I_/I---^---#*#---^---I\_I

Omega sits in the cafeteria, eating his usual sandwich from home, when a particular pony marches up to him. Omega quirks a brow mid-bite.

"Hello again, I was wondering if I could sit with you today?" Flask asks, holding his tray a little shakily despite it being in his magic.

Omega nods. "Go ahead, we are friends, remember?" Omega reminds him.

"R-right." Flask agrees, taking a seat next to Omega.

That's when a group of familiar looking colts approaches them.

"Hey, freak." The leader of the trio addresses Omega, slamming his hooves onto the table.

Omega looks up from his food, into the colt's eyes with disinterest. "What." He says coldly, taking another bite of his sandwich.

"Pay attention when I'm talking!" The colt yells, using his magic to knock Omega's sandwich away.

Omega glares at him, causing the colt to flinch. Omega stands up, walking onto the table directly in front of the colt.

Omega ignites his horn, glaring into the colt's eyes harshly. "Leave me and my friend alone, or you won't like what I'll do to you and your friends in kind. Got it?"

The colt's eyes glint dimly briefly, which Omega takes mental note of. "Okay, I won't bother either of you again." He says, much to the shock of his underlings.

"Y-you okay boss?" One of the other colts asks.

"Yeah, let's go." The lead colt half drones, walking off with his underlings in tow.

"Woah, you really scared those guys off." Flask remarks, looking on as Omega returns to his seat. "How'd you do that?"

"I honestly don't have an answer for that. Maybe they remembered I carry those needles on me in case of confrontation. Regardless, I'm glad they're gone." Omega says, pulling out a granola bar from his bags.

"Really? I still can't believe they'd back off so easily." Flask says, bewildered.

Omega finishes the first bite of his granola bar. "Eh, whatever gets them off our backs."

"I wonder... Maybe I should test this out more..." Omega thinks darkly.

I_/I---^---#*#---^---I\_I

Later that night, Omega tracks down a random butler in the mansion, activating his horn and staring into his eyes.

"Whenever anyone says the word pineapples, you'll cluck like a chicken for three seconds, and forget you did it immediately after it's done." Omega instructs.

The butler's eyes glint dimly for a moment, as he nods. "As you wish sir."

"Say, how difficult is it to obtain pineapples?" Omega asks.

The butler proceeds to cluck for three full seconds. "Well, they're imported fruits sir, although nothing is out of the reach of Master Savvy or Miss Pincher. Would you like me to pass along your request for pineapples?" The butler abruptly stops, clucking like a chicken for three additional seconds, before going back to normal.

"No, I was just curious. By the way, did you cluck like a chicken just now?" Omega asks.

"Of course not, why would I do something so ridiculous, sir?" The butler asks incredulously.

"Oh, no reason." Omega says, igniting his horn once more. "You will no longer cluck like a chicken when the word pineapples is spoken, and you will have no recollection of this ever happening."

The butler blinks, seeming completely lost for a moment, before wandering off to his usual assignments.

"Oh yes, I'm onto something absolutely wonderful!" Omega thinks excitedly, a spring in his step as he goes back to his room.

I_/I---^---#*#---^---I\_I

The days started to pass normally, Omega using his time at the school to steadily learn the intricacies of magic, furthering his research in his spare time to add even more spells to his rapidly growing repertoire.

Being so focused on his reading, Omega hadn't noticed Sunset's approach, or throat clear. Upon her tapping his withers, he'd been effectively startled.

"Ah! Oh, hey uh, Sunset?" Omega asks, unsure if he remembered her name right.

"Yeah, I kinda need the book you have. Can I have it?" Sunset asks. Despite the lack of manners, she wasn't rude about it either.

Omega mulls it over for a moment, deciding to hoof over the book. "Go ahead, I've got others."

Sunset nods in thanks, walking away with the book in her magical grasp.

"Maybe I should start making some additional friends in this place. Forming these bonds early on could prove useful in the future... Oh yes, maybe I should spot out some talent to make friends with. The ones with more abstract marks like mine, or the ones that would lead to desirable talents most of all." Omega thought with a sinister smirk. "Sunset seems to have a mark that's sun related, like the monarch of this land... She could prove an instrumental piece, above that of a simple pawn. Perhaps more... the versatility of the knight."

Omega stands up, walking after Sunset. Using his self-levitation, he catches up to just a few paces behind her, speed-walking the rest of the way up. "Actually, since we're both interested in that book, maybe we could read it together? Peer studies can yield greater results, you know."

Sunset rolls her eyes. "I'm not going to read it to you. I'll be reading silently, so try to keep up as I turn the pages."

"I doubt that would be a problem." Omega retorts, his voice gaining the slightest hint of edge.

As Sunset begins at the start of the book, Omega looks at the page. Having already read it, he simply waits for Sunset to reach the point where he'd left off.

While Sunset initially tried to ignore Omega's presence, she'd noticed his eyes weren't tracking the words on the page as she read. She wondered why for a brief moment, before remembering he'd been about halfway through when she asked for it. Resolving to continue her own reading, she turned the page.

I_/I---^---#*#---^---I\_I

The next day, Omega had begun his hunt for the specially talented ponies. The first two he spotted were an easy find, as he'd passed by the pair almost every day when in the school's library. The pair seemed to be twins, or at least sisters as far as he could tell.

"Their diligence in learning rivals my own, this same ambition could be very useful to me. Who knows, they could be in a similar situation to myself, I'll have to ask a few coded questions to see if they really are like me." Omega thinks as he approaches the bookish fillies.

"So what are you two focusing on right now?" Omega asks.

The fillies either didn't hear him, or were ignoring him. He reaches out, gently tapping on them. The pair quickly turn to look at Omega.

"Oh, hi." The purple one said, turning back to her work with disinterest towards Omega.

The cream coated one noticed this, and copied the purple one's reaction. Omega stood their in a quiet anger for a moment, letting it pass before he took a look at what it was they were doing himself. Of course, trying to read over their shoulders wasn't easy, especially since they were well into the books already.

"I tried, maybe when they're not already reading then..." Omega thinks, resolving to try again later.

Omega walks away, nearly bumping into an orange colt with a ginger mane and tail. Glancing at his mark, it also seemed to be sun related.

"S-sorry! I didn't see you there." The colt apologizes, lowering his head and trying to walk past.

Omega stops him by putting a hoof on his withers. "Don't worry about it, I almost bumped into you too... Um."

"Sunburst." The colt says sheepishly.

"Omega, nice to meet you. What's got you in such a rush anyway?" Omega asks.

"I have a lot to catch up on, I slept in too late again, and I'm already not doing too well, this stuff is harder than I thought..." Sunburst admits.

Omega thinks for a moment. "What if I tutor you? I'd hate to see someone with your potential flunk because you're not good at regurgitating information."

Sunburst perks up a little. "R-really? You'd help me?"

"Sure, what are friends for?" Omega said with a calm smile.

"Friends? But, we just met?" Sunburst says, confused.

"Why not? Why can't we be friends?" Omega asks, still smiling.

"I... don't know? Okay, thank you Omega." Sunburst beams.

Omega nods. "You're more than welcome. Now, what's the first subject you needed help in?"

I_/I---^---#*#---^---I\_I

Omega lies in his bed, light ball hovering over a book he borrowed from the school library.

"If things like magic exist in this land, it may serve me well to read up on myths and legends. They could be more than that, and I want to be prepared in case any predictions or prophecies come to pass. Let's see here... Grogar... Father of monsters? A ram with dark magic, and stolen magic? If the creatures he supposedly made exist in this world, then he did too... So his magic bell would exist... How very, very, interesting...

Author's Note

New chapter! I sat on most of this for a while, writer's block and all that jazz. But yeah, I may have two stories going, but I haven't forgotten either one of them.