Daedalus' New World

Daedalus grinned as he stood atop a building in Pennsylvania. Spread out before him was a city--he didn't remember the name, that was completely unaware of the infected presence beneath the streets.

Quickly shifting into a bird, he glided down and landed on the street. He darted into a drain and entered the sewers. The greater Evolved followed the pipe before he arrived in a massive central chamber. He quickly surveyed the scene, taking pleasure in it.

Several hundred infected were situated in the chamber. The most common were Berserkers, Maniacs, and Warpers. After Mercer's near defeat in Manhattan, he knew he needed to upgrade his army. The results were impressive.

The Berserkers were a new creature created entirely from biomass by Mercer. They were massive walls of muscle with condensed bone plating to protect against low to mid caliber weapons. They stood over eight feet tall and ran on all fours, brutally smashing anything to death. Large, red veins snaked across their body. When they died, the veins burst, spreading the virus.

Maniacs were essentially upgraded Hunters. They moved on two legs at high speeds. They each had four arms that ended in massive, foot long claws. They swung with wild abandon and laughed maniacally as they killed. They were formed from humans, and tended to die in droves. The Warpers were Mercer's counter to Blackwatch air superiority. They each had two bladed wings which were sharp enough to slice through reinforced steel like it was nothing. They were capable of expelling biomass from their wings to massively increase their speed, giving them the appearance of warping around.

Suffice to say, Mercer had moved from using sheer numbers to fear tactics.

Daedalus singled out the one being that stood out. Structured similar to a gargantuan spider, it had eight legs and its entire body was coated in razor-sharp bristles to protect it. Its thorax was covered in massive boils of liquid filled with Redlight. It could willingly burst the sores to spread the virus, reinforcing the waves of monsters. It was named, aptly, a Reinforcer.

Daedalus felt something connect to his mind and knew it to be Mercer. Sir, thepopulationisunaware. Blackwatch presenceisminimal. Whenshouldtheattackbegin?

Fifteen minutes, Daedalus. The Infectors will be there in two hours to create a new foothold. I expect the city to have fallen by then. Acquire any form of power possible. Fall back temporarily if necessary.

Andthecivilianswhotrytorun, sir?

Kill or infect them all.

Butsi--Daedalus felt an intense pain spark through his head and his quarrels faded, replaced with devotion to Mercer. Yessir.

The connection faded, but Daedalus remained changed. The Hive Mind was truly a wonderful thing. There was no more chance of rebellions such as Heller's. Even removing the Hive Mind killed the infected.

The greater Evolved waited until the appropriate time before giving the mental command. The Berserkers broke open the roof as dozens of Maniacs swarmed the streets. Instantly, screams and laughter began sounding out. He smiled.

Within moments, Warpers took to the air, following command of bringing down any air vehicles. A single leap propelled Daedalus ten feet up onto the street. He immediately notice the bodies lying on the ground as Berserkers crushed cars and people and the Maniacs went building to building killing the humans. Mad laughter filled the air, overriding the screams and making Daedalus smile with bliss.

Hearing a gunshot, he looked left to see a policeman shoot the head off of a Maniac. He frowned. Can'thavethat. Ionlyhavetwohourstosubjugatethiscity. Failuremeansdeath.

Darting forward by expelling biomass, he smashed through the man, completely pulping the body and releasing a red mist. Stopping, Daedalus looked around, tracking all activity. He heard the street crumble behind him before a massive foghorn of a roar echoed, causing the entire city to fall silent for a second. Grinning, Daedalus looked back to see the Reinforcer climbing out of the sewers.

Within moments, a boil burst and released a mass of Redlight on the corpses. Seconds later, the bodies began twitching as snapping and tearing was heard while the bodies restructured themselves. As Daedalus walked deeper into the city, another wave of Maniacs rushed passed him, spreading out and traveling building to building. As he walked, he could see the lesser infected dragging out corpses and stacking them for easy infection.

The next hour flew by like this. Constantly killing, constantly infecting, constantly keeping watch and mentally planning a strategy. Time passed, and the city quieted of gunshots and screams as roars and laughter grew louder. Deciding to perform once last check, Daedalus climbed a multi-story building and strained his hearing as much as he possibly could.

For a moment, all he could hear was his infected. However, he soon began to pick out small sounds of fighting. Most of them were quiet and seemed to be dying out. Only one remained as loud as always, and seemed to not be slowing. Leaping down and making a crater on impact, he began to leisurely stroll down the street toward the sound. As he moved, he crossed paths with his Reinforcer who was busy doing it's job. It was smaller now--it has been cannibalizing its own body for more viral material. Patting its side, he gave it a boost and it grew larger. The sores all burst, showering the street and infecting at least a hundred.

Before they were even up, he had already given an order to head ahead of him. He continued walking, the sounds of battle now louder. When he was less than a block away, a wave of infected passed him and he grinned darkly. Rounding the corner, he saw a tank and several soldiers fighting against the infected. MustbetheremnantoftheBlackwatchgarrison. Shouldn'tbetrouble.

In truth, Daedalus was glad he had been feasting himself. He had enough biomass to weigh three thousand pounds. With that in mind, it was no wonder he compromised the tank's armor with a simple backhand. Sending a burst of tendrils through the gaps in the plates, he consumed the crew members and moved on.

However, before he could even move towards the soldiers, he was hit with an incredibly powerful impact which threw him through a building. Then another. And another. After the third, he came to a sliding stop and looked at what hit him. He was surprised to see an uninfected man with stark white hair. He wore a brown suit and had mismatched yellow and red eyes which seemed to glow.

The man walked forward slowly before coming to rest five feet in front of him. Daedalus stood and chuckled. "Impressive. Not many could hit me like that. What spawn of Blackwatch or Gentek are you?"

The man nodded. "You'll do nicely."

Raising an eyebrow, he spoke. "What? Who even are you?"

"Call me Disarray." He smiled as if he made a joke. "And you, Daedalus, are about to take a little trip. Maybe the Elements will help you with that little Hive Mind you have."

'Disarray' snapped his fingers and the Greater Evolved collapsed. He felt his strength leave him and felt tired for the first time in years. Within moments, he was unconscious.
***

The Evolved's awareness returned in a mere second. There was no grogginess or slow awakening. One moment, he was unconscious, the next, awake. He leaped up, blade already formed, and examined his surroundings. He was surprised to see himself in a room that was composed mostly of stone. It was massive, with a roof high above him- if pieces hadn't been missing. In front of him were two massive doors, one shattered and on the ground, that led into a long hallway.

Turning around, he saw two thrones sitting side by side on a raised dias. One was seemingly made of gold, the other of silver. Various decaying tapestries dotted the walls, each depicting something similar. All were composed of either a sun, moon, or an emblem of two equine beings circling each other. Judging from the state of decay the room was in, he assumed it had been abandoned for at least a century, likely more.

After realizing the lack of danger, he morphed his blade back into his left arm and walked to one of the holes in the wall. Frowning at the sight, he knew he was no longer in Pennsylvania. A large, dark forest stretched out to the horizon, broken only by two mountains in the distance.

Mercerisgoingtobepissed. Hopefully, he'llcheckmymemoriesbeforejustconsumingme.

He tensed when he heard the sound of speaking not far from him. He then noticed a steady clip-clopcoming his way, likely from several sources.

Horse-riders? Intriguing. Daedalus thought.

Shifting into a small black bird, he jumped straight to the roof. Landing in a small, chipped alcove of a support pillar, he prepared for the entrance of a whatever was making that sound.

UnfortunatethatIcan'tfly. I weigh far too muchforthesewingstosupportme. The disguise shouldstill work, though.

Having fully settled into the unintended recess, he watched closely for several minutes as the horse riders grew closer. Because of how powerful his hearing was, it would still take several more minutes for them to arrive. At this point, he was able to make out what one was saying, a female by the sounds of it.

"Its just up ahead! The source of the Chaos magic is close by."

Right after he heard another speak, this one barely able to be heard due to how quiet it simply was. "M-maybe its D-Discord."

He heard a scoff, but the voice was worried. "Yeah, he disappeared as soon as he broke free from his prison."

Three separate people, allfemales. Theyspeakofmagicasifitexists. SomeonenamedDiscordescaperecentlyandhasn'tbeenseen. Ifthis 'magic'somehow exists, thentherewasaburstofChaosrecently, likelymyarrival. However, themagicislikelyadvancedtechnology. I mightbedealingwith an incrediblyisolatedsociety. EventheAmishunderstandmoderntech. Theyjust don'tuseit.

Foursentences and Ialreadylearnedthatmuch. These peoplewould be horribleatkeepingsecrets.

The walking grew closer and closer until Daedalus guessed it to be right outside the door. As if to prove his assumption, be could see shadows moving through the doorway. Then, in walked three figures that made Daedalus deadpan.

All were equine, similar to the emblems on the wall, yet significantly different than any horses he had seen. One had a cyan coat with a rainbow mane, its flank adorned with a rainbow lightning bolt emitting from a cloud. Another was yellow with a pink mane, its mark of three butterflies. The final was purple with a purple mane with a lighter pink strip. The mark was of a star emblem. The first two had wings entirely too small to be usable and the final had a horn jutting from its skull.

...Incrediblyisolatedsociety?

It wasn't until the purple one spoke that he finally accepted the fact that he was no longer anywhere on Earth.

"The source of the magic is somewhere here. Its coming from the center of the room."

RightwhereIappeared. Alright, ifthatUnicorntalks, sodotheothers. Ifthereisonesentientspecieshere, thereislikelytobemore. Chancesare, humansdon'texisthere. I'llneedasampleofDNAtoblendin, preferablyseveralinordertoblendthegenes and createa disguise.

Examining the three, he attempted to determine which would would be the least of a risk. Glancing at the purple one, he immediately decided against her. If 'magic' existed in this world, it was an unknown, possibly lethal, factor for now. Having decided on the Pegasi, Daedalus decided he needed samples of both if he wanted to not replace one.

He darted out of sight and felt his legs fall off, then reform, leaving behind a significant portion of his biomass, ergo, his weight. Darting back around the pillar, he quickly landed on the yellow one's back. He felt the equine start and looked back, relaxing to see a small, black bird. Daedalus darted his head side to side to mimic a true bird and hopped a little closer, tendrils under his feet collecting samples of DNA. He looked back at the yellow one when she spoke.

"H-hello there, b-birdie. What's your name?"

Amused, Daedalus made a chirping sound while thinking his own name.

"Daedalus? That's an odd name for a raven."

Starting, Daedalus stared at the equine that had just read his mind. I'masecretvirusthatiscapable of killingtheworldinunderadecade. Ifyoudon'tsay 'Blacklight,' I'llkillyou.

Waiting a moment, the equine made no indication having of heard him. Again, he thought, What'syourname?

He received no reply, only continuing to get an interested stare. He thought the same thing, this time chirping.

"My name is Fluttershy, little one."

"Who are you talking to, Flutters?" The voice of the other Pegasus called out, startling Fluttershy. She jumped in fright, forcing Daedalus to spread his wings to maintain balance. He looked to see the blue one chuckling.

"Didn't mean to scare ya. Sorry." She said.

"I-its fine. I was t-talking to Daedalus." At this point, Purple had meandered her way over to take part of the conversation.

"The bird?"

Fluttershy nodded. Purple spoke up. "Does he live here?"

Both of them were surprised to see Daedalus nod, deciding to throw caution to the wind and not act like an Earth bird. "Maybe you can ask him questions, Twilight."

"You're right, Rainbow. Daedalus, have you seen a tall figure that looks like it its made of several different animals?"

Daedalus shook his head and chirped while thinking no.

"H-he said 'no.'" Fluttershy translated.

"Any form of strange events?" Twilight asked.

Once again shaking his head, he didn't reply.

Twilight sighed. "Okay, fine. We'll search through here a bit longer before we leave."

They nodded and separated. Fluttershy craned her neck and looked back at Daedalus. "Would you l-like to stay with me?"

Daedalus smiled internally. Here he was being presented an opportunity to learn more about the ponies, overhear information, and even collect DNA samples. It was no wonder he nodded.
***

Daedalus spent the next two weeks at Fluttershy's house. He watched and even helped as every day she would feed her animals or let the predators out to hunt their own food. On the first day there, he had spent it collecting animal DNA from shed fur and compared them to Earth's, finding them almost identical.

As Daedalus, still in the form of a raven, stood perched on the back of Fluttershy, he thought back to each project he had been working on.

The first and most important was the gathering of information. Having no desire to kill without need, he had refrained from consuming ponies. Instead, he stuck by Fluttershy's side and simply listened to everything said. He also was gathering DNA, surprisingly an incredibly simply task. It made since that ponies, being furred mammals, shed their coats quiet often. So far, he had managed to gather samples of Twilight, Fluttershy, a white Unicorn named Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and multiple random samples from the streets.

His disguise, currently, had remained undiscovered. However, Pinkie Pie, a party planner, worried him. When they first met, the pink Earth pony had spent almost fifteen minutes stating at him before smiling and bouncing away.

On the topic of disguises, he had been having incredible trouble creating a disguise for his prolonged use. He was quite capable of making an equine form. His trouble came from Blacklight's natural tendency to mutate the body to better defend itself. Every attempt ended with a severely mutated pony with a spiked spine, bladed tail, razor teeth, and clawed hooves. Daedalus had always embraced these mutations being a fan of fear as intimidation, so suppressing this was pushing his limit.

In the end, although it may have taken nearly two weeks, he believed he had figured it out. He planned to leave Fluttershy and head to the forest, which he discovered was named the Everfree, to finalize his disguise.

Leaning down, he brought his beak near Fluttershy's ear and chirped, thinking of hunting. She smiled and nuzzled him. "Okay. Enjoy your hunt."

Taking off, he flew towards the forest. Istilldon'tgethowthosedamnable 'cutiemarks'work. Magiccan'ttrulybeit, canit? Although, itallowsFluttershytoreadmymindwhenIchirped.

He already knew he was unable to use magic in his current form. However, he hoped that using Twilight's DNA in the disguise will give him access to magic, something that would be an unimaginable advantage. With his sheer strength behind it, he'd likely become one of the most powerful users in the world.

Landing in a clearing not far from the edge of the forest, he emitted a viral pulse to locate any life. When it came back negative, he concluded he was alone. He quickly shifted into his default form and sat down, crossing his legs. Turning his attention inward, he began creating his disguise. He was not, however, careless, proven by the regular pulses sent into the forest.

His hope for the end result of his creation was rather ambitious. He desired a form that would blend in yet be able to fight without having to shift.

Starting with the head, he created the head shape as normal, condensing the skull to strengthen it. His mouth, he added secondary teeth that were razor sharp, yet were hidden via retraction. His eyes were his regular ones with their incredible sight and spectrum range. His ears, the same.

Next came his body. Condensed flesh and reinforced bone with no cavities for organs, it was easily his heaviest and strongest piece. Then, his legs. The normal reinforcing, he also added stronger muscles for both speed and strength. His hooves were normal, yet were capable of extending a spike on the bottom. The spike was both a weapon, and a focal point for him to send tendrils into the ground or even targets. Finally, he added a horn to his skull, borrowing completely from Twilight's DNA.

When all was said and done, he opened his eyes and looked around, immediately noticing the height difference. He likely would have come up to his own chest. Walking in the direction of a river he knew was there, he stood at the edge and reviewed his appearance.

Broad shoulders, sharp horn, and perked ears, Daedalus' new form was exactly as a pony should look like... almost. His color scheme, while it wouldn't give him away, would certainly raise brows. He consisted of a black coat with a red mane and tail as well as glowing orange eyes. He knew without a doubt it would have to change. Shifting again, his dark color scheme became less virus-oriented.

His coat remained the usual black while his mane changed to a light silver. His orange eyes turned blue and stopped glowing. Glancing over his form for a final time, he stopped when he noticed the lack of a mark. Knowing the strangeness of an adult stallion having no mark, he decided to make one.

Tendrils writhed over his flanks and it faded, leaving behind his mark. The background was of an orange biohazard sign. The foreground consisted of two chromosomes, the lower half disconnected from one and connected to the other.

After seeing it, he decided the name he would go by. GeneSplice.

It was simple. It was easy to remember. Above all, it was fitting. Perfect.

Having finally finished his form, he focused on his horn to try to pinpoint his magic. After an initial look over, he failed to find anything. When a second attempt failed to reveal the energy, he frowned, assuming he didn't have it for some reason.

Ohwell, itshouldn'tbetoohardformetofigureitout.

He removed the horn, becoming an Earth pony.

Turning around to head to Ponyville in order to actually explore the town, he paused as he saw slitted green eyes glowing in the forest. He stared directly into them, a glare formed. He sent out a viral pulse, it coming back with no information. He frowned and extended his sharpened teeth, baring them as he growled.

The eyes blinked once, then vanished. Immediately, Daedalus darted forward to find it, but when he arrived at where the eyes were, whatever it was had left. Looking around, he sent several more pulses out, each one coming back with no evidence of whatever he had seen. The virus turned with a huff and began walking back to town, his previous experience of walking with four legs preventing him from falling over or stumbling.