tabitha gasped. “You know what that does to me!”

“I sure do.” Emerald smirked. “I never made that mistake again, but I'll never forget it afterwards.”

“You're lucky I came back at all!” Tabitha retorted. “I was so embarrassed! If you weren't cute and polite I wouldn't have dared showed my face again after that!”

Emerald very pointedly blew a raspberry at Tabitha who covered her face with her hands to hide a burning flush. After a few moments of silence the two broke into a bout of easy, friendly laughter. They stared off into the night sky for a few moments more before Tabitha broke the quiet.

“So what's she like?”

“Kind, intelligent, willing to face a challenge no matter how large, though she can put her trust in some questionable people at times,” Emerald replied easily before smiling widely. “Her eyes are pretty, too.”

“I have to admit she definitely has it up there in the looks apartment,” Tabitha said with a sly grin. “Look at you, already a family of your own after everything while I'm still getting lost on the internet, mooning after fictional characters.”

“I'm sure after you move to your Aunt Celina's neighbourhood you'll find your share of people to let into your heart,” Emerald stated earnestly, meeting Tabitha's surprised gaze with her own eyes full of certainty. “Believe that there are people out there who you would easily think of as family in all but blood and someone you'd trust your heart and your life to. It hurts so much when you stumble in the search, but the results cannot be denied.”

“Wow,” Tabitha said softly. “Never thought I'd hear something like that from you of all people.”

“A few years ago I would have thought the same of someone like me,” Emerald said. “Goes to show that people can actually change despite everything.”

“...I feel like I could stay here all night just talking to you, but…” Tabitha said with a distinctly disappointed tone to her voice.

“I know.” Emerald nodded and stood up. “We both have our own families to get to and I was specifically asked to bring you to yours.”

Tabitha nodded and wrapped her arms around Emerald's neck when the Evolved picked her up in a bridal carry and was soon leaping rooftops as they made way. Unlike Twilight, Tabitha was less inclined to shout in fear thanks to the mode of transportation, but then she also had her face buried in Emerald's shoulder.

“You know this doesn't have to be goodbye,” Tabitha said between leaps “I wouldn't mind keeping in touch and even meeting her. What's your Skype?”

“...” Emerald waited until a leap or two to answer. “I don't have Skype, but... there will likely be a point in the near future where the others and I... where we will drop off the face of the Earth with no warning.”

“I... I understand.” Tabitha said, and she did too. It was clear that Emerald was putting forth a lot of trust to even give the implication that a high exposure person like herself would make an escape from the NYZ. She couldn't blame Emerald, either. The NYZ wasn't exactly the best place to raise a family happily. But it also didn't change the fact a lot of people would get up in arms about her disappearing...

“That isn't to say...” Emerald paused a moment in her leaping. “That isn't to say we can't talk. I'll get a Skype account. It isn't meeting in person, but I could introduce you to Twilight with video chat.”

“I'd enjoy that,” Tabitha said with a smile before they were moving again.

It wasn't long before the two of them arrived in an alley connecting to the street Tabitha's home was on.

“You'll remember my Skype?” Tabitha asked.

“I'll never forget it,” Emerald answered, tapping her temple for emphasis.

“Right,” Tabitha nodded before smiling. “I never thought we'd meet again or that it would be like this, but it was nice. Thank you for saving me.”

“Anytime,” Emerald replied before pointing down the alleyway. “I think your aunt expected me a bit sooner than this. She must be worried.”

“Probably...” Tabitha looked down the alley before turning back. “I hope... wow.”

Tabitha looked around the alley before staring up towards the rooftops. Emerald was nowhere to be seen.

“You pulled off the look! You didn't need to impress me with the disappearing act!” Tabitha shouted to the air with a smile before laughing and taking off at a run towards her home.

Up above, hiding amongst the clouds, Emerald parted some of the “ground” beneath her to make a peep hole at Tabitha getting back home safely. She smiled at the sight of Tabitha's aunt rushing out of her house and happily meeting Tabitha in the street with a hug. She stood up on the cloud and stretched out her limbs pointlessly.

'I feel... like I put another bit of my past behind me and tied up a loose end,' Emerald thought with a satisfied sigh. 'I feel good.Really good. Yeah... I think I can retire the whole cape and cowl hobby.Moment of truth is damn close and I have to do things like gather back up the Element of Magic and prep for trying to bust open the portal. Time to head home.'

With that, Emerald crept into a shadow and teleported away.

Mere minutes later found the virus going up the elevator in her apartment complex and arriving at her floor, walking down the hall and coming to her door. She grasped the knob for a moment to let the runic security array read her, then opened the door.

Emerald entered the apartment with a smile on her face, but when she got into the kitchen she literally could feel the tension in the air and her smile faded quite a bit. Looking around, she saw Sunset Shimmer with a sullen look in the living room watching TV, with Twilight watching as well but pointedly in the kitchen.

“Okay,” Emerald said, looking between the two of them. “What's going on now?”

“Sunset is trying to make a mountain out of a molehill, but I'm not allowing it,” Twilight answered with an almost haughty expression. “I've learned my lesson about such things.”

“Wha- but you- you jus- GRRR!” Sunset flustered out a response in incredulous anger before just outright growling in irritation.

“Well make sure not to go too far in the other direction and make an abyss out of a divot,” Emerald said to Twilight.

“I won't,” Twilight replied with nod and a determined expression.

“Right, I've had a really good day so I'm actually going to bed early for once,” Emerald said and stretched before heading down the hall to the bedroom. “So good night!”

“Night,” Twilight said and waited until she heard the bedroom door close behind Emerald before reaching out with her magic. While her magical skills were nowhere near back to where she had them back in Equestria, she could easily manage manipulating Emerald's runic network for their apartment. Accessing the noise muffling function of the network, she amplified it a little around the bedroom.

“I can't believe you are just going to try to ignore what happened earlier!” Sunset said, turning around in her seat to properly face Twilight. “I mean come on! It very clearly bothers you! You told me about how much that girl hates Emerald. You should have told Emerald about what happened.”

“No,” Twilight replied firmly. “I've learned my lesson about stuff like this. I'm not going to let it bother me.”

“But it does bother you,” Sunset pointed out but Twilight simply remained silent and pointedly kept her gaze on the television.

Sunset Shimmer huffed loudly for a moment before turning around. Honestly, Twilight and Emerald's relationship issues weren't any of her business, however Emerald was possibly their only real hope of getting back home and she didn't want anything petty to end up making them stuck in this world for another month before the next attempt. Thus, Sunset decided then and there she would give Twilight until some point tomorrow get everything cleared up until Sunset took things into her own hands and tell Emerald herself.

BETA

“This sentence is false! Don't think about it, don't think about it, don't think about it...”

“Ummm... true, I'll go true. Huh, that was easy. I'll be honest, I might have read that one before though, sort of cheating.”

“It's a PARADOX! There is no answer!”

Twilight sat beside Emerald as she played a game, one that - from what Twilight learned - Emerald had fully played through a few times before. While she was watching Emerald play, she was merely letting the game wash over her, her mind elsewhere at the moment and deeply so.

'There is more to a relationship than physical attraction,' Twilight thought to herself, crossing a leg. 'I mean, what we've had before was just as fulfilling if not as... intimate. We've kissed before and hugged one another and went to sleep in the same bed... though the kisses weren't as intense, the hugs not as close and the sleeping...'

Twilight's foot from her crossed leg began to bounce anxiously in the air as she continued her internal debate. While Twilight did honestly wish to not cause an issue with something she viewed as something petty, the problem was simply the fact Twilight really did have a problem with the fact Emerald wasn't nearly as attracted to the body she was born in as she was to the one she was currently in. Trying to suppress these feelings and reason with herself that it wasn't a problem wasn't helping at all. In fact it was causing her to become more and more emotionally charged.

'It's not a problem, not a problem at all,' Twilight thought with a deep breath to try to sooth the rising feelings of agitation. 'Like I said, there is more to a relationship than physical attraction and we have that.We have hobbies we enjoy doing together, we have the same friends, we honestly liked each other as friends so we have that as the foundation. So what if we've never been intimate with one another back then or the fact Emerald never even hinted at desire for such? We are perfectly fine. Completely fine! No issues at all!'

“Twilight,” Emerald said suddenly, making Twilight a jump a little in her seat.

“Yes Emerald?” Twilight asked after shaking her head clear.

“What's wrong?” Emerald said and paused her game to give Twilight her full attention.

“Whatever do you mean?” Twilight asked in a passable attempt to conceal her emotions outwardly... for a normal person, in any case.

“I can literally feel your anxiety in the air, Twilight,” Emerald replied. “Changeling senses. What's wrong? Is the argument between you and Sunset Shimmer really that bad?”

Before Twilight could give her reply in further attempt to conceal something she thought was petty, Sunset called out from the kitchen.

“That Sophie girl you mentioned came by yesterday,” Sunset said, getting a sharp look from Emerald and one of betrayal from Twilight. “She started talking about how you only like Twilight because she looks like some human girl you knew from before. Twilight's been trying to fool herself this entire time into thinking it isn't bugging her, but it very clearly is.”

“Sunset!” Twilight shouted in protest.

“I gave you all the chances in the world bring it up with Emerald yourself,” Sunset said and got up from the kitchen table. “Now you have no choice but to talk it over. I'm going to go see Jared now.”

There was a long, quiet moment that lasted shortly after the door closed behind Sunset Shimmer. Twilight spent it pointedly staring down at her feet before finally looking at Emerald to see the expression of sincere concern and worry on her face. Twilight felt a rush of guilt fill her stomach and got strong flashbacks to her utterly disastrous attempt to “save” Emerald. Unable to bear the anxiety filling her, she abruptly stood up from the couch and walked towards the kitchen.

“Twilight. Talk to me, please,” Emerald requested gently, following Twilight into the kitchen but not getting too close.

“I just... I didn't want to make a big deal about it!” Twilight replied with a tone of protest that clearly stated she wished this wasn't happening. “So what if I look like the human girl you liked before? So what if you only started to really kiss me after I became human? So what if you never held me before the way you do now?! So what if you never wanted to make love with me until I became human!?!”

“Twilight, please,” Emerald said and stepped closer, arms held out to embrace.

“Just wait!” Twilight half shouted, closing her eyes while rubbing cycles on her temples and facing away from Twilight. Emotions broiled chaotically within her and Twilight realized she had not only failed to utterly not make a big deal of the situation, but what she now knew really did bother her and no amount of objectively viewing the issues as petty made it any better. “Just give me a little space... I need to think...”

“Okay. No problem, Twilight,” came Emerald's calm reply.

“...Emerald wait.” Twilight said with a sigh, already feeling horrible. Even more so since she was now recalling how Cadance said it was important that couples communicate earnestly with one another and she was clearly failing that right now. “Sunset's right, we need to taaaaaal-...”

Mid-sentence, Twilight turned around in place to face Emerald properly only to find that she was utterly gone. Considering she hadn't heard footsteps or the opening of a door, it was clear Emerald had teleported away.

“ARRRRGHHH!” Twilight gave a shout of anger and dismay with herself before plopping down heavily on a chair and bringing her head down audibly onto the tabletop. After spending several moments wallowing in self loathing, she had the feeling of being watched wash over her. Looking up, she was met with the sight of Spike and Navi standing in the hall leading to the bedrooms.

“Fighting again, huh?” Spike asked, wrapping an arm around Navi's shoulders as the little girl looked on the verge of crying.

“No- Maybe- I don't know,” Twilight muttered with a sigh. “All I know is that I'm being stupid by trying to put this off. Emerald and I need to talk.”

“Well Emerald has always come back whenever she leaves,” Spike said while giving an encouraging hug to Navi. “You'll get to have to that talk sooner rather than later.”

“I hope so...”

Outside, a block away, a person stood in an empty room, staring with wide eyes and mouth gaping. They then quickly looked down at the large camera in their hands and quickly pressed some buttons to view what was on it. Once that was done, they looked up to stare again for a moment before forcefully shaking themselves out of it and bringing up a phone.

GAMMA

An aging man with silver-gray hair and wearing a Blackwatch hardsuit sans the helmet entered a luxurious office. This man was Major Shepard, a member of the old guard and currently he was rather angry. The Major threw himself heavily upon his chair and angrily brought up his phone. He quickly speed-dialed a number in his contacts he now wished he hadn't bothered with before bringing the phone up to his ear. He then waited impatiently for a few seconds for the person on the other end to pick.

“I was just about to call you,” Sophie said the instant she answered.

“What the fuck do you think you are doing?!” the Major demanded, clenching a fist tightly in anger. “We we gave you intel and gear pertinent to our investigations so you wouldn't go off half cocked and try to stir shit up! Don't think just because you can shapeshift your movements are invisible to us. We've been seeing you engaging the target several-”

“Hold that thought,” Sophie said lightly, making the man even more enraged, though it stalled slightly when his computer beeped. “I hope you are at a computer right now, because I just finished uploading some rather interesting footage to the network you told me about.”

Shepard ground his teeth audibly but quickly brought up the cloud storage on his computer. There was something distinctly smug about Sophie right at this moment, like she held all the cards. So despite his anger, he found himself rather curious about what she found. He found the video file she uploaded and hit play on it. At first it was nothing, just a zoomed in recording of the outside of an apartment window. However, Emerald and her girlfriend then came into sight. The man remained staring in silence. This wasn't the first video he watched that was seemingly nothing at first until you saw the one important detail, so he remained staring with his gaze firmly fixed until it happened.

The Major leaned back in his chair, no longer angry but not entirely sure what he saw either. He quickly played the video back on the specific part. He stared at the image of one Emerald Gleaner disappearing from sight. He leaned back again and let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He still wasn't sure what he was seeing.

“What am I looking at here?” Shepard asked Sophie calmly.

“Well it could one of two things,” Sophie replied with a noticeably happy tone to her voice. “Either Oskar knows how to turn invisible or he can teleport. Personally I think he can do the latter.”

Both of those sounded like very bad things for a Cursor to have, but the former also seemed more believable.

“Give me your reasoning for why you think it isn't some sort of advanced biological camouflage,” Shepard asked, replaying the video again and again.

“Well... as soon as I was made aware of what had been seen, I sent a fellow over to give a once over of the building with that special handheld scanner you gave me,” Sophie said. “Figured it was worth the risk. Occasionally he got a false positive from accidentally scanning himself, but otherwise, not a single blip in the whole building. So either Oskar had already somehow left without being seen despite the fact we never saw the apartment door open, or he has an alternative means of getting around, AKA teleportation.”

Again, both were rather bad and Shepard was more inclined to think Emerald was capable of the former, simply due to the fact the latter was just such a fantastical ability even in his wide and varied experience serving in Blackwatch. Right now the Major couldn't help his mind beginning to wander as the potential washed over him.

“This explains why it was so hard to keep tabs on Oskar,” Sophie said with an inexplicably excited tone. “We didn't want to tip him off on the fact there were people following him around so we didn't get too close whenever we tried to tail him. That led to him disappearing every time he walked around a corner. If we attempted to keep a closer eye on him, we probably would have seen this happening sooner.Teleportation.”

Major Shepard wasn't really listening to Sophie; he was busy with his thoughts. If he was right and Emerald could only turn invisible, then that alone held massive advantages. When it came to sneaking up on the enemy you had one of three options, cloak your approach with the terrain, make use of camouflage to approach in the open or use a disguise. The last of the three may have been a war crime but in the Major's opinion, idiots who would never step on a battlefield shouldn't attempt to dictate what happened on it. Being able to go completely invisible took out a lot of difficulties in approaching the enemy for a surprise attack. One could possibly set up out in the open in a place where the enemy was utterly at ease and unleash a completely devastating surprise attack.

However if Shepard were to go into the other direction and seriously consider the idea that Emerald really could teleport... why, the potential was as horrifying as it was lucrative. He had to know more.

“Has the target returned to the apartment?” Shepard asked suddenly.

“No he has not,” Sophie answered. “I've got people watching the apartment, ordered to message me as soon as he does.”

“The other girl wasn't surprised by the target's sudden disappearance,” the Major stated. “She knows things. This is too big to ignore. Keep an eye on the apartment and message me the instant you spot the target.”

“What are you going to do?” Sophie asked, intensely curious.

“You'll be kept in the loop,” Shepard assured as he stood up from his desk. “There is no plan just yet, but we are going to act very soon.”

“Looking forward to it,” Sophie replied eagerly.

DELTA

Twilight sat in Jared's kitchen, watching as everyone played games in the living room.

Navi wanted to go play with Sunset and Jared and Spike felt everyone should be together, especially now when Twilight wasn't feeling so well emotionally. Twilight herself appreciated the sentiment and did feel better around others than just being by herself with her own thoughts and emotions. Right now, however, her biggest concern was waiting for Emerald to come back so they could have that dearly needed talk.

So far Twilight was several hours into her waiting with no Emerald in sight. She wasn't worried, however. Emerald always came back, though she wished she would do so sooner rather than later.

So to pass the time, Twilight watched the group in the living room play video games while also switching to reading a book every now and then. Twilight then noticed that Navi started to curiously look back towards the door of the apartment.

“Navi, what's wrong?” Twilight asked.

“There's loads of people in the hallway for some reason.” Navi replied with a little confusion.

“Oh?” Twilight said and looked towards the door herself.

Suddenly a thin object slid out from under the door and Twilight stared directly at it for a moment before her vision went white. The former unicorn had no idea what happened. One moment she was sitting, the next her vision went completely white and all she could hear was a high pitch whine in her eyes and felt like she had gotten struck in the face. She attempted to get up onto her feet but suddenly it was like she was trying to learn how to walk on two legs again. She fell to the floor on her hands and knees and struggled to get up until she felt like something had kicked her hard in the stomach. She flopped over onto her back and then suddenly it was like her every nerve came on fire and she had a full body muscle cramp.

The only thing she could do was scream before it all went mercifully black.

Spike, Sunset Shimmer, Navi and Jared hadn't looking towards the door when the flash bang went off, but that only helped a little. Unlike the others, however, Navi wasn't human. Her senses were only overwhelmed for a second, if even that much. With a shake of her head, Navi turned her head around to see half a dozen men wearing casual clothes bust down Jared's door and storm into the room. Two went for Twilight who was in the middle of falling out of her chair and the rest went for the group in the living room.

Three of the men grabbed the back of the couch most of everyone was sitting in and pulled it back, spilling backwards onto the floor while another went for Spike sitting in an arm chair. One of the men quickly bound Navi's hands in a zip tie who simply looked down at it in confusion. Navi was still deeply lost about what exactly was going on when suddenly Twilight screamed. Her head whipped up to see one of the men pulling a shock prod away from Twilight's limp body and suddenly Navi had a realization.

“You're all bad guys!” Navi shouted with a point and started angrily hopping in place. “You dirty- I'm gonna beat you all up!”

The man who had zip tied her looked at her in annoyance and pulled a hand back to smack her when Navi reared her fist back and snapped the zip tie effortlessly in one motion. He had enough time for his eyes to widen in realization when Navi's little fist struck his stomach.

Navi recalled her magical lessons from Emerald perfectly, so just before her blow landed she undid the lightening spell on her body briefly, allowing her true weight to take presence. Instead of the weight of a little girl's arm, Navi's punch landed with several hundred pounds of condensed mass behind it. There was a crunch and a loud, disgusting sounding retch from the man as he was sent flying across the room, spewing vomit and blood as he did.

“Shit!” one of the men shouted in shock. “CURSOR!”

“Hiyah!” Navi darted forward and gave a sweep kick through the air at the next man's knees, shattering the bones there and nearly tearing everything below the knees right off. The man fell to the ground with a scream and Navi used his chest as a launching point to give a jump kick to the next man.

“Yah!” Navi's foot impacted the chest of her next target who was in the middle of fully drawing his shock prod. There was a crack of bones breaking and shattering as he was sent flying across the room and nearly hit the other man by Spike before smashing into the wall and leaving a large dent.

The man by Spike had his shock prod fully out and activated it. Tiny arcs of electricity leapt about the prongs of the prod and swung at Navi the instant she made to approach him. The prod impacted, but nothing seemed to happen and the prod gave a warning tone of low battery power a near instant after it landed. Navi reached up and grabbed hold of one of his arms. The moment her hands came close enough, however, little arcs of electricity leapt from her hands to the man. The man screamed and spasmed in place as Navi grabbed his arm and swung him over her shoulder, sending him not only flying across the room but through a window.

“Yeah!” Navi cheered with a hop and raise of a victorious fist. “Birdy lion power!”

Navi then quickly stood protectively in front of the others with her fists up and at the ready, facing down the final two men.

“Shoot her!” shouted one of them and they both quickly whipped out large pistols.

Bullets went flying and a few sunk into Navi's midsection. At fist she was content to ignore it, but suddenly she felt a wave of nausea issue forth from the points of impact in her stomach. She gave a gasp and fell forward onto her hands and knees as the feeling only grew in intensity.

“Keep shooting!”

Suddenly Sunset, from the spot on the ground where she had remained still all this time, reached out both hands at the two remaining men. A ball of cyan light quickly gathered and grew exponentially. When it rapidly reached the size of a basketball in a split second, it exploded with a blinding light.

The following hail of bullets went wildly off their mark as their shooters were effectively blinded. However this meant little as yet more men were now in the middle of entering the apartment as well.

“Navi, get us out of here!” Spike shouted.

Despite her horribly aching stomach, Navi obeyed and concentrated as the small wave of men rushed towards them. Before any of them could be grabbed, they suddenly disappeared in a flash of pink light.

The men in the room paused for an instant before rushing forward and waving their hands through the air where the group had just previously occupied. Once that was done, one of them quickly brought a hand to one of their eyes.

“Command, this is squad,” he said loudly. “Teleportation is confirmed! Targets have escaped!”

“Squad, we have confirmed on our end as well,” came the calm reply. “Spotters just witnessed the targets appear in the apartment. Apprehend at all costs.”

“Roger that, Command. Squad out!” the clear leader of the squad said before pointing to the two remaining members of the breaching party. “You two! Secure that one! The rest of you are with me, GO GO GO!”

The six men quickly dashed out of the room, pistols held at the ready. People leaving their apartments to investigate shouted and screamed in alarm before quickly darting back into their rooms at the appearance of the armed men. One man quickly got into position in front of the apartment door and attempted to shoulder bash it down. The instant he attempted to do so, however, he was sent flying back into the wall opposite the door. The still standing men briefly looked amongst themselves. Even for a reinforced door, attempting to bash it down wouldn't have that kind of response.

“Grab the breaching charges,” the squad leader commanded as he got into position near the door. “We need in there now.”

One man quickly made for a duffle bag near the door to Jared's apartment and quickly opened it. He pulled out a folded up mat looking thing and quickly made for the door. Unfolding it, he then quickly stuck it to the door and pulled out what was clearly the detonation trigger. He took position on one side of the door and waited a moment before pressing the switch.

The breaching charge exploded and instantly met a nigh impervious barrier. The energy and little bits of shrapnel facing a unyielding wall went the only other directions they could.

Short lived shouts and curses filled the air along with the explosion as the door breacher backfired and sent shrapnel flying at the men. Instantly, most of the squad was on the ground. One was dead and two were wounded with the remaining being the squad leader and one other man.

With a curse on his breath, the squad leader reached up towards his ear to use his radio when he was interrupted. A loud hum suddenly filled the air and the two remaining men looked towards the apartment walls and door. Runic symbols appeared, brightly glowing white. The first appeared on the door but quickly spread to the walls. Intricate designs utterly filled the empty spaces on the walls as the humming only grew and grew in volume.

There was a point when the runic protections set by Emerald stopped being passively protective and started actively retaliating. The explosive attempt to gain entrance into the apartment crossed that line.

Back inside, everyone listened intently as a low boom filled and the air and the humming started to die down, though the runic protection remained visible.

“It's okay, the runes are on full alert now.” Sunset sighed after briefly integrating magically with the runic circuits. She didn't have “admin” privileges like Twilight, but she could at least get a status report. “We're safe now.”

“Great...” Spike said and crouched down by Navi. “Navi, are you okay?”

“Uncle...” Navi moaned with tears in her eyes. “My tummy hurts...”

“Jared, are you okay to- Jared?! No! Oh dear Celestia, no!” Spike heard Sunset's voice rapidly shift to alarm and fear and looked back towards the prone man on the ground.

Jared was most definitely, unarguably dead. He lied limply on the ground with blood pooling beneath him leaking from a grizzly bullet crater near the top of his head. The look of pain and confusion etched upon his face in his final moments showed he had no clear idea of what was happening before it was all over.

“No no no no no no, why?!?” Spike turned away, fighting the retch and thinking that his face probably looked as green as his hair.

'Emerald, where in the world are you?' Spike thought and that thought of Emerald suddenly made him look around as he realized that someone was missing.

“Where's Twilight?!”

EPSILON

Trisha wasn't able to hide her nervousness as well as Jacob did.

The last week or so had been worrying. Normally Sophie demanded reports and details about all their interactions with Emerald, always hoping to find that little nugget of information she needed to prove to everyone Emerald was too dangerous to let be. This also had the side effect of keeping Trisha and Jacob in the know about a lot of Sophie's activities, something Trisha used to her advantage to keep Gabriel in the know as well.

However, Sophie's behaviour just suddenly changed out of the blue one day. Suddenly she was no longer as interested in Trisha and Jacob's reports. Her lack of interest got to the point where she simply outright told the two of them just report in when they had something they felt was important. This ultimately meant that Trisha and Jacob couldn't really come around Sophie's headquarters anymore without something good to report in with. It wasn't exactly a social club as the only people who really stuck around for pleasure were the ones living there. So Trisha and Jacob could hardly just hang around to see what Sophie was up to without looking suspicious. So Trisha and Jacob were practically hung out to dry wondering what could have happened to make Sophie act this way. As much as Trisha wanted to believe that Sophie was realizing that Emerald wasn't secretly evil, she knew it would take quite the event for Sophie to overcome so much pain and anger.

Currently they were all standing around in a small factory stockyard partially filled with rusting stacks of steel. Sophie had made a call to everyone ordering them to come in and that it was an emergency. When they all arrived, Sophie had ordered them to clear out a wide area in the middle of the yard and then await the arrival of some people.

Trisha shifted nervously on a bit of steel that somehow had yet to rust and glanced over at Jacob. He looked as at ease with things as always, leaning against a brick wall with arms crossed but Trisha knew better. She could see the way he wasn't as relaxed and loose as he normally was. Instead his stance was stiff and his muscles tense. He knew as well as her that something was up.

Jacob caught her looking and subtly shifted his eyes in a specific direction. Trisha looked and saw Sophie standing in the very center of the yard. She was completely different. She normally had this undercurrent of anger and frustration at all times. It was something constant to Sophie's character that Trisha had gotten used to. Even when the girl was out drinking and having fun, you couldn't help but feel she was relaxing in spite of herself and had to force it most times. However, right now there was a grin that Sophie had to fight to hide and a giddy eagerness to her stance that had her practically bouncing in impatience.

It was quite the sight and Trisha couldn't help but feel that something terrible was going on.

“Here they are,” Sophie said suddenly and turned towards the entrance the yard. “Finally. Get ready to open those doors!”

Trisha heard the sound of a car engine getting close as two Cursors quickly darted over to the gates and stood at the ready to open it. After a minute, the doors opened and in drove a minivan. It wasn't a new model by any means and definitely looked to have quite a few miles on it. It was such a run of the mill sight that unless Trisha had been looking specifically for this kind of vehicle she would have easily ignored the sight. Looking at it now and taking in some details, she did note some things were off about it. The tires looked a bit too new compared to the rest of the vehicle and the windows possibly a bit too tinted.

The doors closed behind the minivan and no one moved. The people in the van didn't make a move to get out and Sophie didn't say anything else save for looking impatiently at her watch. Suddenly the sound of quite a few helicopter rotors filled the air. Everyone looked up to see Blackwatch choppers rising to the air in a near dozen.

“Finally, finally,” Sophie said eagerly with a toothy grin.

“What's going on?” Trisha asked with a frown.

“Oh, just a nice distraction our friends here did to hide movement,” Sophie answered absently as the doors to the minivan finally opened.

Out of the minivan came four Blackwatch soldiers in full combat gear. The lead one was holding a hand to the side of his helmet as he walked over to the center of the yard and another leaned back in the van to pull something out.

If she had a physical heart Trisha would have honestly felt it stop for a moment at seeing a Blackwatch soldier hoist an unconscious Twilight over his shoulders and carry her over into the yard. She quickly glanced over to Jacob who was now outright frowning at the sight.

“Wha-what is this?” Trisha said in clear alarm towards Sophie.

“Just the results of my own private investigations,” Sophie answered smugly. “Oskar finally slipped up and it only took me egging him on from the shadows to do it. Soooo very worth it. Oh don't look like that, that girl knew what she was getting into dating a monster like that.”

Trisha just gaped and stared, completely frozen and disbelieving that Sophie would actually go this far. She watched as one of the choppers overhead suddenly dove down towards them and touched down in the yard. Most of the Blackwatch soldiers loaded up into the chopper but one remained behind to quickly jump back into the van and drive it away. Within moments the chopper was back in the air amid the veritable cloud of other choppers. Finally she snapped out of it. She took one look at Sophie and the other Cursors around her and made a snap decision.

Sophie quickly turned her head to look as she heard the sound of someone running. She saw Trisha in a sprint and leaping into the air, Jacob barely a few steps behind her. It didn't take long for the other Cursors to realize Trisha was going to betray them with the way she suddenly ran for it. They started to make chase, when...

“Stop!” Sophie shouted with a raised hand. “It doesn't matter now, let them go. If anything, this makes the next step of the plan that much easier.”

“What do you mean?” one of the Cursors asked.

“It seems I underestimated the kind of people Trisha was willing to become friends with, but like I said it hardly matters now,” Sophie said with a shrug. “She's going to head straight for Oskar, I know it. And when she does, Oskar will come straight to us and then, finally, there will be justice.”

The Cursors looked amongst themselves, the clearly giddy bloodthirst on Sophie's expression suddenly making them doubt their purpose here. However, it was quickly shaken off after a moment. They were all like Sophie in a way. Grieving and hurting in the absence of loved ones lost to the outbreaks. But even so, many couldn't help but feel they all handled that loss a lot better then Sophie did...

ZETA

'Why did I have to make the hiding place for the Element of Magic so damn far away,' Emerald thought in irritation as she kicked over some red rocks, exposing the hidden Element. 'Oh yeah, because I’m unreasonably paranoid, that's why.'

Picking up the glittering magical tiara, Emerald looked up and took in her surroundings. The place she was standing on was so high up that she could see stars very clearly despite it being noon where she was and the sun shining high in the sky. Looking down, she took in a massive, gradual slope leading to vast, endless plains and deserts of red and orange along with distant mountain ranges. So high was her altitude that the curvature of the horizon became blindingly obvious.

'Still though, the view is worth it.' Emerald smiled as she took in said sight. 'And even though most other people won't know it, I can say to myself that I was the first person to set foot on Mars.'

Yes, the Evolved was on the distant red planet, fourth world orbiting Sol. Honestly she could have very easily hid the Element on the moon and it would have been just as safe. However, she had been utterly curious if she could actually make it there and back without rest and the allure of setting foot on the famed planet was too much.

It had taken her hundreds of the longest teleports she was comfortable making and hours long but the result was the knowledge she could make it from to Mars and back without stopping. Though she honestly did feel a bit winded afterwards, magically speaking. And being able to go anywhere pretty much instantly had definitely spoiled her, leaving her really annoyed with the trip taking hours and hours, despite knowing she was making an interplanetary trip under her own power.

'Well, enough wasting time,' Emerald thought, clapping her hands together. 'I have to get home now and it is a bit of a trip so I might as well get started.'

With that Emerald teleported, instantly leaving the surface of Mars and entering the far reaches of its orbit. In the emptiness of space Emerald was without a good many traditional means of quickly ascertaining her exact location in relation to her surroundings. Her primary means of calculating her position and her next teleport was mostly “eyeballing” Earth and the other celestial bodies as well as a few constellations and recognizable stars. Despite this, she couldn't help but feel a little disoriented after every port and be forced to spend a few moments regaining some semblance of her bearings. It didn't help that she couldn't help but feel like she was stuck in the void not actually getting closer to anywhere.

'Screw this,' she thought with a grimace as she teleported again. 'Next time I do space travel, I'm making a ship to walk around on and do the teleporting for me. This is just a really confusing combination of terrifying and boring.'

Despite the primal fears assailing her, eventually Emerald got into a kind of repetitive tedium of teleporting, finding her coordinates and teleporting again. She was left with nothing but her absent thoughts to pass the time as she steadily made her way back to Earth and the others. When Twilight said she had wanted some space, Emerald decided it was best to give her a few hours for her to regain her equilibrium. She had taken the opportunity to make the trip to Mars to go get the Element of Magic where she had hidden it. The trip took her several hours no matter what, so she figured Twilight would have centered herself enough for a talk that they very clearly needed.

'God damn it, Sophie.If it weren't for the fact we'll be leaving in just two days I'd track you down to give you a beating for that,' Emerald thought in anger. 'You can bother me all you want, but leave Twilight out of this. I honestly find myself liking Tabitha but it's hardly anything other than friendliness. Maybe if I tried to introduce Twilight to Tabitha straight away this morning instead of saving it for later in the afternoon it would have headed things off.'

'Oh well, can't do anything about it now,' Emerald thought with an inward sigh as she teleported again. 'Just got to get home now. Still though, Twilight does have a point.It isn't exactly fair that I only start showing her a lot of affection after she became human. But... I can't really help either, I find her pony form really cute and all but I know that's hardly the same as how I see her in human form. What do I do?This isn't exactly something I can force, can’t I?'

Emerald had no answers for herself and ended up spending the rest of the trip unable to really think about anything else. As she came closer to Earth, however, she began feeling something off and... wrong, so very wrong. A few teleports away from proper orbit with Earth, she began to feel like the others were in danger. She could feel something was very wrong, yet at the same time knew it was certain without proof. Remembering the last time she found herself filled with strange certainty and acting without really thinking, Emerald found herself holding herself back from rushing. But it was when she was four teleports away that all reluctance faded.

“MAMA! HELP!” Navi cried in pain, her voice echoing in Emerald's mind.

Emerald's eyes widened and she made a one final teleport that gave off such an intense flash of light it would have easily been visible to anyone looking that way with a telescope. She arrived back at the apartment an instant later and took one look around to see that yes, it was true, things were very wrong.

“Mama!” Navi cried happily and attempted to get up on her feet only to give a cry of pain and go back to curling up on the ground.

“Emerald!” Spike said with clear relief on his face.

“What happened?” Emerald said as she quickly got to Navi's side.

“We were visiting Jared, all of us, when a whole bunch of guys bashed the door down and attacked us!” Spike explained quickly. “Navi beat up a lot of them but they shot her with guns, Sunset hit them with a spell and Navi got us back here with a teleport.”

“You okay there, cuddlebug?” Emerald asked Navi softly as she reached into her with a tendril.

“My stomach hurts, Mama,” Navi said with tears in her eyes. She felt Emerald's tendrils prod at her for entrance and she willed her flesh to part and allow the tendrils access wherever they wished.

“Polonium rounds,” Emerald commented as she quickly gathered up the bullets in Navi's body. “Radiation can be really nasty. I'll show you how to fix yourself later, but you should be good now.”

“Thank you, Mama!” Navi cried out happily as she sat up and immediately gave Emerald a tight hug, no longer feeling any pain after Emerald extracted the bullets and removed the radiated flesh. “I tried to protect everyone, Mama, but I...”

“It's okay, Navi,” Emerald returned the hug with a kiss atop the little virus' head. “You did all you could.”

“Emerald!”

Emerald looked up to see Sunset Shimmer on her knees next to a body with its head covered by a towel. The Evolved was quick to note the blood stains on the floor and the crimson stains on the towel itself. She gently pulled herself free of Navi's hug and went over to Sunset Shimmer.

“Is that who I think it is?” Emerald asked solemnly as she went down onto a knee.

“Jared... he was hit by a stray bullet...” Sunset explained and quickly looked away when Emerald lifted the towel to examine the wound herself. “Jus-Just please tell me you can heal him! You fixed my back! You must be able to do something.”

“Solid hit in the brain...” Emerald said softly and lowered the towel back onto the head, the action causing hope to rapidly drain in Sunset Shimmer. “If he had been hit literally anywhere else I might, might have been able to do something, but... I'm sorry Sunset, he's not coming back.”

“...” Sunset Shimmer covered her face with her hands and went silent for moment before releasing a loud, wordless scream.

Emerald closed her eyes and sighed; her changeling senses were a bit of a downside here. She could feel all the raw emotions filling the air, flooding out of Sunset in a chaotic furor. Anger, grief, despair, hatred. It was quite the mix and for her changeling senses it was like the equivalent of mixing together a dozen food types that had no business being together. Very unpleasant to say the least.

Emerald easily pushed that aside. It hadn't escaped her notice that Twilight wasn't in the room and now that the imminent issues were handled she wanted answers.

“Where's Twilight?” Emerald asked, turning her head back towards Spike.

“She's gone!” Spike answered and Navi immediately burst into bawling tears. “We accidentally left her behind when we teleported. When Sunset went to go check after everything quieted down she was just gone!”

“I-I-I-I le-left Papa behind!” Navi sobbed. “A-and the b-bad guys took her!”

“I will get her back,” Emerald said, reaching over and placing her hand atop Navi's head briefly before standing back up.

Emerald had known something bad had happened but this confirmation caused a burst of worry and fear in her before it was overcome by sheer rage. Rage so intense it should have blinded her, but yet... she found her focus clear and her thoughts unmuddled despite the maelstrom of fury broiling inside of her. If anything, her rage was like a whetstone for the focus she now had.

“Sunset,” Emerald said, turning back to the girl who still looked the image of grief.

“... What?” Sunset said after a moment and uncovered her face only to be met with the Element of Magic. “Wha-”

“Take it” Emerald stated with hand held out.

“But I-” Sunset protested only to be silenced when Emerald just went ahead and placed it on her head. She froze almost out of fear for moment before looking back at Emerald in confusion.

“The runes should keep you safe,” Emerald simply said and stood up fully. “But if the worst comes, you'll need that to protect yourself and them.”

“I... okay,” Sunset Shimmer said and turned her downcast eyes towards Jared's corpse. “Just... get back quick, okay?”

“I'll be back with Twilight before sunrise,” Emerald said with certainty and walked towards the door. “Open this door for no one.”

Emerald opened the door and closed it behind her. She kept her hand on the doorknob for a moment and sent a large amount of magic into the runic protections, powering them up greatly. She looked down at the bodies on the ground. About half of them were dead while the other half were simply in a magically induced coma. The same could be said of everyone else on the floor and floors directly above and below. The men hadn't actually completely set off the runic defenses. Sure it was on retaliation mode, but there was a mode above that. Though that one pretty much required the destruction of the complex.

The virus bent down and briefly pressed a finger to the temples of each unconscious man. Each man in turn briefly spasmed in place at her touch before going back to being still. They were still alive but now rendered into a vegetative state. This was the result of Emerald's mind magic. She was quite capable of keeping someone from becoming brain dead due to her reading their mind. But being gentle took a few seconds while simply taking the information without regard for her victim took only an instant.

Emerald crossed her arms and closed her eyes in thought. Each of the men were Blackwatch soldiers, but working for the Old Guard faction within the former Black Ops organization. However they all were Third Generation Blackwatch and simply shared the belief with the Old Guard that the Cursors were too dangerous to exist. This fact was used to the Old Guard's advantage for purposes of information blackout. The only thing these men knew was their targets, that the recovery vehicle would be outside and the potential ability of one of confirmed hostiles in their mission, namely teleportation.

She should have been very concerned that the likes of the Old Guard had even the smallest inkling of her true capability, but she wasn't. Her only concern as of right now was tracking down Twilight, which was likely not going to be simple.

Emerald was about to track Twilight using her scent when suddenly there was the sound of a window shattering. She turned around in time to see a door come flying off its frame. A moment later, Trisha came running out the door.

“EMERALD!” Trisha shouted the instant she saw Emerald and quickly ran over to her. “Twilight was kidnapped!”

“I'm fully aware, Trisha,” Emerald answered simply. “I am about to track her down and those responsible.”

“I know the spot she was taken to, but-” Trisha began only to be interrupted by Emerald whipping her hand out and firmly grasping the top of her head.

“Show me,” Emerald all but commanded.

“Wha- Emerald, what?” Trisha sputtered in confusion.

“Holy shit!” Jacob said as he entered the hallway himself. Unlike Trisha, the first thing he noticed was the wall covered in glowing symbols. “The hell is this?!”

Emerald fully intended to just see the most recent memories and nothing else, however when she saw Trisha's memories and how she and Jacob were just with Sophie without a single issue, she had to see why that was so. Emerald found herself rapidly going over Trisha's memories over the last month and while she found herself feeling disappointed, at the same time she fully understood.

“I don't blame you and Jacob for spying on me, Trisha,” Emerald said and pulled her hand away.

“Woah!” Jacob started, finally looking over towards Emerald. “I didn't know we were going to make a full confession like that. I mean it's not like it's a great time and all for it...”

“No, I-I didn't!” Trisha sputtered in wide eyed confusion. “Emerald, how-why?!”

“A lot of people are going to be asking that question in the future,” Emerald said and teleported away, leaving the two gaping in the hallway.

Emerald arrived in a location very near to the yard Twilight had been taken to. She had teleported out in the open up on a rooftop; there was no longer a point to hiding. Emerald crouched down briefly before shooting up into the air in a large leap and landed down on the ground with a thump.

“There you are!” Sophie said with a smile from where she was sitting on some rusting steel.

Emerald stood up and looked around. She was in the factory yard Trisha had just left. She was standing roughly in the center of the yard. All around her standing in a rough circle were fifteen Cursors, including Sophie.

“Hello Sophie,” Emerald said blandly.

“Hi!” Sophie said with a smile and quick wave. “You were pretty quick to respond, but not quick enough unfortunately. But if you were just ten whole minutes quicker you probably would have managed to get here just as she was being loaded into the chopper.

“Which brings up the question of how or why you were even late in the first place,” Sophie said as she stood up and took a few steps closer to Emerald, something the other Cursors did as well. “I mean you can teleport. Why weren't you just on us the instant they took Twilight? You always have a phone on you. Can it be that you can only do it so often? Or maybe... just maybe I misjudged you and you only bothered to try to rescue her only now.”

“Sophie, I am already angry,” Emerald stated with utter certainty. “What you are doing is just a drop in the ocean.”

“...Fuck it then,” Sophie said with an instant scowl, throwing her hands up in the air. “Blackwatch wants you alive to find out how your tricks work so I can't kill you. Not yet, anyway. I figure giving them the largest, still living chunk after we are through will be enough. So for old time's sake, if nothing else, could you do me a big favour and try to struggle this time? You laying back and taking it like a bitch last time took all the fun out of it.”

“I'm not going to struggle,” Emerald answered, crossing her arms and closing her eyes. “That implies this is going to require effort on my part.”

“You live with a bunch of hicks for a few years and suddenly you think you're Superman!” Sophie snarled in frustration. “TEAR HIM TO PIECES!!!”

The Cursors surrounding Emerald charged, forming various viral weapons like claws, blades or whitfists with Sophie being the sole one using hammerfists. As they closed in, Emerald opened her eyes and took in the sight of them charging her, weapons bared.

'To think only three years ago we were equals in power,' Emerald thought as the Cursors moved sluggishly in her sight. 'I'm not going to humour you.'

With a few cracks of her neck, Emerald moved. Suddenly she was in the face of one clawed Cursor who only had time to widen her eyes when Emerald gave a single slash and she fell to pieces. Emerald bounded away and drove her fists into the stomachs of two Evolved. She impaled them with the ease of sticking fruit on a razor sharp blade. She telekinetically pushed them off her fists and grabbed the two by their legs before swinging them into two other Cursors like flails.

She moved again. By now the Cursors were reacting thanks to their own superhuman reaction times and speed. Shifting a blade, she slashed through the blade of one Cursor and bisected him with the width of the slash being big enough to behead another Cursor near him. Emerald darted over and gave him an axe kick, smashing his head into his body and then his body into the ground.

Emerald quickly whipped her hand towards another Cursor and dozens of tendrils shot out and impaled the Cursor in many places. The tendrils rapidly then pulled and ripped the other Cursor to shreds before mashing the body parts against one another. She then used the ball of gore she created as an impromptu wrecking ball against another Cursor.

The Cursors were definitely reacting now and attempting to pull back as their numbers dropped rapidly like flies. Emerald didn't let them and continued the offensive. She darted forward and boxed the ears of an Evolved so hard her head utterly collapsed in on itself. She then twirled onto the next Cursor and unleashed a hail of punches that pulverized the entirety of his front. Emerald then shifted one arm into a hammerfist and swung it into another Evolved, completely obliterating his upper body and continued the momentum into another Evolved.

Without looking, Emerald then firmly shoved her elbow backwards, smashing it into the Cursor directly behind her who tried to be clever. She shifted a blade onto said arm but backwards. She angled her arm and gutted him before rapidly shifting the blade the right way around and bisecting him with a spin, turning two pieces into four.

Finally, with a short hop, Emerald returned herself to the spot she had arrived in and silence reigned.

The various Cursors lied on the ground staring at Emerald in shock while others worked to regain human shape after being mashed or torn to pieces. The only Cursor left standing was Sophie who stood frozen in place staring at Emerald. For her part, Emerald simply waited until the other Cursors were almost fully in one piece before acting once more.

Emerald lifted a hand into the air sharply and every Cursor save Sophie suddenly floated up into midair. She gave a pushing motion in front of her and every Evolved flew through the air and then crashed together midair in a tangle of limbs, but that wasn't the end of it. Following the Evolved were also the many, many rusting pieces of steel lying about the yard. They crashed together over the Cursors with a mighty clanging before glowing briefly. When the glow ended, there was a great ball of polished steel floating in midair. Emerald let go of it magically and instantly lashed out with a kick that sent the ball flying into the abandoned factory and shaking the ground with its impact within.

Sophie continued standing still, staring near uncomprehending what was going on. Suddenly the utter befuddlement left her features and in its place was total rage and defiance. With a roar, Sophie continued her charge at Emerald’s exposed back and cocked back a hammerfist. She swung it forward but met nothing but empty air.

Emerald didn't teleport out of the way of Sophie's blow, she didn't need to. She just bent over and then back stepped around her; she was simply that slow. Facing Sophie's own exposed back, Emerald reared back her own fist which began to glow and crackle with charging magic.

'Wind, come to me,' Emerald thought.

Sophie turned herself just fast enough to see Emerald's fist flying at her at impossible speeds. She widened her eyes, unable to act or do anything to protect herself in time. The fist came to a stop a mere inch from Sophie's face, but that didn't mean it didn't do anything.

The instant Emerald's fist came to a stop, winds beyond hurricane strength kicked up around Sophie. Bits of steel still remaining in the air instantly took flight like they were two-by-fours instead. The building of brick and steel behind her groaned and shook visibly under the abuse brought on by the intensely buffeting winds before simply collapsing inwards. And after a mere moment it was all over.

Sophie stood, blankly staring at Emerald's fist before her as the dust around them began to settle. Emerald simply brought her hand down back to her side and took one step back. Sophie began to breath loudly before falling onto her hands and knees and beginning to pant like she couldn't breath. Finally, after a long moment of nothing but her panting for breath, she pushed herself onto her knees and looked up blankly at Emerald, very much the image of a prisoner awaiting execution.

Emerald simply stared down at her as the light of the setting sun turned the sky yellow and orange.

ETA

“What about her?” a voice asked eagerly. “She looks pretty.You know, for a pony.”

“Stop that!” Taleena thought furiously as she struggled to give the passing crystal pony a polite smile. “I am NOT interested in females, let alonepony females!”

“Well you never know until you try!” exclaimed another voice. “I heard that Twilight Sparkle didn't show any inclinations towards females either, yet she is in a relationship with one now!”

“Just go and give it a try, darling,” encouraged a female voice. “It'll quiet them down a bit and besides, I honestly want to see what's so special about dating someone of the same gender.”

“Not you too!” Taleena thought with a despairing shout.

Taleena, Warlock of the Eldeer and chosen representative sent to Equestria was not having a great time. Taleena of course had prepared herself mentally for many indignities and struggles she'd have to endure in this land for the sake of her mission. She endured treating the ponies like a friendly acquaintance and that their hospitality was more then sufficient. She endured the back pain she gained the first night from the so called beds in this land, along with the absolutely budget lodgings she had been “gifted”. And most of all she had to endure treating Princess Celestia of all people as a newly made friend.

Yes, she had prepared herself for a great many indignities she would suffer but the last thing - the absolute last thing - she expected would be the utterly mortifying things she had to hear every single day from her own Noble Elders.

“Most N-Noble and respected Elders, please, I implore you to be decent!” Taleena said, firmly refusing to speak a single rude word to the voices.

“Now now, Taleena, listen to your Elders!” said the first voice with a tut. “A doe your age really shouldn't be this inexperienced in matters of life. You're how many centuries without experiencing your first love?”

“I do believe it was three hundred and sixty six, since the the day she was born,” replied the second voice.

“Exactly!” continued the first voice with a shout. “Why, you should have loved and been loved a dozen times over by now! When I was your age...”

“Errrrggggh!” Taleena groaned aloud and quickly looked around the halls of the Crystal Palace to ensure no one overheard that slip.

“Just bear with them dear, it gets quite boring in these gems at times,” said the sole female voice.

“Yes, Respected Elder,” Taleena replied with a barely muffled sigh.

The Noble Elders, or rather the long dead souls of Deer of significant power and importance from ages past. The Eldeer practised a form of necromancy that relied on the willingness of the soul to allow itself to be bound into gems after death, specifically specially refined amber. Rare was the Eldeer that passed beyond the veil of death and wasn't bound to a gem. Even the commoners of the Eldeer Conclaves were bound after death, but it was only the soul stones that carried the souls of powerful Eldeer Warlocks that could be used to power artifacts of incredible might and ability.

Every Eldeer who chose to become a Warlock preemptively bound their soul to a soul stone. This one act effectively turned the Warlock immortal, but it was by the souls of powerful Eldeer that drove their society forward. Thus while Warlocks could be expected to live up to a thousand years of age, they were expected to do their duty and commit Ritual Suicide at some point in their long lives, so their own Souls could be put to use by the next generations of Eldeer.

Thus Taleena's gear had Soul Stones of powerful Warlocks embedded in them. One in her helm, one in her chest piece beneath her robes and one in the spear always on her person but shrunk down and hidden out of sight. When she had been chosen for this mission she had felt proud and incredibly confident of her own abilities as she was chosen by her city's great leaders. So when she was advised to take only two soul stone enhanced pieces of equipment at the very most, she felt she would be found worthy by three. As it turned out, it wasn't a matter of worthiness but whether one could put up with the various personalities of each stone, as Taleena had been finding out to her growing mortification.

Currently Taleena had been on a diplomatic trip of sorts to the Crystal Empire. While she was loathe to visit the realm of another filthy First Master, it was still a part of her mission to investigate everything involving the Enclave. She had already met with the local princess and prince of the Empire and was currently touring the palace herself. She had been curious about the crystal heart itself since she heard it had a negative reaction towards Emerald, but other than glow softly it had no reaction to her.

'Typical of a pony relic,' Taleena thought dismissively. 'No respect for other species.'

After a moment, Taleena started hearing a noise very march like marching. Curious of the source, she followed the noise until she found herself peering around a corner. What met her sight was the strangest looking Diamond Dogs she had ever seen. If it wasn't for the fact she knew there was no other “civilized” canine species, she would have recognized them as such.

'Now what could this be?' Taleena thought as she watched a column of very tall, upright Diamond Dogs in strange armour marching in unison.

Part of her goal was to get into the Enclave if she could. She was instructed to avoid subterfuge for the time being and attempt so only officially. However, the small, isolationist nation wasn't accepting foreign dignitaries just yet. In fact for the most part all her interactions and news regarding the newborn nation itself came from either Celestia or Luna.

Despite these setbacks, Taleena wasn't at all discouraged. Her people had been very concerned once the Enclave had started making major waves in politics. For centuries the political games of the League had been easy enough to manipulate when it formed. The meagre factions formed and faded within years and the only major factions were held together by simple enough desires, to not starve and to avoid violence as much as possible. Desires that, with the guiding hoof of the Eldeer, throughout the ages were maintained successfully and easily.

However the appearance of the Enclave changed the political map forever. Within a single day much of the Eldeer's subtle influences throughout the League was undone. The carnivores' desire for plenty for once in their existence caused whole slew of nations to throw their support behind the smallest and youngest of them, a sentiment that mixed nations had been almost forced to follow for the sake of their own carnivorous population. The old carnivore faction had gone and in its place was one that had ties that bound its member with the strength of steel. Many other political entities had no clear idea of how to receive the Enclave most of the time, but a great many of them had bought into the international hospital idea that would revive the tragically dead.

Thus the Eldeer's influence had not only faded away but almost entirely replaced by a power that worked openly and was nearing a political stranglehold. Such influence and power could not be trusted to be used wisely by a group so young and new to the ways of the world.

Such was Taleena's mission, to seek a means of either curbing or influencing the upstart power, to ensure the wisdom of the Eldeer won out over youthful ignorance. To maintain the status quo and not the widespread iron dominion of eons past.

'And in the name of our Glory and the Independence of all, I will not fail,' Taleena thought with firm determination.

-TBC-

Author's Note

AN: Right that's the second to last chapter of the book done, only one more chapter left, the finale! A lot is going to happen next chapter, so much!

AN2: Wished Fimfiction bothered to fix their importer rather then I having to meddle with scripts to make it work

Chapter 9: The Fist

Emerald stared down at Sophie with an expression approaching more of tiredness rather than any sort of anger or hatred. Sophie, in turn, stared back with a look of abject defeat, still somewhat panting for breath.

“Do you know where they took Twilight?” Emerald asked and crossed her arms.

“...No, I don't. They gave me a lot of stuff, but information about their base and operations was never on the table,” Sophie replied after a moment, giving a long sigh before averting her eyes downwards.

“How much about me do they actually know?” Emerald didn't doubt for a single moment Sophie was telling the truth. She didn't have it in her anymore to lie.

“They were wondering if you could turn invisible or teleport,” Sophie answered. “That's all they knew. This was all very last second so I doubt they saw what happened here...”

“Hmm...” Emerald went over her thoughts. The Old Guard definitely knew what they were doing. They supplied Sophie but kept her at arm’s length so the event of her death or capture wouldn't give anyone any dangerous leverage. Looking about the area, she caught Twilight's scent but it cut off shortly in the air. Attempting to use the method she used to track Tabitha, Emerald was met only with the broiling emotions filling the air from Sophie.

'Figured that would be the case,' Emerald thought. 'Twilight was unconscious so she wouldn't be giving off emotions and the kinds of soldiers the Old Guard would really rely on wouldn't be feeling anything.'

After another moment, Emerald knew there was nothing else to gain here. She strongly considered killing Sophie here and now, but... looking at Sophie, feeling the negative emotion that was pouring off her in torrents, the virus felt there was no point to killing her.

“Wha-what are you doing?” Sophie said after noticing Emerald turn away from her and begin to walk away. “Don't you dare... come back here! Finish what you started!”

“And what would that be?” Emerald asked, coming to a stop but not looking at Sophie. “You have nothing I need.”

“Who the hell do you think you are?!” Sophie screeched at Emerald, punching the pavement and causing a massive crack. “You think you're some hero for not killing me?! Think sparing me will prove anything?! YOU FUCKING MONSTER! PIECE OF SHIT BABY KILLER!!!”

“...” Emerald gave a deep sigh and looked over her shoulder back at Sophie with an expression of honest remorse. “Sophie... after what I did to you, what could I possibly do to you that could ever make you hurt more than the agony you already feel? Killing you now wouldn't be a punishment; it'd be release. It'd be collapsing into bed after a very hard day. I've got more important places to be, so goodbye Sophie.”

And with that, Emerald teleported away in a small flash of pink.

Sophie stared in silence at the spot where Emerald had stood, rivers of tears streaming down her face. She abruptly gave a scream of hate and pain before punching the ground again and suddenly she broke down in tears. She wrapped her arms around herself before falling over onto her side and curling up, crying bitter tears of grief and defeat.

Up in midair, Emerald considered her options. She could find Twilight so very easily if only she could use her sonar, but that wasn't possible with the jamming network up.

'So obviously, bring the network down,' Emerald thought with a nod and went through her many memories stolen from sleeping Blackwatch personnel. There were two clear ways to bring the entire network down. Either bring down the power grid, something that wasn't exactly easy thanks to backup generators, or issue the master shut down from Blackwatch HQ. Emerald had an idea of how to reliably bring down the power grid that should also include the backup generators, but her chances were far better with just sending down the shut down command.

With a flash of pink light, Emerald disappeared from the air and reappeared an instant later in the Blackwatch command center floor. It was like a hive of activity. Every computer console had technicians manning them and the sound of people talking filled the air. But nearly drowning all that out was Heller's bellowing.

“-I NEED AN UPDATE, NOW! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON OVER AT THAT APAR- The fuck?!” Heller bellowed and interrupted himself when he noticed the flash of light from Emerald's teleport.

“Hello,” Emerald said as dozens of soldiers instantly whipped out their guns. “I'm going to need to borrow your base.”

“You-” Heller begin but was instantly silenced as an aura of magic surrounded him and he was sent flying up into the ceiling. After crashing upwards, he found himself spreadeagled and utterly unable to move in any way. For the soldiers, their guns suddenly ripped themselves out of their grips and started floating in midair aimed at them.

“Now...” Emerald paused briefly to magically conjure up more loaded guns to cover every single person in the room before walking towards one technician specifically. “I know mostly how to turn the sonar Jamming network off from here but I also know I am missing some key steps. Steps which you know.”

“Please don't eat me,” came the woman's instant reply, her calm voice contrasting the obvious rising terror on her face.

“Be still. This shouldn't hurt,” Emerald simply said and reached out to the woman whose eyes somehow widened even further.

Suddenly the main doors to the command center burst open and in charged Dana Mercer followed closely by another woman.

“Heller, I've-” Dana began only to stop when she took in the state of the room. James Heller was stuck to the ceiling, dozens of guns floated in midair at the ready to gun down the people they were sighting, and finally, Emerald Gleaner seemingly threatening one of the technicians at the stations. “...Shit, well… this is still good, in a way. Emerald? I've got some info you'll probably want to hear.”

“You have five seconds,” Emerald simply said, hand still reaching out towards the sitting technician.

“I know where Twilight is,” Dana said simply and managed to not flinch when Emerald snapped her attention fully on her along with every floating gun in the room. She wasn't so successful when Emerald teleported in a flash of light to appear standing before her with arms crossed and an expression of supreme impatience.

“Talk,” Emerald stated simply.

“I've been trying to catch the Old Guard red handed for something and managed to get a spy or two into their faction,” Dana explained. “One of my spies was a helicopter pilot that just finished transporting a small team of Blackwatch soldiers and a unconscious girl to a base on Liberty Island.”

“...” Emerald frowned and began reaching out with a hand, an action that got Heller struggling against his magical bonds mightily. Then she stopped and brought it back down to her side. “I trust you, Dana. Even if you are wrong or lying, I'll just be back in a couple of seconds.”

With that, Emerald waved a hand in the air and all the guns in the room were transmutated into rubber replicas of themselves and she disappeared in a flash. A second later Heller came crashing to the floor with a resounding crash and several loud curses.

“Wow...” Dana said simply, staring at the spot where Emerald had been standing before walking over and waving a hand through the empty air where she had stood. “I'd love to see how the UN would quarantine this.”

“Agent Neveu, could you get in connnnnn...” Dana began and trailed off after looking over her shoulder to see no one at the door. “Ugh, now is definitely not the time to go do your own shit.”

ALPHA

In her unconscious state, Twilight's mind was a confusing slurry of darkness and myriad images from her life melding together nonsensically. That all ended very abruptly when she felt a jolt of sharp hot pain lance through her.

“Gah!” Twilight shouted out and attempted to bolt up into a standing stance, only to fail utterly due to her hands and feet being bound. The first thing she noticed after the fact she was in binds was the fact she was nearly naked, wearing only her underwear.

“Alright, she's awake sir,” Twilight heard and looked up to see that she was in a small room made entirely of dark steel and lit by a large industrial looking light. In front of her stood two men, one wearing a hardsuit save for the helmet and older looking while the other was wearing a simple military uniform. Standing off in the darkness of the corner was another soldier wearing a full hardsuit, standing guard.

“Who are you people?” Twilight asked as she struggled against her bindings. “Are you Blackwatch? Why did you attack us?!”

“I want to know everything she knows about the target,” the older man said, ignoring Twilight.

“How do you want this done?” the younger man asked. “Slow and methodical or fast and messy?”

“I want everything as soon as possible,” the older man stated and walked through the armored door of the cell, the door closing behind him automatically.

“Messy it is,” the uniformed man said with a shrug before turning around and quickly walking over to a small steel table over to the side of the room.

“Look, Emerald is going to know I am gone and she is going to come looking for me,” Twilight said from her spot on the floor as the man took a jug of water, a cloth and a shock prod from the table. “If you let me go, I'll do everything I can to calm her down, and try to stop her from hurting any of you.”

The man in the uniform ignored her and placed the jug of water down nearby with the cloth atop it. He fiddled with his shock prod for a moment until a high pitched whine emitted from the device. He gave a nod before suddenly jabbing it forward at her.

Twilight's vision went white as pain racked her body. She bit back a scream as she spasmed and thrashed on the floor from the electricity flowing through her body. After what seemed like an eternity, it was finally over and she went limp before curling up as best she could and releasing a groan of pain. She opened her eyes a crack just in time to see the prod thrust at her again. This time she didn't hold back the scream of pain as she shook uncontrollably on the floor as the electricity flowed again. Compared to the last one, this round of tazing didn't last as long, though that hardly made much difference for Twilight.

“J-jus-just st-stop- AGH!” Twilight began and was interrupted by a fist colliding with her face and she felt another explosion of pain and warmth begin to spread over her face.

“Speak when spoken to,” the man stated before looking over his shoulder. “You, come over here for a minute.”

“Auuugh...” Twilight groaned and found herself gulping down copious amounts of blood pouring down her throat from her nose and then retching from the taste. She very nearly ending up puking when her torturer suddenly kneed her stomach harshly, pinning her down to the floor on her back.

“Hold her head,” He told the other soldier when they came a stop beside him. “Keep her from moving it around too much.”

“What are you- ack!” Twilight began when the man kneeling on her slapped the cloth he was holding onto her face and the soldier quickly knelt beside her head and grabbed it firmly.

Twilight couldn't see anything, but she could hear something having its lid unscrewed. A moment later she felt water pouring onto her cloth covered face. At first she was wondering how this was supposed to hurt her, but then she tried to breath in and found she barely could. She began choking down water as well as blood and started to feel the onset of panic as she struggled for breath, but ended up choking most breaths. Her vision started going dark as she coughed and choked, barely able to get enough oxygen to breathe. Just when Twilight thought she was going to die drowning on dry land, the water stopped pouring and the cloth was taken form her face.

She took in a massive breath of air with a wheezing gasp and immediately started hacking up some water mixed with blood. Thankfully she was allowed to cough up her lungs free of all liquid without further abuse. The soldier let go of her head and got back up onto his feet to stand behind her torturer, still kneeling down on her.

“Look here,” the man said firmly as he grabbed hold of Twilight's hair to harshly force her to look at him. “How did Emerald Gleaner learn to teleport? Was it something she created? Did she learn it from somewhere? Talk!”

“Agh...” Twilight gritted her teeth briefly before scowling in hatred at the man glaring down at her. “I... I hope Emerald eats you slowly when she finds me!”

“Wrong answer,” the man said and reached for the shock prod again when he heard a noise; a noise much like that of a sharp blade cutting through meat.

He looked back to see the soldier at guard behind him begin to collapse to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut, the soldier's head beating the body's descent by half a second. Standing behind him with a claw outstretched was Emerald. The interrogator only had time to widen his eyes before Emerald's free hand whipped out, grabbed him by the throat and pulled him close.

“As my lady commands,” Emerald said softly in the face of the interrogator before her mouth split open into a horrifying maw filled with rows and rows of needle-like teeth.

Twilight stared up with wide, shocked eyes as Emerald's mouth clamped down over the face of the interrogator who gave a brief scream before the two of them fell to the floor. The former unicorn's expression morphed into a deep frown as she stared at the two on the floor for a moment, listening to the sound of tearing flesh before she simply closed her eyes and looked away.

With a bone chilling growl, Emerald Gleaner rose up from the floor and surveyed the damage. The interrogator was now lacking a face and most of the muscle beneath, baring a bloody skull to the open air. Slashes and cuts covered the front of his torso and all his limbs were removed before the knees and elbows. Despite this damage and the blood loss, however, he was still alive. Emerald stopped all bleeding by rapidly coagulating the blood over the wounds. However that didn't mean he wasn't going to die. It just meant he was going to die very slowly over the next few hours from trauma.

The rage instantly faded from Emerald's face when she turned towards Twilight, replaced with concern and worry. She quickly crouched beside Twilight and magically removed her bindings before conjuring a warm blanket and wrapping it around her.

“Are you okay, Twilight?” Emerald asked softly as she quickly healed all of Twilight's injuries and sat her up. “I should have been faster!”

“I'm okay, Emerald,” Twilight said and leaned her head against Emerald's shoulder. “It was only a few minutes.”

“Still too long...” Emerald said with a shake of her head before picking up Twilight in a bridal carry before teleporting away from the room.

An instant later found Emerald atop a building. It was the Goldman and Sachs towers just on the mainland overlooking the bay and Liberty Island. With incredible care, Emerald placed Twilight on the ground and leaned in close.

“Everything will be alright, Twilight,” Emerald said softly. “I'm going to put you to sleep now. When you wake up, you'll be safe in bed.”

“Are you going to do what I think you're going to do?” Twilight asked.

“Yes.” Emerald nodded as she spread chemicals into Twilight's bloodstream. “I'm going to make sure they can't hurt anyone ever again.”

“...” Twilight's eyes fluttered and she briefly squeezed Emerald's hand as she slipped into a dreamless slumber.

Emerald stroked Twilight's hair and leaned down to give her a kiss before standing back up. Emerald strode over to the ledge of the roof and stared down at Liberty Island down in the bay below with a glare. Suddenly a pair of blade wings burst from Emerald's back and after a moment, sparks of electricity started to dance among the blades.

The virus then closed her eyes and reached out towards the skies that rapidly started filling with dark storm clouds and filled the air with the soft booms of thunder.

BETA

Major Adrien Shepard's boots thumped audibly with every step as he quickly strode to the command center of Base Liberty. He had been in the middle of heading for his office to update the other members of the Old Guard of his activities when a priority red alert had started blaring.

A priority red alert was basically Blackwatch's equivalent of defcon 2. It meant that Blackwatch control of the NYZ, and most importantly the Cursors, was on the verge of total collapse. The step above this was “Line Broken” alert, a reference to the red line in the Blackwatch creed. If a Line Broken alert was ever sounded, it would be signal of imminent nuclear annihilation of the NYZ as well as everything within a hundred miles. Never let it be said the UN didn't fully understand the potential threat of a hostile Cursor army.

'This likely means the target abandoned all attempts of hiding its ability to teleport and used it openly to attempt to track down the prisoner,' Major Shepard thought with a deep frown. 'Glad to see Heller is taking this threat seriously, but... I don't know. With the ability to teleport, a priority red alert seems a bit conservative. A Cursor with the ability to teleport can not be contained as far as we know and could simply run amok across the entire world, infecting whole cities. While I appreciate not being instantly declared a lost cause and being killed in nuclear annihilation... something must have happened over there.'

Major Shepard soon arrived to the command center and found it abuzz with activity, trusted personal at every console and looking over incoming data. The Major quickly strode over to the digital tactical map in the center of the room and frowned down at it.

On the map, every base in the NYZ was shown to be on high alert as expected but Blackwatch HQ was specifically marked down and flashing. “BASE COMPROMISED” were the red flashing words beside the symbol for HQ. Along with that, the border surrounding the NYZ region was flashing black, signifying an information blackout to the outside world. Shepard was still frowning in thought at the tactical map when a technician rushed up to him.

“Sir, we've got a transmission from one of your contacts,” the tech said with a quick salute. “It's on the emergency broadcast channel.”

“... Transfer it to my earpiece,” Major Shepard commanded as he fished said device out of a pocket. The emergency broadcast channel was there in case something of such immense importance happened that it had to get to the Old Guard commanders, regardless of how it might compromise their own operations in the NYZ.

“Sir, sir!” came the panicky voice of the contact.

“This is Major Shepard, talk,” Shepard ordered.

“S-sir, the target sir!” the contact stuttered. “It was- she- it- everyone in the command, they were-”

“Calm down son, and spit it out,” Shepard barked impatiently. “What happened with the target?!”

“She incapacitated everyone in command without touching them! Even Heller!” the contact quickly said. “It was like she had mind powers or something! Then Dana Mercer came in.She had a spy, sir! THE TARGET KNOWS WHERE YOU ARE!”

“...” The Major silently cut the connection to the contact and quickly called a specific frequency. “Piers, come in. Do you read me, Piers?”

For a long moment there was nothing but crackling static and buzzing until the most spine chilling groan of pain echoed over the radio. Even with his history with Blackwatch, Shepard could feel the hairs on the back of his neck raising and quickly changed frequency again.

“This is Major Shepard to the guards in cell block A-1, there is a situation in the cell Captain Piers is in. Investigate immediately,” Shepard ordered. “Keep me on the line.”

“Sir, yes sir!” came the quick reply. “You and you, with me. Let's go!”

Shepard listened to the sound of soldiers stomping their feet across paved floors for a moment before the sound of a steel door screeching open resounded. It was then quickly followed by muffled curses.

“Jesus Christ... Major Shepard, Captain Piers has been torn to shreds, sir,” the soldier said solemnly. “No sign of the prisoner.”

“Holy fuck! Look at his chest!” a voice said in the background. “It's moving! He's still alive!”

“Get him to medical!”

“...” Shepard's frown deepened immensely as he quickly switched to a channel that would broadcast to everyone on the base. “All personnel to your posts! THE BASE IS UNDER ATTACK!”

The Major looked up onto the various screens lining the walls of the command center and saw soldiers that were already being mobilized by the general alert jump into action. Gun turrets rose out of their concealed positions and started scanning the vicinity. Blackwatch soldiers started taking defensive positions around and in the base, pulling out defensive structures or activating built in defenses. Three dozen E-Code soldiers quickly geared up with their heavy weaponry and moved towards positions best meant for mobility and reacting to issues as they arose. When he saw several transport choppers being left grounded in favor of the gunships, the Major debated trying some kind of evacuation with them. He shook his head a moment later. Making a getaway on them with a normal Cursor in chase was hard enough, let alone one that could teleport. However, that didn't mean they still couldn't be used.

“I want heavy guns mounted on the choppers on the ground,” Shepard commanded. “I want as many guns in the sky as possible.”

It was a show of how effective experience, training and discipline was in concert with each other that everyone in the base was at full readiness in just over a minute. The Major constantly scanned the screens, searching for any possible signs of Emerald Gleaner. The target had the initiative here and they were on the defensive, a very bad position to be in against Cursors. But they were Blackwatch; they were fully geared and prepared to pay the butcher's bill to take down the enemy here. Every single heavy machinegun in the base had a full load of polonium bullets, every soldier in the base had their vital signs constantly broadcasted by their hardsuit and each was personally coded into the security. In short, Shepard was fully confident of their ability in bringing down the average Cursor without too many casualties. However he was fully aware this was no ordinary Cursor he was dealing with and the fact nothing had happened yet was getting to him.

“Talk to me. Any sign of the enemy?” Shepard commanded.

“No sir, nothing yet,” replied a pilot. “We're finishing a sweep now, sir, we'll keep doing the- SHIT!”

“What is it?! What's going on, REPORT!” Shepard barked and looked up at the screens to see extremely harsh winds picking up, enough so that trees were beginning to bend alarmingly.

“Sudden turbulence!” came the strained reply. “Trying to- FUCK, I can't- have to set down, I can't-I can't-”

Shepard watched on several screens as every chopper in the air was either forced to land anywhere they could or simply tumbled out of the sky, their pilots no longer able to stay airborne. Looking at the skies in the background of the exterior cameras, Shepard saw the clouds visibly moving and even arcs of lightning starting to jump amongst them. As he continued to watch, the clouds picked up speed and a massive hole started forming in the sky over the base.

It was like a vast hurricane eye, the inner cloud walls seemed to stretch onwards for miles and miles with a hole in the far distance revealing a starry sky. Lightning danced along the cloud walls in their hundreds, the booming of thunder was deafening in their cacophony. The clouds only seemed to pick up in speed even more and those below could only simply find cover in hopes of not being blown away.

Far, far above in orbit of Earth, the crew of the International Space Station were bustling. Most of the crew was staring out a window at Earth below. One was manning a computer console, though they too were fighting to not stare out the window.

“NASA, are you reading me?” the sole astronaut at the console said.

“We are reading you,” came the answer. “We've been getting a lot of calls from weather observatories about some kind of insanely compact hurricane that formed over the New York area. Do you have eyes on that?”

“NASA, we probably have the best seat in the house despite not being on top of it,” the astronaut replied and stared out the window.

The current position of the space station had the east coast of the US on the horizon from the station's current point of view. So while they didn't have information from looking down directly on the rapidly formed new storm, they had a view of something likely far more extraordinary. The storms clouds forming up the storm were billowing up far beyond the point any cloud could possibly form, taking up the exact shape of an anvil. And even this far away, the incredible amounts of lightning surging through the storm was visible.

“We moved around one of the stream cameras, take a look at it,” the astronaut said before staring out the window.

“Jesus Christ, what in the hell is that?” came the shocked reply a moment later.

Back below, Emerald stood with arms spread out as if to embrace the sky, her blade wings spread out behind her sparking with lightning and her eyes closed. After a moment, she lowered her arms and took in the storm she created. Seeing that it was perfectly formed, and despite creating something of this size being purely theoretical to her before, she nodded and began the final step.

As she directed her attention back down to the Blackwatch base below, lightning danced along the cloud walls above and starting leaping to the very center of the “eye”. A ball of lightning quickly formed and became much like a newborn star. The “star” grew larger with every bolt of lightning leaping to it, eventually reaching the size of a decent sized house.

“You all just had do something on the last days of my time here, didn't you?” Emerald said aloud, magically amplifying her voice so that those on Liberty Island could easily hear her. “If you had done nothing, nothing would have happened and I would have disappeared form the world with no one the wiser.”

Soldiers hunkering down next to shelter or packing into small bunkers could not help but look up to the skies as Emerald's voice resonated through the air. They were all hopelessly stuck, the wind was too strong to attempt to walk out in the open let alone attempt to use the few boats not torn away from their tethers at the docks. The only people with any chance at all of getting through these winds were the E-Codes, but they had no idea of what was to come.

“I would have loved to come charging at all of you, but that would actually be doing you all a favor,” Emerald's voice boomed. “You would all die fighting, all with some delusion that you ever had a chance and that this was all a meaningful battle. But it isn't.You all are going to die knowing you never stood a chance and die in a single instant. Goodbye.”

Major Shepard walked through his command center, the single being of utter silence and calm in a sea of panic and chaos. All around him his subordinates rushing to and fro, pounding at computer consoles in line with their training to keep going til their last heart beat.

'Sometimes you just have to acknowledge when you are beat,' the Major thought as he came to a stop before a large video screen depicting the sky above and the newborn star. 'A lesson few soldiers will ever learn.'

Major Adrian Shepard watched in stoic silence as all movement ceased on the screens. The clouds stopped abruptly and the winds died just as suddenly. It was in this moment of utter silence that all activity in the command center ceased, that everyone seemed to know death was imminent and unstoppable.

It was in this moment that Major Shepard quietly recited words to himself, a creed that he had given his life to.

“When we hunt, we kill.

No one is safe.

Nothing is sacred.

We are Blackwatch.

We are the last line of defense.

We will burn our own to hold the red line,

it is the last line to ever hold...”

'Line broken...' Shepard thought and closed his eyes.

Back on the skyscraper, Emerald held a hand out towards the star in the sky with a single finger outstretched, before motioning sharply down towards the island. There was a deafening boom as well over a thousand bolts of lightning leapt from the cloud walls and impacted the star. And suddenly it was as if a nuke had gone off. The light was so intense people would have been briefly blinded even if they weren't looking at the light, but permanently so should they have been. But despite this, that was the only comparatively grand part. There was a good deal of shaking and noise, but nowhere near the levels it should have been had it actually been a nuke.

When the flash of light died down, the stormy skies were already lessening greatly but Liberty Island was forever changed. The earth and stonework were charred black by the sudden, intense energies, with areas closer to the blast zone glowing red or even completely molten; nothing of green remained. The Blackwatch base was completely gone and in its place was an utterly massively formation of glowing blue crystals. Storm sapphires.

The gem formation had lightning surging in its hearts constantly, and towering just over the Statue of Liberty's outstretched torch. And speaking of the statue, most of it below the waist was gone as well, seemingly fused into the massive formation itself. Its aged, copper skin appearing to conduct the flash formation of the gem rather well and had a “frost” like coating of the crystals over its remaining structure.

'That was... satisfying.' Emerald smiled. 'After spending so long pulling punches and not killing people who deserved it, it feels so good to finally let loose completely. Well, there is nothing left to do here but to go home.'

With that, Emerald turned in place and quickly walked back to where she had left Twilight. She gingerly bent down and picked her up, holding her bridal style. Making one final check to make sure she was holding her in a comfortable position, Emerald teleported.

“You're back!” Spike exclaimed at her sudden arrival and added happily. “You have Twilight!”

“PAPA!” Navi shouted in tearful joy, running over to look up at Twilight in Emerald's arms happily.

“You got her. I knew you would get her, but... thank Celestia,” Sunset Shimmer said with a relieved sigh as she gingerly removed the element of magic from her head and placed it on the kitchen table. “She isn't awake. Is she going to be okay?”

“Yes, I just put her to sleep once I got her.” Emerald nodded and added with frown, “They hurt her, but I hurt them back. No one hurts my family... or my friends. Tomorrow night is the night we leave. Get settled in for one more day on Earth before we get back to Equestria. Come hell or high water, I will get us all back home. I'm going to take her to bed now. It's been a very long day.”

Emerald carried Twilight Sparkle into the bedroom and closed the door behind them. She unwrapped Twilight from the conjured blanket and quickly dressed her up in some comfortable pajamas. Shifting her form into her own set of modest sleeping clothes, Emerald settled Twilight into bed before joining her.

Emerald spooned Twilight quietly, embracing her and holding her close as she slowly purged the sleeping chemical she had given her. The virus then proceeded to wait for Twilight to awake on her own.

GAMMA

All over the NYZ, people gathered together to stare out at the massive glowing gems that had mostly replaced the statue of liberty on the island.

The shoreline was utterly filled with people gawking and taking pictures and videos. People living in tall buildings either crowded windows facing the gem or stared out through their apartment windows at the sight in the distance. Not only just civilians, but the whole of Blackwatch was out in force now. Patrol boats crowded the bay and choppers filled the air. There was even a bit of excitement when one chopper had gotten a tad too close to the gems and was promptly hit by a bolt of lightning from the gem itself, resulting in a crash landing on the scorched island.

Though there were plenty of people on the streets, there were also quite a few people crowding the hospitals of the NYZ. A few people had been watching Liberty Island, their attention caught by the sudden activity there while others had simply been working towards the island's direction at the time. All of them had their sight burned out by the flash and were rendered blind. Thankfully due to Blackwatch's work in biology being disseminated, these people would eventually have their sight restored to them.

Standing heads, shoulders and most of his torso over normal people, Artyom was hard to miss yet peoples’ attentions were firmly locked on the island. So they never noticed the E-Code sans his helmet revealing a stern, bearded face, nor did they notice Trisha beside him with her hand engulfed in his massive one. Both were incredibly worried by the sight in the bay, though only Trisha bore her deep concern openly.

On Manhattan island, standing atop ruined skyscraper, Gabriel stared down solemnly at the massive, glowing gem stones below. He paid no heed to anything, not even the small chopper lighting down on top of the building next to him and shutting down. His attention was only gained when a familiar voice called him a rather unwelcome name.

“Alex,” Dana said as she walked over to his side.

“You can't call me that anymore, Dana,” Gabriel replied, hiding his startlement admirably.(1) “Not even an idiot wouldn't be able to connect the dots if anyone heard you.”

“I know... I'm just really worried right now,” Dana said as she joined Gabriel in looking down at the gem formation on Liberty Island. “I feel like there could only be one response the UN could have towards this.”

“I know.” Gabriel nodded. “I've got escape routes prepped and ready for use. Are you going to be at the place when it's time?”

“I will.”

“Good,” Gabriel and said determinedly. “No matter what, Dana, you and me. We'll get out of this.”

DELTA

The skies had finally cleared of storm clouds and the moon was high in the sky by the time Twilight awoke. She was briefly disorientated before realizing she was in bed in hers and Emerald's room back at the apartment. She realized there was an arm wrapped around her middle and when she started making movements, it tightened briefly.

“Emerald...” Twilight said softly, grasping the arm with her hand before turning in place to face her girlfriend. “Are you okay?”

“I should be asking you that,” Emerald replied a little hotly with an upset look as she entwined her fingers with Twilight's. “They hurt you, Twilight. I should have been there to stop it from ever happening. I should have waited to go on that damn trip, waited until we had that talk!”

“Then you likely would have been very much in the middle of your trip when the attack came instead of only a few minutes away.” Twilight replied and quickly headed off Emerald's reply. “It's okay, Emerald. I'm okay. I've been hurt before. This is just another bump in the road for me.”

“It shouldn't have to be!” Emerald protested. “You should be safe and happy but you never get to be... because of me...”

“Don't you dare talk like that,” Twilight said firmly, grabbing Emerald's head with both of her hands and looking into her eyes. “The life we live may be fraught with peril and excitement,but it's the life we have and as long as we have each other, I know we'll get through everything just fine.”

“That's just the cheesiest...” Emerald said with a shake of her head, smiling nonetheless. “How in the world did I ever win your heart?”

“You didn't win it... and you didn't steal it...” Twilight as she squeezed Emerald's hand and placed her free hand behind Emerald's head. “I gave it to you.”

“Twilight... if you are trying to seduce me... well, it's working,” Emerald said half jokingly as Twilight pulled her head close to hers.

“Emerald, I love you so very much,” Twilight said softly, her face bare inches from Emerald's. “Will you marry me?”

“Wha-what?!” Emerald said, wide eyed with a gasp.

“Will you marry me, Emerald?” Twilight asked again with a serious expression.

“I-I-I... why am I crying?” Emerald said in some confusion as tears started streaming down her face and even started choking up a little.

“Emerald,” Twilight stated, still awaiting an answer.

“YES, yes I will marry you!” Emerald replied and happily wrapped her arms around Twilight, closing the distance and pressing her lips against hers.

The two kissed and while it remained fairly modest at first, Twilight's hands soon started to explore Emerald's body. It wasn't long before the embracing kiss turned into a full on makeout session with the two wrapping their limbs around one another. Breathing got heavier and heavier and before long Twilight's face was flushed and suddenly she felt much too hot to be under covers.

The blanket was cast aside and Twilight quickly rolled the both of them over until she was atop Emerald, both of her hands clasped in Emerald's and pressed to the pillows above the virus' head. Emerald met Twilight's now smoldering expression with an eager one and with a quick surge of black tendrils, she was bare to the world.

“Normally this kind of thing is put off until the wedding night,” Twilight commented as she quickly started to divest herself of her own clothing.

“Normally...” Emerald agreed as she lounged back on the bed, enjoying the show. “But neither of us were ever normal and who wants to wait?”

The very moment Twilight finished undressing, she quickly embraced Emerald again with another kiss.

EPSILON

The mid morning sun found Emerald Gleaner and Twilight Sparkle relaxing in bed under the covers but very much nude and spooning one another.

“What's she like?” Twilight asked.

“Brave, smart, kind,” Emerald replied, wrapping an arm around Twilight. “She's like you in so many ways, but... different.”

“I can imagine that not being raised as the personal student of a Goddess can serve as the jumping off point for many differences between her and I,” Twilight commented. “It's too bad we're leaving tonight. I would have liked to have met her.”

“She wants to meet you too,” Emerald said. “But while meeting face to face likely isn't going to happen, I can still introduce the two of you.”

“Oh?” Twilight said and looked over her shoulder back at Emerald.

“There is a system called Skype that can project speech and even videos,” Emerald explained. “She gave me her online handle so while you can't meet in person, you can talk to her and see her face.”

“I'd love that,” Twilight said as she snuggled in closer to Emerald.

The two spent close to half an hour just relaxing in bed when there was a knock at the bedroom door.

“Yes?” Emerald said aloud.

“Emerald, there are... a lot of people at the front door,” came Sunset Shimmer's somewhat muffled voice. “Along with someone named James Heller who’s been knocking constantly for the past ten minutes.”

“I'll be right there to handle it,” Emerald said with a sigh and squeezed Twilight briefly before pulling the covers off.

“Just today and we can go home, Emerald,” Twilight said reassuringly. “Maintain your patience with them. You dealt with our enemies last night.”

“Most of them, anyway,” Emerald replied as she freshened up and was dressed in an instant. “I'll do my best to be on my best behavior and cooperate... within reason.”

With that, Emerald teleported into the hallway and in position leaning against the wall opposite her apartment. Instantly the two dozen Blackwatch soldiers crowding the hall snapped their rifles up into ready position and put her in their sights. Heller didn't react to her sudden appearance at first, having apparently been knocking on the door for so long that he was now somewhat mesmerized with the action. He shook himself free of the action before facing Emerald with a scowl, waving down the soldiers in the hall.

“I hope you're proud of what you did last night,” Heller growled out.

“Of killing people who hurt my fiance?” Emerald said with a raised brow before nodding. “Proud and satisfied.”

“Well congratu-fucking-lations,” Heller said with a small slow clap. “Hope you like having your window with a mushroom cloud backdrop, because that's probably what's going to happen.”

“Well I certainly have to admit that sounds like the appropriate reaction to someone who can nuke a city under her own power,” Emerald with a shrug. “Certainly going to do a number on the environment though.”

“Yeah, the NYZ is going to go up in flames, all thanks to you,” Heller growled with crossed arms.

“Ugh... I suppose you want me to do something about it?” Emerald said with a sigh. “Well, I'll go give it a shot.”

Emerald saw Heller dart forward as if to stop her, but she was already gone and away. Emerald stood atop a cloud for moment to consider her next destination as choppers crowded the skies of the NYZ below. She decided she needed a spot to talk to as many people as possible and considering the recent “disaster”, every news channel was likely going to be broadcasting all day about it. She brought up her phone to look up a few destinations before picking out one and teleporting.

“... Likely to be awaiting treatment for months let alone-”

“Excuse me, I need to borrow your studio for a short bit,” Emerald said as she joined the news anchor at the desk. “Hope you don't mind.”

“Jesus!” the man exclaimed in shock and nearly jumped out of his seat at the sight of her. Some people operating the cameras and lighting looked like they were about to stop doing so when he waved them to keep going.

“Well, uhh... ladies and gentlemen, it appears we have a, uhh... guest speaker with us today,” the anchor said, trying to reattain his equilibrium. “One Emerald Gleaner... I don't suppose you'd be open to answering some questions about the goings on in the NYZ.”

“I don't mind answering some questions,” Emerald said with a shrug. “I am here to say my own piece, but I'm going to wait a bit until news spreads that I'm here.”

“Right... Blackwatch has been extremely tight lipped about what's been going on in the NYZ, but what has come to light is that the events of last night was a result of a conflict between you and them,” the anchor said. “Any truth to that?”

“Yes and no,” Emerald replied, absently using her magic to conjure a ball of metal on top of the desk and started transmuting it into various different materials. “I was fighting Blackwatch at the time, yes, but it was just a faction within Blackwatch I had beef with. You see, they found out that I am capable of things no other Cursor can possibly do, so to get at my secrets they kidnapped my fiance and tried to torture information out of her.”

“Uhh, fiance? Uhh, congratulations...” the anchor said, failing to pay attention due to magic tricks with the ball and only really catching the fact Emerald was now engaged.

“Thank you,” Emerald said. “Now, this faction within Blackwatch had set forth a plan to find out more of my secrets, but they never realized just how much of my abilities I kept hidden. Suffice to say, my retaliation towards them kidnapping my family blindsided them and the results are plain to see for anyone who looks at the bay in the NYZ.”

“Ah... of course,” the news anchor said with distinct discomfort, focus forcefully pulled away from the ball Emerald was “playing” with.

“Well I think that's long enough,” Emerald said and looked directly into the lens of a camera. “Hello world, Emerald Gleaner here. I'd wager a goodly amount of you are rather frightened right now. After all, it was bad enough that a Cursor could so very easily kill hundreds of people, now one of them can basically nuke a small area under their own power. And I also realize that the fighting between I and Blackwatch caused quite a few people to be injured. I could apologize for that, but honestly we both know it's not going to help. What I will say, however, is if you are willing to take the ‘risk’, you can talk to one of the Cursors on Manhattan and they'll point out one of them who can fix you in a moment, no month long wait lines needed. Hell, it'll likely be far cheaper, too.”

“Now I fully intended this to be a big surprise, but I am going to be leaving soon,” Emerald continued. “I have a home, the same place I found my family and my happiness, same place no one could ever find me no matter how hard they looked. And there is a reason for that actually. The reason why no one could find me was because my home was on another world entirely. So if anything horrendous happened to the world, like say a nuclear holocaust? I literally wouldn't notice.”

“Course I realize what I'm saying is a bit far fetched, but...” Emerald magically lifted the ball before transfiguring it into an orange and then adding bird parts like wings, talons and a beak to it before releasing it. It lighted down onto the desktop where it proceeded to hop about and tweet. “If there is something on this god's given green earth that naturally can do this and I found it... well that's just plain amazing we haven't even discovered it by now, isn't it? Maybe I found the lost continent of Atlantis. Maybe magical creatures do exist. Maybe I just got really lucky and managed to mutate really powerful psychic powers. I'm not going to tell you what to believe, but I am going home so you won't have to worry about me.”

“Now, I'm going,” Emerald said and rose from her seat. “You can try and stop me, but considering I intend to leave and hopefully never come back, why would you? As some final words... to my few friends I made in my time here I know I probably made an uncertain future even bleaker with my actions, but I have confidence in you. You'll get through this just fine. I like to believe the movies exaggerate how willing we are to destroy ourselves to spite an enemy. This probably doesn't mean much in light of everything, but I'm sorry.”

With that, Emerald teleported away and was instantly back in the hallway with Heller and his men. And when she arrived she saw that everyone there was either holding up a phone or communicator of some sort or crowding near someone who did. Heller was staring down at his own which, from the sound coming from it, was of the live news report Emerald hijacked.

“What the fuck was that?!” Heller growled, crushing his device in his anger as he rounded on Emerald.

“You wanted me to do something, I did something,” Emerald simply replied, crossing her arms and leaning back against a wall. “If you didn't want something to happen, maybe you shouldn't have said anything.”

“...” Heller's face got a furious twitch and he stepped closer with a growl and hands covered in black, surging black tendrils.

Emerald's only response was to bare her teeth and there was a sudden surge of intense heat filling the hall as white hot flames danced out through her teeth. Little bolts of lightning crackled dangerously as they jumped about her fingers. Instantly, Heller stopped and narrowed his eyes as more than a few soldiers took a step back from Emerald.

“Take your fucking family and get out,” Heller said in restrained anger before stomping off.

“Sir, yes sir,” Emerald said lightly and watched the other soldiers in the hall stand around awkwardly for a moment before beginning to follow their commander. The virus hid her amusement as the ones walking past her sped up their pace a bit. She watched them for a moment longer before teleporting back into her apartment.

“So did everything go alright?” Twilight asked from the kitchen table.

“You and the others didn't see the news?” Emerald asked, glancing to the living room to see the others playing games.

“No. You were on the news?” Twilight answered before frowning in concern.

“James Heller just wanted me to make an announcement to everyone but refused to be happy when I went through with it.” Emerald shrugged before pulling out her iPad. “It doesn't matter anymore. We are only going to be here for a couple hours more before we head home. If we are going to be doing any decent amount of talking, we better see if we can get a hold of Tabitha now.”

Emerald pulled a seat up beside Twilight and quickly logged into the Skype app on her device. Logged in as her screen name “discontentedPatsy”, Emerald sent a contact request to Whogirl310. They only had to wait ten minutes before it was accepted and Emerald was getting a video call.

“Hey there, Tabitha,” Emerald greeted the moment the other girl's face appeared. “I'm sure you have a lot of questions about what I've been doing lately, but let's get you introduced to a certain someone first.”

With that, Emerald handed her iPad over to Twilight.

“Wow, you really do look like me,” Twilight remarked.

“You took the words right out of my mouth,” Tabitha replied.

ZETA

“And now to light this up as the final touch,” Emerald muttered aloud as she lit a candle within a lantern before placing it on the ground. “There we go. That should burn nicely for the next few days.”

It was just past sun down, everyone was already back at the skyscraper awaiting the moment of truth. Emerald for her part decided to take this final chance to tend to her mother's grave and make it look less like something done at a moment's notice. The chunk of concrete was transmuted into a nice black obelisk with her mother's name and dates engraved in elaborate script upon the front. The ground around her mother's grave was flattened a bit and the grass cut and filled out a bit so it looked nice. Growing around the grave itself were many wild flowers. One final touch was a lantern with a large scented candle placed next to the grave.

“I'm sorry I only visited twice,” Emerald said, sitting seiza styled before her mother's grave, with only the beginnings of tears in her eyes this time. “I'm sorry this is probably the last time I'll ever visit you here. But I'm going home, mom. I'm getting married to Twilight. I already have a family and home waiting for me back in Equestria, Earth simply isn't home anymore. Doesn't stop me from taking a ton of souvenirs back with me, though. I love you mom. I'll always miss you and cherish all the memories I have of you. I'll make sure to teach Navi everything you taught me about baking... I'll do that for any other grandchildren you'll have, too. It'll be a family tradition of sorts. Everyone will know how to bake! Hehehe... goodbye, mom, I'll talk to you again at the other grave I made for you. Hopefully you'll be able to hear me there, too.”

Emerald slowly stood up, wiping a few tears from her eyes. She stared down at her mother's grave for a few long moments before hesitantly turning away and teleporting back to the skyscraper.

She arrived in an instant, seeing everyone sitting around and wearing filled packs. Navi had a tightly packed backpack full of video games and a duffle bag carefully packed full of game consoles. Spike was somewhat of the same case, only he had a single backpack bulging with movies he never got to see yet. Twilight had a bag full of books but was more concerned for the tablet full of thousands of books, all of which Emerald promised to eventually convert into physical books. Apparently while Twilight appreciated the fact she could use the device, she very much preferred books. Sunset Shimmer was the only person there that had barely anything save for a small pack on her back. She was tired looking, though, and sitting beside Twilight while leaning against her shoulder.

“Did you talk to her?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah.” Emerald nodded as she walked over near Twilight and leaned against a wall. “I did.”

“I'm sure she'd want you to be somewhere you'd be happy rather than be able to go see her actual grave,” Twilight said reassuringly.

“I know,” Emerald said with a sigh. “I'm not going to let it bother me. I've managed to make peace with so much of my past now. I still have some regrets in this place, both old and new, but that won't be one of them.”

With that, silence settled upon the group as they awaited the appointed hour. The only sound that filled the air was that of the beat of chopper blades and far off sirens. When midnight was mere minutes away, the group simply filed down into the stairwell where the portal exit would be.

Emerald stared up at the point where the portal would be. She could feel it now pulsing with energy as midnight was mere moments away. She waited until the instant it became midnight and saw the change happen instantly. The speck of magical energy expanded from a molecule in size to merely the head of a needle. Just like before, it was simply too small and even another month to practice her magic wasn't enough to grasp the pinpoint of magic, however...

'I'm sick of being stuck here, of being held prisoner on this damn planet,' Emerald thought as she glared at the point where the portal would be as a familiar sensation overcame her. 'I want to go home. I will be free!'

Emerald's arms became shrouded in blinding magical energy before she leapt up at the ceiling. She seemed to bury her hands into the ceiling, but after a moment a circle of glowing energy appeared. Emerald pulled this circle open wider and wider and within this circle was a mirrored surface. With one final roar of exertion from Emerald, there was a loud bang and she fell back to the floor.

“Emerald!” Twilight exclaimed and rushed to Emerald's side before looking up. “You did it! How did you do that?”

“Ugh...” Emerald shook the cobwebs from her head and looked up at the ever so faintly glowing mirrored surface now covering the ceiling. “I don't... it doesn't matter. It's open now and we can finally go home.”

“Right. Come on everyone, get ready to get hoi-” Twilight began when a light flashed overhead.

Everyone looked up to see two somewhat familiar armored people partially poking through the surface of the mirror. The instant the two armored beings saw them on the ground, they reached up and took off their helmets to reveal their faces. One was a dark skinned woman with the sides of her head shaved close with the rest spiked forward. The other was a man who, even just looking at his head, you could tell he was very big guy with lots of muscle.

“Boss!” the woman exclaimed happily. “We were just about to try to get you ourselves!”

“Should have known you'd make it back on your own,” the man rumbled with a deep voice before doing a double take at the woman beside him. “Bella! You look human like the boss!”

“So do you, Padfoot!” Bella replied. “What’s the deal with that?!”

“This mirror does that for some reason,” Emerald answered before hoisting up Spike towards the two. “Let's move this along, shall we?”

“Right oh, Boss!” Bella nodded before grabbing hold of Spike.

It wasn't long before everyone was hoisted through and Emerald finally went through herself with a hop. She landed with a clack of hooves on the other side, once more a pony after over a month as a human. She looked herself over, feeling almost relief at the sight of her hoofed feet. She looked over to see Twilight and Spike in their natural forms again and saw Sunset Shimmer's unicorn body for the first time. However, she did a bit of a double take when she spotted the little pegasus filly with a light blue coat, dark purple mane, lime green eyes and wearing a white bucket hat.

“Auntie Moona!” Navi shouted happily and Emerald noticed that Princesses Celestia, Luna and Cadence were standing off to the side.

“My, who is this little one?” Celestia said with a smile as she saw Navi dart over to Luna and surprise the alicorn with a hug.

“That would be my former pet parasprite, now daughter, Navi,” Emerald stated simply and approached Celestia with a serious expression which the alicorn caught immediately. “Princess Celestia?”

“Yes, Emerald?” Celestia asked with a matching somber expression.

“I surrender one Sunset Shimmer into your custody,” Emerald said with a nod of her head and stepped aside.

Sunset took that as her cue and walked over, averting her eyes towards the floor as she approached the Princess of the Sun. She sat down on the floor before the princess before magically reaching into the saddlebags her pack became and pulled out the Element of Magic.

“Princess, here is the Element of Harmony I wrongfully stole,” Sunset said lowly, magically holding the Element towards Celestia. “I apologize for all my crimes, both past and present, and will accept any punishment you give me.”

“Sunset Shimmer...” Celestia said softly and leaned her head down close to Sunset, ignoring the Element. “I'm so happy to see you safe and home again.”

Sunset Shimmer blinked and looked up to see Celestia's genuinely joyful face. She only lasted a moment before her expression cracked and tears rapidly appeared in her eyes before she burst forward and wrapped her forelegs around Celestia in a hug.

“Well I certainly think they need a moment to themselves,” Cadence stated and smiled at Navi still tightly attached to Luna and happily jabbering away to her 'Aunt'. “She is your daughter now? That's certainly quite the change from last time.”

“That's not the only thing.” Emerald smiled as Twilight stepped next to her and nuzzled her. “Twilight and I, we're engaged now.”

“Oh wow!” Cadence gasped in surprise before gushing happily. “Oh Twilight, congratulations! Got any plans for the wedding date?!”

“Oh, not at the moment, but I'm thinking... sometime this year?” Twilight said and looked thoughtful for a moment. “Definitely within the year.”

“We'll be sure to tell everyone when we have a solid date,” Emerald said reassuringly to Cadence. “Now... are the others here?”

“Yes they are.” Cadence smiled. “They all just arrived and were definitely going to accompany the Diamond Dogs whether or not they had permission to do so if I know them.”

“Yeah, and speaking of dogs.” Emerald said and looked over to see Belvedere and many direwolves standing at attention. “If you'll excuse me.”

“Emerald. Took you long enough,” Belvedere stated simply at Emerald's approach. “This is the second time I've set forth plans to retrieve you, only for you to save yourself. I get the feeling the third time somehow won't be the charm with regards to you.”

“Knowing my luck, the next time I need saving will be the time I really do need help to survive,” Emerald said with a smile before looking at the direwolves. “I see you took the initiative and gave yourself and the other dogs the serum. You all doing alright? Adapting to all the changes okay?”

“They certainly were odd and took some getting used to,” Belvedere said, shifting in place on his longer legs. “But they make standing upright easier. I assume you'll be wanting to catch up on work you missed in the past month, I shall return to the Enclave and await your return.”

“Don't work too hard!” Emerald called after him with some actual concern before adding quietly, “God knows you never stop working...”

“And who exactly do you mean by that?” Cadence asked as she stepped next to Emerald.

“Turn of phrase, nothing more,” Emerald said simply before asking, “Do you think you could get someone to go get the others? It's been a month and I want to meet back up with all of them again.”

“Oh of course!” Cadence replied with a smile. “I'll send a guard along to go collect them. You can go ahead and wait for them somewhere more comfortable. I'm fairly certain there is a wonderful sitting room just down the hall...”

ETA

“OH YOU ARE JUST THE CUTEST WIDDLE THING!”

“Ah! Auntie, that tickles!”

Emerald laughed as she took in the sight of Rarity snuggling Navi who delighted at the attention.

It had only been a few minutes of waiting in the sitting room before the rest of the Mane Six came galloping into the room. It took some explaining to properly tell them why she and Twilight had a little filly with them, but Rarity barely needed any explanation before she started gravitating towards the little pony. Now Rarity was off cuddling Navi while the rest were being filled in on what happened.

“You got sent back to Earth!?” Pinkie exclaimed with a gasp. “Wow! Who could've guessed that's where Sunset ended up.”

“Actually, Sunset Shimmer ended up somewhere different,” Twilight explained before sharing a look with Emerald. “We still have no idea why exactly the portal ended up sending us to Earth.”

“Plenty of bad memories back there for ya, if I recall,” Applejack said with a frown of concern. “You do okay, sugarcube?”

“I think I did surprisingly well all things considered,” Emerald answered with small, only somewhat strained smile. “I made peace with a lot of my past... I left that place with some new regrets, but I'm home now and have a lot of happy things to look forward to.”

“Like our wedding!” Twilight said happily with a wide, expectant smile at her friends.

“WHAT?!?” Twilight wasn't disappointed when all of her friends gaped at the both of them, especially Rarity who stared slack jawed at them.

“When's the wedding?!?” Suddenly Rarity was in front of them, holding the both of their heads in front her her, eyes wide in excitement-induced mania. “OH I MUST KNOW! Who do you plan to have your dresses done?! Whoever it is, they won't do either of you justice! It has to be me! Oh please let it be me!!!”

“We don't have a specific date yet, but it'll definitely be this year,” Emerald answered with a chuckle at Rarity's over the top enthusiasm. “And we'd be honored if you would tailor for the both of us.”

“OH YES! YES! YES! YES!” Rarity shouted in glee and started hopping excitedly in place.

“I volunteer to help with the wedding planning!” Pinkie shouted with a raised hoof. “I want to invite all of my sisters, too!”

“Ya know, the Wonderbolts normally don't do any ol’ event, but I think I can put in a good word for you,” Rainbow Dash said slyly, elbowing Emerald.

“Don't know much about wedding planning, even after the last one,” Applejack said with a shrug. “But I figure I can make sure there will be a ton fresh and tasty food!”

“Oh I would love to help with the decoration,” Fluttershy said with a happy smile. “A wide and varied selection of beautiful flowers should be wonderful!”

“I'm really happy to see you all so willing to volunteer to help our wedding,” Twilight said happily, gathering up everyone in a hug. “But let's not get into planning just yet. We only just got home and I think the most any one of us wants to do is rest at home.”

“I have to quickly set up a room for Navi, too,” Emerald said, patting the little filly's head.

“She could always bunk with me until tomorrow?” Spike offered. “Not like we hadn't had to do it before.”

“Thanks, Spike,” Emerald said gratefully. “Even I am feeling tired in a way. I just want to relax and unwind for the next little while before I have to get back into the grind. How about I teleport all of us back to Ponyville?”

“I would like to remain behind, darling,” Rarity said as the others nodded and said their agreement. “In preparation of designing your dresses, I shall be doing a bit of research into the local crystal pony styles of dressmaking. I'll be sure to let everypony know you and the others went home.”

“Great. Have a good time, Rarity,” Emerald said as the others gathered together.

“Oh I shall. You just be sure to get all the rest you need,” Rarity said and took a step back before waving goodbye to all of them.

With a flash of light, all of them were instantly back in Ponyville just in front of the library.

“Ahh, so glad to finally be home after all that.” Emerald sighed before looking at the others. “We'll see you girls later. We're going to be lazing around at home for the next day or so.”

“Bye Emmy, bye Twi!” Pinkie shouted as she hopped away. “I'll be back later for party planning!”

“I'm gonna go surprise Big Mac,” Applejack said. “He was gonna take over all my chores.”

“Ah, I get to surprise Angel by coming home early,” Fluttershy said happily and trotted away. “I do hope he's been taking care of everything like he promised.”

“I got some sleep to catch up on,” Rainbow said as she flew away into the sky. “See you later!”

With that, the family of four entered their home for the first time in over a month. They were met with the happy hooting of Owliscious, who seemed to recognize Navi surprisingly quickly. It wasn't long before Spike and Navi were taking their things to Spike's room to unpack and get settled in. Emerald and Twilight ascended the stairs to their own room after Twilight had dropped her books and tablet off in the library.

“So glad to be home after all that,” Twilight said with a sigh as she walked towards the bedroom door. “A few days break shou-ACK!”

Twilight jumped in the air and her wings popped open. She quickly turned in place with a wide eyed look. She was met with the sight of Emerald with a sly look on her face and hooded eyes and her tongue sticking out, her head lowered down to about body level. Twilight's face instantly flushed a bright crimson.

“I think I need to demonstrate to my wife-to-be that my love cares not for what body she is in,” Emerald said smugly as she walked past Twilight and into the bedroom. “If she would just join me on the bed, the demonstration would begin in earnest.”

“... R-right!” Twilight said, quickly shaking her head before entering the bedroom as well, closing the door behind her. She froze in place again when she saw Emerald lounging on the bed with the moonlit sky shining down through the window upon her. “O-oh my...”

“What are you waiting for?” Emerald asked softly with an amused smile. “It's not like we haven't done it before.”

“T-true,” Twilight replied as she made her way to her side of the bed. “That's.... that's very true.”

“I suppose this can be a kind of compliment, being able to make you feel like a nervous virgin all over again,” Emerald said slyly as she patted the spot on the bed next to her. “Well I am an eager tutor so long as the student is willing and eager in turn.”

“...” Twilight frowned at Emerald's teasing and forcefully overcame her nervousness. She leapt onto the bed and attempted to climb atop of Emerald when the other mare suddenly grabbed her and rolled the both of them over.

“Ah, ah, ah,” Emerald said with a shake of head as she gazed down at Twilight from her new position standing over her. “You've learned and mastered that lesson, I don't think you need a refresher just because you are in a new body. I think it's best to move onto a different lesson now.”

“What do you-” Twilight began when Emerald's eyes gleamed orange in the dark and several tendrils grew from her back and started reaching towards her.

“O-oh my...” Twilight said one final time before Emerald sealed her lips with her own.

THETA

“In an update on the break in story, the break in of a Blackwatch armory turned out to be more than meets the eye. Due to the high alert state Blackwatch forces are currently in, reaction to the armory break in was near instant. Blackwatch forces stormed the armory after hearing bursts of gunfire from within and found the culprit to be a Cursor resident of the NYZ, attempting suicide with the radioactive ammunition stored in the armory. Due to the current information blackout in place by Blackwatch, no further details have been gathered about the Cursor intruder and whether or not they survived their attempted suicide. However-”

“Tabitha hurry up, we can't be late!” Crystal shouted out of her car.

“I only have these two boxes left, Aunt Crystal!” Tabitha answered back before bending over and picking up one of said boxes.

It had been a few days since the “event” and both Crystal and Tabitha had been worried that their permission to leave the NYZ would either be suspended or canceled. Now it was the day of the big move and they were still worried they'd get the message they were to be held indefinitely for further vetting. Tabitha, however, was certain their trip would been canceled instantly should she have made it known she and Emerald had gotten back into contact with one another.

'It's just amazing. Emerald not only went to a whole ‘nother world, but a different reality entirely,' Tabitha thought as she placed the box she was holding in the back of a large moving van. 'That certainly puts a different spin on who Twilight was. She's me... and that means Emerald met me again in another world and got in a relationship with me that got serious enough to get married... what does that mean?'

'Does it mean that Emerald and I were cosmically meant for one another?' Tabitha thought as she walked back and picked up the other box. 'Or is it just pure luck? I admit it's kind of a stretch to think that the both of us were so meant for one another that every different version of us always finds each other, I mean what does that say about the Equestrian version of Em-'

“AH!” Tabitha shouted and tripped forward, sending her box flying. It landed harshly on its side and partly burst open. Several little knick knacks that wouldn't look out of place at all as merchandise from a sci-fi comic con flew out. Most of the various little souvenirs didn't go far from their box, save for a sonic screwdriver replica that kept rolling away... towards a rather large crack in the sidewalk.

“Ack!” Tabitha jumped to her feet and dashed after the screwdriver. She wasn't fast enough, however, and her hand fell just short of grabbing it before it slipped into the crack.

“Damn it!” Tabitha exclaimed in anger before sighed and kneeling down to peer into the darkness. The screwdriver had fallen into a collapsed storm drain and didn't look too far away to her. She stuck her arm through the crack and stretched it as far as she could and ended up a few inches short of it. She shoved as much of her shoulder as she could through the crack and felt her fingers just manage to brush over the screwdriver.

“Come on... come on... COME! TO! ME!” Tabitha growled out, her face mashed against the rusty grate of the storm drain, utterly refusing to let her sonic screwdriver go.

It was then that something curious happened. A faint, violet light started to glow from the palm of Tabitha's hand soon, followed by the screwdriver being covered in the same light. Tabitha froze, but kept her arm outstretched, reaching for her souvenir. The screwdriver started shaking in place before it slowly lifted off the ground. It crossed the open space to Tabitha's hand inch by slow inch, before finally she closed her fingers around it.

Tabitha stood up from the ground and stared down at the screwdriver in her hand. She quickly moved it to her other hand before staring down at her empty palm. She tried to remember the feeling she had when she reached out, but couldn't get the light to appear again.

She stared down at her hand for another moment before looking up to the sky. Tabitha looked off in the distance towards a dark spot of clouds that often had a low rumble of lightning emitting from it. Those clouds hung always above Liberty Island where the new crystal formations now stood and shined with a bright blue light.

There was a crash of thunder and a lighting bolt struck the crystals, causing the light to brighten and the lighting within to dance wildly as the crystals released more and more built up energy...

-FIN-

1) Some of you may recall the little note I made all the way back in book 1 chapter 1, there was a reason why Gabriel had that appearance. It was a hint of foreshadowing

Author's Note

AN: And that's the end of the fourth book, ON TO BOOK FIVE! Emerald Gleaner: Spirit of Dissent!

Now to cover a few things, I recognise that a few people were looking forward to the Diamond Dogs being in Earth but they couldn't exactly be fit into flow without slowing it down or otherwise interrupting it and not in a good way.

Also the loose plot strings Earth side, those will be handled in the epilogue for this book or at least very much expanded upon. And speaking of the epilogue like before I'll post the epilogue to also announce the posting of the fifth book, so everyone will get an alert to tell them the sequel is available.

Anyway, Emerald and Twilight Sparkle getting married! A magical talking purple unicorn with wings is marrying a shapeshifting deadly sentient bioweapon super virus. The story has certainly come rather far hasn't it?

EN: Well this was a nice little “ending” to this book. I was a bit disappointed that Emerald’s vengeance wasn’t as… prolonged as I’d have liked it, but the giant smite of the gods was certainly grandiose and earned her badass points. Personally, I would have liked to see Emerald transform one of the Old Guards’ livers into a rabid honey badger with salted claws, but that was just wishful thinking on my part. Girl’s gotta dream, though, right? Anyways, looking forward to book five. Can’t wait to see what happens next. And don’t think I haven’t forgotten that reaper knock off way back when who supposedly “took out” Tirek. I’m waiting for that to come back. And bite Emerald in the ass somehow.

Oh, and now Emerald and Twilight are engaged and they have a hyperactive little pegasus filly that could probably destroy half of Equestria if she went berserk. And Emerald is going to be teaching her how to bake. More fun all around. OH! And the griffons! I still remember them!

Oh, and as a side note. Please feel free to point out anything you see that I may have missed. I like to think I’m doing a good job editing these, but if I’m blatantly missing things and nobody is pointing them out, I won’t learn.

Epilogue: Faithful Knight

Orion sighed in contentment as he waved the scene to fog over, shielding the sight of Emerald and Twilight having sex from view of the room. At the audible protest of more than a few people, Orion rolled his eyes and simply switched the scene back to Earth to watch Tabitha.

“Aww, not Earth again!” Astrid protested, banging her fists in frustration on her armrest.

“Earth was an important arc to Emerald's character,” Orion said with an annoyed glance to Astrid, having had to put with the girl's constant complaints the whole show. “Emerald has been changing and improving her personality with every step forward. It was even more the case for her trip back to Earth.”

“She only had to go to Earth because you went and interfered!” Astrid protested with a pout and crossed arms. “Which you promised you wouldn't do again!”

“I said I dislike interfering, not that I wouldn't,” Orion replied with a sigh. “Besides, I only did what I did before. I gave Emerald a little push in an interesting direction then sat back to watch. Like I showed you earlier, the adventure Emerald would have had would have been rather short... possibly even detrimental to Emerald's own development.”

“Still sounds like you cheated and manipulated things to her benefit when you say that,” Astrid pointed out.

“If I was willing to do that, I would have stopped those two's inter-universal trips and time traveling,” Orion pointed out before leaning back against his couch's backrest and crossing his legs. “In any case, since you don't like Earth stuff, I will warn you more is coming now.”

“AWWWWW!” Astrid groaned before turning to Orion and saying in a demanding voice, “Tell me what happens next so I don't have to find out myself.”

“No.”

“Why not!?” Astrid screeched.

“Because I don't want to,” Orion said and put up a barrier to block the sound of Astrid's anger. “Watch, do your own research, find your own answers. I'm not here to do that for you.”

With that, Orion gave his full attention to the crystal ball which now had the image of a passenger jet on it.

<><>

Maxwell Trager, formally a Major of Blackwatch, shifted in great discomfort despite his beyond first class seat.

Trager and seven other members of the Old Guard faction of Blackwatch were inside a private jet whose exterior was disguised to look like the common passenger jet. The interior of this jet, however, wouldn't look out of place as a billionaire's personal transport. Practically every passenger had their own little area and there were some flight attendants who brought them decent food and drinks, though they never said anything more than they were required to. The Major didn't know where exactly they were going, and there were no windows to look out to see, but considering it had been close to seven hours since they all were practically kidnapped, it was likely an international flight.

The Old Guard didn't hold any sort of grudge or ill feelings for being dragged off suddenly, however. They all knew their number was up. James Heller had apparently tossed all caution to the wind or was so unspeakably pissed off he needed someone to suffer for it, because practically the day after the destruction of Liberty Base he started cleaning house.

Most of their loyal men and battle ready resources had been with Shepard at the time of his death, leaving the rest to be near instantly overwhelmed and destroyed by Heller's untouched forces. Thus, when the eight of them each found themselves being dragged off somewhere and having black bags wrapped around their heads, they fully expected to die. Imagine their surprise when the bags were finally lifted and they found themselves on a jet with a very expensive looking interior, with their apparent savior along for the ride as their escort.

Trager looked down to the woman sitting nearest to the front of the plane. One Sophie Neveu, the so called Interpol Agent on loan to Blackwatch. The Major was fairly sure that someone who could arrange for the kidnapping of several military personnel, take them out of a quarantine zone and then get them successfully on a flight out of the country was more then they appeared. Said woman had ignored any attempts to question her, and her only response was to tell them to wait for them to arrive.

Suddenly Trager heard the seat belt alert ping, followed shortly by the plane starting to descend. The Old Guard buckled in and it wasn't long before they felt the plane touch down and slow. Eventually the plane came to a full stop and Sophie Neveu got up from her own seat.

“If you'll follow me, your benefactor would like to meet with you,” Sophie said, motioning to the door.

“Benefactor... you mean Chevalier?” one of the Guard asked and they all shared a look. None of them had ever met any of the leading members of Chevalier. It had always been by message or proxy. It had always been some point of contention among the commanders of Blackwatch that none of them even knew what the founders of the organization even sounded like. The only real things they knew was that Chevalier had a ton of influence and spies everywhere. The instant Blackwatch ever got up to something they weren't supposed to, they would almost instantly receive a politely worded but still somehow frightening message to cease and desist.

“Yes,” Sophie answered simply and walked through the door. The Old Guard looked among themselves one last time before following.

At first it was like disembarking any plane, but the terminal they found themselves in was like nothing they had ever seen. It clearly was a private airport, as the floor and ceiling were made out of black granite and the walls white marble, both polished to a reflective shine. The many chairs were all comfortable looking, white leather seats. Desks made out of white marble lined the back wall with suited personnel manning every one and each wearing tinted visors. There was no windows in the terminal, leaving the only sources of light being artificial and there seemed to be a few people awaiting planes as well.

Sophie led them through the middle of the terminal and they found themselves walking past a large display case sitting in the center of the terminal. Within the case was an aged looking white banner with a red cross, tattered and covered in old stains. There was a pedestal before it with a plaque no doubt explaining the history behind the banner. None of the Old Guard bothered to read it as they walked past.

Trager then noticed that there appeared to be no way out of the terminal other than passages likely leading to boarding halls for awaiting planes. Sophie brought them to a blank wall between two desks and before anyone could question her, a section of wall before them started rising up. An unfurnished hall of black granite floors and white marble walls met their sight.

They were led down this hall and the wall panel seamlessly closed behind them with a barely heard thump. The hall was completely blank and seemingly lead to a dead end, and Trager noticed Sophie now had a visor on like the others back in the terminal. She approached a certain section of wall on the hallway’s side, and it opened up to reveal yet another hall.

They went down hidden halls for what felt like half an hour, all the while Trager was certain they were walking past many rooms and facilities hidden behind walls. Eventually they came to a large room with a set piece in the middle and a sky light. The set piece was a large oak tree in the middle of a fountain with angel statues shooting water into the fountain. There was an actual door in this room. A massive, black, steel monolithic thing with a sun cross emblazoned upon the front in glowing white lights. And formed into the very door itself were the words “Chevaliers du dévoreur”.

Sophie led the group to this door and it opened up at their approach. Within was a far different room than the others. The floors and walls seemed to be made of blacked out glass with the ceiling covered in glowing light panels. In the center was a long, half moon desk with several empty throne-like chairs around it. Each one was definitely an expensive looking antique, but one in particular situated in a central position at the desk looked like something fit for an emperor. In the middle of this half moon desk was a strange projector-looking device with multiple lenses all angled at each other and upwards.

There were only two people in this room that seemed to be awaiting them. One was a woman and the other a young boy. The woman was standing in front of the desk and facing them. She was wearing a floor length, extremely graceful looking high collar gray dress with wrist length sleeves and a mantle over her shoulders. She had extremely long, jet black hair that easily reached past the middle of her back with pale skin and bright gray eyes. The boy in comparison looked completely normal, save he was dressed in a white jumpsuit. He was sitting atop the desk with crossed legs and drawing something with crayons.

“My dear child, Sophie!” the woman proclaimed happily as Sophie came to a stop before her, face averted downwards and hands folded before her. “Even I doubted if you could have retrieved these fine fellows! You always do such good work for the order. ”

“You do me too much honour, Lady Lydia,” Sophie said respectfully.

“Go and rest before you return to your duties, my child.” Lady Lydia waved off Sophie and the woman gave a shallow bow before leaving.

Trager frowned, and he wasn't the only one. He found himself profoundly unimpressed at the religious overtones their apparent leader and benefactor had. That wasn't it, though. There was something about her that felt off. Something about her face seemed so... otherworldly.

“Hello my dear compatriots.” Lydia smiled warmly. “I imagine after all that has happened, you have quite a few questions. After all, I shall admit it is quite rare for one in the Order's employ to meet directly with the Order itself.”

“Just what is the point of all this?” Trager asked, putting aside the dismay he felt at her behaviour for now. “It's a bit too late if the intent was to stop the leak of information. Heller likely has dozens of us being interrogated for everything we know this very moment.”

“None of you know anything that is damaging to the Order itself.” Lydia shook her head with a beatific smile. “So I suppose the point would be... closure. For you as well as myself, if I can be so frank. If you would direct your attentions downwards?”

When the Old Guard did so, Lady Lydia took a remote off the desk and pressed a button. Instantly the glass changed from being completely blacked out to being transparent, revealing quite the sight.

Below the room was a chamber that was likely just as massive as a major sports stadium, but also twice as tall. The room was heavily armour plated in black metals, but fully lit up with the bottom covered in enough cushioning purple fabrics to likely fully clothe an entire city. All this served to house a creature of some sort. It was a twisted, massive beast that easily took up most of the surface area of the chamber. It had six major limbs ending in appendages that looked vaguely like venus fly traps. It seemed to have no head or neck or even a face of some kind, but a studying stare revealed what might have been over a dozen eyes of varying sizes closed in apparent slumber. Its body had a kind of oblong shape and it was covered in a thick “coat” of tendrils mimicking hair. Its skin and “hair” was completely black but had a shiny sheen that was red in the light. And it was hard to make out, but it seemed like there appeared to be people down below on the floor near it.

“What the hell is that?” Trager muttered with wide eyes, the others mirroring his statement.

“It is the Ancient One, the Great One, The All that will be as One,” Lydia intoned with hands clasped before her.

“What?” Trager said incredulously.

“A history lesson, perhaps?” Lydia smiled. “Long ago, we were a simple military group like yours. An order of knights set forth to retake the Holy Land in the name of one whom we once thought our god. We were once simply the Knights Templar.”

“That explains the banner in the terminal...” Trager stated.

“Indeed. One must know their history or be doomed to repeat it.” Lydia nodded with yet another smile. “Then one day our Order came across something so grand, so marvellous we all could not help but to be captivated by our discovery.”

'Great. Powerless and being spoon fed propaganda by true believer cultists,' Trager thought in growing agitation at the situation he was now in. 'I don't know what's worse. What's happening now or the fact we were being controlled by a bunch of religious nutjobs.'

“For years we stood indecisive of what was to be done next after the discovery,” Lydia continued, blissfully ignorant of her audience's thoughts, or possibly uncaring. “Eventually we came to a turning point. Many of us wished to turn to our church with our discovery and let them decide for us, while the rest wished to treat this as the true moment of revelation. Accusations of heresy abounds! Our lost brothers prepared for civil war, however we had different ideas of how to handle the schism...”

“Using the promises of vast wealth, we manipulated the nobles of the times to have the order declared heretics,” the lady explained as she averted her gaze downwards towards the great beast below with an expression of bliss. “They were all burned at the stake and killed while those of the true faith retreated to the shadows, free to reinvent ourselves. So we became Chevalier, Knights of the Devourer.”

“What in the hell does THAT,” Trager demanded, pointing sharply downwards. “Have to do with anything.”

“My friends, you all know just how Blackwatch's experiments began, correct?” Lydia asked with an amused look, gazing at each in them. “The controlled lab tests followed by Carnival I and II, of course, and you know that Redlight was not made but found. I assure you, my dear compatriots, that whatever had been written down or told to you by scientists of the time had been completely false. Redlight was not found in some forgotten corner of the world, but derived from the Great One slumbering below our very feet.”

“Redlight, my dear compatriots, was gleaned from flesh samples of the slumbering Great One,” Lydia explained grandly. “Indeed, when the oldest among you saw its first tests, they were largely untouched, unaltered by the hands of man. But while the creations of Redlight were all the same impressive... they were still lacking when viewed in hindsight. It was only through the experimentation of one Alex Mercer that the true potential of those so blessed was unlocked. While Redlight may have finally been purged by the military, it was Blacklight that tore out the heart.”

“I think we can all agree that Alex Mercer showed us without a shadow of a doubt the power of what we were meddling with,” Lydia said with a shake of her head before turning around to face the desk.

Lady Lydia grabbed the remote off the desk and aimed it at the large projecting machine and pressed a button. The machine instantly turned out and a holographic image appeared. In the air was a slightly transparent 3D image of Emerald Gleaner in her new outfit, slowing rotating in midair.

“What it must have been like to bare witness to such power... such divine endowed might,” Lydia said quietly in almost rapturous awe. “To stand there and behold the glorious incandescence of a Saint! If only I could be so blessed!”

The Old Guard looked amongst themselves in open confusion and disgust. They had many ideas of what their benefactors had been like, but none of them were the idea they were true believer-crazed, ancient cultists.

“Hehehe... my, the thoughts that must be going through your heads,” Lydia said aloud with an amused tone. “I do know how I must look to you. We Chevalier know just what kind of mindset our tools possess. Shortsighted materialists, all of you... the siren song of power and control is a collar and leash you all so very willingly and blindly wear. You all believe the work you partook in was in the name of the advancement of your own nations rather than that of mankind itself. Directing the likes of you is an art Chevalier has had centuries of practice in.”

Lydia glanced back at them and the Old Guard froze in place. Her narrowed eyes glowed orange softly and her smile became something a cat would have after tiring of toying with a cornered mouse. Her hair started flowing in an unseen breeze as she took a few steps to stand beside the child on the desk.

“My dear sweet child of the martyr. Auntie wishes you to do something for her,” Lydia said as she gently placed a hand on his shoulders and gained his attention. “Dearest Pariah... prepare them for ascension.”

Pariah nodded and smiled at Lydia as the Old Guard recoiled in horror at the name. Pariah hopped down from his seat on the desk and the men instantly turned tail and ran. Even if they had weapons, it was an action they still would have chosen to take. Pariah didn't attempt to chase after them, didn't move to run. He just raised his hands towards them.

Trager stumbled and a scream ripped free form his throat as he felt his flesh agonizingly melt and shift and move. He looked down to see one arm shrivel and start to retract into his body while the other bloated horrifically and ripped the sleeve to pieces. One of his legs melted and bloated into a slug-like form while the other split into dozens of spindly limbs. His torso stated expanding grotesquely and his vision become a confusing mess of images as dozens of eyes started sprouting all over his body.

Pariah tilted his head as he observed his work. Most of the Old Guard had become a nearly indescribable mess of flesh and body parts. One became little more than a giant mouth with dozens of legs each sporting fingers like they were hair. Another became a giant, unblinking eye with teeth bursting out from beneath the flesh while another became a ball of flesh covered in dozens of organs. The little boy smiled and nodded before turning back to Lydia who was now examining the drawing he had been making.

“Oh my, is this who I think it is?” Lydia asked softly with a smile as she turned the drawing to him, revealing a crude image of a woman with blond hair wearing a gray suit.

“Mom... my...” Pariah answered haltingly and then asked. “I do... good?”

“The very best, sweetie.” Lydia smiled kindly and held the drawing out to Pariah. “Take this and show Nana just how good a drawer you are!”

“Okay...” Pariah smiled eagerly and grabbed the paper before running off. The large doors to the room opened before him and he passed several hazmat wearing people pushing trolleys.

Lady Lydia hummed absently as she walked over to the biggest throne at the table, while the hazmat wearing people started gathering up the former Old Guard onto the trolleys in the background. She took her seat and then pressed a button under the desk. The hologram changed from Emerald to a white outline of a phone and a ringing sound filled the air.

“Ya'loo?” the voice of Jacob answered cheerfully.

“Uncle Jacob, it's Lydia. I have some work for you,” Lydia said as she pulled out a folder and placed on the desk.

“Again?!” Jacob said with a faux annoyed tone. “Can't you play favourites with family for once, Dia?”

“But aren't all members of the Inner Circle considered family, dearest uncle?” Lydia pointed out with a smile as she started going over the contents of the folder. “How could I play favourites if all are my favourite?”

“Got me there,” Jacob answered and Lydia could imagine her fellow Cursor shrugging. “So what do you need me to do?”

“It is time for Chevalier to make an overt move after so long,” Lydia declared authoritatively. “The upcoming emergency meeting of the UN will be deciding the fate of the Cursors after the divine display. Their short sighted fear will make an enemy of the blessed. Use as much of our blackmail material and influence as you see fit to ensure a positive ruling... in fact, go a step further and ensure the blessed are granted far more favourable conditions.”

“No problemo!” Jacob said cheerfully.

“And afterwards... if you have the time...” Lydia said, her voice gaining a coy tone and her expression shifted to a deeply admiring one as she picked up a picture of Emerald Gleaner from her folder. “Tell me about her.”

“Ohoho!” Jacob laughed. “I'll be sure to tell you everything I know about her when I'm finished with this little errand.”

“I look forward to it, uncle.”

<><>

“-Shock reigns as UN ruling goes against all expectations...”

“-Rioters fill the streets of Paris in outrage at the UN decision...”

“-NYZ quarantine zone not only expanded to include the entire state but travel restrictions lessened along with goods crossing the state line...”

“-Television Ghost Hunters hospitalized after investigating an abandoned building near the NYZ,no official statement on whether or not Cursors were involved...”

“-American cities in a state of confusion after UN decision with little rioting, officials hopeful...”

“-Chinese trading fleets set sail for American coasts in the hundreds after the repeal of sanctions previously set...”

“-Unprecedented new trend in Youtube videos, viewers of amateur magicians say the special effects are surprisingly well done...”

“-Medical list with wait time of at least six monthsundergoes massive appointment cancelations as patients report third party medical attention...”

“-Reports of violent infighting among Blackwatch forces go unconfirmed, UN investigations ceased after lack of evidence...”

“-New Cult formed in the NYZ, member interviewed about central beliefs of Emerald Gleaner being touched by god...”

“-UN backed effort to study the crystal formation on Liberty Island has yet to yield results, scientists report EMP field too strong for normal instruments to properly examine...”

“-Overwhelming uncertainty as latest census reports unauthorized Cursor population growth, lawmakers convene to debate means of ethical population control...”

“-With an uncertain future looming, peoples of the world are no doubt wondering what could possibly happen next?”

~<>END<>~

Author's Note

AN: Normally I use these epilogues as alerts for the posting of the next book, this time I'm going to try to use a blog to alert people. Although the people on Fanfiction.net are a bit up the creek now that I think about it...

I've had people make the assumption Orion is actually an author avatar. He isn't. Because he isn't nearly as boring as I actually am and I simply refuse to embellish that fact about myself. However since a lot of people make this assumption I'll just go ahead and make him an authorial mouth piece rather then an author avatar.

Now as the rest of the chapter? Simply laying the foundations...

EN: So… crazy cult, then. That’s… not exactly new, I suppose, but definitely not something I was expecting to see again. I’d like to say I’m glad that they’re stuck on that side of the portal, but… I don’t know. Seemingly everything has a reason for existing when it comes to this story. Makes me rather paranoid about that fact.

AN2: He he...

Chapter 1: Homecoming

The sounds of ponies going about their business in their hundreds filled the air of the ports of Manehattan. Despite the fact that the ports of the pony city were meant to handle ships transporting people to and from the continent as well as trips down the coast, there were more than a few cargo ships moored at the port. The reason for this was the simple fact that the ports of Baltimare couldn't handle the sheer traffic it was experiencing nowadays and the same could be said for its sister ports on the opposite coast. Dozens of ships had to be relayed to Manehattan and wait for space to open up in the ports. Needless to say, the commerce ports of Equestria were being expanded as immensely as the railroads were.

In the hustle and bustle of ponies boarding and disembarking ships and sailors going off to enjoy some shore leave, the flash of a teleport went mostly unseen. Within the crowd mostly unnoticed was Emerald Gleaner in her pony form and beside her was an old griffin wearing dark gray robes.

“Here we are, Randolph,” Emerald stated, nodding towards the anchored ships at the port. “Again, thank you and House Gravor for coming over to give compensation.”

“Think nothing of it, my good lady,” Randolph Gravor replied earnestly with a smile. “I honestly thought I would be staying far longer, but I don't mind being able to return home so soon.”

“Have a peaceful journey home, Randolph,” Emerald said with a smile after the griffin as he left. The virus kept up the smile until the griffin was concealed behind the ponies that crowded around her.

“Good lady...” Emerald muttered with a shake of her head before disappearing in another flash of pink light.

An instant later the Evolved arrived on the surface region of the Enclave with a flash of light. Things were getting quite busy on the surface; many companies of Warhounds were marching and in training, and resources were being shipped to and fro through the tunnels to the underground. There were a few cottages dotting a green, scenic hillside to the distance. Along with Whisper Wind and Diane, several dogs had decided to take to living on the surface, though it was clear they were the exception when it came to Diamond Dogs.

'Speaking of people living on the surface,' Emerald thought as she glanced over towards Diane's cottage. 'Flan moved in with Diane.Those two are quite the pair, practically the best of friends already. Hmm... Diane is outside.What is she doing?'

With another faint flash of a teleport, Emerald arrived near to the clone's home. Outside sitting on a porch bench was Diane. Her mane was slightly different; it wasn't voluminous and curly like Pinkie's was, but it was slightly wavy along its length now and her hair clip still remained, keeping her hair out of her face. She was wearing quite a bit more clothes than the average pony now as well. She wore a pure white dress shirt with a royal purple silk vest covered in gold floral embroidery. It was quite clear that being best friends with a spider had its benefits.

“Hello, Diane,” Emerald waved as she approached and added. “New hairstyle?”

“Hello, Emerald!” Diane greeted back with a smile. “I'm just trying out something new.”

“It looks good,” Emerald commented as she came to a stop before the bench the other pony was on and then waved to the surface of said bench. “What's this here?”

“I got letters from my sisters!” Diane squealed happily as she held up several letters, postcards and pictures for Emerald to see.

Just from a glance over, Emerald could tell that ultimately she had been quite correct in the idea that while the clones looked exactly like Pinkie, they didn't exactly behave like her in the long run. Most weren't that much different from “baseline” Pinkie Pie but some were immensely different. One of the Manehattan clones had gone full on goth, piercings included, though she was clearly quite perky instead of stereo-typically moody. Another clone from down south in Appleloosa looked like they had been completely and utterly assimilated by Applejack's local relatives, looking the complete and honest part of a cowpony, her expression calm and content.

“They all look like they're coming into their own quite well,” Emerald said as she looked at another postcard depicting a clone from Vanhoover that looked like the sort Rarity would get along quite famously with. “So, setting up any future dates for a family reunion?”

“Oh that's a wonderful idea!” Diane replied excitedly with eyes that sparkled in glee. “I'm going to start writing letters and see if we can get something scheduled next year.”

Emerald smiled as Diane started gathering up some papers she had been writing on to make responses to the mail she got. The virus then noticed that among the large pile of letters and postcards Diane had gotten was an open package; within were several brushes and small paint tins full of various colors.

“What's this for?” Emerald asked, levitating a brush up as an example.

“Oh, that's a gift from one of my sisters,” Diane answered absently as she wrote a letter in surprisingly elegant cursive. “I forgot I covered the back of the paper I was using in random drawings and she said they were really good so she got me some stuff to see if I could get into painting.”

“Huh,” Emerald said simply and placed the brush back down. The virus' eyes were drawn to Diane's flank as she spoke. “Well I have some errands to tend to. Have a good day, Diane.”

“See you!” Diane waved with another smile before going back to writing her correspondence.

'Still balloons,' Emerald thought as she walked away. 'Don't know why I thought they'd look different.Hh well... on to business.It should be about that time now.'

Emerald made her way over to the large tunnels leading down into the Hub. As she walked, there was a low rumbling and shaking of the earth. The sound and shaking grew in noise and intensity as she neared the tunnels. She came to a stop just before the decline down into the tunnels just as the forms of several large beings appeared from behind the slope.

There were several dozen of them following each other out of the tunnels, and each of them were at least two stories tall with many being taller, the tallest of them nearly reaching forty feet and needing to half crawl along the tunnel to get out. Each of them hard dark gray, scaly skin that was almost carapace like in some places, and along the back were shiny, jet-black, incredibly hard growths. Their eyes were small only in relative size to their entire mass and softly glowing yellow with round, black pupils. Their noses were flat and their heads hung in front of their bodies, the slouch of their back propelling their heads forward. Their hands were thick and meaty and had three fingers with one thumb while their legs ended in thick, stocky stumps like that of an elephant's. Each one of them walked slowly, their footfalls easily shaking the earth with every step.

'It's too bad I didn't have the Titans ready for that fight a short while ago,' Emerald thought as she walked alongside the latest additions to her army. 'With them around, I doubt the viral hordes that had come spewing out of the portal would have managed to breach the perimeter. Ah well, what's done is done. No point in dwelling over what ifs.'

Eventually the group came to a stop in the middle of the clearing, Emerald came to a stop beside them as Warhounds and various Diamond Dogs and raptors watched from the distance in interest. Emerald briefly looked over the group of Titans and felt her eyes drawn by the largest of them in the group. The virus approached what she was already calling the “Bull” Titan and waved up at him.

“Follow me,” Emerald commanded and the Titan nodded down at her and followed her over and away from the others, moving at a pace that for it was almost lethargic but easily covered distance quickly thanks to the length of its stride.

“Alright now...” Emerald began once the two of them were a decent distance away. “Make a platform for yourself, ten feet tall and twenty feet in diameter.”

The Titan nodded and raised one large, stocky foot and stomped back down with a crash. There was a loud boom and the earth shook as suddenly a circular platform shot up from under the titan and raised it up ten feet into the air.

Emerald smiled and nodded in satisfaction. This was the reason why the Titans had been delayed and couldn't be deployed for battle when Emerald's Alternate attacked. The virus had been implanting Channeling knowledge into their minds while they were still growing in their pods. They only knew Earth Channeling, but that was as much as Emerald was okay giving them. Plus it would compliment their strengths greatly.

'Even without that there would be incredibly few defenses in the world that would have hoped to be able to even slow these guys down,' Emerald thought confidently. 'With these abilities, any fortification they face would easily be turned against the enemy. I want to give Channeling abilities to the raptors as well, though with fire, not earth.'

“You can remove the platform now,” Emerald said to the silently standing Titan. “Good work.”

There was a rumble as the Titan sunk the platform back into the ground and Emerald turned away, considering plans of implementing knowledge into the raptors. Suddenly, a large shadow was cast over Emerald and she turned to see a hand reach out towards her.

“LITTLE MA...” the Titan rumbled lowly as it carefully held Emerald in its hand against its chest.

“...” Emerald blinked for a moment before sighing and patting a massive finger with a hoof. “Yeah, big guy. I'm your Ma...”

Another thing about the Titans; Emerald had made them more intelligent than the raptors, now feeling more confident in her viral engineering abilities to try out much more sentient beings. They weren't exactly designed to be “human” level intelligence, but they weren't what you would call morons either. Basically, they were simple but not stupid. That was okay though, since Emerald designed and intended for them to be the Super Heavy Assault forces for the Warhounds and not much else.

“Mind putting me down now?” Emerald asked the Bull Titan holding her, who nodded and did so.

“Thanks, big guy,” Emerald said as she brushed herself off when she heard a loud, excited crow. Turning, she saw Stripe bounding towards her before skidding to a stop.

“Stripe?” Emerald said questioningly as the raptors shifted rapidly from foot to foot in excitement and bouncing in place. “What's the matter?”

Stripe forced himself to calm down and then began to rapidly flash through several hand signs along with a body movements and the odd squeak to convey a message. As Emerald put together what Stripe was trying to say, her eyes steadily started to widen as she got the full message. She stared at Stripe for a long moment, taking him in as if for the first time.

“You... want to be able to talk?” Emerald asked.

Stripe gave another excited crow and nodded rapidly.

“I... okay then,” Emerald said and approached the raptor and reached up towards him with a hoof. Tendrils extended and entered the raptors throat where rapid alterations to the vocal chords began to take place. After a moment, the work was done.

“So, uhh... got something say?” Emerald asked, staring intensely at the raptor.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh... Gaaaanuuuuuuuuuh...” Stripe said as he began to work his newly altered vocal chords, his voice coming out as low and growly(1). “Th-thank you... very m-much... al... always wa-wanted to speak b-but didn't... k-know it was possible for me.”

“Ah...” Emerald said with completely poleaxed expression. She had not designed the raptors to be this intelligent. “So uhh... I guess I should ask if any other Raptors wants to talk as well?”

Three rounds of crows and about a dozen other raptors from the large crowd of raptors surged forth to stand before Emerald.

“Uhh...” Emerald sat on the floor, looking around at the Raptors standing around and over her. “I guess... let's get to work?”

A half hour later found Emerald below in the Orion Serum vat room, adding another vat into structure filled with a different strain of the serum. Her focus on what she was currently doing was only half there, though. Her thoughts constantly drifted back to her raptors and the incredible surprise she got out of them.

'Stripe's been getting quite a bit of practice with the other raptors who I gave altered vocal chords,' Emerald thought with a blank expression. 'Not exactly sounding like they've been speaking their whole lives, but they are getting a hang of it really quickly... not a surprise considering how smart they are...'

Emerald stopped her work over filling the newest vat with the alternate Orion strain. She paused and sighed before pressing the both of her hooves against her temples. The situation with the raptors had stressed her out a little since it came completely out of nowhere as far as she was concerned.

'I've been going over the various raptors, trying to see if their intelligence was common or not,' Emerald thought as she went back to work. 'I'm not one hundred percent certain just yet, but from the looks of things, improved intelligence only results in the Raptors who lead the others. Something about constantly needing to think and consider what they are doing allows for far greater learning capability than I initially designed in them.'

Emerald then sighed and stood up on the catwalk she was on over the vat. The liquid in the vat was a sky blue compared to the other vat's pink, and tasted like blueberries. Both strains of Orion Serum had been given the same upgrades, but the blue Orion serum caused a bit more visual changes rather than purely under the skin or fur as the case may be.

'I guess really in the end it doesn't matter. The raptors were capable of far greater intellectual feats than originally designed,' Emerald thought as she made her way out of the room. 'They've all proven loyal and friendly... Blue is a bit ornery and high maintenance, though Stripe seems to like her.'

Emerald eventually left the back room of the building and entered the front. The main lobby of the Orion building was mostly empty today; only Fenrir was standing there, patiently waiting for her.

“Right, I'm done doing some double checking on the new serum,” Emerald said to Fenrir, coming to a stop next to the new serum tap next to the old one. “The new Orion serum is ready for use.”

“What will it do?” Fenrir asked as Emerald poured out a cup of the blue liquid.

“Well, everything the old version does right now as well,” Emerald explained as she approached the wolf-like dog. “All the previous augments and the new ones I added. Sleeplessness, decreased required food intake, minor regeneration capability, a large amount of resistances to most - and outright immunity to some - types of poison and toxic materials.But this strain of the Orion serum does something a bit more. Unlike the previous versions, which simply cause changes beneath the skin, this serum also visually changes the body dramatically. You will still obviously be Diamonds Dogs, but it will also be quite clear you are different.”

“What exactly is the change?” Fenrir asked curiously as he took hold of the cup holding the serum.

“Basically it strengthens your leg muscles and also changes the shape and size of your legs in general,” Emerald answered. “Allowing vastly increased mobility and agility, not to mention making it comfortable for any dog taking this to stand on their hind legs for as long as they wish.”

“What is wrong with our legs as they are now?” Fenrir asked, looking down at his own pair.

“Quite frankly, you guys are rather top heavy,” Emerald answered. “Normally this isn't an issue and is actually a benefit for close combat and the style of combat the Diamond Dogs used before. However with the guns I've introduced and the high mobility warfare I've been teaching you, it's becoming quite clear your strengths don't entirely match up. Whenever a Warhound has to open fire they have to stop and plant themselves on the ground. If they attempted to run and gun in any decent speed they'll both lose most of their aiming ability and be likely to trip themselves up due to the recoil of their weapons.”

“But with the changes this causes, that will no longer be the case?” Fenrir asked thoughtfully and got a nod from Emerald. “Good enough for me.”

Without another word Fenrir downed the serum in one go.

“Ah... well, anyway...” Emerald continued, a little surprised Fenrir was so willing to get into body shape altering augmentations. Though in hindsight, it should have been obvious. “I'm aware that the idea of changing the fundamental base shape of one's body could be rather repellent to most people, so I'm forming a sort of separate branch of the Warhounds which I'll be calling the Direwolves, made up of dogs who are willing to take this serum. I'm hoping to make them the “elites” among our forces.”

“And I shall ensure they are worthy of such a title among the Warhounds,” Fenrir stated determinedly before frowning in discomfort.

“Right, normally the serum needs a whole day to work,” Emerald stated as she stepped in close to Fenrir. “However, I want to get the results of it right so I'm just going to help speed it along to its completion.”

The wolf-like Diamond Dog nodded calmly and kneeled down as Emerald reached out with a hoof and extended a few tendrils. Fenrir kept his calm as he actively felt his bones and flesh warp and move against his own accord, silently awaiting the end with eyes closed. Emerald watched as Fenrir's legs began to visibly change. A groan filled the air, not from Fenrir’s mouth but from his bones as they strained and and rapidly changed size. Smoothly and steadily over a period of five minutes, Fenrir's legs lengthened and bulked up and kept going until they looked to be in proportion to his arms and torso. Once the changes were complete, Emerald extracted her tendrils and took a step back from Fenrir.

Once Fenrir felt the strange sensations in his legs stop, he began to slowly shift onto his hind legs. He was a bit wobbly as he stood upright; understandable, as his legs were now completely different lengths and sizes from the rest of his life. But once he somewhat found his balance, he cut striking figure.

Fenrir had already been taller than Emerald in her human form, but only just. Now that his legs were in proportion to his body, he would very likely tower over her human form almost as easily as he was currently towering over her pony form.

“Doing alright there?” Emerald asked the the newly christened Direwolf.

“My balance is a little off,” Fenrir muttered as he visibly wobbled a bit in place. “This will take some getting used to, but not impossible. Hmm... I'll need to have my power armor re-sized as well.”

“Well speaking of that, you may want to hold off on that a bit,” Emerald said. “I've been doing some improvements on them and I'll be releasing the Mk II power armor for distribution among the Warhounds soon...ish.”

“Very well, I shall hold off on that.” Fenrir nodded. “I need to practice my piloting anyway. Will the new serum be offered to the Warhounds today?”

“No, this is a pretty big change.” Emerald shook her head. “I'd rather have you be like this for a few weeks, maybe a month, before offering it. Rather people see some of the benefits of the change before I offer it.”

“Then I shall endeavor to master my balance as quickly as possible so I can give as good a showing as possible,” Fenrir stated and quickly set about walking in circles in the lobby until he could do it without stumbling or showing the slightest wobble.

'Well now that that's done,' Emerald thought with a bit of a smile as she watched briefly. 'What else do I need to do before I go off to inevitably meet my fate? Hmm... I left Moon Dancer working on some stuff. I should go check up on her and maybe catch a few more minutes of work on my own projects before I have to leave.'

With that, Emerald teleported with a small pink flash.

ALPHA

A loud hum filled the room along with a bright green glow.

“Let's see...” Moon Dancer muttered, adjusting her glasses as she made sure some cables were properly connected. “Alright, everything looks good. Let's get started.”

Where Moon Dancer currently was, was in one of the secure labs Emerald had scattered throughout the depths of the Enclave. It was a rather clean room and most of its surfaces were stark white or polished metal. It was also filled with advanced looking magical and scientific equipment that Emerald likely made herself for her own uses. Although it was also possible they could have been made purely for Dancer's sake by Emerald when she took the unicorn on.

Right now Moon Dancer was making use of the various equipment to run tests on a crystal Emerald had grown. The crystal was green and the size of a basketball and in the stereotypical shape of a diamond. This gem was also socketed into a special holding device that was attached to a rather large power cable. This gem was developed to be an upgrade over previous versions of gems and had an incredibly massive power capacity compared to what was used before.

“Right. Running first test on power gem, testing date is...” Moon Dancer muttered as she wrote down notes on her clipboard. “Stress testing power gem. Test one initiating. Turning on power now.”

Flipping a large switch on the wall, the loud hum was briefly interrupted by a buzz before the hum returned but louder. The gem in its socket started to glow, the light of which quickly grew in intensity within moments.

“Steady power growth, no fluctuation,” Moon Dancer recorded absently as she observed the gem keenly. “No signs of magical rebound. Gem capacity is now passing... one thousand magical units, about half expected capacity.”

The gem continued to glow and the hum in the room grew ever louder. Despite herself, Moon Dancer felt somewhat nervous about this much magic being poured into one source. If the gem suddenly had a magical meltdown due to some flaw... well the amount of magic in it was supposed to be fairly beyond Princess Celestia's power. If it rebounded, the amount of damage it could do...

But before the unicorn knew it, there was a beeping sound coming from the socket the gem was in and the flow of magic ceased. Moon Dancer quickly got out an MU measurement device and aimed it at the apparently full gem.

“Readings are currently at two thousand magical units,” Dancer stated with a bit of a relieved sigh. “The gem is holding steady, no aberrations whatsoever. Good thing, too. I really wouldn't have liked being blown up.”

“I wouldn't have liked it either.”

“Gah!” Moon Dancer started and whipped around to see Emerald standing at the doorway. “Y-you shouldn't startle ponies working on dangerously experimental materials!”

“Sorry.” Emerald shrugged and entered. “Though the crystals aren't what I would call dangerous. If there was a large chance of them exploding in your face, I would still be developing them instead of handing them off to you for finishing touches.”

“Well this gem seems to be working okay from what I can see,” Moon Dancer reported as Emerald walked over to stand beside her. “Max capacity and nothing seems to be going wrong. It's holding stable.”

“Good, just what I was hoping for.” Emerald nodded and then asked. “What about the “metal” I made? Is it looking good too?”

“It's working fantastically,” Moon reported with an eager nod. “The alloy you created is highly conductive towards magical and thermal energies. With a proper sink to draw the energies into and the right runes, you can effectively make a protective system that powers itself from things that try to attack it.”

“My own little experiments into seeing what a more effective means of protection is,” Emerald stated as she walked off to the side towards a computer set up. “A solid barrier or the protective qualities of said barrier interwoven into the armor. Nothing may come of it, we'll see.”

Moon Dancer looked over at Emerald. It had been quite an interesting last few weeks. Emerald had been right when she said that her magical research and development was more than a little ahead of Equestria's, though honestly only in specific fields. Mind magic was decades if not a full century ahead of what Equestria had and Moon Dancer was rather interested to know how Emerald had accomplished that. Her shape shifting teacher, though, had been oddly cagey regarding it and prone to changing the subject whenever it was brought up. However, besides from that magical development was largely focused on weaponization and warfare in general, which quite frankly was easy to see why the Enclave was ahead of Equestria in that front.

Dancer was more than a little appalled that so much knowledge was wasted on purely weapons development and quickly set about making a list of various ways the knowledge could be used for peaceful means. The big surprise came when she approached Emerald with her list, prepared to commit to a long speech and discussion to get Emerald to come around to her viewpoint when the shape shifter proved more than willing to listen. Not only that, but she was also very receptive to the idea of doing some minor re-engineering to turn some of Emerald's ideas into more peaceful versions for them. So much so that finding said uses was now part of her job as her assistant.

The unicorn definitely had a ton of work lined up for herself, but she liked it. Plus it put all of her knowledge to use thinking up plans for different devices that could be made out of the warlike research Emerald had undertaken. And speaking of plans...

Looking over again, Moon Dancer saw that Emerald was steady at work at her computer. She had a tendril plugged into the tower of the computer but she was also rapidly typing out sequences on the keyboard. The screen was filled by a pulsating dark blue sphere of light with an open window over that rapidly filling up with codes and other figures that likely had something to do with the computer neural interface… possibly. Moon Dancer didn't really know what it was that Emerald was working on, only that it was big and would eventually require several hundred of the gems of the same type she had tested out. The unicorn was intensely curious to find out what it was that Emerald was working on but also knew that as Emerald's student and personal assistant she would be brought into the know sooner or later.

Turning her head back to the gem, Moon Dancer contented herself with some more lab work.

BETA

“Alright, I know that for some of you this isn't your first escort assignment but we have some recruits with us today,” Shining Armor stated sternly to the Royal Guard standing at attention before him. “So I'm just going to quickly repeat the basics. Be their shadow, be silent, be unnoticed, be out of the way and make sure the dignitaries aren't bothered. Got that?”

“Sir, yes sir!” came the reply.

“Good.” Armor nodded. “You know your missions. Dismissed.”

With that the group of Royal Guards saluted one final time before heading on their way.

Shining Armor let out an unnoticed sigh as he took in the Royal Guard barracks around him. Lately things had become rather busy, mostly because of all the ambassadors and diplomats arriving and leaving daily to Canterlot to seek an audience with Celestia concerning the Enclave. And boy did simply thinking of that nation bring up some unpleasant feelings.

Shining scowled angrily before shaking his head and walking through the training grounds of the Royal Guard Barracks. Lately they had gotten a large intake of potential recruits for the Royal Guard. All of them were Thracian Ponies which included the Deinos that were once kept hidden away in the Palace. Thoughts of their origins also brought up some anger, but Armor put those aside easily in the name of professionalism. It was quite fortunate he was able to do that as well since his replacement for the Royal Guard when he finally permanently left for the Crystal Empire happened to be a Deinos. Said Deinos was approaching him now.

“Captain Shining Armor, sir!”

“Yes, Razor Wing? What is it?” Armor asked as the Deinos came to a stop before him.

“Princess Emerald Gleaner of the Enclave arrived a short while ago, sir,” Razor stated with a sharp salute. “She is waiting in your office in the Royal Palace. She said, and I quote, 'It's about time we had that talk,' sir.”

“... Took long enough,” Armor said after pausing for a moment. “This is likely going to take a while. So I'm entrusting the rest of my duties today to you, Razor Wing.”

“I'll handle it, sir,” Razor Wing saluted.

“I know you will. Dismissed.” Shining Armor nodded and turned away.

The soon to be former Captain of the Royal Guard made his way to his personal quarters in the barracks. Once he was there he quickly divested himself of his armor and wore his more “casual” uniform, a red gilded jacket. Once he made sure his appearance was in order, he then made his way towards the palace.

As he made his way through Canterlot he passed by quite the menagerie of peoples. Ambassadors of many different nations were here, a vast majority of them being carnivores. An example of which was the rather rotund Bast Diplomat who was being carried through the city atop quite the grandiose litter; the litter bearers were a sub breed of Diamond Dog called Jackals. They had black fur and were very lean compared to the dogs in the Enclave. Armor had also heard they couldn't dig through dirt and rock nearly as good as the local breeds, but in exchange they they had incredible abilities that involved the vast deserts of the Bast Dynasty.

Armor continued on his way, the diplomat's sudden shouting for lasagna echoing behind him. It wasn't long before he found himself entering the front door of the palace. It was amazing how much could be done when one was given a blank check to work with. The damage caused to the palace from Emerald and Oskar's fight was already almost gone. There was the odd crack here and there but for the most part the palace was fully repaired.

Making his way through the somewhat lively hallways of the palace, Shining Armor soon found himself standing before the doors of his office. He could already feel his temper start to rise as he reached for the doorknob before he stopped and took a breath. He recalled the words spoken to him almost a year ago by an old Heron.

“Hmm... while you are legitimately angry about what Emerald did, as is expected as Captain of the guard, it is not the majority that fuels it,” a memory echoed. “No, the majority of your anger isn't born out of the concern you feel as Captain of the guard. It is born out of the concern you feel as Shining Armor, brother to Twilight Sparkle.”

'I can't go into this seeking justice as Captain of the Royal Guard,' Armor thought with a frown. 'This will end badly if I go in expecting that. No, if I want any satisfaction at all, then I'll need to go as a concerned brother for my sister rather than any authority figure. It's galling to ignore what she has done, but this is the way it has to be.'

With that, Armor gathered as much calm as he could and opened the door.

Shining Armor's office in the palace was clean and straight forward looking. The only decoration in the room were the various awards both scholarly and otherwise hanging on the walls, and Cadence's picture on his desk. The desk was set at the opposite end of the office, behind which was a large window that let in quite a bit of light. Above that was the Equestrian flag and before the desk was a pair of plush chairs. It was a simple set up, all things considered, probably more due to the fact Armor prefered to be out among the Guard rather then behind a desk.

Sitting in one of the two chairs patiently awaiting his arrival was Emerald Gleaner in her pony form. The shapeshifter was calmly drinking what appeared to be a cup of coffee and did not turn when Armor opened the door.

“Well... it's been a while, but I'm finally here,” Emerald stated as Armor walked around to sit at his desk. Now that he was getting a look at her face, he could tell a little she was bracing herself for this as much as he was. “What shall we talk about?”

“...” Shining paused for a moment. Honestly this was a bit out of the blue and he was on the back foot getting his thoughts together. “Well... what exactly are your intentions with my sister?”

“I... don't know,” Emerald answered after moment. “She and I were just friends at first. But then I got impulsive one day and... next thing I knew, we were together.”

“Impulsive,” Armor mused aloud. “I do hope you know to reign that in should she decide to act on her conscious again.”

“... Yeah, the Elements of Harmony were a bit unpleasant and I admit to being more than a little furious with her when I was first sealed,” Emerald said softly with half lidded eyes that hinted at more than a little anger. “I guess it's to be my benefit she is choosing to forgo acting on her conscious nowadays, isn't it?”

“Hmm.” Armor looked away a moment. He walked into that one. “If you don't have any real intent, and from the sounds of it, any real actual desire to be with her in the way you are, then... why be with her this way?”

“...” Emerald's eyes shifted away from Armor, clearly a little uncomfortable with the line of questioning, but they returned soon enough. “I guess it's because I act the way I do because partly she expects me to act as such. I mean, I did kiss her. What else is she to expect out of me than something more than just friends?”

“You are leading her on,” Armor stated with more than a little indignation.

“Yes and no.” Emerald closed her eyes and sipped her coffee, absently refilling it from the kettle and adding in milk. “My feelings towards her are as a really close friend. I care for her wellbeing, both physical and emotional. If she wants me to be her fillyfriend, then okay, I am fine with it. I do not mind committing to acts of affection that such a thing would require of me. She is happy and I am more than content. If and when she asks more of me as her fillyfriend, whether that is to take this to a far more intimate level or even asking for me join her in marriage... then okay, I am fine with it.”

“You are okay with it?” Armor asked with more than a little disbelief. “She could ask you to become something you are not, to spend the rest of your life as this, and you are fine with it?”

“I used to be a heartless murderer, a raving cannibal on command.” Emerald sighed as she placed her cup down. “This was not something I was, not something I wanted to be at all. But I did it because I had to. In the name of survival I had to become something I was not and make it such a part of my being I might as well have been born that way.”

“This, what is between Twilight and I?” Emerald said, waving a hoof in the direction of Ponyville. “This I can more than tolerate. This I can learn to like. This I can willingly make a part of who I am. This is the closest I have come to being in a normal, happy relationship; one that might just end up with me having a family of sorts of my own one day. The day I was forced to become something I really didn't want to was the same day I tossed aside all hopes of a happy ending. I may not feel what Twilight feels for me, but... this makes me happy, and I like to think I make her happy, too. I am willing to live a lie and convince myself it's the truth for this chance.”

Shining Armor just stared for a moment. He thought of Cadence and how intense his love for the alicorn was. He knew with all of his heart that her love for him was just as strong. The idea of someone being in a relationship they did not actually have any strong feelings for in was almost inconceivable in his mind. If it wasn't for the proof sitting before him, he would have simply refused to believe that such a thing could be. Pity was the last thing he expected to feel about Emerald, but it was now there. The fact she was so willing to live a lie because she was convinced it would be the closest she would come to a happy, fulfilling life was... it was horrible to say the least.

“... Don't look at me like that,” Emerald said with a scowl.

“Excuse me?” Armor said. “Like what?”

“With that look,” Emerald said as she looked away from Armor with an irritated huff. “That pity. I don't need your pity, your mercy. I didn't ask to be the way I am and I won't get looked down on for it.”

“Alright...” Armor said and schooled his features. “I am sorry.”

“Is there anything else?” Emerald asked and took another drink of her coffee.

“No... I don't believe so,” the unicorn replied, his heard so whirling with thoughts he couldn't ask another question.

“Well I'll be on my way then,” Emerald said and downed her coffee. She got off her chair and made for the door when she paused. “You aren't going to tell Twilight about this, are you?”

“And you aren't?” Armor asked.

“I know Twilight,” Emerald said with a sigh. “She would likely overreact and have her heart broken by the fact I don't love her in the same way she does me. I do love her, though I guess it could be argued my feelings aren't strong enough for me to be in this with her... it doesn't matter what arguments could be made, we're happy and that's the most anyone could ask for, isn't it? Just do me this one favor and don't tell her. Please?”

“...Okay, Emerald,” Armor said with a sigh, his hoof rising up to rub his eyes. “I won't say a word to Twilight.”

“Thank you,” Emerald said and opened the door, saying just before she closed it, “Have a good day, Captain Armor.”

When the click of the door being fully closed met his ears, Shining Armor took in a deep breath before releasing a large exhale. This meeting most certainly did not turn out the way he had imagined it at all...

Looking down at his desk, his eyes landed on the picture of Cadence and himself at their far more peaceful second attempt at their wedding in the Crystal Empire. His thoughts wandered to the idea of sharing with his wife everything he had learned just now. Would someone who was known as the Goddess of Love be more understanding or less of Emerald's unconventional love towards Twilight? He didn't know, but he did know this; a proper husband and wife didn't keep secrets from each other.

His promise had been specifically to not tell Twilight after all...

GAMMA

It was a calm night in the Crystal Empire, or at least the Viral Changeling resting upon a ledge on the Palace thought so.

The Changeling's name was Vata and he was busy at work on his assignment, though it currently looked like he was playing the part of a gargoyle. He was mostly bare save for a camo cloak draped over his form covered in soft blue colors to help him meld with the buildings and darkness of the night. He had a few others he had packed for when the lighting made the camo stick out more than hide.

Currently what Vata was doing was keeping an eye on Twilight on Emerald's orders. He'd be inside the palace keeping a more direct line of sight on her, but he figured that since the palace was decently secure enough he'd just have to watch for people trying to get into the palace. He'd be on guard around Twilight for a day or so yet before being rotated out for one of his brothers and sisters. The whole lot of them were still in training, learning espionage and arts of subterfuge from Emerald and running the courses she made for them. They'd gotten staying hidden parts fairly mastered but the assassination courses were quite tricky.

Suddenly Vata's thoughts were interrupted by feelings of intense statement and shock before quickly changing into violent anger. All of it was coming from Twilight.

Muttering a curse under his breath, Vata quickly teleported within the palace with a burst of orange flames. Locking in on Twilight's emotions, Vata arrived in a side passage and glanced out into the hallway to see the alicorn in a running battle with a unicorn. Behind Twilight, the other Mane six were close in pursuit, though somewhat sticking back in order to not be caught in the middle.

“Get back here!” Twilight shouted, a beam of magic lancing out from her horn and clipping the unicorn who barely dodged in time.

“Ah!” the other mare shouted in some pain before sending her own beam washing over her pursuers and forcing Twilight to throw up a shield to protect her friends. “A bit violent for a princess, aren't you?!”

Seeing that the unicorn was running towards a room with open doors, Vata quickly teleported just beside the open doorway on the other side. For a brief moment Vata was left listening to the sound of magic tearing apart the hallway followed by explosions before he felt the approach of alarmed and somewhat fearful emotions. Timing it just right, Vata leapt forward with fangs bared.

The unicorn mare gave a shrill scream of fright as Vata rammed into her. There were more shouts of shock coming from the hallway she just left. Vata and the mare rolled over each other for a moment, and in the confusion one of her saddlebags fell open and there was the sound of something metal hitting the floor. Vata and his prey rolled to a stop next to an ornate looking mirror, the viral changeling clinging to the mare's back, his limbs wrapped around her as best as they could. He reached out to the presence on top of him with his power and started to drain her of all emotion. The mare gave a shriek and lashed out with a hoof at his face over her shoulder and he reflexively bit deeply into it with his fangs.

Everything seemed to be going well then and it looked like the mare would be captured when suddenly there was a bright flash of light and Vata saw something intensely bright rush towards him. His head whipped back from a harsh impact and he hissed but kept his grip on the mare. Said mare seemed to take the sudden attack on Vata to her advantage and created an expanding barrier around her body. The barrier practically fell apart after mere moments of pressing against Vata's body but it was enough for the mare to quickly teleport. Vata saw the unicorn flash from above him to just in front of the mirror before quickly limping through.

“No!” Vata hissed, leaping at the spot the unicorn just left. “Grrr... what hit us?”

“Didn't mean for her to get away,” Twilight muttered as she walked into the room, her horn glowing brightly with magic and keeping her gaze locked on Vata. “But I've got you at least. Why are you here?! Hasn't there been enough bloodshed between our peoples? Who sent you here?”

“You hit us,” Vata sighed in resignation and fell into a sitting position. “We were sent here to watch over you on commands of the Queen Mother, Emerald Gleaner.”

“Well... shoot,” Applejack commented.

“You were on my side?” Twilight asked with wide eyes before looking at the mirror. “This... ohhhhhh... wait, there are more of you? Where are they?”

“...” Vata sighed as he heard the sounds of people rushing down the halls towards them.

“Vata, are you alright?” Vata heard one of his sisters ask through their link.

“Yeah.Ran into some issues here, though,” Vata replied as crystal pony guards flooded into the room. “I get the feeling I'm going to be detained by local law enforcement for the time being. Can you pass along my mission report to the Queen Mother?”

“No problem.Stay safe.”

DELTA

The next day saw all princesses and the Mane Six in the room with the mirror the mare, now identified as one Sunset Shimmer, escaped into.

“I've seen to our guest. He is well and has not attempted to leave according to the guards,” Luna said.

“That is good.” Celestia nodded. “This is a sensitive situation and I honestly do not want Emerald to hear about it until the dust has settled.”

“Of course, sister.” Luna nodded though she looked at odds doing so.

“Why can't Emerald know about this?” Twilight asked as she strapped her saddlebags on.

“While Emerald has proven to have a sense for subtlety...” Celestia began, keenly aware in this moment that Emerald was her student's fillyfriend. “There have been occasions where she has chosen to “cut the knot” as it were and go for the loud and destructive action.”

Twilight opened her mouth to protest but closed it after considering. The situation with the dragon now staying with Fluttershy, how she nearly killed him, the arguably extreme reaction towards the changeling invasion... Twilight had to admit Emerald did have a history of going the extreme route, but... from a lot of personal experience with the viral unicorn, she also knew how to stop things from escalating via simply talking things out. For a moment Twilight really wanted to argue Emerald’s inclusion but was at odds with obeying Celestia's word, ingrained loyalty towards the Princess warring with the love and respect she held for Emerald.

“Well it's too bad Emmy can't tag along,” Pinkie said. “Pretty sure she's never been on an adventure with the rest of us just yet.”

“Speaking of that,” Celestia said and turned to face Twilight's friends. “I want you all to remain behind as well. I wish for only Twilight to undertake this task alone.”

“Alone?!” the group exclaimed.

“Yes,” Celestia confirmed and walked over to the mirror. “On the other side of this mirror lies a whole other world. The sudden presence of all of you at once may disrupt the fragile balance of that world and render Twilight's mission nigh impossible. Subtlety is needed here. Twilight needs to go alone.”

“It's okay, girls,” Twilight said with a determined expression. “Even just one of the Elements of Harmony alone is too dangerous to be left unsupervised. Who knows what may happen.”

“What do you think of this, Cadence?” Luna asked the younger alicorn.

“Oh don't mind me,” Cadence said with a cheerful smile. “I'm just waiting for the inevitable.”

“What do you mean?” Luna questioned with furrowed brows.

Suddenly there was a disturbance outside the room, the sound of ponies shouting protests and approaching footsteps. The double doors suddenly flew open and in walked Emerald in her human form wearing her formal wear with Navi buzzing overhead. Beside her was Belvedere wearing his blank white silk long coat dug out from the Old Kingdom ruins.

“And just in time.” Cadence smiled. “Welcome to my kingdom, Emerald! Guess you found out in the end, hmm?”

“But how?” Celestia questioned. “We kept your subordinate in our custody and forbade him from trying to contact you.”

“Now if I told you that, you would find a way to counter it for next time,” Emerald replied blankly before smiling at Cadence. “Hello Cadence, and yeah I definitely did.”

“Emerald, please,” Celestia pleaded earnestly as she stepped forward. “Listen to me on this, just let Twilight go alone-”

“I heard you from back there,” Emerald said with a raised hand. “And I think you already know the answer to that.”

“Emerald, you've been increasingly making a habit out of ignoring my advice when it comes down to your actions,” Celestia stated with carefully restrained anger. “But this time please listen to me. I do not want you to go with Twilight. Please trust in her abilities to handle this alone.”

“Oh, and what are you going to do if I choose to not listen to you again?” Emerald asked, crossing her arms with an aside glance at Celestia. “Grab that one pony who could make me? What was his name now? Idon'texist Hoofingten Esquire III?”

“EMERALD!” Celestia shouted with an angry glare and booming voice, stamping a hoof down with a startling bang. “DO. NOT. MOCK ME.”

Emerald actually started at that. She stepped back and uncrossed her arms. Hher eyes were wide as one of her hands halfway shifted into a claw out of reflex before she caught it. After a moment of shocked silence, Emerald took a calming breath and straightened.

“I know you don't want me to go with her,” Emerald said softly. “I know she can probably handle this easily enough on her own, but why take the extra risk? I'm going. You aren't going to convince me otherwise.”

“... I just do not want another world dragged into our conflicts, Emerald,” Celestia said solemnly. “What happened not one month ago was a perfect example of this. You're right. I can't convince you or even stop you from going. But please at least promise me you won't bring the conflict that has been afflicting us to that world.”

“... I can do that.” Emerald nodded and Celestia gave a relieved sigh.

“Well...” Luna began. “Since Emerald is now allowed to go, is there anyone else who would want to go as well?”

Celestia gave her sister a greatly displeased look, but surprisingly the Mane Six looked rather reluctant to actually tag along. Emerald gave a surprised look at the expressions on everyone's face; she'd expected them to raring to go.

“Uh, sugarcube don't take this the wrong way, but I think we kinda wanna sit this one out,” Applejack said as she nervously clutched at her hat. “I mean if it was just you going and all, then no problem.”

“Yeah, we got your back!” Rainbow Dash shouted but then looked disappointed in herself after saying. “But after what happened with Emerald's evil alternate universe clone... well...”

“I do believe what everyone is saying is that we need a bit more time to unwind and recover from recent events,” Rarity stated and approached Emerald who had shifted back into pony form. She began fussing over Emerald, making sure her mane was just so and coat arranged, to everyone's amusement. “We would gladly accompany you if you were alone, but you have Emerald with you. No matter what happens beyond that mirror, we can trust her to make sure you make it back home safe and sound.”

“Well... I want to go!” Spike shouted and ran forward to come to a stop just before the two. “I wasn't there when the whole evil universe invasion went down, but I want to be here for this!”

“Uhh, Spike...” Twilight began.

“Sure, why not?” Emerald began and pointed a hoof at Navi who was had lighted down on the tip of her ear. “I mean I'm taking Navi with me, might as well bring you along too.”

Celestia gave a barely heard, irritated groan followed by a giggle from Luna.

“Well this sounds wonderful,” Cadence said happily as she crouched before the group of four. “The whole family is gathered together for an adventure into a new world!”

“Yeah, I suppose so...” Emerald smiled as Twilight blushed, Spike gave a sheepish look as Navi gave a trilling cheer.

“Well I have full confidence in you four to get the job done,” Cadence said brightly. “And with time to spare. So if you finish far earlier than expected, or rather as expected, then who knows? If conditions on the other side allow for it, the four of you can make a small vacation of this and enjoy yourselves.”

“Speaking of time,” Emerald said and looked to Luna. “How long do we have to get back?”

“You have three more nights,” Luna answered. “Ending on midnight of the third night.”

“Good.” Emerald nodded and looked towards Belvedere who had been standing patiently and silently to the side. “Go collect Vata, Belvedere. This shouldn't take long, but at the most expect to be in command for roughly three nights.”

“Of course, Boss.” Belvedere nodded and turned away to leave.

“Well girls, this is it,” Twilight said to her friends. “We'll be back soon.”

“And we'll be here waiting for you!” Applejack said to everyone's vocal agreement.

“Right... ready, Emerald?” Twilight asked as Spike clambered onto her back.

“Whenever you are,” Emerald answered as Navi dove into her mane.

“Okay.” Twilight paused before the mirror and then took a breath. “Let's go.”

With that, she crossed the threshold.

EPSILON

Emerald remembered watching a few episodes of watching the Stargate series. Every time they went into the aforementioned stargate there would be a CGI scene of a path of bright light, dark borders and bright lights rushing at you. Walking through the mirror... was kind of the opposite of that; visually speaking, that is. There was the feeling of being squeezed down and stretched out to the point it felt like you could easily fit through the opening of a tube of toothpaste, but the journey itself was quite... colorful. It was also almost over just as fast.

The colors and twists of the the transport to another world was replaced with that of a dark stairwell. Emerald's arms lashed out and her momentum was instantly halted and she was put upright in midair, glowing slightly from her use of magic. However, she wasn't nearly quick enough to catch everyone else.

“Ahhh!”

“Ow!”

“Ahwawa!”

Emerald turned and blinked when she saw the three bodies lying on the floor. Though she had incredible night vision, she still created a magical light just to make absolutely certain what she was seeing was correct. On the floor were three humans.

“Ugh, not exactly a comfortable exit,” Spike said, his human form like that of a thirteen year old boy with short green hair, wearing a purple track suit with a green undershirt and green high top shoes.

“Wawa?” babbled what could only be Navi now as a little human girl that looked roughly four years old. She wore a light blue dress that reached down to her knees and a pair of white slip on shoes. She had purple hair with lime green eyes that matched the ones she had as an insect. The former bug suddenly began to notice her new form and started to get excited as she poked at her face with her fingers. “OooooOOOooooohhh!”

The last person was obviously Twilight, who appeared to take their landing a bit worse than the others as she was still face down on the ground and groaning in some discomfort; understandable considering it looked like Spike and Navi landed on top of her. She was wearing a pair of black jeans with a small white belt and a pair of black leather buckled shoes on her feet. On her torso she was wearing a long sleeved dress shirt and over that was a dark purple vest and no doubt she was also wearing a matching black tie. Her hair reached just past her shoulders and was the same dark blue with purple and pink streaks running through it.

“Ugggggh...” Twilight groaned again and struggled to get up a bit but was pinned down by Spike and Navi. “Get off me, please...”

“Oh, uh, sorry,” Spike said and quickly got up but immediately fell over as he was suddenly a bit taller than he was used to. “Gah!”

“Hehehe, bah!” Navi giggled and crawled off Twilight on her hands and feet.

With another groan, Twilight pushed herself up into a sitting position when she blinked and looked down at her hands in shock. Emerald was staring too, but not at Twilight's human form. No, the virus was staring in shock at her face.

As the now former unicorn looked up at Emerald, her appearance seemed to change in Emerald's eyes. Suddenly her hair wasn't colorful, but black. She wasn't wearing the scholarly styled clothes but a pair of sneakers, plain blue jeans and a dark blue hoodie with the image of a blue police box on the front. She wasn't looking up at her in concern, but with a friendly smile and was sitting at a table with a mostly empty cup of coffee.

“Hey, can I get a refill here, donut boy?” she said with a smile, shaking her cup at her.

“Coffee Girl...” Emerald muttered.

“Emerald.” Emerald blinked as she heard her say a name she couldn't possibly know. “Emerald, are you alright? Emerald!”

The virus started as suddenly the illusion was broken. She wasn't back in her mother's bakery. The girl she never got to learn the name of wasn't in front of her, but was actually her girlfriend. Said girlfriend was actually staring up at her in no little amount of concern.

“Oh, uh... sorry, I just... really surprised at... you know, you,” Emerald stuttered out a little, waving at the entirety of Twilight's form.

“I know!” Twilight exclaimed with equal parts excitement and shock as she examined her body. “This is what it's like to be human... I feel so light and lanky.”

“Ugh...” Spike groaned as he wobbled while standing in place. “I feel off balance.”

“Fafa loo!” Navi exclaimed and clapped her hands as she started testing them out more.

Emerald smiled down at Navi, acting the age she looked. Suddenly she frowned as she began wondering why in the world all of them had been put into human shape when a completely horrifying thought popped in her head. She rapidly looked around the stairwell and noted how alarmingly familiar it was. Looking up the stairs, she saw the door up only one set of stairs and quickly dashed up it to exclamations of surprise from the others. The virus slammed the door open and darted outside only to stumble at what met her sight.

“This isn't so bad once you get used to it,” Spike said as he waddled slightly onto the roof.

“Ugh... that's easy for you to say, Spike,” Twilight said after half crawling up the stairs and now leaning against the doorway. “At least you spent most of your life getting around on two legs.”

“Muh!” Navi shouted as she half stumbled along on her two feet towards Emerald.

Emerald absently patted Navi's head as she wrapped her arms around one of her legs and hugged it tightly. The virus walked forward, easily ignoring the added weight of Navi firmly attached to her leg and came to a stop at the barrier at the very edge of the roof.

The world stretched out before her... it was New York, the NYZ. She was home...

“Jeez, what happened here?” Spike asked as he stepped on the tip of his toes to see over the barrier. Beside him, Navi easily hoisted herself up onto the ledge and sat on it, happily kicking her feet againstthe barrier as she took in the view.

“This city looks completely abandoned,” Twilight commented as she looked over the landscape. “Wait, I think there are lights over the river over there.”

Before the group stretched out the ruins of Manhattan. It was a dreary day with overcast skies and mist hanging over the city. Just like the pegasi of Cloudsdale, the people who once lived on the island seemed to have decided that third time most certainly was not the charm and had abandoned it, leaving the many tall buildings left standing to slowly rot and turn dilapidated. The once thick viral growth that coated the streets and a great many buildings was still rotting and many buildings were covered in moss and plant growth. The large viral stalks had turned completely green as they were slowly eaten away by plants, giving the ruins an almost jungle like feel. In the distance over the river, just managing to piece the mists were lights emitting from buildings on that side of the river.

Unbeknownst to the group, Emerald had quietly walked away and gone back to the stairwell while they were taking in the sight of this new world. A few minutes later she appeared out of the darkness of the stairwell, her shoulders drooping and head hanging low. When she reached the barrier she hopped up and sat next to Navi, facing away from the view of the city.

“Emerald?” Twilight asked in concern as she took in Emerald's mood. “What's wrong?”

“I checked the spot we arrived through,” Emerald stated hollowly as Navi scooted as close to Emerald as she could. “It's completely solid. I tried to force my way through and the only thing I accomplished was making a hole in the ceiling...”

“So... we are stuck here,” Twilight said and got only silence from Emerald.

“Muh!” Navi shouted as she turned around in her seat and grabbed hold of Emerald's hand with both of her own.

“Here there, Navi,” Emerald said with a strained smile as the little girl clutched at her hand looked up at her with soulful eyes. “It's okay. I'll be alright.”

“...” Twilight pursed her lips as her thoughts raced, and suddenly her eyes widened. “Wait, Sunset!”

“What about her?” Spike asked.

“She came back to Equestria from here,” Twilight stated. “She must know how to make the portal on this side work if she managed to return to steal the Element of Magic. All we need to do is complete our mission. We find the Element of Magic, we find her, we catch her and make her tell us how to get back before it's too late.”

“She has at least eight hours on us,” Emerald said as she got off the barrier. “But my viral pulse has been getting steadily larger over the years. If she is still in the city, I'll find her.”

With that, Emerald recalled Sunset Shimmer's image to her mind and sent out a viral pulse. She was quite shocked when the pulse ended almost the moment she sent it out. She tried to do it again several times but each ended in failure.

“My pulse isn't working for some reason.” Emerald frowned but shook her head. “There is more than one way to track someone.”

With that, Emerald focused her nose on picking up fine scents. She filtered the smells of the others on the roof, the smell of a moldering building, the earthy smells of decomposing old viral growth being fed on by plants. Eventually she found it, the one smell that didn't belong.

“I have her scent,” Emerald stated and walked over to the barrier and looked down at the street with narrowed eyes.

“Will you be able to track her down quickly?” Twilight asked as she stumbled over next to Emerald.

“A little,” Emerald answered. “Not nearly as fast as with my viral pulse, but I should be able to find her provided nothing odd happens with the scent trail.”

“Everyone get close,” Emerald said as she reached over and picked up Navi. “I'll teleport us down to the street and we'll follow her trail down there.”

A moment later and the group of four arrived on the ground level with a soft pink flash. Emerald placed Navi back down on the ground where she began to demonstrate her rapid mastery of standing on two feet by comfortably rocking on them. Spike was only a bit wobbly in comparison but Twilight almost immediately fell over the moment she didn't have Emerald to lean on.

“Perfect, she came out of the front door,” Emerald said as she examined the overgrown shattered glass doors of the building they were on.

“Which way did she go?” Twilight asked after tripping over to Emerald.

“That way.” Emerald pointed down a street. “I would just go on my own and sprint after her, but... I really don't want to leave any of you alone in this place... which reminds me. Twilight, are you able to use magic without a horn?”

“Oh...” Twilight started and looked upwards with her eyes. “Oh no. No I can't.”

“Well I can blame Discord for my own ease in doing so.” Emerald sighed. “I guess we have no choice but to follow her slowly but steadily.”

“Why?” Twilight asked. “Do you honestly think this place is so dangerous?”

“Twilight...” Emerald began with a steady stare. “This is my world of origin. The world I was born on and the world that made me the person I was when I first entered Equestria.”

Twilight gasped in shock and Spike's eyes widened in no little amount of fear and worry. Navi had no real reaction to this information. It didn't mean much of anything to her and mostly she wasn't paying attention. The little virus was busy at the moment happily skipping circles around Emerald and Twilight, doing a good job of ruining the serious atmosphere.

“...Come here, you,” Emerald said with a sigh as she scooped up a giggling, wiggling Navi in her arms. “Settle down for a moment, please?”

“Muh, fawa!” Navi babbled with a smile and Emerald took it as an affirmative and placed her back down where she stuck to Emerald's side with a hug.

“Ohhh, such a sweetie!” Twilight couldn't help but gush at the former bug.

“Fafa!”

“Let's get going, shall we?” Emerald asked. “We are on the clock here.”

“Yes, let's.” Twilight nodded.

The group of four began making their way down the street at as brisk a walking pace a still struggling Twilight could manage. At first Navi was content to remain at Emerald’s side, holding her hand, but she soon got really antsy and wanted to run around. Emerald allowed this but kept the hyperactive little virus in sight.

“So this is your home?” Twilight asked after a moment, her walking beginning to grow more and more stable with every minute of practice; quite the feat, really.

“Once upon a time I would have happily referred to this city as my home,” Emerald said gloomily, her eyes half glazed over as she unwillingly recalled unhappy memories. “You already know the ending to that story.”

“Yeah...” Twilight frowned and stepped closer to Emerald, an act that Spike quickly mimicked.

The next half an hour passed in unnerving silence with the only sound being that of the wind blowing through the towering husks that made up the Manhattan skyline. It was after this half an hour of following a scent trail that Sunset's scent trail ended quite unexpectedly in the middle of a four way crossing.

“Her trail ends here,” Emerald said in some confusion, her brows furrowed in deep thought.

“Is that supposed to happen?” Twilight asked.

“No, not at all.” Emerald shook her head. “Why in the world would...”

Emerald frowned in thought. There were several things that could have contributed to the scent dissipating early. But it was extremely odd the scent just cut off right here. As her thoughts raced through several possibilities, her eyes widened in realization. She stopped her focus on purely scent and reached out with her other senses. Echoes of faint sounds rapidly formed a picture of the surrounding miles in great detail and Emerald immediately stood stock straight.

“Shit...” Emerald cursed.

“Emerald?” Twilight said.

“We're surrounded,” Emerald replied softly as her eyes darted about. “And there is a lot of them.”

That seemed to be the signal their followers were waiting for. People by the hundreds seemed to crawl out of the woodwork. People appeared in windows and on ledges, dozens of them leapt out of hiding and flew through the air before landing on the road around them with a loud crash. Emerald gritted her teeth as she took in the faces of the Evolved around her; she didn't recognize very many of them...

'Looks like the Cannon Fodder did some recruiting,' Emerald thought as she took in the several hundred strangers surrounding her.

Movement ceased and silence reigned for a moment as everyone paused. Then one Evolved went flying through the air from a ruin and crashed down onto the ground just in front of Emerald. She rose up onto her feet and brushed herself off before staring down Emerald with a sardonic smile and eyes full of dark promise.

“Well if it isn't our wayward traitor!” the Evolved said loudly to the crowd's benefit. “We've missed you so much, Oskar. So nice of you to come back home to us.”

“... Hello Sophie,” Emerald said with a wince.

“... You aren't allowed to say my name!” Sophie screamed instantly, her hands shifting to claws. “You should have stayed in whatever fucking dark hole you slithered into, you fucking snake! But don't worry...”

“I'll be putting you back in one as one final favor for an old Ex.”

-TBC-

Author's Note

(1): Anyone who has ever seen Transformers Beast Wars can probably guess what Stripe sounds like.

AN: Finally got this out. Also Dakka I know you were looking forward to the language barrier aspect but after thinking it over and trying to work it out I finally decided it was too much effort, too little pay off. Also! I've been looking forward to making this book for years purely for the fact I can finally have little Navi as complicated character to develop and make awesome. I'll say this, I have plans for her! Fun plans!

EN: Stated it in the epilogue of the last book. Gonna say it again. Still hate Legionary for this turn of events. It’s interesting to be sure, but damned if I didn’t want to see interesting stuff happening in the EQG universe. Oh well, that’s why I’m an editor and not a writer.

Chapter 7: Dark Deeds

“I never really liked my life at home. The instant I was given the choice to become Celestia's student I took it and never looked back.”

“I could never imagine doing that,” Twilight replied. “I mean never looking back. I was so excited to be given the chance as well, but I always came home to visit my parents.”

“Must have been nice to have the option...”

Twilight and Sunset Shimmer were currently sitting together at the kitchen table simply talking and sharing stories of their past. Somewhat censored versions anyway. The reason for the censoring being the fact they weren't in their apartment and the owner of this apartment was only sitting a dozen feet away. Navi had found out that Jared was a friend of Emerald's and not only lived just down the hall but liked to play games in his free time as well. With just these two facts she became utterly determined to meet him. Emerald had gone out earlier so Twilight had been more than a little panicked when she noticed Navi had disappeared from the apartment. It was twenty minutes of frantic searching and turning the apartment upside down when she started looking for her outside the apartment and found her fairly quickly. Navi soon proved a bit reluctant towards the idea of leaving after mostly being stuck in an apartment for the better part of a month, and the retrieval soon turned into an impromptu visiting of Emerald's friend because honestly Twilight was feeling stir crazy as well. It wasn't exactly leaving the apartment complex itself but a small change of scenery made the difference. Spike was here as well, sitting with Navi and Jared on the couch and playing a game with him.

“Well... in retrospect, yes,” Twilight nodded. “I never really took advantage of the fact as often as I maybe should have. I was always so eager to learn and study.”

“Same here,” Sunset said with a small smile. “I loved to study in the library. Every time I aced a test, every time I mastered a new skill, it was just the most exhilarating feeling ever. The best years of my life were spent in that place...”

Twilight smiled at that. She could definitely agree with the sentiment. In fact, the more she thought about it the more she realized how much she and Sunset Shimmer had in common with one another. She was about to consider the possibility the two of them could have been good friends if the two of them had been the same age back then, but all too soon she realized that sharing those same qualities would have likely made them hated rivals rather than friends. She was even reminded of several study buddies she had shared a bit of time with before she had been sent out to learn about friendship. From what she could remember she had never put the slightest effort into that relationship. Yes, she and Sunset would have been rivals more than anything else before Twilight had been sent out to learn about friendship.

'Speaking of leaving Canterlot...' Twilight thought. 'I wonder what Sunset's specific reasons were for her running away? I know what the Princess told me, but... what is it that Sunset tells herself?'

“Sunset?”

“Yes?” Sunset looked questioningly towards the former alicorn.

“Why exactly did you leave Canterlot?” Twilight asked.

“...What did Celestia say my reasons were?” Sunset asked after a moment, turning her face away towards the others in the living room.

“She said...” Twilight began a little hesitantly. “She said that when you didn't get what you wanted as fast as you wished, you turned cruel and soon left.”

“...” Sunset Shimmer grimaced and grit her teeth in anger for a long, quiet moment before suddenly the anger was gone, replaced by grief and regret. “I guess she was right then. All I wanted was to get power faster and was willing to do anything for it... even if it meant... hurting others to do it...”

“...” Twilight frowned at Sunset's words. For a long moment she hesitated to say anything more, before finally her expression hardened and she gazed neutrally at Sunset.

“Sunset Shimmer, that wasn't what I asked,” Twilight said firmly and got a sharp look from the former unicorn. “I asked you what your reasons were for leaving the way you did.”

“I...” Sunset looked down towards her unfeeling legs and pursed her lips into a thin line. “I felt like I was ready for anything, like I was destined for greatness. No matter what lesson was put in front of me, I aced it fairly quick enough. I soaked up knowledge like a sponge and could put theory into practice readily enough. What I'm getting at, I guess, is that I felt like I should have advanced quicker... that I knew and was better than everyone. I was Celestia's Student, how could I not be ready for anything? I wanted to make my destiny come to me instead of waiting for it...”

“And what good did that confidence do me?” Sunset continued, gesturing to her lower half. “Nothing, whereas look at you. You listened, you did as you were told, you ultimately succeeded where I failed. All I have now is my regrets...”

“You're not the only one with regrets, Sunset,” Twilight replied, memories flashing in her mind of Emerald's hurt, betrayed expression as she turned to stone.

“Maybe...” Sunset said and was quiet for a long time before she reached down and undid the brake on her chair. “I'm going to go join them.”

Twilight watched Sunset Shimmer roll away in her wheelchair. Her eyes were drawn to the wheelchair and she couldn't help but stare as Sunset rolled into the next room and asked for a controller. She felt a surge of sympathy followed by guilt. All this time Sunset Shimmer had to adjust to being crippled while Emerald had the power to fix her and Twilight hadn't said anything. And it wasn't exactly like she had a good explanation for why she hadn't said anything. Her only excuse was that she had been distracted... in more ways than one.

'Well no more,' Twilight thought firmly. 'Sunset deserves her legs back for good behavior at the very least. I'm going to talk to Emerald as soon as she comes back.'

There was knock at the door briefly before the sound of footsteps reached their ears. Jared always did have a habit of leaving the door open when he was home. Emerald Gleaner appeared from around the corner followed by a rather attractive woman Twilight hadn't met but had definitely heard about.

“I already know who to blame about this,” Emerald stated and came to a stop behind the couch, specifically behind Navi. She reached down with both hands and started tickling Navi. “I bet you just barged right in, didn't you?”

“Ah! I wanna meet Mama's friends!” Navi protested between squeals of laughter.

“If it helps, I don't mind the company,” Jared stated with an amused smile at the two.

“Of course he doesn't,” Trisha said teasingly with a wide grin as she crossed her arms beneath her breasts. “Not when he's surrounded by all these pretty girls. Am I right, huh?”

“Uhhh...”

“Could you not do that?” Sunset Shimmer said with clear irritation as she pointedly focused. “You're distracting him from the game.”

“One of them even has her sights set on him,” Trisha said as she leaned on the back of the couch and elbowed Jared. “Lucky guy.”

Jared just chuckled in amusement as he focused back on the game while Sunset's face turned red in apparent anger. Spike for his part was getting distracted and dying a lot looking at Navi, who was still being tickled while twisting and turning in place, still managing to play a good game.

“Hello, you must be Trisha,” Twilight said after walking over from the kitchen. “I'm Twilight Sparkle.”

“Ha! Yeah, I'm Trisha. Nice to meet you, Twilight,” Trisha said after a burst of laughter and forced her laughs down to a few snorts.

“Why does everyone find my name so strange?” Twilight said with a curious frown.

“It's just so cutesy sounding, like something you'd hear off some kid's show,” Trisha said with a grin before getting a curious look on her face. “Hey Emerald, is that place you found some kind of hidden Cult town? Like those weird enclosed communities you hear about now and again?”

“Well...” Emerald said as she finally stopped “punishing” Navi. “They do worship the lady who runs the place as a goddess...”

“I knew it!”

“Don't worry though, I haven't bought into the whole being worshipping thing myself,” Emerald said as she walked over to stand beside Trisha. “I mean I only adopted their naming conventions, nothing else.”

“I'll try not to think of you as secretly being a loony cultist then,” Trisha replied with a toothy grin.

“... Emerald, I need to talk to you alone for a few minutes,” Twilight said with a serious look.

“Okay, let's head back to the apartment.” Emerald nodded before turning to Trisha. “We'll be right back, Trisha.”

“Sure!” Trisha said and loudly added. “I certainly won't attempt to seduce a certain someone.”

“Would you quit that!” came Sunset's shout.

“Try not to bother her too much,” Emerald said as she and Twilight walked out the apartment. “We have to live with her.”

“No promises,” Trisha said, waggling her eyebrows.

Well within a minute later, Emerald was closing the door behind them as she and Twilight entered their apartment.

“So what's wrong?” Emerald asked as the two of them walked into the kitchen proper.

“It's about Sunset Shimmer,” Twilight began.

“Has she been upsetting you with something?” Emerald asked with an angry frown already forming.

“No! Well... yes, but it's not her fault,” Twilight quickly replied. “Emerald, I want her to have the ability to walk again.”

“Hmm... okay, sure,” Emerald said with a thoughtful look.

“Really?” Twilight said in some surprise. “That was easy...”

“I'll just give her a kill virus like I gave Whisper Wind,” Emerald continued. “If she doesn't keep taking a suppressant I'll be giving her, it'll activate and kill her or something along those lines... probably have to rework it a bit to make it work more effectively in our current situation.”

“Ugh... of course,” Twilight said with a sigh. “Emerald no. I want her legs fixed, no strings attached.”

“And how do we know if she won't just run away the moment she gets healed?” Emerald frowned at Twilight. “I can't very easily track her down as before and this time she might just go straight for Blackwatch instead of running around. I doubt they'd believe a lot of what she could tell them about us but in the very least she can say we kept her hostage and that much would be true.”

“Other than what else would she gain out of it?” Twilight asked. “Sure she can cause us harm that way, but what then? She would have to deal with this world as it is, with all its imperfections and darkness along with the light. She would have to stay here, never use her magic ever again and try to find a way of making a life worth living here. And Emerald... I don't think she can do that or even wants to try.”

“It's not like this world is some dark pit,” Emerald retorted.

“I know this world isn't as dark as it seems, but I doubt in Sunset's eyes the light manages to pierce through the dark she has experienced and witnessed,” Twilight said firmly. “She saw all she wanted to see and now... now she wants to come home, Emerald.”

“Surprising considering how she left it the first time and didn't come back after all that time,” Emerald pointed out, expression still firm and unyielding.

“All she had was the palace and Princess Celestia. All she cared about was her opinion,” Twilight said. “And when that opinion became something other than praise for her progress and prodigal magic, she felt betrayed. But it wasn't that... when you put it out so cut and dryly it seems so supremely selfish, but-”

“She was just a kid...” Emerald said, turning away and sitting on the kitchen table. “A dumb teenager making dumb decisions because she thought she knew it all, and then next thing you know reality smashes you in the face like a ton of bricks...”

“Emerald?” Twilight said questioningly.

“...” After a long moment the virus gave an aggravated sigh. “Christ... I must be getting soft...”

“There is nothing weak about being merciful, Emerald,” Twilight stated, placing a hand on Emerald's shoulder.

“...Fuck it, fine,” Emerald said and stood up. “Let's go get her fixed.”

“Thank you, Emerald,” Twilight said, giving her girlfriend a tight hug.

“I just hope we aren't making a mistake,” Emerald replied, returning the hug.

“I have faith this won't be a mistake,” Twilight said determinedly.

“Such a hero,” Emerald said with a small smile. “How did someone like you ever end up with someone like me?”

“You're a no good dirty lowdown rogue who stole my heart, that’s how,” Twilight retorted lightly. “Of course I wouldn't want it back after you got your grubby fingers all over it.”

Emerald just gave a short chuckle as they separated and made to leave the apartment. Opening the door they were met with the sight of Trisha standing in the hallway looking deeply curious. Upon seeing them leaving the apartment, she didn't attempt to hide her expression or the fact she had clearly been attempting to listen in but quickly approached the two with an eager expression.

“How did you soundproof your apartment like that?” Trisha asked excitedly. “I couldn't make out anything!”

“Trying to listen in on a private conversation, Trisha?” Emerald asked with a raised brow.

“Kinda sorta,” Trisha replied with a shrug and overly coy expression. “I mean I couldn't help but notice how despite the fact I can hear a guy getting a BJ from his girlfriend two floors down and several rooms away, I couldn't make out anything clear from your room. So how did you do it? Do you realize how convenient it would be for homes in Cursor town to have that kind of sound insulation?”

“Fine, I'll tell you...” Emerald said with a put upon huff. “Magic.”

“Fine, keep your engineering secrets,” Trisha huffed. “But do you know how hard it is to keep anything private in Cursor town? You literally have to be several blocks away if you want any sort of real privacy.”

“Enough with the attempted guilt trip,” Emerald said and walked back towards Jared's apartment. “I've got a back to fix.”

Trisha's brow raised to their highest extent as she watched Emerald walk past. She turned towards Twilight.

“Does that mean what I think it means?” Trisha asked.

“I think it does,” Twilight replied.

Emerald reentered Jared's apartment, soon followed by Twilight and Trisha. She walked over to the couch where everyone was still sitting on and came to a stop to watch the four play for a bit, playing a game of Magicka 2 on Jared's PS4. As expected, Navi was the strongest player in the group but this oddly led to everyone deciding to mess around and have fun while Navi handled the heavy lifting when needed.

“Sunset, you blew me up!” Spike shouted in some anger. “Again!”

“I was aiming for Jared, you just got in the way,” Sunset retorted with a smirk. “Again.”

“That's all I needed to know,” Jared stated and rapidly hit the buttons on his controller.

“Wha-HAY!” Sunset shouted as her character got squashed by a meteor.

“Oh come on!” Spike shook his controller. “I just got rezzed!”

“Sorry to interrupt but I need you to pause the game for a bit,” Emerald said and Navi instantly complied. “Sunset?”

“Uh yeah?” Sunset Shimmer said and squirmed in place under Emerald's gaze “What's wrong? U-ummm, just so you know I haven't done anything wrong ever since you caught me so uhh, yeah...”

“Caught you-” Jared began with a frown.

“She's a thief and primary reason why I came to this city in the first place,” Emerald answered without looking away from Sunset. “And no, I am not the reason why her back got broken. She has only herself to blame for that.”

“I wasn't assuming anything,” Jared said raising his hands reassuringly.

“Now as to what's wrong,” Emerald continued moving to stand in front of Sunset Shimmer. “Sunset, you are right saying you haven't done anything wrong since I caught you. From what I remember of your time here with us and Twilight's own words, you've been on your best behavior. You were hurt when I first caught you but the only thing I hadn't healed was your back. It's time I got around to it.”

“W-what!?” Sunset exclaimed with wide eyes. “You'll fix my back?!”

“Yes,” Emerald stated simply with crossed arms.

“...Is there some kind of catch?” Sunset asked with some suspicion.

Emerald simply stared and shook her head.

“Well... okay, how do we go about doing this? Do I have to-Eeek!” Sunset began nervously before suddenly flinching back and raising her arms protectively.

Emerald had brought her arm back and swung it forward as it split forth into a wave of a dozen probing tendrils. They quickly wrapped around Sunset's midsection before going down and winding around both of her legs. Sunset Shimmer squirmed anxiously as she was lifted off the couch and held up in the air. For a moment nothing happened, but suddenly she started feeling a strong sensation of pins and needles... coming from her legs. She stared down at her legs in amazement as feeling rapidly returned to her legs and before she knew it she was being lowered to the floor. As soon as her feet were fully touching the floor, the tendrils rapidly unwrapped themselves from her and she was standing unassisted for the first time in weeks.

“Whoa!” Sunset waved her arms about in an attempt to regain balance when she started feeling herself lean forward almost uncontrollably. She was on the brink of either losing her balance completely or regaining it when Emerald reached out and held her shoulder, steadying her.

“Sunset Shimmer, what you did got me really upset with you to say the least,” Emerald stated seriously, making the other girl avert her eyes. “But I'm going to trust that you aren't going to do something like that again. As long as you do nothing else to hurt or endanger us, you can consider this the airing out of the bad blood between us.”

“...Thank you... for that and fixing my legs,” Sunset said, meeting Emerald's gaze with a smile that was slowly becoming less hesitant.

“Sunset Shimmer, I promise you that one day I'll bring you and the others home safely and far away from here,” Emerald said and held out a hand.

“I hope so...” Sunset replied and grasped the offered hand. “There is someone back home I have to apologize to.”

Everyone was smiling at the scene in the middle of the living room, but Jared's expression was more approaching awe. His mouth was hanging a little agape as he took in the sight of the formerly crippled girl standing with only a little support. He kept staring until he felt someone poke his shoulder and turned to see Trisha smiling down at him.

“It's amazing what Cursors can do, isn't it,” Trisha said and looked back at Emerald and Sunset. “All it would take is a bit of trust and cooperation and we could make this a better world.”

Jared looked back at Emerald and Sunset. Yeah, he could really believe it.

ALPHA

Emerald stood atop the roof of a building, surfing Blackwatch's crime report archives while straining her ears for active crimes in progress.

It was night and Emerald was again out as Batman. Honestly, things had become a bit of a routine ever since the first night of donning the cape and cowl. It turned out that without a very active and insanely talented rogue gallery of super villains to keep her busy and on her toes, things became almost mundane in a way. Sure she was Batman, she had a Swiss army utility belt full of “bat gadgets” along with many “detective skills” to track criminals, but the people she was actively hunting were still normal people. The status of criminal didn't suddenly make anyone a cold blooded, battle hardened crook. Hell, after the rumor of Batman running around cracking skulls become truth her normal encounters become one of two things: the crook in question surrendering instantly or running like hell. It was only when she went in to bust some gang HQ or operation somewhere in the city that it became something of a fight.

Emerald tilted her head as she heard the sounds of a scuffle a block or so away. She rapidly ran towards the sounds of the fight, sprinting across roof tops and using the grapple to cross street gaps. She silently came to a stop on the ledge of a building and looked down. There were two men grappling with one another and struggling. One of the men had a kitchen knife in his hands but even though he was swinging, it was also clear to anyone watching he was trying not to hit the other man.

Giving herself a once over to make sure she looked alright, she took a step forward off the roof. She fell through the air before landing on the ground in a three point landing with a thump. The two men started as she rose up to her full height.

“Oh shit!” the man with the knife said in a panicky voice. He quickly dropped the knife and raised his arms in the air. “Oh fuck!”

Emerald glared down the former knife wielder before glancing at the other man who was still standing in place, looking like he was having some difficulty believing this was happening.

“Get somewhere safe,” Emerald told the other man in Kevin Conroy's voice.

“R-right... right!” the man said hesitantly and quickly ran away, turning around briefly to give a shout. “Beat his ass, Batman!”

“C-come on man, I-I was just trying a bit of money is all!” the crook protested and Emerald quickly advanced on him. “Come on, man!”

“Look me in the eyes when you talk!” Emerald growled, grabbing his head with one hand and firmly but not painfully pressed him against the brick wall behind him.

“O-okay, okay!” the thug said, raising his hands placatingly and swallowed. “I ain't got no money. I tried going to soup kitchens. But the lines are a mile long and they always run out by the time I get a turn. I'm just trying to not go hungry for once!”

Emerald narrowed her eyes at him for show but she knew he was telling the truth. Her mind reading spell had been getting a lot of usage lately and she had grown skillful enough to get pretty much everything she could need in only a few seconds, or she could get it all at once in an instant at the cost of burning the brain out. Long story short, she knew he was telling the truth because she could see it in his mind.

“...Don't let me catch you doing this again,” Emerald growled at the reluctant crook and let him go.

“O-Okay I won't, I'll-” the man said, moving to run away.

“Wait,” Emerald said and reached down to her utility belt to get something out. “You'll be needing this in order to keep that promise.”

“Money?!” the crook said at the sight of what was in Emerald's armored hand. He gingerly took the small roll of money and saw they were all hundred dollar bills.

“Go home, wait till day and go grocery shopping,” Emerald all but commanded and turned away, bringing her grappling hook out.

'It isn't exactly the Thomas and Martha Wayne Foundation, but it's better than nothing,' Emerald thought as she ascended back to the roof tops as the man shouted his thanks behind her. 'And it's not like I don't have plenty to spare nowadays.'

What just happened was another example of an issue she was having, namely the humanity of her targets. It was really hard to justify going in fists flying and bones breaking when the criminals she was going after tended to be just desperate people more often than not. It was getting to the point where Emerald was seriously considering just finding another hobby or at the very least dialing back her nights out as Batman back a bit.

'What should I do?' Emerald thought. 'Should I call it an early night or should I... go this way?'

Emerald frowned as she felt an odd sensation triggering her senses, something that was rather oddly felt like it was well within her sensory range and yet at the edge of them. She felt a... a need? A desire? A want? She didn't know what it was but there was a direction she felt she had to go towards.

'This way?' Emerald thought questioningly as she rapidly traversed roof tops but the thought grew more certain as she traveled. 'Yes, this way... something's wrong...'

It was hard to describe the sensation Emerald was feeling right now. It was a kind of a compulsion, yet Emerald knew if she truly wanted she could walk away. But she also knew she'd be angry at herself for not doing something about it, whatever that meant. It was also a sense of urgency, not unlike what one might feel at seeing a small child near a dangerous ledge.

'This is wrong... you aren't allowed to do this...' Emerald thought, her eyes starting to go wild as she leapt rooftops faster and faster. 'I won't allow this, you won't get away.'

A sort of haze set over Emerald's mind as she finally came to a stop on a building and started glaring at the one next door. She gained what one might call tunnel vision as she focused on the task before her, whatever it was, and blocked out all distractions, even thoughts. She used all of her senses to map out the building but more importantly mentally “tag” people she knew somehow to be targets to be taken out. And that was all the time she took to make any sort of preparations whatsoever before she was off for the front door.

The braced steel door didn't stand a chance. She threw herself at it with a flying kick and it was ripped from its hinges and sunk partly into the opposite wall. The room had a table with chairs, but that's all the detail she cared to take in because there were three men sitting at the table. They had given startled shouts at the door suddenly bursting open and were rising from their seats, pulling out guns. That was as far as Emerald allowed them.

'You deserve to die for this,' Emerald thought angrily as she shattered arms and sent two men flying before smashing the last through the table. 'Don't kill them.'

As soon as the three men were incapacitated, she turned for the door leading deeper into the building where she heard shouting and running footsteps coming from it. She quickly dashed into it and found herself in a thin hallway lined with open doors It was wide enough that two opposing people could pass easily if they turned sideways but that was it. There was a group of men running down in a line towards her with pistols drawn.

'I should rip you open and make you die choking on your own organs,' Emerald thought with a growl as she set off a flash bang and charged down the hall. She chucked gas grenades into each open room she passed as she charged and rammed into the line of men. 'Don't kill anyone.'

Emerald slowed down her charge just enough that when she and the men ran into the opposing wall, the men were merely badly injured instead of dead and dying. Emerald spared the injured pile of men enough time to drop a gas grenade atop them before running away down another hall. This hall was a bit wider and didn't have as many doors with another steel door at the end. The door was open for only a moment before a panicked looking man slammed it shut and slid a door brace into place behind it.

'You can't stop this, you are the victim now,' Emerald mentally snarled, charging down the hall but turned into a room beside the door. 'No killing.'

The room Emerald entered was a public bathroom with several stalls. It was quite messy but Emerald paid that detail no mind. She moved towards the line of urinals and brought out a spray gun. She laid out a line of gel, only sparing enough thought to make it in the shape of a bat before giving the mental trigger.

The gel exploded and the wall burst forwards in a cloud of debris and dust. It impaired the thugs in the room but not Emerald. Her senses were on the edge of a razor at the moment. She burst forward in an explosion of movement. There were two men near the braced door who went down hard with broken arms and ribs. She ducked as bullets went flying and sent out three batarangs. They hit their targets, the receivers of the assault rifles the crooks were wielding. The thugs tried to fire again. Two of the rifles failed to fire while another exploded and badly injured its wielder. Emerald chucked another gas grenade at the remaining crooks and moved towards another door in the room. The door was still unlocked and Emerald found herself at the top of a staircase, which she practically threw herself down. There was another steel door at the bottom and someone had run to it to close it, but she was too quick. She rammed into the closing door with her shoulder. The door went flying open, sending the man who attempted to close it flying with a broken sternum.

There was one other man in the room. He had someone pinned against him as a human shield with one arm while the other held a magnum revolver. Emerald reacted instantly and shot out her batclaw, the hook latching onto the man's wrist as she tugged the wire. The man and his shield went sprawling forward onto the floor, the man losing grip of his pistol at the same time. Emerald quickly stalked forward and gripped the man by his neck as the human shield quickly crawled away. She stomped over to a wall and slammed him against it before beginning to throttle him.

'You deserve to die for this!' Emerald roared in her mind. 'Don't kill him. Why the hell not?! Because it would be out of character.'

And just like that the haze had lifted from Emerald's mind. The tunnel vision faded and Emerald was fully aware of her surroundings and the finer details. The man she was in the middle of strangling to death had rather fine, expensive looking clothing and an equally expensive looking haircut; he was also turning an unsightly shade of blue. Emerald dropped him to the floor where he took in an explosive gasp of air and proceeded to dry heave every breath on the floor. She looked around. The room was bare with plain brick walls and had two ways out. One way was the way she came in but the other was clearly a dug tunnel. Along with this, half of the room was blocked off with steel bars. Within this half of the room resided many women and children.

Emerald walked over to a get a closer look and ignored how many of the woman actively pulled from her towards the very back of the cell, pulling the children with them protectively. The cell had a bunch of dirty mattresses piled on one side while the other side had a large hole drilled into the floor, likely the communal toilet.

Emerald turns around with a scowl at the clear gang leader. She stalked over to him with half a mind to just brutally murder him, but didn't. She had to preserve the sanctity of the character of Batman after all.

'Yeah, really beginning to see why Batman is a comic character,' Emerald thought angrily as she cuffed the gang leader and walked over to the other injured crook to cuff him as well. 'How can anyone look at something like this and not want to maim and horribly mutilate those responsible? Wait... duh, he's Batman, that's how.'

With that done, she was currently thinking of how to handle this. Should she simply fake call it in like the others? Simple enough, but it would only bring in a small patrol of Blackwatch grunts when clearly this required a bit of a response force. She couldn't exactly get that with a fake call in without going into detail.

'Well there is one other straightforward method,' Emerald thought as she started connecting a call and readying her Batman voice. 'Might as well give it a shot.'

“Hello?” came the voice of Dana Mercer in Emerald's earpiece. “Who the hell is this and how did you get my number?”

“Secretary Mercer,” Emerald stated. “I have a serious situation to report to you.”

“What?” Dana said in an annoyed voice. “I'm not hearing an answer to my ques-wait, I remember that voice... is this Batman?”

“Correct, I've-” Emerald began.

“Look buddy,” Dana interrupted with an amused tone to her voice. “I'm not your 'Commissioner Gordon' or your 'Oracle'. I don't have the badass trench coat for one or the broken back for the other, so you-”

“Secretary Mercer!” Emerald broke in firmly. “I've incapacitated a gang of human traffickers and have a captive group of scared young women and children here. I need a Blackwatch response force here to secure the criminals and bring the civilians to safety. Will you or will you not do this for me?”

“I can get a response force en route on the double,” Dana said seriously. “I just need the address and details.”

“I'm forwarding you a data packet right now,” Emerald replied. “Thank you, Secretary. Batman, out.”

Emerald ended the call there and moved towards the downed gang leader to drag him out of the room along with the crook. She figured from their reaction towards her, the women and children in the cell wouldn't want anything more to do with her. That thought lasted up till a young voice called out to her.

“Batman!” Emerald heard and turned to look at the cell.

It was a little girl standing at the door. She was a bit dirty looking but she was fairly clean looking enough that it was clear she hadn't been here long. She had a barbie brand t-shirt on along with pinkish purple jeans, and her greasy blond hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She was holding onto the bars of the cell and staring up at Emerald with a wide grin.

“Get us out of here, Batman!” the girl cried out. That seemed to break the tension for most of the other children who quickly flooded the front of the cell to call out to her.

“Back away from the door,” Emerald said and stalked towards the cell door with a batarang out, just managing to keep the smile she felt from showing. She jammed the batarang's pointed wing into the lock of the door and gave a twist. With a snap, the inner workings of the lock was ruined and Emerald simply pulled the door open.

“Thank you, Batman!” the girl shouted as she quickly darted out of the cell, followed by all the other children.

“You saved us, Batman!”

“You...” Emerald began and paused briefly as one of the children suddenly hugged her leg. “Won't be hurt by them again, I promise you.”

“S-so...” one of the women in the cell said nervously, the adults making their way out as well but were clearly more wary of “Batman” than the children were. “Guess you're the real deal, huh?”

“You're safe now,” Emerald replied simply before extracting herself from the crowd of children. “I will make sure you stay that way until Blackwatch arrives.”

“I remember when you had to get the fuck outta dodge when you heard Blackwatch was coming,” one of the women said as Emerald walked towards the tunnel. “Anyone else remember that?”

Leaning down a little to gaze into the darkness of the tunnel, she was able to make out a dug out passage that went on and on, supported by wooden beams. It was possible this was a the first in a long network of smuggling tunnels. Emerald decided to leave investigating that further to Blackwatch. She took out her gel gun and sprayed some explosive gel along the wall and backed away. A moment later, she triggered the gel.

'There, now to collect the crooks.' Emerald thought as she turned away from the now collapsed tunnel. Despite appearing so, the explosion hadn't actually collapsed the tunnel. It was a bit too sturdy for that, but it did mask her using her earth channeling abilities to do so.

“There is only one way into this room now,” Emerald stated as she slung the mob boss over her shoulder and walked towards the other one. “Keep the door braced, no one should be trying to get down here except Blackwatch so bunker down until they come. I will make sure you remain safe until they arrive.”

Slapping a pair of cuffs around the wrists of the other crook she grabbed him by the chain of the cuffs and started dragging. She started making her way up the stairs, the feet of the crook banging on each step. Behind her came the sound of the metal door clanging shut and something sliding into place.

Emerald then proceeded to gather together everyone she had incapacitated into a group… well, not everyone. It turns out many of those side rooms had been bunk rooms, some of which had people in them, one man and one woman. No points for guessing what had been going on in those rooms. She had left the woman alone, though she had also made sure to preserve their decency when they were finally recovered by putting clothes back on them.

The crooks had only just been gathered together and cuffed when the sound of helicopter blades filled the air. Emerald looked up and expanded her senses. She “saw” the approach of two Blackwatch stealth choppers and trailing behind on the ground was a convoy of APCs roaring down the road. Emerald wasn't concerned about being detected. She had tested her stealth capabilities quite a bit against several Blackwatch patrols and she had never been detected by their equipment. Still though, Emerald didn't want to be here when soldiers were running into the building. She gave one last look over the crooks to make sure they were restrained before teleporting away.

On a roof a few blocks away, Emerald watched as several Blackwatch troopers rappelled down from the choppers and started securing the area before a squad cautiously entered the building. Only a few minutes later, the APCs arrived and poured forth a platoon's worth of soldiers all over the site. The APCs weren't the only arrivals either, as following them were several ambulances full of EMTs and paramedics. Emerald watched the soldiers drag out several restrained crooks, the injured ones only spared a bit of gentleness in that matter while unconscious women were carefully carried out, followed by the recovered women and children from the basement. Seeing the people she saved were fine, she turned away and left.

'Well I still don't like the idea of letting people like that get away with only broken bones, but saving people does make it worth it,' Emerald thought as she strode across the roof before frowning and looking down at her hand. 'But what the hell was that earlier? I just suddenly felt like there was something I had to do or I would regret not doing it really badly... I have no idea at all what in the world that was...'

Still incredibly confused, Emerald took out her grappling hook and crossed a street.

BETA

“On to more local news, we've recently got word from our sources in Blackwatch that with absolute certainty that the rumor of Batman in New York is no longer a rumor,” spoke a news anchor. “We go now to our reporter on the scene, Jessica Brindley. Jessica?”

“Thank you Mark, now behind me is a building like any other,” spoke a blond haired woman wearing a purple dress suit. “But this building held a dark secret inside, the first in a long line of human smuggling outposts leading out of the NYZ. How did this smuggling ring come to ligh?Was it the work of informants? Police investigators? A patrol stumbling across it? No, it was the work of a vigilante, the one and only Batman. But how did a comic book hero end up on the streets of New York so far away from Gotham? No one really knows.While Blackwatch states that the vigilante is likely a Cursor bringing the famous persona to life, the fact is that crime scenes he's busted has never proven positive for a Cursor presence. So who is Batman? A skilled Cursor bringing the comic book hero to life? Or a normal human being somehow doing the same? Back to you, Mark.”

'Well it's nice the news seems neutral about the whole Batman thing,' Emerald thought before she changed the channel. 'Back to finding something good to watch. I really should get back to catching up on some movies.'

It had been little under a day since Emerald's last escapade as Batman. Personally the only response she had seen so far was the news report just now, but there were plenty of people online going crazy about it. Apparently more than a few people were talking about getting a pass into the NYZ to try to see if they could meet Batman, though there was also more than a few people who were furious some “germ” was being Batman. Surprisingly, or perhaps unsurprisingly, there was few people who were more concerned about the vigilante aspect of the whole thing.

“Emerald,” Emerald heard Twilight say behind her. “How do I look?”

Emerald turned to look over her shoulder but the instant she did she shifted her position so that she was fully facing Twilight with her knees on the couch cushion. Twilight was dressed up differently today. Her hair had several curls in it and reminded Emerald of the time she went to Grand Galloping Gala. She was wearing a dark purple miniskirt that ended about the middle of her thighs and a pinkish purple blouse with a short, dark purple overcoat. Finally, she wore a pair of black, shiny shoes.

“You are such a beautiful nerd, Twilight,” Emerald replied, one arm on the back of the couch with the other propping up her head as she mimed a dreamy expression. “You don't even know.”

“Well... it's always nice to be reminded!” Twilight smiled, her cheeks flushed and happy at Emerald's reaction. “Shouldn't you get dressed, too? Trisha should be here soon.”

“Might as well.” Emerald shrugged, got off the couch and stood up. A wave of black tendrils surged over her body and she was done.

Emerald's outfit now consisted of a pair of slip on shoes like Twilight's but white and with a bit more of a heel to it. Her pants were switched out with a white leather miniskirt and her blue t-shirt changed shape to a crop top that left a bit of a midriff. Her white vest had expanded out into an open cropped white leather jacket. Her hair was now undone and was a bit straighter than usual, only becoming curly near the ends. Her face was picture perfect as usual, but she did have a light pink, glossy lipstick applied now.

“So how do I look?” Emerald asked as she pocketed her crocheted hat and took a pose.

“Uhhh...” Twilight stared for a moment with flushed cheeks.

“Now now, no need to be shy,” Emerald grinned smiled slyly as she walked over with a sashaying movement to her hips. “I'm your girlfriend, that means you can look and touch.”

With those words Twilight's expression turned utterly crimson. Emerald laughed and couldn't help but imagine steam venting from her ears as well like a cartoon. Thankfully, for Twilight's sake, Trisha chose that moment to finally arrive with a knock at the door.

“It's open!” Emerald called out, briefly interacting with the runic defenses to unseal the door.

“Hello girls!” Trisha cheerfully called out as she walked into the living room. “Look at the both you! All ready for a relaxing night out?”

Trisha was dressed for a night out as well, though her outfit was basically the one Emerald saw her wearing when they first met minus the combat gear and wearing a black leather coat as well.

“Well that's what I am sincerely hoping this will be,” Twilight replied with a worried frown. “This place doesn't seem all that conductive towards having a fun night out with friends.”

“Well I admit most of the NYZ is pretty dangerous at night,” Trisha nodded. “And the kind of ‘fun’ you'd find in most places around here aren’t the kind of things you'd enjoy. But that's why you have me! I know just where to go. It's a nice, quiet, casual little bar in the Green Zone. Most people there are friendly regulars.”

“Well I'll trust you to know best, I guess...” Twilight said, still a little unsure.

“Look at it this way,” Emerald said, comfortingly wrapping an arm around her girlfriend's waist. “Both Trisha and I are more than capable of protecting you from anyone that wants to mess with you.”

“I know, but that happening would kind of ruin the night, wouldn't it?” Twilight said with a strained smile.

“Come on, Twilight,” Trisha said with an encouraging grin. “You can't let fear of what may happen paralyze you! You'll probably have a great time out on the town! And then you'll be asking when we'll be going out next.”

“Let's head out,” Emerald said, squeezing Twilight one more time before letting her go and looking down the hall. “Spike, we'll be back in a few hours! Take care of Navi, okay?”

“No problem!” came Spike's answering call.

“It was nice of you to get them their own TV,” Twilight commented as the three of them made for the door. “I kind of miss all of us spending time together in the living room, however.”

“Simple enough to schedule a game night for everyone,” Emerald replied as she opened the door. “Let's just go check up on Sunset first before leaving the building. See how her date is going.”

“Emerald, you shouldn't tease Sunset for visiting a male friend,” Twilight lectured. “Despite the tension between the two of you, I think she's beginning to like you.”

“Yay...”

GAMMA

Emerald, Twilight and Trisha walked through the front door to the bar and found themselves immersed in the building's atmosphere.

Trisha's description of the bar as a casual, friendly, quiet place felt spot on. There was music playing but it was only loud enough for everyone to hear clearly so you didn't have to shout to talk to one another. It wasn’t very crowded, either. Most of the people were either in booths or gathered towards a small stage to the side of the bar. The bar itself only had a small group of three people talking and drinking together.

“So how about we have some drinks to start off?” Trisha said as they walked towards the bar.

“Umm... what kind of drinks?” Twilight asked.

“Twilight's a teetotaler,” Emerald explained. “She tried a light beer before and coughed out a lung. We'll need to find something even weaker for her.”

“Oh that's no problem,” Trisha said as the three sat on some stools. “I know the bartender, he likes to mix drinks.”

“Hello Trisha, brought some friends tonight I see!” a fairly large man greeted cheerfully behind the bar. He gave off a rather grandfatherly air with short, parted white hair and a thick, curly mustache, a pair of circular glasses sitting on his nose. “What will you all be having?”

“My friend and I will just be having a bottle of whatever is your strongest right now,” Trisha said, motioning to Emerald. “But my other friend here needs a bit of a special touch. She hasn't really drunk anything before.”

“I'm fairly certain she doesn't have much of an alcoholic resistance,” Emerald added. “I think your best bet would be to make her something you would give say a child of twelve years old if you were going to give them anything.”

“Hmmm...” The bartender hummed as he pondered Twilight. “I hope you don't mind juice?”

“Not in the least,” Twilight replied with a smile.

“Good, now let's see what we can make...” he muttered before turning around and opening fridges beneath the counter. He planted two bottles of vodka before Emerald and Trisha before gathering a handful of ingredients. “What kind of juice do you like best?”

“Apple,” Twilight answered.

“Hmm... a homemade cider then...” the man muttered as he brought up a carton of apple juice along with bottle of alcohol. He got out five glasses and poured them all mostly full of juice with barely noticeable differences between them. He then added a shot of alcohol to each, right to left, most to least.

“Right, give them a try,” he said after mixing the drinks, waving to the one with the least alcoholic content.

“O-okay,” Twilight said a little nervously, memories of the last time she tried an alcoholic drink fresh in her mind. She grabbed the glass and took a sip. “This... this tastes like apple juice with an odd flavor.”

“Too weak then,” the man said and removed the glass. “Try the others.”

Twilight tried the next in line, getting a thoughtful look on her face after taking a sip and setting it aside. She took the middle drink and raised her brows in surprise after taking a sip. She set that one aside too. She took a drink of the second to last drink and frowned this time, looking a little unsure. With a hesitant motion, she then took the last drink and sipped it, immediately grimacing and giving a cough.

“I think we have a winner!” Trisha smiled , taking a gulp of her bottle.

“This is surprisingly good...” Twilight muttered as she considered the contents of the middle drink. “I didn't think alcohol of all things would have that kind of effect on a drink.”

“Well it can be a bit of an acquired taste at times,” Emerald admitted as some new people entered the bar.

“Oh, it's karaoke night!” Trisha exclaimed with a squeal as a voice started singing somewhat decently from the stage area. “Come on, we should go put on a show!”

“What, me?” Emerald said with some incredulity. “You want me up there singing with you?”

“Yeah, come on, it will be fun!” Trisha said and got off her stool. She walked over to Emerald's seat and started giving her sleeve an insistent tug. “Come on!”

“Aghhh...” Emerald sighed and took a big gulp of her bottle, then looked towards Twilight. “You going to be okay here?”

“Go on!” Twilight smiled at Emerald’s encouraging, her cheeks already turning red. “Go sing! It'll be nice to drink to your voice.”

“...I'll be keeping an eye on you from the stage,” Emerald promised and went with Trisha at yet another insistent tug, though making sure to take her bottle along as she did so.

Emerald and Trisha walked towards the stage. The last singer had just finished his song when some people noticed their approach. Considering the both of them were rather attractive girls the men in the crowd were rather eager to see them up on stage so the both of them got a free pass to the front of the queue.

“So what are we going to sing?” Emerald asked as she held a microphone. Instead of answering, Trisha just gave a cheeky grin over her shoulder at Emerald as she picked a song. Emerald waited a moment for the song's tune to start and near instantly recognized just what song it was. “Seriously?”

“Hehehe.” Trisha gave Emerald another cheeky grin before she started dancing in place to a bunch of whistling and cheering. Eventually the lines of the song started to scroll across the karaoke machine's screen. “This was never the way I planned~ Not my intention~ I got so brave, drink in hand~ Lost my discretion~”

“It's not what, I'm used to~ Just wanna try you on~ I'm curious for you~ Caught my attention~” Emerald gave a small sigh before adding her voice to the song, and suddenly Trisha elbowed her. She glanced over to the other girl who was still dancing while giving her an encouraging grin.

“Dance!” Trisha said quickly between lines before going back to singing. “I kissed a girl and I liked it~ The taste of her cherry chapstick~ I kissed a girl just to try it~ I hope my boyfriend don't mind it~”

“Agh...” Emerald sighed before quickly downing most of her bottle. After that she began to dance as well to everyone's audible enjoyment. “It felt so wrong~ It felt so right~ Don't mean I'm in love tonight~ I kissed a girl and I liked it~ I liked it~”

Back at the bar, Twilight was still enjoying her drink, nursing every last drop. A sleepy looking man had taken up a seat next to her but was focused on his drink. Her head was bobbing to the beat of the music and Emerald's singing. Her head was a bit clouded. She never thought such a condition could be enjoyable, but it certainly was here. After almost finishing her drink, she noticed another person had joined her.

“Hey, names Jeffery.” He grinned at her.

“Hi!” Twilight smiled back at him, waving her glass at him. “I'm Twilight!”

“Ah... you must like books,” he said with a neutral tone. “Maybe a certain romance series?”

“Huh?” Twilight blinked. “I do like books but I'm not too much into romance novels. I like history and adventure books in general.”

“Oh, that's great,” Jeffery said with a pleasantly surprised expression. “What books have you been reading recently?”

“Well I've been reading a lot about World War II,” Twilight replied. “I finished most of my reading into that so I've started getting into a lot of fantasy stuff, like Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Oh! And I've just started reading Harry Potter and...”

As she was talking, Twilight set her drink down gingerly to avoid spilling a single drop so she could give Jeffery her full attention, as well as flail her arms with excited abandon some more. When she did so, however, the sleepy man next to her suddenly looked fully alert. Making sure she wasn't looking towards him, he quickly reached out with a hand and opened it over her drink, a tiny object falling into it with a near silent plunk.

“So far I've gotten up to book five and I really hate Umbridge. She is one of the worst- huh?” Twilight tilted her head and noticed a sudden lack of singing. “Oh, are they done already?”

“Who's done?” Jeffery asked and looked over his shoulder, only to see Emerald suddenly standing there.

“Mind if I finish this for you?” Emerald asked and quickly grabbed up Twilight's glass.

“Be my guest!” Twilight said with a smile and turned back to the bar to wave down the bartender. “I'll just get myself some more.”

“Uhhhh...” Jeffery said and couldn't help but look towards the formerly sleepy looking man who could only shrug back at him helplessly. He watched Emerald down the glass, swallowing the contents, and then grew alarmed as she started moving her jaw around like she was holding something in her mouth.

“There are many things that can be added to a drink to make it taste better,” Emerald stated loudly over the music of the bar. “Rohypnol is not one of them.”

“Who the fuck are you accusing of-” Jeffery began angrily. Emerald turned her head to stare down at him coolly.

The instant her attention was on Jeffery, the other man jumped up from his stool and ran at her, intending to clothesline her and make a beeline for the door. Emerald simply leaned back out of the way of his arm. She reached out with an arm and her leg, tripping him up and pushing him forwards, face first into the floor.

Jeffery shot up from his seat and took a swing at Emerald who spun out of the way. She grabbed the wrist of his extended arm and placed another hand at his waist, pushing and pulling with both so that he was instantly off balance and struggling to regain it by waving his other arm. Emerald quickly undid his belt and pulled it away and then let him go so that he stumbled forward and fell.

The other man was up again and turning back towards her. She responded via using the belt as a impromptu flail, smacking him directly on the nose with the buckle. As he covered his face with both hands, she darted in and quickly undid his belt as well before spinning around, delivering a backwards kick with same motion to his groin and crumpling him.

Jeffery was almost back on his feet when a belt buckle smashed into his groin and he bent over in agony. Another buckle came flying to the side of his head and he fell to the floor. Emerald darted over and quickly used one of her belts to hogtie him before turning to the other man on the floor and doing the same. After that was done she took a step back and cleaned off her hands.

Other than the music, silence filled the bar for a long moment.

“Holy shit...” one of the patrons said finally.

The fight didn't even last twenty seconds.

“Wow,” Trisha said as she walked over. “I expected you to do a number on them.”

Emerald raised her brows and looked down at the two men groaning in pain.

“Psssh! You didn't break a single bone,” Trisha waved off. “This is pretty damn restrained, all things considered.”

“Well I remember you telling me you believed I could show the world I'm not evil,” Emerald said. “Figure one of the best ways I can go about it is not horribly mutilating anyone who messes with me... within reason anyway.”

“Well that's one way to go about it...”

Emerald turned back towards the bar. The bartender was currently on the phone, likely talking to Blackwatch dispatch. Twilight... she was facing the bar and happily drinking her new glass of alcoholic apple juice.

“You okay, Twilight?” Emerald asked, placing a hand on her girlfriend's shoulder.

“Never better!” Twilight said with a smile, definitely sounding tipsy now.

“Hmm... well the most important participant of our night out is perfectly happy,” Trisha said with a wry smile, crossing her arms. “Guess we don't have to cut things short?”

“Guess not,” Emerald agreed with a nod. “I should be furious right now, but then again I got to beat them up so I guess I'm good. I'll just drag these two to the corner and we can continue our night.”

Past the crowd of people gawking at what was going on sat a man alone in one of the booths. He wasn't giving what was going on any mind, giving a very believable act of being more concerned with his beer and iPhone. Unbeknownst to even Trisha, this man was actually Sophie.

'Reacted instantly, she's very protective of her,' Sophie noted. 'That's good to know for future reference.'

What just happened was also the result of Sophie's influence. The vengeful Cursor had taken on the appearance of friend to the two men and talked them into attempting to drugging a girl, purely to see how Emerald would react. Sophie felt no remorse for what happened to them. Any man who could be talked into attempting to date rape a girl by someone who was supposed to be a friend deserved whatever punishment he got and more. Overall it was good to know Emerald's caring wasn't faked and if a trap needed bait there was one readily available. Sophie also couldn't help but wonder how much of that care was due to Twilight's appearance.

Focusing her attention on her iPhone, Sophie sent a text that was purely a few attached pictures. Shen then began tapping out a message.

[Got the pictures you wanted] Sophie texted. She didn't have to wait long for a answer.

[Thank you for your cooperation and discretion in this matter] came the reply. [You'll find payment at the agreed upon dead drop]

[I don't care about money. You're after Emerald, right?] Sophie texted, and when she didn't get signs of a reply after a moment, added, [I didn't lose anyone to Blackwatch, the only loss I've experienced was done to me by another Cursor. Emerald. If she is all you are after, I'm willing to do more]

[…] Sophie stared intently for several moments as the 'Typing reply' symbol appeared and disappeared for well over a minute until finally... [Instructions and further contact details shall be included in the payment. This number is a burner, do not attempt to contact it further beyond this point]

[Looking forward to it] Sophie typed back.

DELTA

Sitting on a bench, Emerald was nervously wringing her hands in the dark.

She was currently sitting in the backstage of the studio where the Daily Show was filmed. Comedy Central had been rather quick to reply to her message, giving her a date for the interview that was surprisingly soon. Emerald figured a number of factors played into the quickness of the date. The fact Jon Stewart was retiring this year, the fact they were the first people to interview her and not some major news network as some choice examples. They didn't even have time to properly advertise the interview, instead relying upon word of mouth on the internet. It turned out to be just as good if not better. The announcement had been retweeted on Twitter and shared on Facebook to oblivion within the hour. Goes to show there was no better way to get something known than to post it online. Course it also had to be interesting enough as well for this method to work.

'They're doing this live and made sure to set aside an especially long time slot to catch everything,' Emerald thought. 'I'm a leader of a nation back home and this treatment is making me feel more like a big deal here than in Equestria.'

It was rather odd. Back in Equis she was someone who changed the political landscape forever thanks to her meat fruit. While carnivore nations did have ties with one another due to their shared need of meat, they were rather flimsy. Meat was always a heavily demanded, vital resource but not one any one nation could gather in great amounts. Competition for this resource got in the way of closer ties and alliances. It was her sudden appearance on the world stage that practically caused a unified faction to form over night, her ability to supply a surplus of meat serving as the high grade glue that held everyone together. And yet despite this it was a TV network giving her preferential treatment, changing up their time slots on short notice that was making her feel like a VIP.

'Guess it goes to show I never completely left this world behind, huh?' Emerald thought with a hum.

“Psst!” Emerald looked up a saw a stage technician waving her over. Clearly her signal to come on stage was soon. She got up off her bench and walked over to the spot where she was just out of view of the cameras. Before her lied the fully lit stage with Jon Stewart himself sitting at his desk.

“Now before we get to the main event of tonight's show, I'd just like to take this opportunity to talk to everyone watching at home right now,” Jon Stewart said, a bit of cheer leaving his voice to make way for seriousness. “The past three years have been rough for the country. They've been hard for everybody. We've seen the return to power of several groups that can be charitably called assholes, we've seen an across the board sharp increase to crime and homelessness for the entire country. And on top of all this, we've still got a whole race, a different species of people, not even on our doorstep but within the house. You might say 'Well Jon, we've already decided how to handle them three years ago, it's old news now.' Well let me be the first to say uh, no, walling up a bunch of people isn't handling the situation.”

Emerald tilted her head as she listened to Jon speak. Sure he was a host for a comedy show, but he was also very intelligent with a mind as sharp as any razor. There was a reason why this man was rated the most trustworthy man in America. And Emerald could tell from the sound of his voice that this was going to be one of those times when he was completely serious and upfront about something.

“Not only that, but we're currently in the middle of the most turbulent time of our nation's history since probably the Civil War,” Jon continued solemnly. “The people we trusted to run the country, to keep safe the livelihoods of ourselves, our friends and our families. They broke that trust and committed acts of outright evil we thought were left behind by the first world over seventy years ago. Now this is treading old ground yet again for the Daily Show, I know, but let me just close off everything I just said with this. No problem ever got solved by doing nothing, and society doesn't get better by applying violence to it. One day, and hopefully one day soon, we all have to sit down and seriously think about how exactly we are going to all live together without one group trying to shove the other in the broom closet under the stairs, saying 'That's your home, live with it.' Because if history has taught us anything, it's this. Normal people just want peace and are willing to put up with a lot to ensure peace, but people will always strive for something better for themselves. The broom closet can do for now, but eventually - eventually - people are going to wonder what it's like to stay in the rest of the house too.”

'Rather good analogy,' Emerald nodded in agreement. 'Broom closet, the NYZ quarantine can't even stop normal people from sneaking in and out let alone someone who can shape shift and can tear apart tanks with their bare hands. But no need to remind people specifically that in the hands of a Cursor they are wet putty.'

“Now I took up enough of your time, please welcome tonight's big guest on the show!” Jon said, waving towards her.

Emerald walked out to some cheering and clapping, notably little compared to the norm. This was quite telling considering the fact studio audiences were paid to applaud and cheer on command. Course it could also be the fact that people were so eager to hear her side of the story they were frozen with anticipation. Unlikely, but possible.

“Emerald Gleaner,” Jon stated with a welcoming smile as she took her seat next to his desk. “This is your first public appearance in five years. How do you feel?”

“Honestly?” Emerald said, forcing herself to stop wringing her hands. “More than a little nervous. I'm not used to being the center of attention for so many people.”

“I can imagine. You were the stealth specialist after all,” Jon stated and Emerald nodded. “Now I'm already saying things way ahead of the 'script' as it were, ahem... let's start from the beginning. Your origins and childhood. From what we here at the studio were able to dig up, you were the sole child of an immigrant from Sweden.”

“Yes, my mother was an immigrant who was able to finance her move over to America from a baking competition she won,” Emerald explained. “From what she had told me it was a fairly big thing back home and had greased the wheels of a number of bureaucratic tape holders in the immigration office. After some packing and preparation, she made the move over. It wasn't long after that she became pregnant with me.”

“Did you know your father in any way?”

“I saw the man once and only once,” Emerald replied. “The way my mother had me was... well you know how it goes. You're in a new place, you don't know anyone, suddenly there is this guy who's super friendly and charming, he says the right things... there was no storybook ending there. Just a bed missing its other occupant and an unexpected little bundle of joy nine months later.”

“Well the reason I asked, and you may or may not know about this, but the very man in question had attempted to claim royalties on several documentaries and other media made about you,” Jon stated, briefly closing his eyes to think on what he knew. “Now by this point the man hunts for you were massive and people were getting really worked up the longer you weren't found. When he came out and announced himself as your father to claim royalty rights to various media featuring you, a lot of people starting claiming he knew where you were. He was kidnapped practically within the day and nearly killed after he ‘refused’ to tell his kidnappers where you were hiding.”

“Tch, typical.” Emerald shook her head. “Course the only time he wants to have anything to do with me is when money is involved. Money for him, anyway. You see the one time I met him was when I was a small child helping out at the front of my mom's bakery. Apparently my mother wasn't the only woman he sneaked out on in the morning. Neither was she the only one who had gotten pregnant. He was having issues with child support and came to my mom to charm some money out of her. When my mom pointed me out as his child he immediately called her a liar and started saying how she wasn't getting a single penny from him. Course mom didn't like that, she punched him and he fell unconscious for a couple minutes before running off.”

“Sounds like she was rather protective of you,” Jon commented.

“Mom... she was the best,” Emerald said, growing melancholy. “She honestly didn't feel any resent towards the man who was supposed to be my father. She felt that by having me she had gotten more out of the one night than he ever did.”

“I have some more information about him if you want to know?” Jon said, waving to some papers on his desk.

“I don't care about him.” Emerald said with a shake of her head. “As far as I'm concerned, I only had one parent. What's your next question?”

“So, the first outbreak,” Jon said. “From what little documentation there was, you spent a short amount of time in a refugee hospital before disappearing.”

“The first outbreak... mom and I nearly managed to spend the entire thing safely tucked away in the second floor of the bakery,” Emerald said as she recalled memories. “Then a firefight broke out in the street outside and forced us to leave. We got caught in the middle of a battle between the marines and the infected. I survived but my mom didn't. I spent a couple days ducking into buildings carrying my mother's own corpse looking for somewhere to bury her before finally managing it. I wandered aimlessly for a while before managing to find the main marine base and being taken in. As for why I disappeared soon after? Well I started noticing some people were being taken away for treatment but would never appear again. I decided I didn't survive my own mother's death only to just get disappeared by some shady doctors, so I ran away.”

“Not a lot of info about things on Manhattan in general after the first outbreak,” Jon stated. “But from what is said, I can imagine surviving in Manhattan wasn't easy for a teenager.”

“I spent most of my time squatting in abandoned apartments, eating cold canned food and getting water from what little water piping still worked,” Emerald stated. “It was a survivable but unpleasant experience. It was only when winter arrived that I nearly died. I spent most of winter bundled up in as many blankets and clothes as possible and sitting on canned food to keep them from freezing. I spent the next year finding somewhere to spent the next winter, then collecting enough food for winter, then enough water. I can't express the sheer fear in my heart when I saw the leaves start to turn orange in fall...”

“This is where we're getting back into things we have info about again, but I have to say,” Jon said with a somber, sympathetic expression. “You went through so much before even meeting Alex Mercer.”

“It doesn't excuse a thing.” Emerald simply stated.

“Excuse, probably not,” Jon nodded. “But it does explain some things. Now moving on. Thanks to James Heller, we actually know a lot about Alex Mercer's day to day operations. But what I'm interested in here is getting some details about certain things cleared up.”

“Okay,” Emerald said, frowning and sitting up in her seat straight.

“Now from what we know, Alex Mercer had purposefully gone out of his way to recruit psychopaths as his enforcers,” Jon said. “And that out of all of them, you were the only one that wasn't actually personally chosen by him to enter the Cadre. You had actually been eaten by one of the Cadre members but had somehow turned the tables around on that member and killed him. Alex Mercer in a bit of a combination of respect for surviving and spite for killing one of his elites, then started sending you out on missions straight away.”

“Okay, so this is about the missions?” Emerald asked, pursing her lips into thin line. “What did you want to know?”

“Nothing specific, don't you worry about that,” Jon said placatingly. “I've just been noticing something interesting. Compared to whenever one of the other Cadre went on a mission, yours always lacked any sort of body count. Why is that?”

“The other Cadre... they were psychos, they loved the power their new bodies gave them and loved how easily normal humans seemed to come apart in their hands,” Emerald said, lowering her eyes. “I never saw the point. What was the point in not only going after everyone around your target but in causing as much destruction as possible? I mean sure Mercer controlled Blackwatch basically but surely things would be easier in general if we kept body counts low? But nope, I was always the minority in this. Eventually my tendency to just do my mission and nothing else ended up getting me more and more important work. I was the one that handled all the important stuff, the one that could be counted on to not tear apart an entire building in the process of getting after one single person. In a way I think I was just as bad as the others despite this tendency to keep death rates low. The others killed out of passion, they enjoyed every moment of carnage. I didn't care... I didn't care who I was after, I just did as I was told. I did my job, went back, got a target, rinse and repeat.”

“I think you are selling yourself a bit short there,” Jon said seriously.

“What?” Emerald said a bit incredulously. “You mean the fact that out of a group of viscious killers, I was the only one who killed least and didn't take any pleasure in it? Yep, I was the least murderous alright... yay...”

“Okay, it still sounds really, incredibly bad,” Jon nodded but continued. “But let me ask you this. If, say, at some point during all that your conscious became a little too loud and you listened to it and refused to do a mission, what would have happened?”

“Well... I...” Emerald began a little hesitantly. “I would have been killed, no ifs or buts there. But the mission would still have needed to be done and in my place another Cadre would have been sent.”

“And I think we both know how that would have turned out,” Jon said and raised a hand when Emerald opened her mouth to speak. “I know, it doesn't excuse anything. But it does explain some things.”

“Hn, your next question?” Emerald huffed lightly but moved on.

“So from Gabriel's testimony, we know that in the end you turned on Alex Mercer,” Jon stated. “You knew about their plans to betray him but agreed to keep it a secret provided Alex Mercer died in the end. Was there anything else you had done to sabotage Alex Mercer without his knowing?”

“Just one other thing,” Emerald answered. “I had actually found out pretty early on that James Heller had turned on him just after entering the Green Zone. I could have gone to Mercer right away with this info, but I didn't. Instead I volunteered to reestablish control in the Yellow Zone after Heller tore through it. By the time Mercer found out Heller wasn't on his side anymore, Heller was too strong to kill on the spot anymore.”

“So ultimately it was thanks to you that Alex Mercer was stopped in the first place,” Jon said in surprise.

“Maybe. Possibly James Heller could have managed to survive long enough to reach the same result,” Emerald shrugged. “He was fairly strong compared to the others right from the beginning. Plus he never needed to be handed powers and abilities. I like to believe that I merely made an eventual outcome easier to achieve.”

“And after that outcome you followed through on your agreement with Gabriel,” Jon stated. “What happened next is the big question that everyone got so worked up. Where did you go?”

“Well as much as I'd like to go into detail on that, I can't,” Emerald replied and leaned back. “It's less that I have something to hide and more I have a whole lot to protect now.”

“I can imagine a lot of people would be more than willing to blame the community you found a home in for sheltering you,” Jon said with a nod. “Even if it was done so unknowingly.”

“Yeah, though honestly even if I told you exactly where it was I'd think it would still be rather safe,” Emerald stated. “It's a bit awkward to enter and leave to say the least. Not much in the way of modern tech either.”

“So is there anything at all you are willing to share about your life back home?”

“Well for one... I'm just going to be honest here and say I never really intended to settle down the way I ended up doing,” Emerald said with a sigh. “The place was just a long term hideout to me. I even had some plans in place to disrupt the lives of those around me to make it easier to hide.”

“But in the end you did settle down,” Jon pointed out. “You have a girlfriend and from the looks of things, several children in your care.”

“Yeah, quite the family I ended up having, huh?” Emerald couldn't help but smile genuinely and brightly at that. “So, life in Ponyville. It wasn't as quiet as I thought it would be. I mean you'd be shocked at how much weirdness the town attracted on a daily bases, not to mention the drama. But at the same time it was a fairly simple life. Everyone knew everyone and all our food was grown locally. I ended getting several very close friends, one of whom became my girlfriend.”

“What about Navi and Spike?” Jon asked. “How did you end up taking care of them?”

“Spike was basically Twilight's adopted brother,” Emerald answered. “He was there before I was, but Navi? I don't really... it's hard to explain but I was there the day Navi was born, the very minute. And then I found myself being her caretaker. Despite how heartless it may sound, I never really cared too much for her initially. For me, looking after her... she was only a few steps above a needy pet in my eyes. But as time went on, as the days passed, she just grew on me. I found myself caring about her emotional well being as well as physical. The next thing I knew, she was calling me mama and... it felt so right even though some part of me couldn't believe it. Me? A child's parent? But there it was, and I wouldn't have it any other way.”

“Yeah, a family can really change you, can’t it?” Jon said, fondly thinking of his own family before shaking his head. “So, continuing with the interview. Eventually you left your home with family in tow to chase down a thief who had stolen something valuable.”

“Yeah. I kind of regret bringing them along now, but if I couldn't keep them safe, who could?” Emerald said with a sigh before her expression brightened. “I did eventually track down the thief, though.”

“You did?” Jon said in some surprise. “How did that go?”

“Surprisingly well,” Emerald said. “She had gotten into a bit of trouble when I tracked her down. I brought her back to the apartment and after some tension we put bad blood behind us, she's staying with us now.”

“Speaking of which, how is the family taking being out in the world?”

“Everything is new to them but also rather frightening,” Emerald said honestly. “When you come from a society where the worst you have to deal with are animals and the occasional thief, the grim reality of things can be a bit much. They all want to go home, but that can't really happen now can it, since I'm explicitly told to remain behind the quarantine walls.”

“I imagine you could work something out with Blackwatch,” Jon suggested. “Maybe tell them where Ponyville is and they set up a small outpost of some sort so people know they are keeping an eye on things.”

“It's an idea,” Emerald just shrugged. “Hopefully it doesn't come to that.”

“Now, moving to more lighthearted topics,” Jon said and brought up some papers he quickly straightened out and looked over. “Batman in the NYZ! What do you think about having the caped crusader himself in the city?”

“A guy dresses up like a bat?” Emerald said with a raised brow. “Clearly has issues.”

Jon opened his mouth to respond and paused a moment, tilting his head at Emerald before grinning and giving a little chuckle.

“I'll take that as your complete opinion on the matter.” Jon chuckled and continued on. “Movie references aside...”

Emerald leaned back and crossed her legs, relaxing as Jon Stewart moved on to more non-serious topics far apart from questions on her past. She honestly didn't think she'd ever come to find herself enjoying an interview, but clearly Jon Stewart was the man for the job. She was definitely going to get his autograph when this was over.

EPSILON

Emerald kneeled down upon the surface of a roof. She was looking down at a modified iPad browsing Blackwatch's criminal reports.

It had been a whole day since the interview and like anything at all involving her, the online response was more than a little explosive. A surprising amount of people were taking the interview rather positively, though Emerald honestly found the blatant pity of some them insulting, and had decided they were going to treat Emerald like any other person. Just as many people however were still very guarded and suspicious of her, a sentiment she could honestly understand and tolerate, with a very loud minority proclaiming how she was pulling the wool over everyone's eyes. It was at that point that Emerald had naively followed a random link and found porn of herself someone was sharing, so she had called it a day and decided to do other things, like her hobby for instance.

Yeah, Emerald was still going out as Batman but the virus had decided she couldn't spend the time going after normal, near harmless crooks. Sure they were still causing harm but her leaping out of the shadows breaking all the limbs of people pushed to desperation would only make a bad situation worse. So she had resolved to just hunt down the actual “predators” as it were. Murderers, rapists, kidnappers and the like. She would still not kill anyone, though. Had to remain in character after all... as much as it irritated her.

Emerald's musings came to a pause as a new report was suddenly added to the crime database. She was reading through several details, type of vehicle the kidnappers used, details of the kidnappers themselves. She was calmly going through all of this when the picture of the victim in question was posted to the file. Suddenly she froze for several moments before she teleported away quite abruptly.

An instant later, Emerald arrived at a location that was as close as possible to the scene of the crime which was in the Green Zone. She quickly ascended back to the rooftops and started bounding across them to reach her destination. She had barely bothered to maintain a believable pace and was at the scene within a minute. Offhandedly she noticed a Blackwatch patrol car parked outside an upscale looking townhouse before she leaped down onto the street.

Emerald set to work immediately. She started going through scent trails, all of which were still fairly strong. The kidnappers had been described as all male so it was easy to pick out the one scent that belonged to a female. However the scent then got fairly weak soon after, a mark of the fact the victim had been pulled into a van. She could still follow it, that was absolutely certain, but she'd be a bit slower at it then she'd like. That was unacceptable to Emerald currently, and she began going through her other options. After considering a few ideas briefly, she came to a conclusion she did have one sense that could potentially allow her to follow the kidnappers' trail at high speeds.

The virus tapped into her Changelings senses. She was briefly awash with emotions but quickly refined her senses down to a smaller area. She felt a great deal of nervousness and anxiety in the air, but the way these came from up the street before going down clearly marked them as the kidnappers' emotions. Digging through the miasma of negative emotions for something else, she soon found it. A tightly wound wire of shock, anger and fear. It was the one, she knew it.

It was then that Emerald realized that she had been so intent upon picking up the trail she failed to notice two people leaving the townhouse and standing nearby. One of the people was a Blackwatch soldier without his helmet, the other was a woman. The woman had fair skin, a head of thick, long blond hair that easily reached past her shoulders and bright blue eyes. She was wearing a casual outfit that was still rather formal looking.

“You're going to go look for her, right?” the woman said stiffly, a look of intense worry clear in her eyes.

“I have her trail,” Emerald answered in her batman voice and turned towards the woman to look her in the eyes. “I will bring her home.”

“I...” The woman seemed to stumble mentally for a moment at the sheer intensity of Emerald's eyes and the certainty in her voice. “Thank you, just... please bring her home as soon as possible.”

“...” Emerald nodded silently and looked to the Blackwatch soldier who was looking rather bemused at the moment. “Call headquarters, tell them to be ready. I'll be forwarding the location of the hideout to them as soon as I find it. I will handle extracting the hostage.”

“Now just a-” the soldier began, pulling out an iPhone looking device when he was suddenly frozen in place by Emerald's glare at him not instantly obeying. “Right, right! Gotcha, messaging HQ now...”

Emerald pulled out her grapple and ascended back to the rooftops, the voice of the grunt drifting after her.

“Yep, he definitely has the act down to a fine art...”

Emerald spent the next several minutes following the trail. She didn't expect to be following the thin wire of alarmed emotions for long. All the water traffic was strictly controlled by Blackwatch so smuggling a kidnapped girl wouldn't be something done on the spot. She guessed kidnappers had a safe house on the island. It was only after crossing over a parking lot where the van had clearly been dumped and following the trail further that her assumption was proven correct.

There weren't that many abandoned buildings in the Green Zone since it was an upper class area of the NYZ. However, the presence of the quarantine walls killed pretty much all industry in the NYZ. The industrial buildings in the Green Zone were the sole victims of the quarantine while the others struggled but persisted. The building she had tracked the kidnappers to was an office building belonging to a greater industrial complex full of rusting containers. The building had no obvious signs of habitation, the doors were closed tight and the windows dark.

The virus reached out with her senses. She could see six people gathered in the inner rooms of the office building. Four of them were together while two others were apart from the group somewhat. Considering one was obviously tied up on the floor and the other was standing guard outside their room, it was clear who these two were.

Emerald took a moment to send a data packet off to Blackwatch with the hideout's location before planning her incursion. She was inclined to simply take out the guard and quickly ambush the other men in the group but what she dearly wanted was to rescue the prisoner. Starting a fight near her and putting her in danger was repulsive, even if realistically the chance of that happening was extremely unlikely.

'Smash and grab, then,' Emerald thought and glided down towards several broken windows. 'I'll set up an escape route and get her out.'

Emerald softly moved through the darkened hallways. She found a patch of bare, thin walls and placed a line of explosive gel on it. She did this for one other patch of wall just on the other side of the first before sneakily making her way to the room the girl was held in. As she did this she could hear the group of men gathered together whispering to one another.

“God damn it...” one said with barely restrained frustration.

“What is it?” asked another.

“I managed to find the girl we picked up,” the first one muttered.

“She loaded like the boss man said?” asked the second.

“No! Well kinda, but her folks sure as hell can't afford what we're asking for,” answered the first. “Hell, their facebook page has them showing off the house they're getting outside the NYZ. It's like half the damn size of the one they got in the Green Zone.”

“Fuuuuuuuck...” said a new voice, panic clear in their voice. “God fucking damn it, man! If we ain't getting big money, there's no point man!”

“He's got a point,” the second voice said. “We ain't got no colored girl tied up back there. This is a pretty white girl. Family she from might not be rich, but they still have a house on Staten.”

“I'm going to talk to the boss,” the first voice said. “It's still early. We can just dump her out on the street somewhere and lie low for a while.”

As Emerald reached the final wall between the girl and her, she frowned as she saw the man walking away through her senses. The layout of the area through Emerald's sense showed the other men sitting in a break room. The room the girl was held in was well within eyesight being just down the hall from it with the guard standing in the door frame. But the man hadn't gone towards the one other kidnapper away from the group, the guard in the door. Instead, he walked towards a room, an empty room.

'Did the boss pull a runner?' Emerald thought with a frown as she placed the final line of gel, just out of sight from the men. 'Hmm... it doesn't matter, let's get her out of here.'

Emerald crouched near the wall corner and studied the position of each man in the building. When she heard a door open, followed moments later by incredulous cursing she moved. Darting around the corner she quickly leapt for the man in the doorway, he was looking away from her and towards the break room so he didn't see her coming when she smashed his face into the opposing frame of the door. Gripping hold of his arm, she began to make an over the shoulder toss but at the same time activated a smoke bomb and placed it inside his jacket. She sent him flying down the hall at the alarmed kidnappers where he crashed into their table and was soon obscured by a sudden cloud of smoke.

The virus darted into the room, dove at the form of a tied up girl on the floor and gathered her up in her arms. Turning away from the tagged wall she made sure the girl was properly shielded before triggering the explosives. There were several loud booms, the rush of air and heat and flying debris impacting her back. Emerald made sure to wait just long enough for the worst to pass before quickly sprinting into the dust clouds. By the time the kidnappers collected themselves to run for the room their captive had been in, Emerald had already leapt through the window and grappled to the nearest roof.

As the shape of Batman shooting through the air via a grapple briefly appeared, in the far distance in the shadows of a window two eyes glittered in the dark for a moment before a face was dimly illuminated by a phone screen.

Emerald and the now former captive finally came to a stop on a rooftop several blocks away from the kidnappers' hideout. In the distance, the sound of chopper blades filled the air as helicopters began swarming towards the site. She quickly set the girl down and rapidly undid the ropes around her hands and feet.

“Puah!” the girl gasped out as she ripped the tape off from around her mouth the instant her hands were free.

She was wearing a pair of sneakers along with tight jeans and a large black hoodie with a Jurassic Park like icon on the front but with some dragon like image instead of a skeleton on the front, along with the words “useless reptile”. She had fairly pale skin and long, straight black hair that easily reached to the middle of her back. Finally and most importantly...

She looked exactly like Twilight...

“Y-you know, as awesome as it is to get saved by Batman and all,” she said as she began to stand up, brushing herself off as she did so. “I really would have preferred it if it was The Doc-”

“Coffee Girl.”

The girl suddenly stood up straight and turned to face Emerald with wide, surprised eyes, taking in Emerald now standing in her human form, his true human form to be exact.

“Doughnut Boy?” she muttered quietly.

ZETA

Luxury calmly went about lighting several of her scented candles in preparation for the arrival of her guest.

She was in her personal study at the moment, the light of a homely fireplace filling the space. It was quite the decadent space. The floor was hardwood stained oak, the walls were covered in an expensive ruby red woven wallpaper covered in intricate designs. In the corners of the room were bookcases completely filled in many hard cover novels, giving the room itself an octagonal shape. Dominating the center of the room was a pair of armchairs and between them a loveseat. In all honestly, Luxury was hoping that seat would very much be living up to it's name.

'Is it unladylike to pursue instead of being pursued?' Luxury thought to herself. 'I find myself uncaring if that is the case. I know what I want and I shall try for it with all of my heart and soul.'

“Hello!” called a voice. “Luxury, are you home?”

“I'm in the study, darling!” Luxury called back before quickly getting the tea in order and straightening out her fluffy pink housecoat.

Luxury's heart skipped a beat when her guest entered the study.It was rather odd in a way, since they were close friends and so comfortable around one another yet Luxury's secret intentions for her friend made her nervous of her. Said friend was called Rough Diamonds, Roo to her friends, a unicorn mare with a coat white as snow, rich gold blonde hair with a light pink streak in it and light blue eyes. She was also covered in scars with one prominent one crossed over one of her beautiful eyes. This fact about Roo caused a bit of strife in Luxury.She used to think scars only made one thuggish and ugly in looks, yet Roo was covered in them and Luxury could not help but be... captivated. What story could be told with each scar? That such a beautiful and cheerful mare could bare all her marks to the world with nary a care?

“What?” Roo said and briefly went cross eyed as she attempted to examine herself. “Do I have something on my face?”

“Oh there is nothing wrong with your face darling, nothing at all,” Luxury said and patted the seat next to her. “Come, join me.”

“I do like hanging out with you, Luxury,” Roo said happily as she settled into her seat. “I feel so classy around you, even though I'm not.”

“While it is true you are outwardly out of place in an upscale crowd, you have more going for you than you give yourself credit, darling,” Luxury said, smiling softly at Roo. “So much more...”

“Oh, that means so much coming from you, Luxury,” Roo said, looking down towards the floor in some slight shame. “I mean I know how I look. I probably would be lucky to be compared to a broken vase glued back together.”

“Don't you call yourself that!” Luxury said in an affronted tone suddenly, finding herself lunging at Roo and placing her hooves on the other’s shoulders and bringing her face close to hers. “You are the most beautiful, exotic mare I've ever seen, Roo.”

“W-what?” Roo said with wide eyes at Luxury's words.

Luxury almost quailed at the forwardness of her actions but also realized if she was going to show her emotions to the other mare, there was one singular perfect way to do so right now. She closed her eyes and slowly closed the distance between her face and Roo's. Roo gave a great gasp of surprise at Luxury's actions but to the classy mare's delight she didn't try to pull away. Inch by inch Luxury neared the other mare.To her the seconds seemed to stretch into minutes before finally they met.

A small, light kiss on the lips and they quickly parted.

Luxury opened her eyes and her heart soared at the expression on the other mare's face; a blush and a growing, shy smile. Taking advantage of the mood and her great experience in romance from reading her many romantic novels, Luxury quickly got out her hoof written love poems and began to-

Moonlight Dancer, with a deep exhale, placed the papers she was reading back down.

“So...” Diane said nervously. “How was it?”

“It's very... salacious,” Moondancer said with blushing cheeks.

“But is it good?” Diane asked urgently. “Is it nice to read?”

“It's...” Dancer began hesitantly, feeling embarrassed. “Well... yes...”

“Oh yay!” Diane said happily, hopping in place excitedly.

Unbeknownst to the two, Diane's cutiemark changed yet again but also what would be for the final time. The three paintings merged together into one larger one and within that large picture frame was the image of an unfurled parchment. Beside the parchment was also a quill and an ink well, ready to be used.

Within the depths of the Hub in one of the many training chambers of the Warhounds stood a group of over a hundred Direwolves, wearing their new armor adjusted to their new bodies. They stood stock still and standing at attention as Belvedere the Regent Boss of the Enclave stalked back and forth in front of them.

“The day of the portal reopening will soon be upon us,” Belvedere stated. “I fully expect by now that Emerald Gleaner has fully taken advantage of this time to ensure she can make it back this time. However, there is no harm in ensuring her return.”

“When the portal opens, all of you shall enter the portal yourselves,” Belvedere continued, coming to a sudden stop and staring evenly at each Direwolf. “If all goes well, then you should come face to face with Emerald on the other side. If not, however... then you are hereby given leave to act as you see fit. Your sole objective is the return of Emerald Gleaner. How this happens is completely up to your discretion. Am I clear?”

“Yes, Boss!” the Direwolves barked out as one.

“Good, continue your training. Dismissed.”

-TBC-

Author's Note

AN: Alright, awesome getting close to the end of the book! Only two more chapters to go! Things are definitely going to be kicking up a bit…

EN: I’m not liking the way things are stacking up. Things seem happy, but I have a feeling that won’t stay the same. I don’t think there’s going to be a happy ending to this, no matter the outcome.