Daedalus' New World

by DarkArtificer

Rating: mature
Tags: Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Other, Romance, Sex, Prototype, Adventure, Violence, Slice of Life, Crossover, Alternate Universe, Human, Main 6
Length: 67532

When an eternal balance is thrown askew, sometimes Champions comes from the most unlikely of places.

Since the dawn of Equis, the Aspects have guided the world. Heralded by the Champions, each force of reality shaped all of creation for the myriad of races. Day against night, life against death, harmony against chaos, and so many more. Together, each Aspect ensured the world remained alive and pure, capable of supporting those who lived upon it. Yet the order of all things living was upset with the death of a Champion. With the killer threatening the balance of the world, a new Champion was desperately needed. Three Champions united together and began to search across the worlds for their new ally.

Complete, from-the-ground-up rewrite of the original Daedalus' New World from five years prior.

Published 2023-06-20 21:10:01 UTC
Last updated 2023-09-16 00:43:46 UTC

(1) Unexpected Changes in Location

Two men sat on the rooftop railing of a multistory building, crumbling concrete reinforced by sickly orange viral tendrils. All around them, the once great city of Manhattan was reduced to broken, living ruins. Monsters roamed the streets six stories below, flickered through the air hundreds of feet above, and trampled through the ruined buildings searching for anyone who shouldn't be there. The men themselves seemed unaffected by the monsters around them. One was a younger man, seemingly in his mid twenties and clad in a black jacket over a white shirt, with blue jeans covering his legs. The other was older, late thirties, and adorned in black clothing head to toe. The younger man's deep, raspy voice broke the silence, easily heard despite the occasional growl from far below, or the far off gunshots. "Head to the City of Sin in Nevada and begin the outbreak on the 19th, Daedalus. Start in the Bellagio and take Mason and Hannah with you. Kill everyone you see that isn't Blacklight or tries to stop you. If you happen to find anything interesting, consume it. Otherwise, actually taking the city will be your responsibility, understand?

"Of course, Mercer." The older man, now identified as Daedalus, responded with a surprisingly young voice, marred by a deep-seated exhaustion. "It's nothing new, even if it is a change of scenery."

"Good. Forcing the Viral Response Force to set up a second quarantine to the far west will take some pressure off of us here in New York. The VRF doesn't have the resources necessary to manage two full-blown outbreaks. You have the templates, correct?" Mercer asked, glancing at his subordinate.

"All of the first and second gens, and two of the third gen. I don't have the behemoth or gladiator." Daedalus answered. Within a moment, Daedalus nodded in understanding as a presence touched his mind, imprints of knowledge passing him the genetic templates of the third generation of viral monsters the Evolved used.

"The behemoth will be especially useful, make sure to create three or four. It'll make the infected mostly self sufficient once you've set it up and given directions. Gladiators are the best, but make sure you don't skimp on warpers, air will be the first threat to reach you and you'll need to be prepared for it. And remember..." Mercer trailed off, waiting for Daedalus to finish.

"The behemoth can only reanimate a body that's been dead less than an hour." Daedalus finished with Mercer giving a satisfied nod.

"It's best to have gladiators bringing freshly deceased to the behemoth, though living people are better. If you don't have any questions, collect your Lessers and get going. You know your mission, the timetable, and the price for failure. You have two weeks."

"Yes sir." Daedalus responded, pushing himself forward and off the building to plummet six stories below."

Daedalus let out a tired sigh as he thought of the events that were soon to come, and his complete inability to resist them. Since Heller's defeat two years ago, Mercer had become acutely aware of the danger with garrisoning his army with psychopaths practically pulled from the streets and set to fixing the issue. Unfortunately, it hadn't taken him long. Building off of the innate connection to infected Mercer already had after consuming Greene, Mercer's improvements to the hivemind allowed him to influence the thoughts and actions of anyone he infected. With this created, he had far less reason to fear a second betrayal and expanded his efforts to grow his Evolved army, now quite literally ripping men and women off the streets and infecting them with the improved strain.

However, it wasn't quite cut and dry. He didn't have complete authority over those he infected. The level of control he had over people varied person to person, and soon a clear divide existed in those that served under him. The Greater Evolved, like Daedalus, were those who were a little more firmly under Mercer's control. Still retaining some autonomy, he could act on his own but was completely unable to ignore direct orders or anything he knew Mercer wouldn't allow. As such, he was 'rewarded' with an improved strain of Blacklight, giving him access to a wider range of armaments, genetic templates allowing him to create infected in an instant, as well as the genetic control to create his own changes to his biology when he desired though he was unable to affect the pseudo-hivemind. On the other end were the Lesser Evolved, like Mason and Hannah. To these people, the hivemind was less of a 'rule' and more of a 'suggestion,' making them desire to serve Mercer but ultimately able to turn against him. Most Lessers were just killed on the spot but the few who were controllable through fear, whether for themselves or for their family, had their viral strain altered to be far less potent and unable to develop on it's own. Unable to consume or affect their genetics at will, they were given a prepared imprint of disguises to use and templates to change their limbs into for weaponry. In the end, the Lessers were really just cannon fodder and laborers for the Greaters.

Taking a deep but unnecessary breath, Daedalus approached the Bellagio casino, passed the myriad of expensive sports cars and rushing valets, quickly confirmed his age via his pre-infection ID, and easily gained entrance. His two subordinates were already inside, having arrived separately roughly an hour ago. Weaving his way through the bright building surrounded by hundreds of guests and the ringing and music of hundreds more machines, he scanned the crowd before his enhanced eyes locking onto Mason in the disguise of an old, well dressed man moving slowly with the flow of the crowd and using his walking cane quite convincingly. Weaving through the throng of people, he pressed a gentle hand against Mason's back as he squeezed past, a mental acknowledgement flowing to him from the link as the genetic code for viral gas was implemented into Mason's strain, temporarily allowing him to recreate his weakened strain of the virus. Unseen, but known to Daedalus, was that Mason would now be heading for the third floor, where he would release the spores when he received the signal.

Ten minutes later and Hannah likewise arrived on the sixth floor, ready to release the virus on his command. Daedalus, now alone on the ground floor, maneuvered himself near the slot machines with the high foot traffic before he paused and closed his eyes. Deep in his viral body, concealed cavities began to pulse, a dark red gas filling the slots rapidly as he prepared to release the Blacklight virus on the other side of the world, two and a half thousand miles from the original outbreak. Straining the Viral Response Force into splitting their resources between New York and Las Vegas could be the step that ensured Mercer's eventual destruction of the United States. And Daedalus, through a poorly suppressed pang of grief, knew he would be the one to cause it. A moment later, he began to reach through the viral link to the two Lessers before something impacted his side incredibly hard. It took a solid second before Daedalus realized he had been struck, the force of the kick launching him twenty feet across the room and toppling three slot machines and crushing some poor lady who had just been in the wrong place.

Screams rose up from around him as he snapped to the mental link, giving the command and calling the two Lessers to his side, noxious red gas filling the air around him as he released the virus. The element of surprise had been lost and the area around him already devoid of people as he rose to his feet, though he knew that the third and sixth floors were likely already filling with bodies. His main goal already done, he turned to the man who had struck him, slight apprehension rising in him as he studied the clearly viral being for no one other than an Evolved could have struck him with that much force, not even the genetically augmented super soldiers the VRF fielded could pull that off. Standing merely ten feet away was a tall man, his skin discolored into a dark, muddy brown that didn't quite match any natural ethnicity. His body was clearly mutated, one arm slightly longer than the other as his body seemed to undulate beneath the flesh, his multicolored crimson and gold eyes staring at Daedalus with slight amusement.

The man's body seemed to pulse once before the viral gas rapidly permeating the air seemed to vanish. A moment later, twin spikes of foreign panic shot through his mind before fading instantly, his mental connection to his subordinates gone. Only two things could remove the connection the Evolved shared with each other, being death and Mercer. With the death of two Lessers in a split second, it became clear that this man was a significant threat and stopping him from completing his mission. Mercer's orders shooting through his mind, Daedalus lunged toward the viral man, covering the twenty feet in a single step as he threw his fist forward, his momentum and weight adding to his already monumental strength. The punch never hit.

The man seemed to flow out of the way of the strike, his boneless body morphing out of the way of his fist and to the side, giving a contemptuous smirk as his foot arched up, striking Daedalus' side again. Packed viral flesh, harder than steel and denser than gold, crumpled and shattered underneath the strike, viral biomass spraying against the floor and slot machines as he was launched backwards, flipping end over end for another ten feet before he caught himself, the wound had healed before his feet hit the ground. A near-silent growl left Daedalus' mouth, the flesh on his arms turning black and writhing as they restructured themselves into wicked, serrated blades whose black flesh gleamed with unnatural bioluminescence. Unlike the original arm blade used by Mercer, which was a single arm shifting into a razor sharp, curved blade long enough to extend from his knees to a foot above his head, Daedalus' blades were a twin set, both of his arms shifting into long, straight blades. His arms transitioned into black, viral 'metal' just below his elbows, the wicked looking flesh extending two feet passed where his arms originally ended. With his new weapons at the ready, Daedalus lunged toward his opponent again as his viral strength cracked the floor beneath him, moving fast enough that any human would be unable to track his movements.

It was useless against his foe who caught his left blade with ease and ripped it clean from his body as he flowed underneath the right one at the same time. Daedalus felt his frustration grow, tainted by a layer of fear underneath as he realized that his strength and skill meant nothing to this Evolved. He wasn't the strongest or most skilled of the Greater Evolved, staying out of fights by remaining in New York and securing their foothold without expanding the area they had claimed, but no mortal or Lesser would be able to match him in the slightest, not even the augmented super soldiers. With fear slowly but surely mounting, he whispered to himself as he jumped back from the mismatched infected, his missing arm rapidly regenerating. "Who are you?"

The man's arrogant smirk grew as he relaxed his stance and let out a soft chuckle, his voice carrying a strange ring as he answered. "Call me Division if you'd like, Daedalus."

Wary though he may be, Daedalus knew he needed to get what information he could- he likely couldn't beat 'Division' in a fight, and it was clear that Division had no issue beating the hell outta him. "Why are you here, Division? You aren't any Greater I know of, but you're clearly viral yet not under Mercer."

"Why, I think it's quite obvious." Division said with a knowing smirk, winking conspiratorially. "I'm here for you, Daedalus."

Here, Division's smirk changed into a true smile, all trace of arrogance gone as he slowly approached Daedalus. Shifting his left arm into a claw to support his right blade, Daedalus fell into a combat stance as he prepared for Division's move, yet the strange viral had no interest in fighting. Instead, he stopped a mere five feet from Daedalus, his smile widening. "Yes, you'll do quite nicely, Daedalus. I'll see you on the other side, in time."

"Wha-" Daedalus began to speak, only for his voice to vanish as his sight faded to nothingness, the sense gone. He fell to his knees as his balance was erased, the feeling of the floor beneath him fading soon after. Rushing wind filled his ears, before his hearing faded, and he was left with nothing but the void embracing him.

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

Princess Twilight Sparkle was not a happy alicorn. She had been woken up at the unnatural hour of 3am by Discord of all beings, only to have the incredible news that something had come through a multi-dimensional portal in the old castle in the Everfree Forest, and that she needed the Elements because it was most certainly an enemy and they would need them. And to add to all of it, the Everfree was acting unnaturally, even by Everfree standards. Whereas the forest was normally full of sounds of life, from chattering squirrels to singing birds, and even the occasional predatory roar in the distance, it was now eerily silent. It was as if the forest itself was afraid of whatever they were here for.

"I don't like this." Rainbow huffed, followed by a yawn, from her place above them, her slow wing beats a constant reminder of her presence. "It feels like a trap. How do ya think Discord knew that this thing was a villain?"

"I'm not completely sure myself." Twilight admitted reluctantly, her wings twitching nervously on her back. "Maybe he saw the creature do something bad, or it attacked him when he investigated the portal."

"Or maybe Discord knows because he's the one who brought the creature here and we're supposed to use the Elements on him so that we can redeem him like we did Princess Luna!" Pinkie exclaimed, hopping along as she gave Twilight a bright smile. "Or maybe none of the above!"

"That's certainly possible, Pinkie." Rarity said, giving her friend a small smile. "Maybe the Elements will redeem it, not banish it."

"Discord's reformed now, and he hasn't even done a mean prank in a long time. I think he's earned a little trust." Fluttershy said with a shy smile, willing to trust in her friend. Ever since Discord had been released by Princess Celestia and placed into her care, she had come to enjoy his company and the little splash of chaos that he brought to her home on Tuesday when he visited for tea.

"Ah may not trust Discord much further than I could buck 'im, but I trust mah friends and I trust the Princesses. If they said he was right, then he was right." Applejack replied honestly, giving a resolute nod as she trod along with her friends, the iron horseshoes she wore trampling the sticks beneath her hooves. If she was coming, she was coming a bit more prepared than last time she came to the old castle.

"I'll be glad to be home after this so I can take a hot bath and wash off all the dirt on my poor hooves." Rarity said with a longing sigh, her tail swishing softly to dislodge a stick stuck in the purple hair. As she spoke, the girls giggled quietly with soft smiles. It was a massive contrast to the first time they came to the old castle just a few years ago, worried out of their minds with Princess Celestia missing and Nightmare Moon threatening eternal night. It spoke of their experiences, their friendship, and their trust in each other.

Only two hours later found the girls standing at the foot of the bridge that, so long ago, had been Rainbow's test of loyalty with the Shadow Bolts. Though with Twilight's frequent trips to the castle library, the old rope and plank bridge was in much better condition now, repaired and reinforced with magic to ensure it wouldn't collapse so easily. Crossing the bridge with ease and entering the old throne room, her eyes nervously darted across the room, taking in the broken, crumbling stones and faded tapestries, all illuminated by a gaping hole in the roof where a magical fight had broken out a thousand years before. Part of her had been hoping that the creature would be nowhere to be found, and seemingly their hopes came true as Discord had said the creature would be in the throne room, yet it remained empty. That hope was ruined when it stepped out from behind one of the cracked thrones and into a beam of light from the broken roof, the girls crouching down and readying themselves in response.

The creature, bipedal and obviously mammalian, was covered almost head to hoof in all black clothing that had helped it hide in the shadowed corners of the room. It's face was a peachy color with almost no fur to speak of, with small eyes, a small nose, and a small mouth, and two bright blue eyes looking at the six friends. Twilight broke the silence, a tentative question echoing softly through the air as she took a half step forward, her horn sparking to life from nervousness. "H-hello?"

To Twilight's confusion, the creature's gaze flickered between curiosity and confusion, before suddenly glancing at her glowing horn, eyes hardening into resolve. In her heart, she knew it was about to go south and opened her muzzle to call to the girls to use the Elements before it reacted. It moved with a speed entirely unnatural to it's size and structure, crossing the nearly hundred hoof distance from the thrones to Twilight with seemingly only two steps, hand squeezed tightly into a fist as it swung at her head. Her alicornhood was likely what saved her.

Twilight dropped down, her right wing flapping hard as she launched herself to the left to avoid what her instincts said was a blow that would have crippled her. Her horn flashed a brilliant purple, a concentrated wall of magic slamming into the creature and attempting to throw it backwards with all the force she could muster as Rainbow and Applejack rushed to her side. To her relief, it worked, launching it back into the far wall where the stonework buckled, leaving it embedded and giving her a momentary pang of fear as she worried she killed it. That fear was proven unfounded as it ripped itself out of the wall while shaking it's body to dislodge loose stones, speaking for the first time in a masculine voice. "Interesting..."

Before he could attack again, a rainbow after-trail darted towards him, the pegasus moving so fast that only her trail was seen. Kicking his jaw as she flew by, her speed allowed her to avoid his grasp as he tried to lash out at her, momentarily shocked by her speed. He turned to Rainbow, seemingly about to give chase before Applejack and Rarity leapt into action, a teal aura wrapping around his legs and halting him for just a moment, but a moment was all that was needed. Spinning on her front hooves, Applejack turned and gave a powerful buck, twin horseshoes impacting his chest as a double crack filled the air. Applejack shouted in pain and stumbled away, one of her shoes falling off her hoof, split in two. Fortunately, the hard kick was enough to stagger him with two clear indents in his chest, allowing Twilight to telekinetically slam an oblong slab of stone into the joint on his legs, causing him to tumble onto his back. Rainbow, coming in for a quick attack, veered off suddenly as his impact with the ground cracked it further, dust shooting up around him.

Leaping to his feet, another beam impacted his shoulder, the clothing scorched as an acrid smell filled the air. He turned to look at Twilight, stepping toward her as two more crackling beams impacted him, one on the other shoulder and a second on the knee, clearly aiming for non-lethal shots. He crouched a moment, about to leap toward Twilight as Rainbow suddenly darted forward again, ready to impact the back of his head and take his attention from the princess. Twilight only had a moment of sudden horror as his slight frown flickered into a small smirk, and his body twisted unnaturally as he turned on the spot, the back of his closed fist impacting Rainbow's jaw, sending her spiraling into the throne with a pained cry as she landed on one of her outstretched wings. Twilight, unsure if the crack she heard was from a broken wing, jaw, or stones, leaped toward the down pegasus. Her horn ignited in an aura of power and teleported Rainbow away just as Pinkie surprised the creature by leaping over the throne, a large, pink plastic hammer in her hooves. The weapon, or maybe toy, hit the top of his head, seemingly doing nothing as he caught it on the second swing, snapping it with ease as Pinkie jumped away, distraction accomplished.

An intense sense of urgency filled her as he turned and gave her a glare, his clothes seemingly writhing on his body as she realized that he may not have been truly fighting them. Around her, a soft glow filled the damaged room, the Elements seemingly activating on their own. Yanked into the air by her tiara, Twilight was forced to close her eyes as bright white light blinded her and her friends, quickly shifting to all of the hues of the rainbow as the Elements activated, the prismatic beam striking the creature as he leaped to the side uselessly, the beam turning sharply and impacting his side anyway. A moment later, she felt a powerful calm seemingly emanating from the Element as the light faded and her hooves touched the ground. Opening her eyes, she gazed upon what had become of the strange, violent creature.

(2) Freedom

Daedalus wasn't quite sure what to expect as the world returned moments before he impacted rough stone that splintered beneath his body. That Greater, 'Division,' had some ability to nullify his viral senses, perhaps even the virus itself. Daedalus wasn't the strongest Greater, hovering somewhere slightly below the middle, and was strong enough to outclass any Lesser, Augmented, or give those stronger than him a run for their money yet Division entirely outclassed him. The way he moved spoke of a deep seated familiarity with his body, hinting that the strange Evolved had far more experience fighting with his body than he anyone he knew of except maybe Mercer.

He's likely from the second outbreak. Daedalus thought to himself, rising to his feet with a low groan. His body felt weak and sluggish, slow to respond to his commands as the viral cells making up his flesh reorganized themselves and worked to rid his body of something that was afflicting him. Whatever it was, he couldn't identify it in the slightest and the only way for him to repair the tainted tissue was to completely destroy it, then replace it with fresh viral flesh. Maybe the first, but definitely the second. Mercer kept too close of an eye on all his third gen Evolved for one to have escaped without there being a world-wide manhunt to kill him. I need to tell Mercer.

Reaching out across his ever-present link to his master, Daedalus was struck by a momentary confusion. The hivemind was still present as always and it's influence still tugged at the edges of his mind with all standing commands yet Mercer's own mind was absent. He wasn't necessarily cut off from the hivemind but it was as if there was too much distance for him to speak to the source. Unlikely, but not impossible as Mercer theorized it only had a range of five thousand miles, more than enough for his goals. However, that would mean he wasn't in the United States anymore. Finally taking note of his surroundings, he was surprised to find himself in what appeared to be a ruined throne room. The building itself was ancient and badly damaged. Dust covered every surface and spiderwebs filled every crack and corner of the room. Two ancient thrones sat close to him. One was a crumbling piece of faded marble while the other was made of onyx, so badly damaged he barely recognized it as a throne.

Stepping forward, Daedalus froze as footsteps echoed from just beyond the broken entrance and he silently darted behind one of the thrones. Staying silent was easy for the Greater Evolved. With no lungs or heartbeat he didn't even passively make a sound as he listened closely with his supernatural hearing. The footsteps were strange, sounding off in their tempo and placement. He could hear twenty individual footfalls, yet seemingly coming from five locations. It reminded him of the quadrupedal gait of some of the monsters he was familiar with, yet sounding harder on the stone floor. His viral hearing also picked up the sounds of slow, steady wingbeats that were softer than any infected yet louder than any birds. Curiosity overcoming him, he stepped out from behind the throne and gazed upon a sight that would have shaken him to the core if he had mortal emotions.

They weren't human but neither were they infected. Six horses, or more likely ponies if the size meant anything, stood staring at him with wide eyes yet the similarities ended there. The colors varied between every color under the sun with facial features that seemed more human than equine but still remained alien to him. Wide, expressive eyes conveyed a multitude of emotions from excitement from the cyan one to fear from the yellow. They even appeared to have jewelry as five wore a necklace and one wore a tiara. Yet the most jarring difference was the additional limbs. The cyan and yellow ones had wings, one of which was the source of the wingbeats he had heard as it hovered a good five feet off the ground, while a white one had a horn in the center of its head. The last one he turned his attention to was a purple pony who had both wings and horns. Even as he examined it, it stepped forward nervously and then spoke with a distinctly feminine voice. "H-hello?"

It can speak? was Daedalus' first thought, gazing upon what he realized was a strange, seemingly genetically altered mare. Glancing at the others, they too seemed feminine and the spark of intelligence was clear in their eyes. Then his eyes flickered to her horn, which had just been encased in a strange purple aura. Incredulous at the horse manifesting what seemed to be some form of energy, he glanced at the white one only to notice that her horn was not doing the same. Whatever it was, it was controllable. Then, with the mental impact of a hammer against foam, one of Mercer's orders inserted into the hivemind overrode his own will.

And if you find anything interesting, consume it. His gaze hardened into resolve as he darted forward with all the speed he could muster in his weakened state, immediately giving a mental curse as his body moved slower than usual. His fist closed in toward the lead pony as weight, speed, and monstrous strength combined into a punch that could shatter steel. Whether by luck, his slowed movement, or her own instincts, the little mare reacted impressively quickly as she dropped to her side and gave a hard flap with one wing, launching her to the side as his fist soared through empty air. A moment later, the miasma around her horn flared before a powerful force pressed against the entire front of his body, shoving him backwards harder than even Division had. He flew through the air, too high to grab anything to stop himself and too stunned to react with tendrils, before he impacted the far wall with bone shattering force, embedding into the stonework. After taking a second to reorient himself, he pulled himself out of the wall and shook the loose stones off his shoulders as he gazed upon the purple pony, now flanked by the cyan and orange ones. "Interesting..."

For a moment, Daedalus entertained the idea of retreating but ultimately decided against it. There were only six of them and while the purple one had some measure of power that pushed him away, the mares were unlikely to be viral and were physically weaker than him. The shove, while hard enough to send him flying, hadn't done any real damage to him. He figured it was clearly more of a defensive maneuver, not something that could really be used to attack. He decided to remain, fighting the strange animals until he either got the upper hand and could consume one of them or until they posed enough of a threat to force him to withdraw. It would be better to learn their limits here with only six of them present then later when he's facing twenty at once.

All this was decided in the split second he had before the cyan one darted toward him at a speed that caught him off guard. Though he was able to track her with his eyes, he didn't react fast enough to avoid the hard kick to his jaw that was on par with a Lesser Evolved. He quickly spun on his heels to grab her tail or hind legs only for his hand to pass through the rainbow aftertrail she left, and he estimated that she was flying at a hundred miles an hour at least. Before he could give chase to the cyan pony, the viral cells in his legs began to die en masse as they worked to purge some kind of influence over them. Glancing down, he had only a second to notice the teal miasma surrounding his legs from the knees down before a pair of orange hooves adorned in iron horseshoes impacted his chest with an echoing crack. He stumbled as the pressure disappeared, his chest indented where he felt as if he had been shot by a shotgun point blank. A cry of pain filled his ears as he looked at the orange mare who had struck him, one of her shoes now cracked in half and on the floor. Before he could reach out to grasp her something stuck into the back of his knees hard enough to buckle him, sending him tumbling down to crack the ground on impact. A moment before the dust from the floor obscured his vision, he could see the same pegasus from earlier veer off as she changed her mind about an attack.

Heaving his body forward, he leaped out of the whole and faced the purple pony again. The miasma around her horn flared before a beam of light impacted his viral tissue, dissolving where it struck for a solid inch into his flesh. His eyes widened as he tried to heal, only finding that the virus surrounding the wound was too busy purging the strange energy to repair the missing flesh. While he would still be able to heal, the Blacklight virus seemed to prioritize removing the energy from his system before it would react to his commands. A moment after he realized that, two more beams burned craters into his other shoulder and left knee. As the crackling ring of the miasma faded away, he heard wingbeats behind him and realized the pegasus was coming in for another kick. Crouching down as if to leap at the purple one, he heard the wingbeats pick up as she darted toward him. Allowing a small smirk to come to his face, the purple one barely had time to gasp as he spun around and struck the pegasus in the jaw, returning her earlier kick back to her twofold. The force of the strike shoved her off course, sending her careening into the ground with a pained cry as a crack heralded her wing breaking when she landed on it. Before he could capitalize on the advantage and consume the injured pony, something impacted his head just hard enough to stagger him. He turned to see the pink one had struck him with a hammer that he caught on the next swing, snapping it in half just as a flash and crack of air echoed from where he had downed the cyan one. Spinning around, he caught sight of the yellow pegasus supporting the now-standing cyan one near the front of the room but wasn't able to advance as two more beams of miasma struck his body, this time in the chest and stomach.

Turning to face the purple mare, he glared at her as the virus began to react to his agitation. Some of his wounds healed over as the energy was purged and viral tendrils began to writhe beneath the surface of his false flesh, reacting to his agitation and preparing to lash out with lethally sharp blades and spikes. These ponies worked too well together. He may have been weakened but even just six of them were able to cover each other well enough that he wasn't able to really get his hands on one. If he had to fight any more of these ponies he would have to use guerilla tactics, utilizing his shapeshifting nature to appear from nowhere, slaughter a dozen, then fade into the wildlife again. The writhing of his body reached a crescendo, ready to unleash what Mercer lovingly referred to as a 'devastator' to annihilate the six mares and get his hands on their knowledge and power.

Only, he was caught completely off guard when the jewelry he had noticed before suddenly lit up with the same miasma the two with horns used, each gem carrying a different color. As the energy thickened around the gems, Daedalus felt a pressure begin conveying on him from all sides and slowing him down, hampering his ability to move. He took a step toward the ponies and the feeling multiplied ten fold and it was clear he would get nowhere near them. He turned to run only to freeze as the six ponies were pulled into the air seemingly by the jewelry, a white aura of light haloing around each of them. The viral cells that made up his body became jumbled, losing cohesion as his form began to shudder. His eyes, now sensitive to the light, snapped closed as he felt as if he had been flashbanged, the purest white light he had ever seen searing his false eyes. He was frozen in place, the strange phenomenon shocking him just as much as the way it could force him to feel pain without any nerves. A moment later the white light turned into a multitude of colors, burning through his eyelids in a flash of red, orange, yellow, pink, and more. Some instinct trickled through the hivemind, screaming at him to leap to the side, to run away, to burrow into the ground, just do not stay there. He tried to comply, his sluggish legs launching him to the side. For a second, nothing happened and he thought he had dodged whatever attack this was. That hope was ruined a moment later, some force impacting his left side hard enough that it should have thrown him two hundred feet back yet he was frozen in place. No pain followed the attack and, for a second, Daedalus felt a spark of triumph as he realized he must be immune since he wasn't alive.

Then something invaded his hivemind. He wasn't sure what it was, it had no conscious mind like anything he had ever felt through the hivemind, no thoughts he could follow or trace. All he felt was a sense of urgency that was rapidly changing into calm as it filled his connection to the virus, seemingly overriding it. Every command he had received from Mercer was erased, every inactive connection to another infected was destroyed. Yet it didn't stop there. The presence went deeper into the metaphysical link to the infection itself. Every trace of the hivemind was erased, the very essence of the viral connection removed from his system. Just when he thought it was done, it acted again. The hivemind was rebuilt, and for a terrifying moment he thought that it would take control. Yet no connection came, nothing liking him to the source. A shot of understanding went through him as he was placed as the source of the hivemind, no longer under its control but instead controlling it himself. Finally, a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction as well as a tinge of hope came through the link to this alien mind before it began to withdraw, the prismatic light fading just after. When he opened his eyes, the six ponies were panting hard from exertion. He noticed the miasma around the jewelry was gone, the gems almost appearing faded with a small spark of light inside. His gaze flickered up, meeting the eyes of some of them. Worry, fear, but most of all confidence and trust. These ponies were confident something had happened to him and he had a sense that they knew the gems would purge him of the corruption.

His eyes flickered between the six, taking in more detail than he had before. The orange one with the iron horseshoes had a blonde mane and tail covered in a stetson she just put back on her head. A trio of apples seemed painted on her flanks and her golden necklace bore an orange apple, and her green eyes full of nervous resolve met his. The cyan pegasus stared at him with a confident smirk on her muzzle, her magenta eyes almost daring him to try something despite her injured state. She had a prismatic mane and tail with a rainbow colored lightning bolt beneath a cloud on her flanks. Her golden necklace, identical to all but the purple one's, had a red lightning bolt in place of the apple. The yellow pegasus with pink hair had a trio of butterflies on her flank and a pink butterfly on her necklace, and she tried to avoid his gaze as her teal eyes flickered between the others and the floor. The overly pink pony with nearly matching hair and fur had a trio of balloons on her flank and a cyan balloon on her necklace. As his gaze met hers, she smiled widely as he saw nothing but trust in her light blue eyes that were only a shade lighter than his. The white one, which was undoubtedly a unicorn, had a deep purple mane and tail with a trio of diamonds on her flanks and a pink matching diamond on her necklace. Her azure eyes stared at him sternly, a flicker of her light blue miasma around her horn.

Finally, his gaze turned toward the one who had spoken to him earlier, the purple one with wings and a horn. Her mane and tail were a darker purple with a lighter pinkish stripe through them both. A pink star nearly matching the stripe was on her flank surrounded by five smaller, white stars. Finally, her necklace was replaced by a tiara with a star in the center, matching her mark. Her purple eyes stared at him in a sort of wary confidence. His gaze strayed back to the cyan pegasus whose wing he had broken, and saw out the corner of his eye as the purple pony- pegacorn?- tensed, her horn alighting in that strange energy again. While the desire to consume the ponies for their genetic coding and powers was still present as an Evolved, it was no longer a driving factor. While that did disturb him slightly, it also wasn't entirely unexpected. Even as a free virus, his own nature drove him to assimilate the powers and knowledge of the threats around him. Only now, he could make the conscious decision to not murder the innocent for powers he may not even gain anyway.

He shoved that thought away as he gave a tired sigh, sluggishly rising to his feet from where he had fallen to his knees. His gaze drifted to the cyan one again, a frown coming to his face as he regretted harming her. He had been the one to attack first, after all, and she only tried to defend what he assumed was her friend. He spoke with a voice that betrayed an underlying exhaustion that was more mental than physical, the experience having been more draining than he realized. "I can heal your wing, pegasus. I know you don't have reason to trust me but I was under the influence of another, and whatever you did with those necklaces removed that. Allow me to apologize by fixing the injury I caused."

When he spoke, the cyan mare tensed up as if she expected him to attack. Relaxing slightly when he only spoke, she gave him a distrusting look at his offer. She glanced toward the purple pegacorn with a curious look then turned back to him. "I don't know... I don't exactly have a reason to trust you."

"Rainbow, wait." The yellow one called out to the cyan one, now identified as Rainbow. She spoke quietly, and it would have been impossible to hear her from where he was standing had his hearing not been as enhanced as it was. "M-maybe the Elements worked and redeemed him? M-mister, do you feel any different?"

Looking to the yellow one, he gave a quiet hum as Rainbow interrupted him. "Well, Discord got turned to stone and Nightmare Moon turned into an entirely different pony when she got redeemed. It looks exactly the same as before, maybe it's faking!"

"I don't think so, Rainbow. The Elements either purify whoever they hit, banish them, or redeem them. They've never not worked on a villain before. I think he's telling the truth. You said you were under the influence of another? Where, and who, is he?" The purple one interrupted, her eyes meeting his as she sought to figure out if he was lying or not.

"A human like me, a bit younger and truly evil. His name is Alex Mercer. Fortunately, I don't think he's anywhere near here. I don't know where I am and where I'm from, people like you don't exist." Daedalus answered, then gestured toward the Rainbow again as he addressed her. "May I heal you to make amends for injuring you?"

"Ponies don't exist where you're from?" The white one asked incredulously as Rainbow huffed, giving a slow nod.

"No, not like you six. Pegasi and unicorns are just myth where I'm from, and ponies aren't nearly as colorful or vibrant as you. Mostly shades of white, brown, or black and only as smart as a wild animal." Daedalus explained as he approaching Rainbow, kneeling down next to the pony that only came up to his stomach. He reached out and gently touched her wing, feeling as her muscles tensed beneath her fur as he was careful not to hurt her further. Viral tendrils extended from his palm and into Rainbow, out of sight of the other ponies, and began to rapidly stitch together bone and flesh. Eventually, he pulled his hand away as her wing was fully restored and leaving him confused how such a small thing allowed her to fly. Then he mentally cursed himself for not taking a genetic sample when he was touching her now but the moment was lost. When she sighed in relief, he apologized. "I'm sorry for hurting you, Rainbow."

"How'd you know my name?" She asked with a hard tone, giving him a suspicious look.

"The yellow one said your name." The Evolved said, gesturing toward the yellow pegasus. Rainbow thought for a moment, then gave another slow nod in acceptance.

"W-well, how about we share introductions?" The purple one said with a nervous smile, stepping closer to him. She seemed a little nervous standing so close to something that had just attacked her violently, something he completely understood. "My name is Twilight Sparkle and I'm an Alicorn. That's Rainbow Dash, a pegasus as you knew. The yellow pegasus is Fluttershy, the white unicorn is Rarity, the orange earth pony is Applejack, and the pink one is Pinkie Pie."

"My name is Daedalus, and I'm a human. Where am I?" He asked, stepping back from Rainbow as she relaxed slightly, understanding he wasn't going to hurt her.

"Equestria!" Twilight said with a more relaxed smile. "In fact, I'd really appreciate if you would come with me. Since you're, uh, not really from here, the Princesses will want to talk to you and find out how you got here, and how to get you home."

Equestria wasn't a nation anywhere on Earth, so if it wasn't obvious before that I was in another world, it's obvious now. Daedalus thought to himself with a slight frown. Truth be told, the only reason he wasn't more surprised was that it was tempered by the happiness that he was no longer enslaved to a man who wanted to destroy the world. Even if he was in another world with other races, he was his own man now. Plus, not needing to worry about food, water, shelter, or even sickness or injury did a lot to help keep him calm. Seeing Twilight's ears fold back from his frown, he put a slight smile on his face and gave her a nod. "That sounds good, Miss Sparkle."

"Just Twilight is fine! Thank you, we'll head to Ponyville and take the train to Canterlot so you can meet them!" Clearly relieved that he had agreed to come along, she relaxed slightly knowing she'd have Celestia's help soon.

(3) Questions Asked and Answered

Twilight was nervous, sure, but she was mostly excited. This human, just three hours ago, had been fighting them in the old castle and now they were sitting just a seat away on the train that the eight of them shared alone. They had gone through Ponyville and, as expected, most of the ponies there seemed afraid of him though they didn't run and hide like they did for Zecora. Whether that was because they were becoming more accepting or if the Elements being with him made them calmer, she wasn't sure. They had stopped at the library to pick up Spike, then sent a quick letter to Princess Celestia.

Dear Princess Celestia,

We found the creature at your old castle in the Everfree and he attacked us soon after we entered. Fortunately, injuries were mild. He seemed unprepared, like he wasn't fighting very hard, but got a lucky hit on Rainbow. Her wing was broken but she's okay now. We used the Elements of Harmony on him and apparently purified him. He told us that he was under the control of his master and the Elements removed that control. Privately, Applejack confirmed that he had been honest so we don't think there's a reason to worry anymore. He apologized to Rainbow for hitting her and healed her wing, though I'm not sure how. It didn't look like magic and I was too nervous to ask at the time. He introduced himself as Daedalus and agreed to come to Canterlot without a problem.

Daedalus is mammalian, seemingly an evolution of some type of ape. He's tall, a little taller than you, and bipedal. His face is flat with a small nose, mouth, eyes, and ears. He's got brown hair on the lower part of his face and the top of his head, but the rest of his body is covered in all black clothes. During the battle, I hit him with some low level stun spells but they seemed to burn him pretty badly, though the injuries are healed now. I think he's very susceptible to magic. He also seems friendly enough now that he's not being controlled. He doesn't know where he is or how he got here and said that ponies don't really exist where he comes from.

Princess in Training,
Twilight Sparkle

She received a response very quickly just as they were getting onto a private train that had been waiting for them just in case. She hadn't told Daedalus but the last two train cars were full of Solar and Lunar Guards that had been ready to help her if she needed it, though fortunately they hadn't needed them and had solved the issue themselves.

Dear Twilight,

I'm very happy that you and your friends are okay. When Discord told us that you had to go alone, I admit I was scared for your safety but you've made me proud. Even in the face of a completely unknown danger, you and your friends did your best and completed the mission. We've rerouted the train as you are the only ones on it. You'll come into the Guard entrance in the castle where Captain Armor will meet you. He'll escort all of you to us where we'll meet you and speak to Daedalus. Just stay safe and be careful, Twilight.

With Love,
Celestia

Twilight felt her face flush slightly as she read the message from Celestia, happy that she made her teacher proud. Setting the letter in her saddlebag, she turned her attention back to Daedalus and pulled out a notepad. He didn't seem that dangerous, after all he had only hit one of them once and most of Rainbow's injury had come from hitting the ground. After they had purified him of his master's control, he had even been nice enough to heal the injury he gave her. Although, that brought up a question. "Daedalus?"

He seemed zoned out, gazing out at the landscape outside the train as it headed toward Canterlot. Hearing his name, he jolted slightly and turned to her with a questioning hmm? Giving a friendly smile, Twilight levitated a scroll and quill higher, giving him a sheepish look as his eyes locked onto the floating objects. "Do you mind if I ask some questions to get to know you and where you're from better?"

"If I can ask some questions too, then of course." Daedalus returned her smile, giving a nod as he got up and moved to the seat across from her. Her friends moved closer as well as she caught their attention, with Rainbow leaning over the back of Twilight's seat to look at Daedalus in clear interest. "You can go first, Twilight."

"Okay! First, what's a human?" Twilight asked, excited to learn more about him as she dipped her quill in the ink and prepared to write down everything he said.

"Homo sapiens is the scientific name. We're a race of evolved apes, though the exact ancestor isn't really known. We have little in the way of natural defense or weapons and instead we're incredibly good with tools. Being the only species in my home that's sentient, we became the top species on the planet and populated pretty much every landmass. There's about seven billion of us all together." Daedalus answered, leaning back in his seat and getting comfortable.

"That's... a lot of people. Equestria only has about three hundred million ponies, and it's estimated that the explored world only has two billion people, all sentient races included." Seeing the confused look he gave at her response, she guessed at one of the two things he could be confused about. "There's a lot more than ponies in our world. Gryphons, dragons, changelings, ponies, minotaurs, centaurs, buffalo, kirin, zebras, diamond dogs, and many more. Also, parts of the southern hemisphere aren't mapped yet, about twenty two percent of the world. Your turn!"

"How are you holding the paper and quill?" Daedalus asked, receiving shocked gasps from pretty much every pony, only Twilight just giving a wide eyed look.

"You don't know what magic is?" When he shook his head, her eyes widened more. "Every race on Equis has magic, though it manifests differently for every race. Pegasi can fly and manipulate the weather, earth ponies are attuned to all plant life and are much stronger, and unicorns can can spells through their horn. And ponies like me, alicorns, have the traits of all pony races, though there's only four alicorns. There's also crystal ponies and thestrals, but they're much smaller populations."

"Magic doesn't exist where I'm from. It exists in most ancient mythologies but magic itself doesn't exist in the modern day and likely never existed." Daedalus said, a curious gleam in his eyes as he looked at her. What he would give for magic, but he wasn't sure if it would be a genetic trait or something of the mind or soul. Plus, he wasn't really willing to consume the little alicorn for it.

Twilight clearly wanted to ask more, but nodded to Rainbow instead. The pegasus smirked, finally getting to ask the question that's been bothering her for the last three hours. "How did you know I was behind you? And how did you heal me?"

"Two questions." Daedalus said with a chuckle. "Pick one."

She huffed at him, then gave a small smirk as Pinkie giggled softly in response to Rainbow. "Okay, the first one. How'd you hit me?"

"I could hear your wingbeats displacing the air and was able to use that sound to pretty accurately gauge where you were. From there, I just spun around and swung my fist and hit where I thought you were." Daedalus explained as he gave a simple shrug. "What are the princesses like?"

"Well, there's two Princesses of Equestria, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. They're both alicorns but much older and stronger than me. They're immortal and have ruled Equestria for about two thousand years and Princess Celestia is responsible for raising and lowering the sun, just as Luna raises and lowers the moon. There's a lot more to them than that, but that's the basics."

"Immortal and controls the sun and moon? They sound less like ponies and more like deities." Daedalus commented idly as he wondered how much of that was propaganda and how much of that was true. The age was likely true as if alicorns were rare, they wouldn't be able to easily hide their replacements. But controlling the sun and moon? That one was hard to believe even if magic was real and it was a different world.

"Yuh huh!" Pinkie responded, nodding her head rapidly as she hopped over the seat to sit next to him. "They're both really powerful and have been doing it for a thousand years! Every day and every night! It might be hard to believe but I promise it's true!"

"Do the sun and moon not work that way where you're from?" Twilight asked, giving Daedalus a curious look.

"No, they don't. We don't have any immortal near-deities who control them. The sun is over three hundred thousand times the mass of the earth and more massive objects create larger gravitational fields. The earth orbits the sun naturally, and the moon orbits the earth." Daedalus answered, giving a curious hum at the idea of this world's sun being smaller, or if it was the same size as Earth's.

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

Two hours later, Daedaus glanced out the window as the questions finally ended then paused at the sight that greeted him. He knew they were heading to a city called Canterlot but wasn't sure what to expect from a city that was a pony pun on 'Camelot.' Whatever he was expecting, a city built on the side of a mountain wasn't it. The city outright required support struts to remain in place, holding up a massive platform that held half the city. Looking at it, every engineer he had ever consumed screamed in horror and he knew the only reason that horrible city hadn't fallen to the base of the mountain was magic. Giving a low sigh, he shook his head. The action caught Rarity's attention as her refined voice broke the momentary silence. "Are you alright, Daedalus?"

"Yeah, I am. Just, why is there a city on the side of the mountain? I get that it's probably held in place by magic but it seems ridiculous, it wouldn't have been needed if it had just been built at the base." Daedalus commented, not really expecting a serious answer.

"Oh, that's because Princess Celestia built her castle there after she left the Castle of the Two Sisters in the Everfree. The unicorn nobility were quite against being separated from their princess, so they followed her and built a city around her castle." The white unicorn answered, giving a small giggle. "The nobility were like lost dogs, following their mistress wherever she went."

"Ah didn't expect ya to know that, Rares." Applejack responded with a smirk. Daedalus had come to learn that the orange earth pony was a hard worker and helped run her family's farm with her older brother, grandmother, and little sister. "'Course, if it's about the nobility, you of all ponies would know it."

That got a laugh out of the ponies around Daedalus and Rarity gave a sheepish smile as her cheeks tinted red. "Well, yes but I still answered his question."

Giving a soft chuckle of his own, he turned his attention back toward the city and noticed something odd. Up ahead the track split into two paths and his keen eyesight allowed him to tell that the train would veer off to the right. The original track continued straight to the city, climbing a rising rail supported by marble pillars before reaching the city proper. The track that the train would take turned off and began to circle the mountain, seemingly coming in from the side. Idly, Daedalus considered the possibility of it being a trap set up away from civilians before ultimately dismissing the worry. If they really wanted an advantage against him, surrounding him with biomass wasn't the way to do it. Even if they worked well together, a large ambush would always have slip ups. Instead, he decided to fish for some information. "What can I expect when we arrive in the city?"

"Well, we'll most likely be met by some Royal Guards at the platform and escorted to the princesses. We'll meet in private where they'll ask us to explain everything that happened and everything you remember before arriving. They'll likely have us under a truth spell, and then use another spell to make sure our world isn't dangerous to you or the other way around. Once everything's sorted, the princesses will go from there based on what you want to do." Twilight explained easily, giving a relaxed smile to Daedalus. "I know it must be strange and confusing being in a new world, but we'll make sure you're taken care of and help you get settled in!"

Daedalus let out a quite hum with a worried frown creasing his brow. The truth spell wasn't an issue since it probably didn't stop him from leaving things out but the scan of his biology was worrying. He could easily recreate his natural biological processes in his body and mimic a normal creature but hiding the Blacklight entirely was another matter. Even if his cells mimicked natural human cells, traces of Blacklight were present in every single one. Perhaps just tell them the truth of what I am, if censored? They undoubtedly wouldn't be happy to find a sapient viral bioweapon that can end the world in their nation. It would likely be safer to disappear from the region entirely. Twilight said the southern hemisphere is partly unexplored and if there's as many sapient species as she said, there's likely other nations as well. Perhaps even ones that couldn't detect what I am. Though, if the unicorns and alicorns can use magic to detect Blacklight then they may have means of tracking me easily as well. If Rainbow's speed is any indicator, pegasi are fast. Faster than me, at least.

Gazing out the window, Daedalus watched as they rapidly circled the city on a rising incline, the main entrance to the city fading behind them as they approached the wall. In the distance, he saw the entrance led straight into a recess in the wall, normally barred by a heavy metal gate that was studded with glowing gems but currently open. Inside, Daedalus could see a rather large unloading platform with three stations just after entering. Two of the stations had trains present while the third was empty with a group of armed and armored ponies lined up orderly. Most of them wore gold armor that barely covered them with identical white coats, blue manes in a Roman style tuft, and wielding spears with swords strapped to their flanks. Only one stood out, a slight taller white unicorn with a blue striped mane that reminded him of Twilight's. His armor was purple and trimmed in gold and he only carried a sword. From the differences, Daedalus assumed he was higher ranking. "Why do all the guards except the one in the front look the same?"

Twilight followed his gaze to the rapidly approaching gate and squinted her eyes as Pinkie leaned over Daedalus' lap to look as well. "Oh wow, Lessy, you can see really far away! I can barely see inside the gate so you must have SUPER eyes!"

Raising his eyebrow at the nickname, Pinkie returned his gaze with a wide and friendly smile. Chuckling softly, he nodded his head and reached out, gently patting her fluffy hair. "If you really want to give me a nickname, call me Jay. It sounds better than Lessy."

"Okay, Jay!" She beamed, happy at his acceptance of a nickname. That settled, he turned to look at Twilight. Seeing her smiling warmly, he shook his head lightly and smiled back.

"Anyway, the Royal Guard's armor is enchanted to make each guard look identical with the exception of wings or horns. It's so if they ever arrest a pony or break up a fight, they can't be recognized again so they aren't harassed off duty. In all honestly though, it's incredibly rare for an arrest to happen, most things the guards get called to are public arguments and the occasional drunk pony. It's still a nice feature though." Twilight explained, giving a sheepish smile at the end. "And the one in the front is my brother, Captain Shining Armor. He'll most likely be escorting us to the Princesses."

Giving an understanding nod, Daedalus looked back out the window as they entered the shadow of the recess as the train slowly came to a stop. Out the corner of his eye, he could see Twilight glancing at him, and figured she wanted to ask more questions now that he has shown he had incredible eyesight, hearing, and could heal injuries seemingly without magic. For some reason, she had avoided questions of any of his abilities. Perhaps assuming they're natural to humans? Or maybe waiting until we're with the Princesses to avoid having to ask me twice?

The group of eight disembarked the train after Twilight woke up Spike and stepped out onto the guard's platform. As he stepped out of the train and into the sunlight, he saw more than one guard giving him a wide eyed look, probably from his height. With his chosen height of six foot six, the average pony came up to about his stomach with Twilight being a little taller and around his chest. Captain Armor stepped forward and greeted them. "Welcome to Canterlot, Mr. Daedalus. Normally, we would escort everypony together, however I have to take the Elements aside for a private debriefing. Unfortunately, it's confidential." The Captain explained, giving an apologetic smile to the tall man. "Lance Corporal Silver Starfall will escort you to the Princesses where a meal will be provided. Their Majesties find it easier to converse over good food. Is that acceptable?"

"More than so, Captain." Daedalus answered, giving a small smile as the girls voiced their assent. "I thank you for the hospitality and kind treatment I've received so far in this nation, despite the method of my arrival."

Being thanked seemed to set the Captain more at ease, but Daedalus could see a hint of unhappiness in his eyes. The Greater could guess why, being that just a few hours ago he was attacking the unicorn's sister. With a final nod, one of the unicorn guardsmares lined up behind the Captain stepped forward. She, like all the others, had a white coat and blue hair with brilliant pink eyes. "I am Lance Corporal Silver Starfall, Mr. Daedalus. If you'd please follow me, I'll escort you to meet the Princessses."

"I'll see you all there." Nodding to the girls beside him with a small smile, he stepped forward and started to follow Starfall. The guardspony turned smartly and led the way into the castle as the others dispersed, returning to whatever duties they had been pulled from. As they walked in silence, Daedalus glanced around the castle and took in the construction of it all. The large building was made primarily of marble with pillars ever present in the design of the halls. High, arched ceilings gave plenty of room to fly above them and wide hallways gave plenty of space to pass by each other. Windows lined the outer wall as they followed a hallway on the edge of the castle, stained glass allowing tinted light to filter in and warm the building. Every hundred feet or so, they passed another guard patrolling the halls and occasionally ran into a maid or butler bustling around the castle and keeping it running. This castle is less a defensible position and more a work of art. There's no choke points, plenty of room to circumvent or attack from above, entrances all over the places, and so many routes to defend or block off. Are attacks that rare? Or are the Princesses truly demigoddesses and so no one would are attack? Either way, the design will make escaping this place substantially easier.

Taking a right turn, Starfall led him into a corridor that seemed less populated. He couldn't hear the hoofsteps of any patrols ahead of them, only far behind. The windows were gone as they were now inside the castle proper. Instead, glowing orbs of gold and azure hovered near the ceiling, letting off enough of a glow to light the halls up similar to daylight. Giving his guide a curious look, he saw she was already looking at him as they walked forward. Her bright pink eyes gazed at him with understanding. "I don't know what's bothering you but I know everything's going to work out in the end. Trust in the Princesses and they'll trust in you. Everything will be alright and you'll find yourself with less to worry about. They value honestly above all else."

"What makes you think something is bothering me?" Daedalus asked, raising his eyebrow. She wasn't exactly wrong, the impending reveal of his nature was weighing on his mind as they approached the supposed demigods who would discover him.

"It's my special talent. I can tell when ponies have something heavy on their mind. It makes me a good pick for distinguishing bad ponies from the troubled ones who just need a little help." She said, giving him a reassuring smile as they continued forward. "Just trust in the Princesses and they'll never do you wrong. Even if you're dangerous and powerful, as long as you don't intend to hurt anypony, you have nothing to fear. Hay, the Princesses even released Discord, the lord of chaos, and made him a friend."

Frowning lightly, he felt that her statement of 'dangerous and powerful' was a little on the nose. And what was this about special talents? Letting out an audible sigh, he looked back at the Lance Corporal and gave a small smirk. "Alright, I think I'll trust in your Princesses. But if things go south, I'll find you."

Returning his playful banter, she smirked back at him. "I wouldn't count on it, you're a bit too squishy. Why, one kick and you'd be down."

Chuckling softly, he stopped just beside her in front of a large double door emblazoned with the symbols of the sun and waxing moon, surrounded by the stylized art of two alicorns circling each other. It reminded him of an alternate yin and yang symbol. "We're here, Mr. Daedalus. You may enter when ready, the Princesses are just inside and expecting you."

"Thank you for the advice, Miss Starfall." Daedalus said, smiling at the little mare. Returning his smile, she stuck out her hoof. Grasping it and giving it a shake, he extracted a sample of her genetic code and contained it ready for consuming later. Letting go and turning to the door, he knocked twice to let them know he was about to enter then pushed the doors open. For better or for worse, he was about to meet with two supposed demigods and reveal to them that he was a sentient super-lethal bioweapon.

(4) Meeting the Princesses

As Daedalus opened the door to the room, he wasn't quite sure what to expect. He knew they would be talking over food so he figured it would be a dining room and was right on that regard. The stylized art had given him an idea of the Princesses appearances but truly seeing them was something else entirely. When he entered, both alicorns were sitting side by side at the end of a long cherry wood table. The first alicorn, taller than her sister, had a near perfectly white coat that shimmered radiantly in the sunlight streaming from the windowed ceiling. Her mane and tail, a rainbow of pastel shades, flowed in an undetectable wind as her large wings shone with an inner light as if gems were embedded in her feathers. Her magenta eyes sparkled with an equal mix of curiosity and excitement and as he gazed upon her, he felt a sense of peace and belonging even through his viral nature. Part of him was confused at how that was possible yet the rest of him only understood why the ponies of Equestria followed her. He knew he gazed upon the Diarch of the Sun.

Turning his gaze to the smaller of the two, Luna was no less radiant than her sister, only in a different way. Her dark blue coat was spotted with black freckles primarily around her muzzle and back, making Daedalus realize she was dappled and had to admit it was quite adorable. Even walking through Ponyville, he hadn't seen another dappled pony. Her mane wavered in the same breeze as her sister yet hers glimmered with the light of a thousand stars that seemed perpetually in motion as they moved in her mane and tail. Her teal eyes were tinted with interest and as his own icy eyes met hers, a thrill of passion and longing shot through him as she let a small smile grace her muzzle. He may have doubted it before but faced with the presence of the Diarch of the Moon, he knew that these two ponies were more than mortal. After a moment of blatantly staring at the two near-divines, Princess Luna cleared her throat with an understanding smile and gestured toward the seat next to her with a wing. "Come, friend Daedalus, and take a seat. Let us dine as we await the Bearers of Harmony."

"A-Ah, yeah. R-right." Daedalus stumbled over his words, a spark of concern shooting through him at the effect the two alicorns had. Quickly crossing the room, he glanced at Princess Celestia only to see her wearing the same peaceful smile as her sister. When he took a seat beside Princess Luna, he was left beyond confused as the effect grew much weaker when he looked away from them.

"Mine sister, it is good to see that we have an effect even on those of another world." Luna said as she gave her sister a knowing smile. Celestia covered her muzzle with a hoof as she giggled and shook her head slowly.

"Sister, it's not polite to tease our guest so." Celestia responded as she flashed Daedalus an apologetic smile. "Please forgive my sister, she likes to mess with ponies and I hope you don't take offense to it."

"I don't take any offense at all, Your Majesty. It's relieving to know that our meeting is less formal than I imagined." Daedalus answered honestly, trying to steady himself. "If anything, I'm more confused about the effect I feel in your presence, and how it grows when I look directly at you."

"That would be our aura. We are not the only two to have one, either. A member of any species who bears incredibly potent magic will find an aura beginning to develop around them, and the feelings it invokes can be a mix of the pony's own personality and the domain they wield. I've spent a thousand years working to create a nation where anypony and everypony is welcome and my aura has adjusted to help those that see me feel at home." Celestia gave him an understanding smile as she explained. "In any case, please, just call me Celestia. In a private setting, I like to drop formalities."

"Verily, the constant pandering and bowing gets tiresome after the first century or so, and being treated as an individual becomes more refreshing as time continues. As for mine own aura, the night is considered a time of passion for... many reasons," Luna said with a red blush tinting her muzzle. "So I inspire that same feeling in others. It has caused ponies to embarrass themselves on more than one occasion."

Celestia laughed softly just as a side door opened and a number of smartly dressed mares and stallions entered the room, each pushing a small cart laden with food and utensils. As they set the table, Daedalus noticed that they set nine more spots. Assuming seven of them were for the girls and Spike, he idly wondered who else would be joining them. Turning his attention to the food itself, he noticed a wide variety of platters from soups and stew to salads and deserts. There were also quite a few dishes he didn't recognize or didn't make sense, including fries that were the wrong color to be made of regular potatoes and a bowl of gems set at one of the seats. Most of the dishes set on the table were covered in lids that would ensure the dishes remained hot and fresh, and a variety of drinks were provided in chilled containers. Frankly, it was a feast. "Will we be waiting for the rest of the guests, Celestia?"

"No need, friend Daedalus! We assumed you would prefer having this conversation in private with mine sister and I. The others will join us in time after they have been debriefed and properly compensated for their services to Equestria. We find it easier to converse over good food, drink, and desert than in a stuffy conference room, as I hope you agree." Luna explained, using her magic to quickly scoop up multiple bowls of soup and a large helping of fries. Celestia, slightly more refined, levitated a bowl of salad of to herself followed closely by a whole vanilla cake as Luna gave her a knowing smirk. Daedalus, for his part, filled a bowl up with a stew that smelled wonderful as well as what appeared to be whole wheat bread.

"Firstly, do we have your consent to cast a Liar's Bane spell to ensure everything spoken here is honest as well as a medical scan to ensure that you do not carry any dangerous diseases, and are not in danger from any diseases in our world?" Celestia asked, slowly sampling her salad as she returned a smirk toward Luna, who was eating quite ravenously as she shoveled fries in her muzzle by the clump.

"Of course you have my consent, though your medical scan will give you some very strange readings and will be part of what I have to share with you." Daedalus answered, giving a nod to her as he tasted his stew. It was a flavorful meal with mushrooms, carrots, and more he couldn't quite identify the taste of. The most striking difference was that it was entirely pure. As he ate, he couldn't identify any common chemicals in the food. No pesticides, no additives, nothing for preservation or packaging. Just entirely organic food and it resulted in a meal tasting far better than anything he remembered eating on Earth, even through the thousands of lives he had stored in his mind. Glancing up and seeing the slightly concerned looks he was receiving, he shook his head and gave a relaxed smile. "Nothing bad, but my biology isn't entirely natural as I'll explain. How would you like to start?"

"Well, I'll cast Liar's Bane and we can begin going back and forth with questions. We'd like to learn of your past and how you arrived here, as well as what effect the Elements of Harmony had on you. I'm sure you also have plenty of questions to ask us as well. I'll wait for the scan until after you've shared your story with us, to avoid unnecessary concern." After explaining, Celestia's horn lit up as power coalesced in the appendage, preparing to cast the spell. Feeling an unknown presence touching his mind and a tingle permeating his viral flesh, Daedalus found that he quite underestimated the spell. Half-truths and white lies would not be possible as he found himself entirely unable to even think of a lie, much less able to say one. "Do you mind if I start off, Daedalus?"

"Of course I don't mind, Celestia." Daedalus said, nervousness tinting his voice as he realized he was likely going to reveal everything to them, not just doctored truths like he intended.

"I apologize for starting off with a heavy question, but how did you come to be controlled by your master in your homeland?" Celestia asked, giving him an apologetic look as Luna set her food down, focusing on him as well.

"Mercer was experienced in the fields of subjugation and control years before I encountered him, but it had never been perfect. After a situation caused by one of his servants betraying him, he doubled down on figuring out a way to control his subordinates and, eventually, created a way. It still wasn't perfect, he didn't have complete control, but we couldn't disobey any direct orders. And, if we knew he wouldn't allow an action, we couldn't follow through with it either. Once he had the means of controlling us, he took to the streets. Every healthy man and woman he found, he left his mark on. Most died. Some went mad and had to be put down. A few lived, like me, but wished we hadn't as we became his slaves. All he had to do was lay out just a basic list of rules and a few direct orders, and he pretty much had us under lock and key." Daedalus sighed, resting his arms on the table as he stared at the wall. Though unable to feel emotions naturally, thinking of Mercer and his history with the villain always left him with a mental fatigue that he wasn't quite sure was real.

"For those of us who survived his mark, a clear divide split us. There were those who the control was less of a command and more of a suggestion. These were known as Lesser Evolved and they were made to be far weaker. Mercer mostly controlled them through fear of unimaginable pain or threats to their families. The rest of us who couldn't go against him were given more powers and false freedom, if you could even call it that. We were the Greater Evolved and were made to be nigh unkillable, though it came with a price. When Mercer needed some dirty work done, we were the ones who did it."

"You say he 'left his mark' on you, and then made some of you weak and some of you strong. How?" Luna asked, her previously energetic voice now quiet. As he glanced over to her, their eyes met and a pang of longing shot through him. If he was affected so strongly by her aura even though his own emotions were not natural, he could imagine how mortal ponies acted around her. When she continued, her voice was even softer. "He made you something other than human, did he not?"

"Yes. He made us Blacklight. It's... hard to put into words what we are. There's nothing else like us in existence and even human scientists could not understand what we are. To put it as simple as possible, we are sentient and ever-changing viral bioweapons." Daedalus said as he rested his chin on his folded hands. When he saw the two alicorns recoil, he shook his head. "We aren't inherently contagious like a standard virus. Blacklight can spread, but it has to be done intentionally by an already existing one. We control ourselves down to the genetic level. Every aspect of our existence is specifically engineered from our biology to our physical form."

Daedalus paused, trying to think of how to continue before he picked up again. "That's how Mercer was able to make some of us weak. He limited the capabilities of their strain of Blacklight, ensuring they could never grow in power enough to pose a real threat even in numbers. Those of us he had control over, though, he let our strains run wild. We grew stronger daily, gaining more abilities and improving existing ones. When you can decide how your body works, the combat potential is limitless. Especially since we can assimilate other creatures."

"A-assimilate?" Celestia asked nervously.

"Eat." Daedalus said simply. "Mercer called it 'consuming,' which I suppose is more accurate. It's our most potent weapon. If we come across a person or creature who has a unique trait that we want, we can consume the creature and begin examining their genetic code. Once we find the trait we want, we can isolate it and then implement it into our own virus and gain that ability. It goes further than that, though. If we can consume a still living brain, we gain all of their memories, skills, and knowledge. It's not uncommon for a Greater Evolved to have thousands of lives worth of memories in his mind."

As he finished explaining what Blacklight was the best he could, understanding dawned on the faces of the diarchy as they realized why he wanted to explain what he was before the medical scan. Though nervous, Celestia fixed Daedalus with a hard look. "You're not here to hurt my ponies, are you?"

Under the effects of the Liar's Bane spell, Daedalus could not even think of a lie much less speak one. "No, I'm not. I'm not here by choice and, until today, I did not know this world existed."

"And this Blacklight cannot spread unless you choose to allow it?" Luna added as her sister's expression softened.

"The virus is self contained and mostly self sufficient when it comes to Evolved. The only way for it to spread is for me to release it. I have no desire to become a second Mercer. Not only would making another Evolved be incredibly foolish and dangerous, only a minuscule fraction of infected became Evolved. Most died, but those who didn't became monsters. The mind or body were unable to handle the extreme genetic strain caused by rapid mutations and went mad, allowing the virus to run rampant in the body. The end result is a monster who attacks everything that isn't infected, spreading the virus as far and wide as possible. That's what Mercer did. Whether is goal was to conquer the world or destroy it, I don't know. I only know I will never follow in his footsteps." Toward the end, Daedalus' voice turned to disgust as he nearly spit out Mercer's name. Then he looked up and met Celestia's eyes before turning to meet Luna's and continued.

"I won't lie. I can't, anyway. I am dangerous. I am capable of releasing a virus that, by my world's experts, is capable of erasing all life on the planet within a decade. I can hide among the populace or even the wildlife, I can't be killed by normal means, and I can create monstrosities that have never been so much as imagined on this planet. Despite that, I swear to you, by whatever promise matters in Equestria, that I will do none of this. I won't release the virus. I won't turn against those who offer me a home unless I am attacked first. I am not a threat to you, your people, or your world. Before I became the monster I am, I was just a man. I had a job, goals, a dream, and a family I loved with all my heart. When I was infected, I had to let them think I was dead to keep them safe, and I knew I wouldn't be able to look them in the eye after all I've done. I have no desire to bring to others the ruin that was brought to me." Daedalus promised, his tone resolute as he looked them both in the eyes.

"If I get my way, I will live a happy and peaceful life with tens of thousands of years ahead of me. Find a home, get some friends, and make myself a place in this world." The virus finished and rested his chin on his hands again. As he waited their response, he thought back to what the guardsmare had told him. Trust in the princesses and they'll trust in me? Let's hope you're right.

After a long moment of silence, Celestia slowly nodded her head as Luna spoke. "Thank you for being honest with us. I'm not quite sure how to digest the information you've shared, but I am grateful that you were honest and shared the truth. I'm sure I speak for my sister as well in that, just as you trusted us to share the complete truth, we will trust you to do the right thing. My sister and I are excellent judges of character and you seem like a good pony. The Elements of Harmony removed you of Mercer's control and left you free, and we have no reason to doubt you or their judgement."

Agreeing with her sister, Celestia continued the line of questions. "Moving on to something hopefully less heavy, how did you come to arrive on Equis?"

Daedalus let out a sigh of relief as he relaxed, relieved to know that escape was unnecessary now. "During my final mission for Mercer, I was attacked by another Evolved who called himself Division. He was beyond strange, even for an Evolved."

"Even for an Evolved? How?" Celestia repeated as her interest was piqued, food long forgotten. "Do you remember what he looked like?"

"There are three generations of Evolved from three separate outbreaks, all caused by Mercer. The Evolved from gen one are all dead except for Mercer himself. It's possible that Division is a remnant of gen two, but it's unlikely. After Heller rebelled, Mercer killed off all the gen two Evolved right before starting gen three once he had the hive mind designed to be able to control us. Division couldn't be from gen three because every Evolved was strictly accounted for. If he had somehow escaped the hive mind or rebelled, there would have been a world wide manhunt to track him down and kill him." Deep in thought, he spoke slowly as he tried to make sense of Division even now. "Power wise, he exhibited a few things that not even Mercer is known to be able to do. He was able to completely nullify Blacklight and deprive me of all my senses. He also killed two Lesser Evolved, which isn't strange, but they both had been several floors up. Though, he may not have been working alone. For his appearance, he took the body of a deformed old man. One of his arms was longer than the other and his body seemed to writhe beneath his skin, a trait shared by Evolved. Other than that, the only noticeable thing was one eye was red and the other was gold."

After a pause, Daedalus added a final bit of information. "Thinking back on it, I think he may be of this world or can at least travel to it. When everything started to fade and he took away my senses, I heard him say one last thing. 'Yes, you'll do quite nicely, Daedalus. I'll see you on the other side, in time."

"Yes, it seems that he's at least familiar with our world. Your description of his eyes matches Discord's but that could be coincidence or even an intentional misdirection. Otherwise, nothing you've told us is an effective identifier. We'll look into it, that I promise you. Though, that brings up another question. Do you want to return to your world?" Celestia asked, looking at him in concern.

Daedalus gave a soft sigh as he shook his head. "No, I honestly don't. All that's left for me on Earth is Mercer, and I have no interest in returning to him. I wouldn't be able to return to my family as I am, and I don't have the power to defeat Mercer to ensure their safety. If it's alright with you, Celestia, I'd rather remain here."

"Of course it is, Daedalus." Celestia said with a calming smile, nodding happily. "I can promise you that you'll find Equestria far better than what you've lived with before, and you'll come to see this land as the home you were meant to have."

"Enough heavy talk! Friend Daedalus, you said you had tens of thousands of years ahead of you, and you cannot be killed. Are you immortal?" Luna interrupted excitedly and leaned over toward him as her muzzle nearly touched his face, causing him to lean slightly back from the sudden intensity of her aura that nearly made him reach out and embrace her. God, I feel bad for the ponies who spend a lot of time around her.

"R-right. As a virus, I'm neither alive or dead and cannot be killed. Unless I choose to mimic them, I don't have organs, blood, or a brain and don't need to breathe. I don't even need to eat except when my biomass runs low, and even then I can choose to just let Blacklight's passive generation return me to my normal levels. I don't age and can heal from any injury so long as a single cell of Blacklight remains. Without a nervous system, I can't feel pain and even my senses are just a mimicry of natural ones." Daedalus explained as he reached out and gently put a finger on Luna's snout, slowly pushing back. She blinked at him in surprise before a smirk came across her muzzle and she reared up, planting her front hooves on the table and spreading her wings wide as she leaned even closer. From his far left at the entrance to the dining hall, he was aware of the door opening as several sets of hoofsteps entered the room.

"Then I propose a duel! You and I using only our natural abilities! Winner gets to request one boon of the loser!" Luna said, outstretching one hooves as her tail flicked behind her in clear excitement. "Worry not, for the arena is enchanted to ensure no true injuries can be received. Do you accept mine challenge?"

Glancing over at Celestia helplessly, she smiled apologetically and shrugged. Turning his attention back to Luna, Daedalus sighed and nodded his head. "Yes, Luna, I accept the duel."

"Huzzah! Much fun shall be had! Of course, we expect the Bearers and thine guests to witness!" At the same time, Luna and Daedalus turned to look at the new arrivals. The Element Bearers, Spike, Captain Armor, and a pink alicorn were all present, eyes wide and mouths agape. Letting out a sigh, Daedalus couldn't help the chuckle that rose from him at the strangeness of these ponies of which he was already fond. I think I'm going to enjoy it here.

(5) Challenge

Daedalus leaned against the wall and tapped his foot gently as he waited alone. The room he was in was a large, comfortable lounge room where fighters would rest before and after their duels, full of comfortable cushions and large couches to lay on, none of which he used. There were two doors, each on opposite ends of the room. One was the way he came in and the other went into the arena. Luna was in said arena, preparing the dueling arena and ensuring the enchantments were properly functioning. Apparently, the arena was something Discord created to allow ponies and anyone visiting the castle to test their mettle against anyone else. Death was impossible in the arena as the spellwork would take a detailed magical scan of the participants to understand their biology, what kinds of injuries they could take, and what would be a lethal or crippling blow. Under the affect of the powerful magic, minor and moderate wounds could still be received and would bleed without allowing the fighters to bleed out. Any crippling blows would result in the fighters being magically frozen, a red mark placed where the strike would have landed and the crippling injury magically mimicked. Lastly, any lethal blows would result in the duel ending and a victor declared. What counted as 'crippling' and 'lethal' varied race to race based on the biological scan taken at the start and ensured it was as close to a real fight as reasonably possible.

The night before, Celestia had explained to the ponies everything she had learned about him from his nature to his past after receiving his permission. By that point, he had already been escorted to a guest room in the castle that seemed more fit for nobility that a guest. Since then, he had yet to see the others and was unsure how they would react to finding out he was essentially a sapient virus. Though if he had any of them understood even slightly, he figured he could at least count on Twilight to want to learn more. He was just glad he didn't have to explain everything a second time, and if anyone had more questions they would have to ask him later. After waking up, he had skipped breakfast and instead took the time to familiarize himself will being the source of the hivemind, albeit unsuccessfully as he had nothing to connect to. After an hour of that, Starfall had collected him and brought him to the lounge he was now in.

For the duel itself, the rules were going to be simple. Neither he nor Luna could bring armor or weapons but once the duel began all bets were off. Every natural ability was authorized whether magical, physical, or mental, including creating weapons and armor. They would fight using everything they had without worrying about collateral or death and the battle would only end under one of three conditions. First, if either of them struck a lethal blow. Secondly, if either of them successfully landed four crippling blows on their opponent. Finally, if either of them yielded. Under the affects of the arena, being knocked unconscious wasn't possible, and a magical barrier prevented 'ring outs.'

At a first glance, it sounded one sided. In order to win, Luna had to cripple what couldn't be crippled or kill what couldn't be killed. Thanks to Blacklight, the only real way to defeat him was to injure him so badly and so often that he didn't have enough biomass to repair himself. While he was sure Luna could pull that off, the question was could she pull it off before he crippled or 'killed' her? Then he thought more about it and realized that he was being overconfident. The alicorn had magic and he didn't know what it was capable of or how powerful it was. As it stood, he knew it could hold him in place, push him back, and burn him. That could already be useful in a combat situation but was likely the tip of the iceberg on what actual magic could accomplish.

Then there was her flight. Until he actually saw the arena, he wouldn't be able to be sure how useful it would be for her. He knew that, like Twilight, she would be able to use it for quick changes in direction and acceleration in close combat, but whether or not she would be able to take flight and employ hit and run tactics like Rainbow had was an unknown. Either way, it was something he would have to watch out for just like her magic. Then there was the matter of her constitution. Alicorns were a mix of all three races' magic that was then amplified and the effects of the unicorn and pegasus were obvious. However, Twilight had said that Earth ponies were hearty and connected to plant life. Whether that would make her strength match his own or surpass it was something he would have to figure out in the heat of the moment. Fortunately, he knew Luna would be considering these things just as he was; they were both unknowns to each other and neither truly knew what to expect when they met in the arena.

Behind him, Daedalus heard the door to the room open and glanced over to see all his spectators enter as well as Princess Cadence, who he had been introduced to shortly after Luna challenged him. Seeing the confused, concerned, and wary looks on every face except Celestia's, he knew they had been told everything. Walking up to him, Celestia gave him a soft smile and gently tapped her muzzle to his shoulder. "They may not fully understand everything, but I made it clear that you were not a danger to anypony, and that you are what you are because it was forced upon you."

"Thank you, Celestia." Daedalus said honestly. Turning toward the others, he raised his eyebrow at the look Rainbow gave him. "Something wrong?"

"When you were fighting me, were you going easy on me?" She questioned with a mix of curiosity and annoyance on her face, apparently upset that he hadn't been taking her seriously. Her frown deepened slightly when he shrugged.

"Somewhat. You really were faster than me and I couldn't catch you. But when I hit you, if I had really been trying, I likely would have taken your head off." That revelation was met with wide eyes all around and a little shiver from Rainbow.

"Strong or not, I still think you're crazy dueling Princess Luna." Captain Armor said, shaking his head in exasperation.

The Evolved gave a small shrug. "I mean, she challenged me and it's not like either of us can die. From what I understand, the whole point of the arena is to fight people you wouldn't normal challenge."

Before Captain Armor could say anything more on the topic, the far door opened and out stepped Luna. She smiled widely, seeing her opponent and spectators already waiting. "Are you ready, friend Daedalus?"

Pushing himself off of the wall, he nodded to Luna with a competitive smirk. Returning the smile happily, she gestured for them to follow with a wing. Stepping into the next room, Daedalus was unprepared for the scale of it. The arena itself was easily two hundred feet by two hundred feet, built in a crevice of the mountain and exposed to the sky. The sand floor was encased in a shimmering wall of orange magic that extended forty feet up before turning sharply, enclosing the arena in a magical box. Where the magic met the sand, lines of dark brown runes that seemed to constantly change shape were inscribed into the magic wall. Finally, set back ten feet from the left and right edges of the arena were bleachers where spectators could sit and watch, and the far end held a raised platform with two thrones for the diarchs to watch.

Seeing the height of the arena, Daedalus hummed to himself as he knew that Luna's flight would definitely be something he had to prepare for. With an approving nod, he turned to Celestia as she cleared her throat. "Okay, everypony. The rules of the duel are simple. You may not bring any weapons or armor in but once inside all natural abilities are authorized. Any injury that is deemed minor or moderate by the runes will be allowed to remain as is, however bleeding out will not be possible. Any injury deemed crippling will freeze the combatants, place a red line where the injury would be, and simulate all effects said injury would have caused. In the event a lethal blow is dealt, the duel will end immediately via teleporting the two combatants to opposite ends of the arena. Once the duel ends, all injuries gained during its course will be healed though physical and magical exhaustion will remain. To win, you must deal four crippling blows, one lethal blow, or force your opponent to yield. Once you enter the arena, you will be unable to exit the arena until it has been determined whether you win or lose. In extreme circumstances, I am capable of ending the duel prematurely. Are there any questions?"

"How far under the sand does the barrier extend, if at all?" Daedalus asked, looking to Celestia.

"Fifteen hooves." At Daedalus' raised eyebrows, Celestia measured it out for him with her wings. Taking a moment to compare, he nodded as he realized that was about five feet. With that, underground tendrils and spikes were still fair game. "Any others?"

"For clarification and records' sake, what's the reward for the winner?" Twilight asked, jotting down notes as she clearly prepared to record everything she saw in the fight between the demigoddess and immortal virus.

"The winner shall receive a boon from the loser. Provided that the request is legal, physically possible, and considered acceptable by any impartial Princesses of Equestria, the boon must be carried out. Do both combatants agree to this?" Hearing the agreement from both Luna and Daedalus, she continued. "Normally there would be assigned seating, however being that there are so few of us, just sit wherever. Twilight, Cadence, the two of you will be impartial judges as Luna is my sister and I am unable to judge whether the boon is fair no matter who wins."

After everypony had moved to their seats, Celestia smiled at her sister and who she hoped would become a dear friend. "Daedalus, Luna, I wish the two of you the best of luck in your duel. May the best fighter win. When you are ready, enter the arena. You will be scanned and then teleported to opposite sides of the arena."

Turning to Luna, Daedalus held out his hand with a smile. She grasped his hand with her hoof, shaking as she returned his smile with an excited grin. "It is going to be fun seeing what you can do. I hope this is the start of a long friendship, friend Daedalus."

"Maybe a friendly rivalry too, after I easily win." Daedalus winked, only making Luna smile wider. Celestia quickly moved to her seat as Luna and Daedalus entered the arena. As soon as they crossed the threshold, Daedalus felt himself be frozen in place similar to what Rarity had done to him before, yet far stronger and encasing his entire body. Soon after, he was surprised as a tingling feeling permeated his body as the magical scan interacted with every individual viral cell. Feeling something binding itself to him, he chose to assume that it was the magic that would protect him and Luna, and not an attempt to sabotage the duel. A moment later, the sensation faded entirely as he was released. With a flash of light and a soft crack, Luna was teleported to the other side of the sandy arena.

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

"Three!" As Celestia counted down, Daedalus tensed. Every viral 'muscle' was primed, ready for combat. His biomass reserves, while not full, were more than sufficient to regenerate his body a dozen times before his density and weight began approaching that of a normal human.

"Hundred bits that Luna wipes the floor with him." He heard Shining whisper to his sister. A second later, he heard the reply from Twilight.

"A hundred that he almost beats her." A clop of hooves together, then jingling bits as they passed their bets to Cadence.

"Two!" Daedalus wouldn't start off strong and he knew she wouldn't either. She was too excited at the prospect of fighting him for her to try to end it with the opening attack, and he would return that kindness. It would be a battle of tests. Strike against strike until one believed they had the upper hand, and then the fight would begin for real. His shapeshifting would remain in reserve, a hidden trump card.

"One!" Luna exploded into action. Her wings flapped once, hard enough to launch her a hundred feet toward him before his eyes could catch up. A second later, he adjusted. A second more and he reacted. Dropping to the floor, he rolled underneath her charge as he brought his foot up to kick her underbelly. A well aimed blast of magic shoved his foot back into the ground with a resounding thud that kicked up sand and he was back on his feet a moment later. Luna veered upward, then dived down toward him with her intent clear as she prepared to deliver a brutal double kick to his head. With a quick hop, Daedalus sailed upward half way to the roof of the arena, easily clearing Luna as he nearly struck her on the way down. Her agility was too much in the air, though, and she rolled out from under him before his heel could impact her spine.

A blast of magic staggered him followed closely by a crack of displaced air. Reacting purely on instinct, Daedalus caught Luna's hoof as she attempted to shatter his nose. Instead, he gave her a vicious kick to the side as he let go of her leg. What should have broken ribs only seemed to knock the wind out of her as she was launched several feet back, recovering in mid air and taking flight again. This time, she lanced out with several beams of magic that he darted around without much difficulty. Turning toward the offensive, Daedalus leaped toward Luna with ease, crossing the fifty feet in a single bound and catching her off guard. The surprise gave him no advantage though as she ducked underneath his hit and as he passed over her, he received two hoof-shaped indentations in his back as she struck him. Landing on the ground facing her, he allowed the biomass to flow over area and repair it where no one could see it.

Smirking at the shocked look on her face at the fact he seemed no worse for wear after the blow, he held out one hand and gestured for her to attack. The first test done, she landed on the ground as her horn crackled with power. What appeared to be a hard light construct formed around her, plating her body in armor that was both incredibly flexible and unnaturally resilient. More magic formed into the shape of a large axe and the second test began. Charging at him, Daedalus was relieved to find her slightly slower on the ground than in the air. He could manage her on the ground. She swung her axe at his head and he ducked. He threw a punch at her neck and she leaped back with the aid of her wings. A blast of magic nearly pierced his bicep only to be dodged at the last second. As she learned that he was more nimble than she anticipated, the speed of her blows increased. Her axe, which previously swung with an ease that would be exceptional for a mortal now began to blur. The air whistled as it was displaced faster than it could move with every swing. The first major blow was landed by Luna.

Her axe came down in an overhead chop and he darted to the left to dodge, only to be tugged back as magic wrapped around his arm and pulled it out. A shick followed by a meaty thud heralded the loss of his arm. Luna gave a shocked cry as his arm fell and more than one scream sounded out as they believed the magic had failed to protect him and he just lost his arm. Yet the truth was revealed as there was no blood and no visible bone, only black flesh. Writhing tendrils burst from the stump of his shoulder, flowing outward to his severed arm, consuming it and reforming as he wasted no biomass. Seconds later, his arm was fully reformed as he smirked. It was time for the third test and for him to reveal what he was.

Understanding dawned on Luna that losing an arm wasn't a crippling blow to him just before he charged forward, a burst of speed that surprised her as his right arm dissolved into a mass of viral tendrils. When it reformed, he was close enough to strike, the wickedly gleaming blade falling right on the joint where her wing met her body. A pulse of golden magic filled the arena as they both froze, Luna's wide eyes locked onto the blade that now extended from his elbow to past his knees. A red line painted itself on her fur, a strike that would have perfectly separated her wing from her body. With this, Daedalus knew that she was strong but not so strong that he couldn't pierce her flesh. Another crack of air filled the arena and he found himself starting at the beginning again with Luna two hundred feet in front of him. Looking closely, Daedalus saw a band of orange magic wrapped around her barrel holding her 'severed' wing in place while allowing her other to remain free. A black number one appeared inscribed into the roof of the arena, signaling his crippling strike that disabled her wing and ensured she could no longer fly this match.

"Resume!" Celestia called out to resume the duel.

The start was slower this time, neither combatant charging forward as they slowly closed the distance. Once they were merely twenty feet away, Luna raised her voice and spoke to him. "Well done on landing the first point, though I must ask; how much injury is your body able to resist?" Her horn brightened as she gathered more power to it, a pure blue sword of energy joining the axe.

"You'll just have to find out." Daedalus teased with a small smirk, darting toward her again. Feinting with his blade, her axe quickly moved to intercept the weapon only to be caught off guard by a quick punch to her chest. Her armor took the brunt of the force with ease, only causing her to slide back a few feet instead of launched back. A second later, a concentrated beam of energy much stronger than what Twilight used pierced his stomach, his close proximity not giving him time to dodge.

Daedalus gave a pained cry as nonexistent nerves flared, sending a bolt of agony through his being. He leaped back fifty feet from Luna and attempted to heal the wound only for his breath to hitch, worry on his face. Though the wound was healing, it was doing so incredibly slowly as viral cells destroyed other cells that were 'tainted' by lingering magic, slowing his recovery. Giving Luna a wary look, he started to circle to the right and kept his distance from her as he tried to allow the wound to heal. Magic is a weakness to Evolved like I thought. Somehow, it still hurts. I don't know if that means it attacks some ethereal part of me that can still feel pain or if it's actually causing significant damage to me. I can't get struck again, not until I can investigate my weakness.

"Sorry." Daedalus apologized, making Luna pause in confusion. A second later, both Luna and Daedalus were frozen in place by golden light. As the magic performed its duty, the Lunar Diarch felt a mark paint itself on her barrel and glanced down, seeing a razor sharp black spike sticking out of the ground and nearly into her chest. Looking up and giving Daedalus a dirty look at the trick, he only smiled apologetically and shrugged. A second later, they were back at their starting points and Luna found it much harder to breathe than before and she assumed he had 'pierced' one of her lungs. On the roof of the arena, the one changed to two.

"Continue!"

This time, Daedalus burst into action. Half a dozen undulating viral tendrils erupted from his back in a messy spray, each moving independently as he attacked with them. Luna was able to keep up with the attack of seven weapons well, using kinetic blasts and her two weapons to block and slash where she needed. Yet she was not perfect and his blades could cut through her magical armor with ease. Small cuts began to adorn her legs, sides, wings, and muzzle as faintly glowing silver blood began to trickle from her cuts. Snorting angrily, she began to force Daedalus back as each tendril she cut in twain was immediately reabsorbed into Daedalus and repaired, always keeping six against her. His own arm blade occasionally prodded her defense and during one such moment, she took the opportunity to act. Taking advantage of the fact that her horn was always glowing as she levitated her weapons, she charged up a quick flash of blinding light and detonated it in his face, staggering him for a moment. Her axe came down on his arm again, removing the offending blade as each tendril was gripped in a telekinetic aura and ripped from his body, incinerated a moment later to assure he couldn't reabsorb them. A second pulse of magic hit him square in the chest, launching him backwards eighty feet before she imbued her weapons with her magic and darted forward with greater speed.

Daedalus hit the ground on his back and used the momentum to kick himself up and flip onto his feet. Coming to his stop and repairing his eyes, he saw Luna was only a few feet in front of him with her axe coming at his chest from the side as her sword moved to impale his stomach. Playing dirty again, Daedalus stood his ground and allowed both weapons to strike him as the axe embedded itself halfway into his chest and the sword fully sank into his stomach. Two massive spikes of pain shot through him from the now magically-imbued weapons and caught him off guard as he grunted in pain. Then he recovered, a newly formed claw viciously swinging toward her front left leg. Again, golden light froze both of them as three red stripes appeared on her leg, signaling it as severed. Again, the two of them reappeared at their starting points as the golden band expanded to hold her leg folded against her barrel. The two changed to three on the roof and Daedalus allowed himself a smirk as he realized he had this in the bag.

"Match point, Daedalus. Continue!"

Daedalus darted forward again as soon as Celestia spoke, aiming to end the duel with a clean victory. Yet even as he darted toward the injured alicorn, dread filled his being as every cell in his body screamed for him to fucking run. As he closed the distance, he could see Luna's eyes had turned bright white, glowing with power as the miasma congregating around her horn grew layer upon layer. When she spoke, her voice was amplified with magic and sounded two toned. "I must confess, Daedalus, that you have done remarkably well. You are powerful and had you been a few centuries older, or perhaps with magic of your own, you would have won this duel. As it stands, I must end this now as I desire my boon from you."

A sense of hopelessness filled him as the viral cells fell silent, giving up their cries to flee or hide. Instead, every instinct screamed dodge. He did. Daedalus leaped up and to the side, sailing easily fifty feet away from where he had been when the miasma around Luna's horn was unleashed. The blindingly bright cerulean beam blazed through the space he had been just a second ago before rapidly sweeping into him, striking the right half of his torso. Pain the likes of which he hadn't felt since his infection shot through every inch of his mind as his connection to the cells in the afflicted part of his body was lost, the flesh there not torn out but completely erased. Landing on the ground hard, Daedalus cried out in agony as his body throbbed in pain, everything from the center of his chest to his right arm completely gone. Attempting to heal the injury, a spark of panic shot through him as the virus refused, the newly formed cells dissolving just as fast as they could be created, though the injury was not spreading. Before he could think further, he felt the cold blade of a hard light axe rest against his neck and he opened his eyes. Luna, looking worst for wear with sweat pouring off her body and silver ichor staining her coat, stared down at him with hard resolve. "Yield, Daedalus, or lose the other half of your body."

After a moment of silence, Daedalus let his head fall to the sand below his body. "I yield."

All Daedalus was aware of was a flash of golden light, the crack of teleportation, and a warming sensation filling every cell of his body as it was rapidly repaired, the disruptive magic completely removed in an instant. The next thing he knew, he was back in the lounge room sitting on one of the large cushions with his back against the wall. Luna rested next to him, sprawled out on her side and looking far better as every trace of blood was gone. Though she was panting heavily and her head drooped from exhaustion both magical and physical, it did nothing to stop her from meeting his gaze and giving him a satisfied smirk. Her divine essence- for it could be considered nothing else- shot a spike of desire and longing through him and he almost reached out to her. "You've done well, friend, but I have claimed victory. We'll discuss my boon later. Fair?"

Nodding his assent, he let his head fall against the wall behind him. "Fair." All he wanted to do was rest and figure out how the hell she suppressed the virus like Division did.

Rest he would not get as a moment later, the door to the room was shoved open as everypony rushed in, clamoring in excitement and amazement. Letting out a loud groan, he and Luna soon broke out into soft laughter.

(6) An Unusual Boon

"Pick me up."

Daedalus looked down with a deadpan stare directed toward the dappled alicorn laying sprawled out on a cushion. Though the duel had ended half an hour ago, she was still drenched in sweat and appeared physically weak- or she was incredibly good at faking. A point in her favor, Celestia had explained that an alicorn's magic is tied to all of their traits and, in times of magical exertion, they were completely weakened. Then his deadpan stare shifted into a small smirk as she gave him a concerned look. "Is this your boon, Luna?"

She leveled a full, powerful pout at him as her ears folded back with a sad look on her muzzle and tears welling up in her eyes. Daedalus made the mistake of making eye contact with her and her sad, lonely look combined with the weakened aura of longing made him give in with a sigh. He crouched down and wrapped his arms around her barrel and lifted her up. She was surprisingly light and he took a moment to adjust her to be more comfortable in his grip as she made a surprised noise and gave him a wide eyed look. She clearly didn't expect him to give in. Daedalus just gave her a slight shrug in response.

By this point, almost everyone else had already left. Most of the Bearers had gone back to their rooms to prepare for the next train and the Captain had gone back to his duties. Only Twilight, Celestia, and Cadence remained with him. He glanced over at the other alicorns and saw an amused smile on Celestia's face while Cadence gave him a knowing smirk that he didn't quite get. On the other hand, Twilight was staring with a mix of fascination on how easily he lifted the second largest pony in Equestria, or mortification that he was carrying one of the diarchs like a foal. He broke the silence as he turned to face them. "So where are we going?"

In response, Celestia's horn lit up with a golden glow of power before they were teleported. A sharp crack signified their arrival in another room and Daedalus took a look around. If he had to guess, they were in some private study or lounge where the rulers relaxed and wound down. Rather than the marble of the rest of the castle, the walls were paneled in a dark, pretty wood that he couldn't identify immediately. A lit fireplace in the center of the left wall gave the room a warm, cozy feeling and a flickering golden orb in each corner illuminated what areas the fire didn't. Situated in a half square around the fireplace, a comfortable looking seating area with cushions, couches, and tables gave a place for plenty of guests to sit. Opposite the fireplace, the wall was lined with full bookshelves. After a moment, he realized most of them weren't in English or whatever they called it in Equestria. Small miracles that at least one language carried over between worlds and it happened to be a language I knew.

Daedalus moved over to the fire and sat down on one of the large couches and set Luna next to him. She immediately sprawled out again with her wings fanned out and hooves stretched high in the air with her head resting on his leg. Absentmindedly, he reached down and began to run his hand through her mane as he reclined back as everyone got comfortable. Unsurprisingly, Twilight sat down next to her mentor and the larger white alicorn draped a wing across her student as Cadence made herself comfortable on one of the large cushions. He glanced down suddenly when he felt Luna shift under his hand and noticed she was looking up at him with her muzzle tinted a shade of red. "What? Want me to stop?"

Quietly, she shook her head as Celestia chuckled and explained. "Ponies quite enjoy having our manes combed and wings preened. It's a sign of close friendship and trust between two ponies, so Luna was just a bit surprised. I'm sure she doesn't mind at all, though~" Her tone took a teasing turn as she looked down at her sister who just huffed and glanced away. Daedalus couldn't help but notice that she made sure not to pull away from his hand, though.

"Ah, that reminds me that I'm going to have to learn a completely different culture." Daedalus said with a chuckle. "I think I'll enjoy it though. It'll be a big change, ponies seem to be quite physical with their affections."

"Just keep away from the flanks, hind legs, and tails and you'll be fine." Cadence explained with a small smile. "Hugs and coat or mane brushes are something friends do as a way to say 'I'm here and I care for you.' It's also a good idea not to touch wings unless you're close friends. The feathers of alicorns and pegasi are sensitive to pressure, and being allowed to preen wings is a sign of close friendship and trust. After all, pegasi have trouble preening easily and if its not done right, it will make it harder to fly and can cause an accident."

Daedalus nodded in understanding before he looked back down to Luna and asked the question they were all gathered for. "So, little Mistress of the Night, what's the boon that you'll ask of the poor man you partly vaporized?"

She gave a little huff and smirked playfully at him. "Continue your teasing and I'll vaporize the other half! Just for thine slight, you must remain here and continue brushing my mane until I'm feeling better. It's quite warm here by the fire. Our talk yesterday led to us only asking you questions, so now I suppose it would be your turn to learn about us and our world."

"Alright, obvious distraction aside, I would appreciate the chance to get some answers for things I've wanted to ask for a while. First of all, are you divine? You seem pretty divine." Immediately, a small blush appeared on the muzzles of all the alicorns present at the way he phrased it, though they knew what he meant.

"Flattery will get you everywhere, Daedalus." Celestia joked before she answered his question. "In truth, my sister and I are near divine. As you've likely been told, I raise and lower the sun just as my sister does the moon. I am the Alicorn of the Day just as she is the Alicorn of the Night. Blessed by these powers, we are incredibly powerful even among other alicorns. Even more than that, our attunement to our respective fields give us the aura that you've been feeling when you're near us."

When Daedalus nodded, she continued. "My sister and I are not eternal, omnipotent, or omniscient. We are just ageless, incredibly magical ponies with a few extra gifts. Though, sometimes our auras can cause problems for us, as I'm sure you can understand in Luna's case." The last bit she added with a knowing smirk to her sister, the eternal sibling war of embarrassment continuing in these two demigoddesses. Luna only blushed harder and looked away as both Daedalus and Cadence laughed together and Twilight gave a soft smile. "Cadence and Twilight are both powerful in their own rights, and Twilight may grow to become more generally powerful than my sister and I being the Alicorn of Magic. Although, any spells related to our domains will be magnitudes more powerful than anything Twilight can bring to bear."

"Wait, what?" Twilight asked, her head quickly turning to look at Celestia as she gave her a shocked look. "You never told me I'm going to end up that strong!"

"Twilight, your power is magic itself." Celestia said quietly, leaning down to give her student a nuzzle. "At your peak, you will be the strongest alicorn and will be incredibly versatile. We believe you will even be able to use magic that is specific to the three of us, just not to the same strength we do. We know you'll be a wonderful alicorn, Twilight, and have complete faith in you."

Twilight was clearly at a loss for words and just gave a shy smile to her mentor and returned the affectionate nuzzle. Celestia tightened her wing over the smaller alicorn's back and nearly hid her from sight entirely as just her purple muzzle poked out. After a moment of silence, her subdued voice came out from under Celestia's wing. "I'm just... how do you know I'll use that power right?"

It was Daedalus who spoke before any of the other three could as he gave the worried looking pony an understanding smile. "Twilight, compared to the average human or pony, the five of us are practically gods. I can't speak for anyone else, but I haven't lived by my power right. I've hurt a lot of people. But because of you and your friends, I can choose how I'm going to live and use my strengths. I think you're doing just fine."

"Nightmare Moon, Discord, Sombra, and Discord again. Daedalus is right. You are doing just fine, young Twilight." Luna agreed with a warm smile directed toward the newest alicorn. As she continued, Daedalus filed away Nightmare Moon and Sombra for later research. "Thanks to you, I am myself again. Thanks to you, the crystal ponies are free and ruled by the Lady of Love and her husband. Thanks to you, our sworn enemy is now an ally, something I never thought would be possible."

"You six are heroes, Twilight. By now, you and your friends have saved hundreds of thousands of ponies. I think you're using your power perfectly." Cadence said as she gave her sister in law a loving smile. Twilight was clearly feeling better if a little overwhelmed at the praise, a small blush on her muzzle as she averted her eyes.

Smiling radiantly at the young alicorn snuggled under her wing, Celestia couldn't help the pride that filled her heart. Twilight had come a long way from the socially awkward teen to the powerful alicorn she now was. Holding her a little tighter, Celestia looked back to Daedalus and nodded for him to continue.

"A bit less of a question of the world and more about you, why is everyone so calm about me being what I am? After all, I'm a stranger in this world wielding dangerous and unknown powers. Don't take this the wrong way, but I gave one promise I wouldn't do anything bad and now I'm treated like a good friend." Daedalus asked curiously, glancing between each of the ponies in turn. "I appreciate it, but this wouldn't have happened on Earth."

Twilight gave him a concerned look as she peaked out from under Celestia's large wing. "Daedalus... what did you expect would happen?"

Daedalus gave a soft hum as he thought it over. "Being an unknown species from another world, it's hard to say. I definitely would not have been allowed out and about around the general public either way, but after attacking you when I first arrived I most likely would have been contained and studied. Once my powers had been discovered, focus on my containment would have shifted to to either replicating my power or neutralizing me as I had already proven myself to be a threat. It all would have depended on what country found me and what kind of person was in charge at the time."

While Twilight seemed speechless, Luna instead tilted her head to gently nuzzle his hand as it continued to run through her mane. "Equestria is not that kind of place. Even if you had truly been an enemy rather than controlled, you would not have been treated that way. We would have attempted to reform you or imprison you if it was not possible. Experimentation or execution would never have been an option. That's not the kind of place Equestria is."

Cadence nodded in agreement. "Equestria is a place of harmony, friendship, and love, not hate or cruelty. Celestia couldn't have built a thousand years of peace with those ideals."

With a kind smile, Celestia gazed at the virus relaxing with Luna sprawled out against him. For the second time, Daedalus found himself under the full focus of her aura as a feeling filled him as if he had just came home after a long, tiring day. "To answer your question, Daedalus, its because we trust you. Not only do we have faith in the Elements of Harmony who purified you of the evil infecting your mind and ensured it could never take root again, but that 'one promise' you gave us was under the effect of a truth spell. Equestria and even ponies as a whole are very trusting. As long as you do right by your friends and neighbors, this land is an amazing home that welcomes anypony and everypony- pony or not."

"Once everypony gets over the nervousness of a new species." Twilight added with a sheepish smile as she thought of Zecora, the friendly zebra that Ponyville had shunned so long ago. With a light giggle from the alicorns, the group fell into a comfortable silence and they relaxed together as Daedalus' mind wandered.

Finally, he was free of Mercer. It may have taken two years and going to a new world entirely where magic and fantasy was real, but he was free. In Equestria, he was already friends with royalty and who he was figured were national heroes. Then his thoughts drifted to his plans for the future. Without need for food, water, or shelter, he didn't necessarily need to work. At the same time, with eternity ahead of him, he would need something to occupy himself with and money was always nice to have, especially when you didn't really have to buy food, clothes, or hygiene products. Maybe he could find some way to work for the Princesses. He did have quite a few talents from the various people he had consumed but felt that they wouldn't be all that useful here, both with the lower technological progress and the fact that magic likely replaced a lot of what technology did on Earth.

Luna nipped his hand. As he looked down at her, she gave an innocent smile with a twinkle in her eyes. "So about that boon."

Chuckling, Daedalus nodded with a teasing smile. "What is thine desire, Mistress of the Night?"

Giving him a playful pout, it quickly turned into a small smile. "You are a powerful warrior, Daedalus. I'm sure you were not using every trick you had to fight me and you held your own against an alicorn. Not many can boast that. As such, I'd like you to join the ranks of my Hunters, a group of warriors who serve under me as monster hunters and personal guards. Do you believe this boon to be unfair?"

Daedalus raised an eyebrow as he smirked down at the pony laying on him. "That sounds like you just want me around more."

Not rising to the tease, Luna just gave an awkwardly shaped shrug since she was laying on her back. "Somewhat. It would be nice having another immortal around Canterlot, especially one who hasn't been raised since birth to see us as goddesses. It's nice to occasionally be treated as Luna the Pony and not Luna the Night Diarch. Truthfully though, I feel you would be an incredibly efficient and capable hunter. Of course, as you will be working directly under me, you'll be paid quite handsomely. Not to mention, being a Hunter is very prestigious as they are some of the best warriors and protectors in Equestria."

He thought it over as he hummed softly. It did match the idea he had just considered. Not to mention, it would help to remove some wariness from him if his whole job was keeping ponies safe- unless him being a hunter made them more wary. "I think that's a fair boon, Luna. I accept."

"Wonderful! You've gone through the entrance test already when you dueled me." Luna explained as she gave him a wide smile. "Tomorrow, you'll meet with Captain Iron and receive the details of your job, what you'll do, and what you'll face. Any questions for me now?"

"I can direct any to Captain Iron." Daedalus responded. Luna rolled off of him and stood up as she quickly shook herself.

"Huzzah! I'll take my leave now and so will my sister, as much as she'd love to continue pushing her meetings off on the council." Luna smirked toward her sister who pouted in response, squeezing Twilight to her tighter. The purple alicorn only let out a cute squeak before Celestia let go and stood as well.

"Sadly, she's right." Celestia said with an over exaggerated sigh.

When Celestia let go of her and stood, Twilight fixed her wings and stood up as well as she gave Daedalus an apologetic smile. "If it's alright, I'd like to take Cadence and Shining and visit my parents here in Canterlot. I haven't seen them in a month and I'd love to have a day with my family."

"That's fine. I've got a city I can explore if I get bored." Daedalus said with a chuckle and gave her withers a pat as she walked past him with Cadence right behind her. Luna gave him a quick nuzzle on his shoulder as she left as well. He figured Celestia would follow right behind her sister but she walked up to him instead.

The Evolved was blindsided when two large, warm wings wrapped around him and she rested her head on his shoulder as she gave him a pony hug. "Thank you, Daedalus."

"For?" The man asked, unsure what she was thanking him for. Either way, he returned her hug as he wrapped his arms around her big neck.

"My sister. She may not seem like it, but she doesn't have a lot of friends. Because of circumstances that aren't mine to share, she doesn't really know anypony anymore. She's very happy to have Cadence in our family and loves Twilight just as much as I do, but still. Even her Hunters, who she shares more of a familiar bond with occasionally fall into the habit of treating her like a princess and a goddess, not a friend. I think you and her will get along very well." Celestia explained softly before she pulled back. She had that same warm smile that she seemed to love so much as she looked him in the eyes.

"Then thank you too, Celestia. For giving me a place I can come to call home. For trusting me and giving me my freedom." Daedalus said, meaning it entirely as he returned her smile.

"You're very welcome, Daedalus. I look forward to counting you among my close friends." Her horn flashed for a moment before she handed him a small pouch. Taking it with a metallic clink, he looked at her in confusion as he assumed it was money. Celestia only smiled wider, giving him a little wink. "A little bit of spending money. Consider it a gift for befriending my sister. It's not a lot, but it's enough for a few good meals or nice things. More, if you leave Canterlot. Just don't be late for tomorrow."

A second later, Daedalus wrapped his arms around Celestia's long neck again and gave her another hug. "You really are nice. I've experienced more kindness from strangers here than I ever did before my infection."

"That's just what we ponies do, Daedalus." Celestia said, nuzzling his cheek gently.

"Call me Jay." Daedalus responded, letting go of her with a content smile. "That's my real name, before I got infected. I didn't use it anymore after."

Celestia nodded with a radiant smile that only widened as she suddenly leaned in close. Jay's eyes widened for a moment just before her snout touched his nose, gently booping him. Then she left the room with a parting nuzzle and left Jay alone. After a moment, Jay shrugged as he assumed the boop was the same as a nuzzle or something similar. Then he turned and exited the room as well, long enough after that Celestia was already gone. Instead, Daedalus was greeted by an unfamiliar unicorn mare. She was actually pretty tall and came up to his chest like Twilight did. Her silver coat contrasted with her midnight blue mane and tail, and her flank held the imagery of five shooting stars behind the full moon. Underneath her mark, a splotch of black imitated the night sky and reminded him of Luna's own mark. When his eyes met hers, he recognized the familiar pink eyes that shone with amusement. "Lance Corporal?"

Starfall smiled, clearly happy to be recognized as she nodded rapidly. "Yup! Though, just Silver or Star or Starfall works. I'm off duty and was just heading out to get something to eat when I passed Princess Luna. I took the chance to ask about you and she told me you were going to explore Canterlot, so I came to see if you wanted company! I don't have anything to do today and figured it'd be better than exploring this stuffy city alone."

Daedalus smiled as he listened to her fast, excited tone. He couldn't help but remember the advice she had given him that had worked out wonderfully. "I'd be honored to have you show me around, but I have to thank you. The advice you gave me was just what I needed."

"See! I told you that trusting the Princesses was good!" She said with a good-natured grin, gently bumping him with her horn. "I'm glad you took it, though. I know it can be scary being in a strange place but Equestria is a home you won't regret! Now, come on, I know a great kitchen down in the lower side. If your teeth mean anything, you'll love their jambalaya!"

Chuckling at her energy, Daedalus followed behind her as she trotted ahead of him. Constantly glancing over her shoulder, Starfall couldn't help but keep a wide smile on her muzzle as the strange apelike creature followed her. "Ponies are everypony's best friend!"

Jay couldn't help but agree with that.

Author's Note

As of the posting of this chapter, I'm twenty chapters ahead of the story. It may not happen every single week, but expect double updates more often than not. I'm writing faster than I'm posting, even counting the fact that I go over each chapter three extra times for editing and quality improvements.

(7) Getting to Know Starfall

Daedalus and Starfall exited the main gate of the castle, the four guards giving the two of them nods as Starfall waved excitedly. The young mare was clearly excited to be accompanying him and her energy put a small smile on his face as they walked together. Now in Canterlot proper, ponies stopped and stared at him as they caught sight of him. While ponies didn't seem to be afraid of him, they were certainly wary. A couple unicorns, dressed up in fancy clothes and each wearing more jewelry than he saw in all of Ponyville gave him looks of disgust. Starfall stuck her tongue out at the pair and chuckled as they stuck their noses up in the air. She turned and looked at Daedalus, giving a wide smirk. "Don't worry, with a pretty mare near you nopony will be afraid!"

"A pretty mare? Where?" Daedalus smirked as her head snapped around to pout at him. Reaching out and gently tapping her nose with his finger, he brought a smile to her muzzle. "Sorry, I couldn't help myself."

"Hmph, better keep your grubby hands to yourself!" Starfall said playfully, nudging him with a shoulder as they walked through the streets. Turning his attention back to the city with a small smile glued to his face, he took in the sights of the mountainside capital. Marble was the most predominant building material as most shops were at least framed in it, if not made of it almost entirely. Unlike human cities, the tallest buildings around were only four stories at the most with the exception of the castle behind him. There were no skyscrapers anywhere, no giant hotels or office centers. Just shops, restaurants, businesses, and homes. Unlike in Ponyville, the Canterlot homes used shingled roofs and he noticed that the buildings here had gutters as well. Then the roads seemed both familiar and strange. Like Earth, drains lined the edges of the road every fifty feet or so ensuring that the streets couldn't flood during heavy rain, but the streets were made of cobbles instead of asphalt.

Greenery was a common sight too, whether in hanging plants attached to the roofs of buildings or planters set up in windowsills. Occasionally, the center of the wide roads was broken up by crystal clear fountains or large boxes that contained flower gardens. As he glanced at one of the fountains and wondered why it was in the center of the road, Daedalus' question was answered as a pony stopped and took a long drink from it before moving on. Distracted as he was, he only noticed the soft feeling around his hand as it was tugged. Looking over, his hand was held in Starfall's pink aura as she tugged at him, guiding him toward one of the restaurants. "C'mon, Genevieve will love having another meat eater around! She always brags about her meat dishes but complains no pony eats them. Though, if she's busy you probably won't get to meet her."

Chuckling, the Greater Evolved let her lead him toward the business. "Of course, I can't imagine many ponies eating meat."

The building was artfully designed. The front of the building was made almost entirely of glass panes allowing plenty of natural light inside and allowing anyone inside to look out at the city or the sky. Interspersed between the panes were black wood columns supporting the roof. Instead of regular tables and chairs, the restaurant had very low tables that came up to his knees with long cushions on each side giving ponies a place to sit. At the back of the building, however, were taller tables and booths closer to what he was used to. The place wasn't incredibly busy but it wasn't slow either, with four other groups dining. He was noticed easily as he walked in, his tall and strange frame easy to spot from a distance but no one really paid attention to him beyond a cursory glance. A young stallion dressed in a simple suit approached him and Starfall as they entered with a kind smile. "A table for two for the lady and her date? Would you prefer a regular table or one for bipedals?"

She giggled softly as she shook her head. "A bipedal table for two yes, but we're just friends. We met today in fact, and it's his first day in Canterlot so I'm showing him around."

The waiter nodded in understanding and led the way to the more familiar table and Daedalus realized that they were, in fact, designed for bipedal guests. Starfall sat across from him as the waiter set two menus down on the table. "What will you have for your drink, good lady?"

"I'd like Genevieve's cider and another for Daedalus here too. Trust me, you'll love it. She homebrews her cider and while it might not be as good as the famous Sweet Apple Acres brew, it's amazing." Daedalus nodded his agreement to the waiter before he left, stating he would return with their drinks in a few minutes and take their order.

"So, Daedalus, how'd the meeting with the Princesses go? I wanna hear all about it!" Starfall said excitedly, smiling up at him. "I'm sure something interesting happened, you're like the only one of your kind here!"

"Yeah, no kidding. Well, the meeting went very well. It started over food and we asked each other a lot of questions. Mostly about where I'm from and what my home is like and if I want to go back, and I asked questions about the culture of the world and about magic. Eventually, I said that I was pretty strong for my kind and Luna challenged me to a duel." Daedalus was cut off as she gasped, looking him at wide eyes that shone with surprise.

"Princess Luna challenged you? You must have really gotten her excited! She duels her Hunters all the time, but strangers are always challenging her for a boon and she always sends her champion to fight for her. The fact that you got to duel her is amazing! I bet she wiped the floor with you!"

He couldn't help but laugh when her eyes widened even further as he shook her head. Not wanting the extent of his power to become common knowledge, he tried to play it down some. "Well, I mean she could have ended it at any time, but it wasn't as one sided as you think. I got a couple hits on her without her getting me back. She was definitely testing me though. Once she had enough of it, she pulled out a massive spell that forced me to yield and she won easily."

To his chagrin, it didn't work. "Wow! To think she had to make you yield, that's amazing! Normally, her champion just hits somepony once and it's a lethal blow and an automatic win, but Princess Luna herself had to make you yield! You gotta be, like, suuuuper strong! If you don't mind, what boon did she get from you?"

Here, she gave him a teasing smirk and wiggled her eyebrows. "A date from a handsome young....uh, whatever you are?"

Reaching across the table, he gently flicked her nose with a smile as she pulled back and gave him another playful pout. "Human, and no. She asked me to join her Hunters."

That clearly wasn't the right thing to say if he wanted to remain somewhat secretive on his prowess, stolen though it was. "What? Daedalus, that's amazing! The Hunters are only, like, the most impressive and prestigious Guard force in Equestria!"

"Well, Luna did say that they were prestigious, but are they really that impressive?"

She waved her hooves around as she gestured frantically, nodding excitedly. "Yes! The entrance exam to even be considered is to impress the Mistress of the Night personally! It's been said that one Hunter has the fighting prowess of a dozen Guards! Not to mention they're structured more like a family than a military, and only work in groups of three or four because that's the most they'll ever even need to fight something. I'm confident you'll become one of the best, too! Did you not know any of this?"

Daedalus chuckled as he shook his head. "No, I'm not from around here so I didn't even know what the Hunters were. She mentioned they were monster hunters and personal guards, but I won't be receiving a full detailed explanation until I meet with their Captain tomorrow. Leave the rest as a surprise for me, okay?"

"Okay, I can do that! But I wanna hear about everything you're allowed to tell me next time we meet, alright?" Starfall insisted, and when he nodded his agreement, she squee'd quietly. "Awesome! I can't believe my friend is going to be a Hunter and I'm gonna hear all about it! That's so amazing!"

The waiter returned with their drinks and took their orders. Daedalus went with Starfall's recommendation of the jambalaya while she went with a loaded hayburger. Their food came quickly and they ate in peace, idly talking as they enjoyed their meal. The Evolved, despite not needing to eat, found himself quite happy she had introduced him to this place. The jambalaya was very good and reminded him of home and the chilled cider was very flavorful with a pleasant burn. Daedalus learned plenty about Starfall as she was very open to sharing, something he noticed was quite common among ponies. She had been a full member of the Solar Guard for three months now and already been promoted twice, nearly four times faster than the average Guard. Like every unicorn, she had been trained in the sword, spear, and magical shield but had taken a shine to telekinetic manipulation and able to beat Guards several years her senior even armed with only her magic. That combined with her passion for her job was what had led to her rapid promotions.

A lot of her income was sent out of town to the far west, to the town of Colton to support her family. She explained that way out there, there wasn't a lot of job opportunities. While her family wasn't poor by any means, she had a lot of brothers and sisters and her parents had put aside their own comfort to make sure they were raised properly and comfortably. As such, once they had become old enough and gotten their cutie marks, a lot of them had left to find jobs elsewhere and sent money back to make sure her mom and dad could retire and live the rest of their lives happily without worrying about anything. Daedalus thought that was very sweet and touching, and when he commented on it she blushed slightly and gave him a shy smile.

Beyond that, her own life was pretty simple. She lived in the barracks, had a few friends in Canterlot, and was on duty five days a week. On her free days, she would often paint or head to one of the recreational areas in the castle to swim. Overall, Starfall had said, her life was very simple and calm and she loved it that way, but on some days she desired a sense of adventure in her life. However, she felt that living safe and comfortable was worth too much to give away just to travel across Equestria and potentially find herself broke and hungry and having to rely on her parents or siblings again. Naturally, the conversation slowly shifted to more about Daedalus than herself and he found himself sharing more than he thought he would from his time before the Outbreaks.

He told her how he had grown up in a wet, hot place called Louisiana. While he had been an only child, it was more than made up for by aunts, uncles, and cousins as his entire extended family all lived on the same street. He told her about learning to cook from a young age as they held weekly barbecues and how during one, he had asked to try some of his uncle's drink only to nearly throw up when he found out the man had been drinking vodka in the morning. He told her about his easy upbringing where he found he had a knack for most sciences and loved to read, but found history boring.

Daedalus shared how, after graduation, he had been accepted on a full scholarship to a college nearly halfway across his country and made the move from a small, rural town to a giant city to pursue his dream of chemical engineering. His life ended up being derailed a few months later as a couple plagues hit his area back to back over the course of five years and he had ended up losing contact with his family after one of the plagues caused the communication network to collapse. He reassured her he knew they were alright since they were a thousand miles away from the quarantine zone. Then everything had changed suddenly when he woke up and found himself in Equestria, in a friendly little place he could easily come to call home. That statement had earned him a happy smile from the little unicorn. Eventually, with the food long gone, they requested the bill as they prepared to leave. When it arrived, he went to grab the pouch he had been given only for his hand to be caught in an aura of magic as Starfall levitated her own out and paid. At his look, she explained her thoughts.

"Your culture might be different, but since I'm the one who asked you to come here with me, I'm the one who should pay. If humans are different on that, you're more than welcome to pay next time go we out." Starfall said and gave him a playful wink.

"So this was a date?" Daedalus asked as he returned Starfall's tease with a grin.

Her muzzle colored as she stammered over her words for a second before she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. A little more calm, she looked at him with her glimmering pink eyes and nodded. "Yeah, well, you're really interesting. You listened to me ramble about myself for an hour and not a lot of stallions will do that. It may not mean much coming from a random stranger from another species but you seem really nice and I'd like to get to know you more."

Daedalus' grin turned into a heartfelt smile as he reached out, gently booping her muzzle. "I'll pay next time."

Her smile widened even as her blush darkened, the two of them stood up and left the restaurant as the waiter thank them for coming and invited them back again. The young stallion gave Daedalus a small wink and he realized the pony had overheard what they had said. As they walked through the darkening streets, Daedalus figured it was close to seven or eight in the afternoon and less ponies were about as some of the more fashion-style businesses had closed. Though, plenty others were still open as he saw other restaurants, food vendors, and small supply stores still operating. The Evolved was pulled out of his musing as something levitated in front of his face. He looked to see a small rose held in Starfall's aura and glanced at the pony at his side. Again, her muzzle was a deep red as she blushed heavily with a mix of worry and excitement in her eyes. When he reached out to grab the rose, realization dawned on her face as she levitated out of his reach. "Oh! Do you, uh, know what it means when a mare offers you a flower?"

"To humans, it's generally a sign of romance but it doesn't always have to be." Daedalus responded, not quite sure what it meant for ponies. "Is it the same for ponies?"

Starfall shook her head then hesitated before giving a little shrug. "It's similar, just not the same. It's different depending on the situation. If you randomly offer somepony one, it's a sign of friendship and appreciation. But specifically after a date, it's a sign of attraction. The mare offering it is saying she finds the stallion attractive and wants to get to know him more to see if anything deeper blossoms between them. You can answer in a lot of different ways, too. If you take the flower and put it in my mane, it's a gentle rejection. You're saying you like me as a friend but don't want to go any further. If you take it and put it into your mane, it means you do want to consider seeing each other and if it goes deeper. And, umm, if you take it and kiss me, it means you already like me and want me to be your marefriend." As she said the last part, her blush darkened as she glanced away and levitated the flower closer to him again.

Daedalus' gaze slowly shifted from the rose toward the nervous mare. He wasn't really sure what to think. On one hand, she had been great company and had already shown that she cared about others, even complete strangers. She seemed sweet, honest, and kind. She was open about what she wanted even if she was nervous and embarrassed, and could joke and tease just as easily as she could be serious and heartfelt. On the other hand, he was a virus. Even when it came to other races, he was beyond strange and frankly a little terrifying. Then he wasn't completely emotionless, but he wasn't exactly alive either, and he had just met this mare today.

Starfall slowly looked up as he hesitated, her hopeful pink eyes meeting his conflicted blue ones. When he saw that look in her eyes, he made up his mind and took the rose as her breath hitched slightly. Virus or not, alive or not, he would see where this would go. He wouldn't lead her on. He'd tell her the truth of what he was before they became serious. Was it the smartest decision? No, probably not, but it was the one he was going to make. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't somewhat attracted to this little mare and he wasn't going to deny himself the chance. With the rose in hand, he reached up to his long hair and set it where it was clearly visible. Then he kneeled down with a warm smile before he wrapped his arms around her neck and gave her a firm hug. With a relieved sigh, she wrapped a hoof around him as well and rested her head on his shoulder. "I'd like that, Starfall, if you'd be interested in a strange monkey with grubby hands."

With a giggle as he echoed what she had said earlier, she gently nuzzled his cheek as her soft fur brushed against his smooth skin. "Yeah, I am. Only Princess Cadence knows if we'd be a good match, but I want to find out with you."

(8) Tartarian Hunters

It was only a few hours later that Daedalus found himself lying in the ornate bed of his lavish guestroom in the castle, staring up at the ceiling far above him. Thinking over what had happened just a short while ago, he still wasn't sure if he had made the right decision. Shortly after his acceptance, the two of them had returned to the castle. Nothing had really changed between them as they made the walk back, still joking and talking as usual. Once they had gotten back through the front gate, though, Starfall had reared up, placed her hooves on his chest, and leaned in to give him a tender nuzzle before she wished him a good night and left. He would have been lying if he had said the little display of affection hadn't been appreciated. When he returned to his room, he found himself in the position he had been in for the last few hours.

The species difference wasn't an issue to Daedalus. He wasn't even human, anyway. Technically, he wasn't even male as a virus didn't have a gender. He had just been a male before his infection and saw no reason to change that. No, it didn't matter what species he chose to be intimate with as it would also be an interspecies relationship. No other Evolved existed here in this world and he was going to ensure it remained that way. One could argue that the jump from human to pony to be a considerable jump but it meant nothing to Daedalus in the long run as he now found himself in a country dominated by them. The biggest and only real issue he saw himself facing in the future was telling Starfall the truth about the 'plagues' that had hit his home and the effect they left on him. He had some time to prepare before their attraction became serious, but he needed to do it as soon as possible.

However, Daedalus couldn't help but be excited. Even before the Outbreaks, it had been a long time since someone was so openly interested in him. Not since college had someone so confidently approached him like that and it made him, for lack of a better phrase, feel alive. It was a feeling he missed, and he found himself acting more and more like he had before his infection. He was acting more like Jay Fontenot, friendly science major raised in Cajun country and less like Daedalus, leashed monster hiding his survival from his family. With the final thought of dropping his fake name, the human-turned-Evolved allowed himself to drift off into his usual dreamless slumber.

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

He was suspended in rainbow jello. That was the only way he could describe what he saw and felt. As he turned his head side to side, he found that he couldn't see the floor, the walls, or the roof. All around him, thick and viscous gel pressed in on him from all sides and he discovered that he could move, albeit sluggishly. As he took in his surroundings, he could make out a kaleidoscope of colors. Pink, yellow, blue, green, orange, red, purple, and on and on. The colors weren't even limited to one shade each as he saw teal and cyan side by side. The shades moved with an ebb and flow, rising and sinking. Then, he became aware of a light shade of pink slowly flowing toward him. Cutting through the swathes of green and fields of orange, trickles of the color combined into streams and then again into rivers that flowed toward him, disappearing into his chest. As he stared down at his body, he began to feel warm. Not physically, as his virus confirmed his body temperature had not spiked, but emotionally. The gel coalesced inside of him until all the various shades of pink where gone from the strange fluid. Then, starting from the edge of his sight, everything began to fade to black. Within only moments naught but void surrounded him. Then that too was gone.

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

Daedalus snapped awake with a startled cry and fell out of bed. With his density still reduced from his duel with Luna, he didn't even crack the floor as he impacted it hard. He lied in place for a long moment and groaned softly as he tried to dispel a headache. Then he tried to dismiss the mimicry of panic Blacklight had produced only to freeze- the emotion didn't fade. Willing the virus to dismiss the feeling again, he began to feel nervous as it failed again. The nervousness only made the panic more intense which turned the nervousness to worry as his emotions began to run away from him. He snapped up into a sitting position and quickly shifted his arm into a blade and felt himself relax somewhat as it worked just fine. Then he quickly examined his form down to every last biological process he allowed to exist and his confusion grew as he found nothing. There was nothing that should be causing his emotions to be uncontrolled.

As a virus, he didn't actually have the biological processes that allowed emotions to naturally exist. With perfect genetic control over his own existence, nothing could happen that he didn't decide. He generally allowed his body to produce spikes in emotions as normal but it wasn't the same. The feelings were manufactured. He experienced something that would have made him feel a certain way, decided he want to feel that way, and then produced the chemical mix that created that emotion. Only then did he feel an emotion and even then, he could dismiss it at any point. It was an accurate and effective mimicry, but still mimicry. Everything he felt was decided just as much as he felt.

That was no longer how he worked. Despite the fact that he told the virus to stop synthesizing nervousness, confusion, an the traces of panic that still lingered, none of the feelings faded. His form was the same as always in its entirety. He could shift, he felt no pain, and needed nothing biologically natural except for the occasional need to consume biomass to restore his density. He could even still synthesize new emotions as the feeling of nervousness spiked before he dismissed it and left behind the bare traces he felt before. Something had changed. Part of Daedalus was terrified. He hadn't experienced real feelings in two years, not since his 'death.' Yet the rest of him was elated. He truly felt now, not just what he decided was feeling. More so, he did this without losing any of the plethora of advantages he gained by being a non-living entity. Thinking about it, he decided he would need to talk to either Celestia or Luna. Whatever had happened, he figured it was linked to his dream and while he was not unhappy with this change, he wanted to know how and why it happened.

A knock at his door dragged him out of his thoughts as he quickly rose up and hurried over to open it. Just outside was a pegasus Guard clad in the standard Solar armor. After a second, he gave a nod to Daedalus. "Good morning, sir. I was directed to escort you to the Hunter compound to meet Captain Iron. Are you ready now or should I return shortly?"

"Yes, I am. Lead the way." The Evolved responded, grateful for the timely distraction. The stallion nodded and turned around, leading him through the maze of hallways toward the compound. Thanks to his perfect memory, he would have no problem making his way back to his room or to the grounds again. Eventually, they came to a large door that didn't match the theme of the rest of the castle. Rather than pretty wood or artfully decorated marble, the large and imposing door was made entirely of metal embedded with glittering gems. A waving aura flowed across the door betraying it's obviously magical nature, though Daedalus didn't have the slightest idea on what it did. The Evolved and his escort stopped just outside the door before the stallion knocked and waited. It didn't take long for the door to slowly creak open, apparently without the pony inside opening it himself. Unlike his escort, the unicorn that stood on the other side of the door did not wear standard Guard armor in the slightest.

Sword and spear weren't this stallion's preferred weapon as a large hammer laid across his back and powerful muscles rippled under his coat despite the stereotype that unicorns were physically weaker. Shiny gold armor that barely covered the body was abandoned, replaced by heavy steel plates that covered the entire body and even hid his tail. Rather than any kind of armor to protect the gaps between the plates that allowed the armor to flex, a shining cobalt aura that flared and dimmed as he moved served to protect the weak spots. The stallion's helmet was clipped onto his side, a large and sturdy looking thing with a segment that jutted out to cover even his muzzle. With his helmet off, Daedalus was able to get a look at his dull black coat and greying mane that told him that this stallion was on the older side, likely Captain Iron himself. That thought was confirmed just a moment later when his escort spoke.

"Captain Iron, I've brought Mr. Daedalus to you as directed."

"Thank you, and that'll be all, Corporal. Daedalus, come in. I'm glad you were available this early." The Captain said and gestured for him to enter. Captain Iron's voice, with its friendly and relaxed tone, didn't quite match his foreboding, no-nonsense appearance his armor and colors gave off. When Daedalus stepped into the room, the great door behind him swung closed on its own without the unicorn's horn lighting up. Again, he pushed the thought aside and examined the interior. Just like the door itself, the theme of the place didn't match the rest of the castle. Inside was a hallway smaller than the standard ones in the castle, ten feet wide and easily a hundred feet long. Scattered unevenly on both sides of the hall, there were multiple smaller doors that were similar to the main door just without the magic. Clearly, this place was the Hunter's compound inside the castle. With that thought in mind, Captain Iron leisurely led him to the closest door on the left as the two of the entered what appeared to be a common room. It wasn't empty, either.

There were four different ponies scattered across the myriad of comfortable looking couches and plush cushions, each pony drastically different than the last. The first was an utterly massive earth pony likely bigger than Twilight. He lack of armor left his dark green coat and brown hair exposed, with the mark of an axe coming down on a wooden wolf on his flank. A nearly identical axe actually leaned against the couch he was laying on. His ashy eyes examined Daedalus with an intent gaze as Daedalus' own eyes glanced toward the next pony. On the floor right below the earth pony was a tiny unicorn mare, probably half the size of an average mare. Her pure white coat and sunshine yellow mane reminded him of Celestia, a fact that was only reinforced when he realized her horn was much longer than average- then he realized it was actually just regular sized and she was small. Her cutie mark was a bright blue dome pushing back darkness. Orange eyes glanced at him for a moment before she turned her attention back to the stallion above her and the two resumed a quiet conversation.

Immediately on his right and laying on her back on a couch was a mare that, after a moment of confusion, Daedalus identified as a thestral. Her coat was nearly the same shade as Luna's and contrasted nicely with her pure silver mane and tail. Next to her on the floor was a pile of silvery chainmail armor, most likely hers. As she idly hummed a simple tune, her teal eyes watched him with a small smirk. The final pony was a young looking pegasus stallion laying on a cushion opposite the thestral mare. Fiery orange hair clashed with his teal coat as his bright red eyes openly stared at Daedalus in unreserved curiosity. His cutie mark popped out on his coat, with a bright star shooting across a night sky as lightning bolts fell from the star.

Captain Iron gestured toward one of the open seats. As Daedalus took a seat with Captain Iron on one of the cushions across from him, the white mare spoke up. "So, what are you?"

The Evolved glanced over at the mare who had broken the silence so suddenly and noticed that her horn was alight in a blue miasma that matched the magic on her cutie mark. Most likely an effect of her magic, her previously orange eyes were now a deep red darker than the stallions. "I'm a human."

She snorted dismissively. "Yeah, I get that, but what are you? Your body is spiked all weird under thermal, one flat temperature all over. Too high, too"

"Yeah, and I don't smell any blood or hear a heartbeat, either. Or breathing, for that matter." The thestral mare added as she rolled onto her side. She idly draped a hoof off the couch and swayed it through the air as she continued. "You're not undead, either. No reek of decay, no rotting tissue. Not to mention, you would have turned to ash as soon as you walked past the front gate."

"And I'm not reading any electrical pulses in your body, either." The stallion commented from the side.

"Right. So, what are you?" The unicorn asked again as the five ponies stared at him in a mix of wariness and curiosity.

Daedalus let out a heavy sigh. Ten seconds in and they already knew something was off about him. He wasn't sure what had prompted the unicorn to check him with thermals, but it didn't matter in the long run. After a second of consideration, he shrugged. It would be better to explain what he actually was. If he was going to work with them closely and if they were going to trust him with their lives, the least he could do is be honest. Not to mention, he wasn't under any order to hide what he was so he figured it was at his own discretion who he told. But he would first fix what gave him away. Underneath his skin and invisible to the ponies, his body rapidly shifted as he created various biological processes that, while not necessary at all, would help hide him better from ponies with an eye for detail. For the first time in two years, a complete system began to form within Daedalus. Lungs took in air and exhaled slowly as a strong heartbeat started up. Blood specifically scrubbed clean of traces of the Blacklight virus began to circulate through newly formed veins. He couldn't lower his body temperature due to the natural restlessness of the virus, but the additional friction caused by organic processes would ensure he wasn't one even temperature all over. A false brain began to send nerve impulses through his body that, though they didn't actually control his viral body, would mimic the brainwaves of a mortal human.

"And now all the weirdness is gone." The mare said with an irritated frown directed at him. "Temps are a bit more normal but still too high. Get to talking."

Daedalus began as he wasted no time beating around the bush or hinting toward what he was. "I'm not undead or alive, but still sapient. I'm not going to go over the exact specifics of how I came to be, but I'm essentially a virus called Blacklight, and those like me are called Evolved though I'm the only one on Equis. Unlike any other virus that exists, I'm not inherently contagious but can be if I choose, though I swore to the Princesses of Equestria that I have no intention of doing so. As a virus, I don't need lungs, or blood, or a brain, or a nervous system, or anything else really. I have complete genetic control over my own body which is why some of the things that gave me away disappeared. I began to mimic the natural biological processes I had before I became what I am. The temperature I can't help though, that's just a part of what I am."

"If you can create all these things, then you can change other things about you, yeah?" The earth pony asked, his baritone voice laced with a heavy rumble.

"Yes. I can shapeshift provided I have a genetic sample I can mimic, or given enough time I can create my own so I don't need to copy anyone. Additionally, I can perform free-form transformations, redesigning my body however I like. With that, I can actually turn any part of my body into any type of weapon. A few other traits I have from this is I'm normally incredibly dense-"

"Naturally." The thestral interrupted with a cheeky smile. After seeing his amused look, she gestured for him to continue.

"To the point that my flesh is denser than gold and harder than steel, though I'm severely weakened from Luna obliterating half my body during our duel. I have more senses than I bother trying to explain and everything I do have is amplified to the extreme, though I normally tune it out. I'm all around fast including my reaction time and unnaturally strong as my density means I can pack far more muscle into my relatively smaller frame, and can restructure myself into a form more suited for combat. Lastly, I can absorb any organic matter with varying effects on what I absorb. If it's tissue, I gain their genetic coding and can shapeshift into them and gain any powers tied to their biology. If it's brain matter, provided that I absorb it within ten minutes of death, or preferably before brain death, I'll gain all of their memories." Daedalus explained. To his surprise, they didn't seem all that concerned about what he explained as they just nodded. A moment later, Captain Iron spoke up.

"Alright, if all that's true, you'll definitely be a great asset to the team. Whatever you are, you're clearly a natural hunter. We'll get introductions out of the way first, teach you a bit about who we are and what we do, and move on to the tour. You probably already know, but I'm Captain Wrought Iron. Unless we're somewhere formal, just call me Iron. Ain't no point with titles when you've got a manticore trying to impale you. I'm the leader of the Hunters and run my own band here in Canterlot consisting of the ponies you see around you, and you'll be joining us. I favor the hammer, though I'm capable of using just about any weapon under the sun or moon and quite a bit of magic as well."

Then he nodded to the unicorn and she picked up where he left off. "I'm Sergeant First Class Aqua Dome, but just call me Aqua. One of the newest members, my specialty is magic, but don't let my small statue fool you. If an expanding shield inside your chest cavity doesn't kill you, I can pick up just about any blade and slice you apart just fine."

The large earth pony right above her continued the introductions. "Sergeant Major Split Kindling but everypony calls me Kin. I specialize in axes, but like the Captain I can pick up just about anything heavy and use it just fine. I can handle a small blade just fine, but my strength will put something big and heavy to use easier."

"I'm Sergeant Lightning Star, newest member of the Tartarian Hunters- that's our full name, by the way- and the fastest pony on the team. 's far as I know, only pony who outclasses me is that Element of Loyalty, and even them I'm getting close to breaking the sound barrier. Wingblades are my thing, but I can manipulate electricity pretty well too. Though- I can't actually sense brainwaves like I said I did. I was mostly just adding stuff on to everypony else and just happened to get it right." The orange and blue pegasus said and gave a smirk directed to Daedalus.

"Guess I'm last," The thestral said as she gave him a small smile. "Second Lieutenant Glimmering Moonbeam, but I just go by Moon or Beam. Second in command of our little corner of the Hunters, I'm a dine and dash kinda pony. Knives and poisons are my forte and just a couple pricks can weaken or even incapacitate my foe. I've turned quite a few pitched fights into just putting down a pained animal, as I'm sure Iron can attest."

When they all turned to him, he gave a light shrug. "Daedalus, Greater Evolved. Call me Jay if you want something faster to say since that's my real name. Not really a part of the military, I don't have a rank. Skill sets are... pretty much everything. I can shapeshift to a perfect mimicry of anything whether it's my body type or not. Bladed and blunted are just fine for me, and I'm nigh unkillable with the only weakness I'm aware of is high-powered magic. Luna-level magic, since it left her exhausted for like three hours after. I can synthesize or cure basically any poison or disease I have a sample of and heal practically any physical injury as long as I understand your body on a genetic level. However, I'm unable to use even a shred of magic."

"Oh, I think we'll get along just fine, Jay." Beam said, licking her lips as she gazed at him. "I feel like you'll make things so much better around here."

(10) A Talk with Love

It seemed that pink hearts and clear glass was Cadence's preferred decorating palette. To be fair, it fit her. Her dresser had a collection of glass figurines of what appeared to be her friends and family all set around a heart shaped mirror situated in the center of the vanity. A glass coffee table was in the center of the room with a large glass vase full of pink flower, with two large pink cushions were on either side of the table. A glass chandelier hung from the ceiling far above with wax candles burning with merry pink flames, somehow. A large pink and blue canopy bed dominated the far corner, clearly what she shared with Shining Armor when they were here instead of the Empire.

Cadence, the ever pink alicorn, was laying on one of the couches across from him as she drank from her cup of tea and gave him a knowing smile. Daedalus returned her look with an exasperated one as he realized she already knew what he was here for, why, and for who. He was proven right when she spoke. "Sooooo~?"

"So?" Daedalus asked with a convincing level of confusion. She gestured for him to take a seat so he did as he settled into the surprisingly plushy cushion.

"How far did you two gooo~?" Cadence teased with a bright smile as she waggled her eyebrows at him. When he didn't respond to her teasing, she just sighed and levitated a steaming cup of tea over to him which he gratefully accepted. "You're no fun."

"She doesn't agree." Daedalus let up as he smiled softly. Her eyes went wide for a second before she understood, then gave him a sad pout.

"You're mean." She whined softly. She held it for a second as Daedalus just smirked at her before she broke, soft giggles filling the room as she smiled widely at him again.

Daedalus nodded and returned her smile with one of his own. "Teasing aside, I honestly did come here for your advice with Star."

"I assumed as much." Cadence said with a grin. "Tell me about her~"

Daedalus set his cup of tea down as Cadence leaned toward him, eager to hear what he had to say. "Silver Starfall, one of Celestia's lance corporal's. A tall mare with a pretty silver coat and blue mane. When I was going to meet with Celestia and Luna and told them about what I was, she gave me some good advice and helped me relax. Then, after everyone left the room after my duel with Luna, she met me outside and asked to keep me company as I explored Canterlot. We got a little off track though and just ended up eating out at some restaurant I never got the name of and had a pretty good time."

"Oh." Cadence said with slight disappointment that it wasn't some whirlwind story about one of them sweeping the other of their feet or hooves. That disappointment lasted only a second before she perked up again. "Oooooh, her! I know Starry, she's a very sweet mare. I can definitely see why she'd be interested in you. How did she go from your tour guide to a possible partner in a single day, other than what obviously turned into a date?"

"She was very forward in her interest with me. In all honestly, if she hadn't, I wouldn't even be thinking about a possible partner for probably years in this world." Daedalus explained with a chuckle. When she gestured for him to go on, he explained more. "After we left the restaurant, we started to head back to the castle since the sun was setting. When we passed one of the gardens in the street, she offered me a rose."

Daedalus would have said more but he was interrupted by a flash and crack of magic as Cadence teleported across the table to his side. With a very serious expression on her muzzle, she pressed her hoof to his chest as she spoke sternly. "What did you do? Leave absolutely nothing out, this is very important."

"Before I even could do anything, she pulled it back and asked if I knew what that gesture meant. I told her what it meant to humans but it wasn't the same, so she told me what it meant here in Equestria. After she explained the different ways a stallion could respond, I took the rose, put it in my hair, and then kneeled down and hugged her." The Evolved explained as he gently grabbed her hoof and pushed it back from him. She let it fall to the side and gave him an approving nod.

"Good because I would have beat you black and blue if you had refused to take the flower. Now, I'm guessing you're here for advice from me on where to go from here?" Cadence inquired as she leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Well, more than just that. I need to know about pony culture in general and you seem like the best person for me to go to. Like, this right here? Your head on my shoulder? Not always, but in most cases that's romantic. If I'm going to actually do this with her, I need to make sure I do it right. So, honestly, I need to know everything." Daedalus explained sheepishly as he gave Cadence a smile. "I hope you don't mind helping."

With a bright smile, the Alicorn of Love leaned in and nuzzled Daedalus gently. Then she placed a hoof on his chest again and slowly pushed him. "Lay down."

The Evolved just mentally shrugged and went along with it as he turned and laid down on his back on the cushion. Cadence quickly settled down next to him and rested her head on his chest just before she draped a wing across him. "What does a position like this mean to you?"

"It's pretty much something only partners would do for humans."

Cadence shook her head. "Not what it means for humans. You aren't human. What does it make you feel?"

Daedalus hesitated for a moment before he brought up his hand and gently began to run in through her mane. She gave an approving hum before he slowly answered her. "...It's comfortable. It doesn't feel romantic, and it's not awkward even though I think it should be."

Cadence giggled and nodded as her mane brushed against his face. "It doesn't feel romantic because it's not, even though that's what you're used to. It doesn't feel awkward because there's no reason it should. Ponies are very physically inclined. Although words are always nice, a snuggled pony is a happy pony. We look for little bits of physical affection from friends and family. A hug here, a cuddle there, it all means so much more to us than just nice words. Humans are not the same?"

"My culture wasn't, but I'm sure some were. Where I was raised, physical affection was primarily between family and that was mostly hugs. Something like this was reserved for romantic partners."

"There's a lot of physical contacts that can occur between friends. It's a pretty good idea to always give your friends a nuzzle, boop, or hug whenever you feel like it. Even a pony having a bad day wouldn't say no, they'd probably want it more. Even snuggling like we are now, if you're just relaxing or spending time with a friend. There's no romantic undertone to any of it, it's just something that's comfortable and helps you feel closer to your friends. I think we also mentioned that friends will help preen wings as well. In general, a pony is always happy to receive a little bit of affection. As long as you keep your hands away from flanks, back legs, and tails, then you're pretty much safe to touch any part of a pony's body without it being taken the wrong way. The only other spot to worry about are teats on a mare, but they're easy enough to avoid as long as you stick to the front of a pony's barrel." Cadence explained as she purposely fluttered the wing draped across his body. He took the clear hint and gently grasped it as he ran his fingers across her extra soft feathers.

"Just like that." Cadence sighed happily as she snuggled further into his surprisingly warm body. "When you find a feather that's bent, pluck it out. You probably won't though, I keep my wings in good shape and don't fly a lot. Now, just as physical contact is an integral part of pony culture, so is love. Romantic love is an absolutely magical thing that everypony wants to experience. I'd even say it's a driving factor of Equestrian society. As a general rule, ponies are extremely trusting but also trustworthy. Cheating is incredibly rare and relationships rarely end badly. When a mare knows who she wants, she'll go for it because there's very little risk. Sure, the couple might not work out. Maybe they don't have much in common, or one partner has a habit that is troublesome for the other, but it almost always ends mutually and the two part amicably, a little more experienced and a little wiser."

"That's the case with Starfall. She knows she's interested in you. I doubt she's in love with you but she is interested in you, so she's pursuing you. Now, something to keep in mind is that when you took that flower and hugged her, you didn't commit to a relationship with her. I'm not suggesting you go bar hopping looking for another mare, but you asked me to explain everything so I am. You told her you were interested in her and wanted to see where things went, but you didn't commit yet so don't go thinking you're in a relationship with her. The next few weeks will be the two of you spending time together, getting to know each other, and learning more about the other. When one of you feel like you're ready to commit, you'll ask the question."

"The question?"

"'Will you be my mare/coltfriend?'" Cadence answered with a smile. "Until one of you ask that question, you're not dating. Until then, she's going to pursue you pretty hard. Mares are pretty competitive when it comes to claiming their stallions and she's going to do everything she can to make sure your eyes are on her alone, at first."

"...At first?" Daedalus asked hesitantly. He wasn't sure he liked the sound of that.

Cadence rolled over onto him as she rested fully on him. She wiggled in place for a solid minute as she struggled to get comfortable on him, something that was made much easier when he lowered the density on the front of his body. "The gender skew. Stallions are outnumbered three to one, so a mare that's slow to act is a mare that risks losing their stallion to another. Of course, once she's got her claim on you, she'll probably want a second or even third mare. Most mares like the idea of a decent sized herd though maybe Starfall will want to be exclusive."

Daedalus sat straight up, forcing Cadence to roll off of him as he gazed at her with a deeply confused and concerned look. "What."

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

Daedalus rubbed his forehead as he tried in vain to dispel a mental tiredness. He was sitting up now and leaned against the table as he ran his hand through his hair. He stared down at the pink alicorn now sitting in his lap as she gave him a suspiciously innocent smile. "Cadence, humans are monogamous so the idea of polygamy not only being common but expected is a very big change for me."

She gave a little shrug as she leaned further into him and rested her head on his shoulder as her wings wrapped around him. As she held him, she continued with a small hum. "When a mare finds a stallion who she truly loves, it's an instinct to share that pony with others she cares about. Whether it's an old instinct from before we were sapient or some form of love magic isn't known, but it's pretty common. But although it's common, it's not the rule. Shining and I are exclusive to each other, after all. Nothing says you have to have a herd."

She gave his cheek yet another soft nuzzle. Daedalus couldn't help but think ponies were onto something with physical affection, the soft fur of her muzzle rubbing against the bare skin of his cheek did feel pretty nice. "However, Starfall may choose to follow that instinct. While the decision is ultimately yours just as much as hers, if I know Starfall at all then I know she's going to want a herd. I know polygamy isn't something you can just adjust to overnight, but I'd like you to at least consider it. A herd is a wonderful thing, Daedalus. It can bring ponies together into such an expression of honest, pure love. If Starfall does approach you about a herd, can I ask you to consider it?"

Daedalus wrapped his arms around the alicorn and hugged her softly and she gave him a little squeeze with her wings in return. Silence reigned between the two of them for several minutes before he quietly answered. "Yeah, I can promise that, Cadence. Besides, I'll have plenty of time to talk to her about it and come to terms with it. It'll just be another thing for me to talk to her about. Polygamy isn't as much as a jump as being a sapient virus."

Cadence giggled and nodded softly. "Yeah, you're right. And don't worry too much about how she'll react when you tell her what you are. Starfall is a sweet mare who's very understanding. She won't be upset with you."

"Thank you, Cadence. Honestly, I really appreciate your help and advice." Daedalus said honestly, gently rubbing the side of her muzzle and earning an appreciative hum.

Then she sat up, giving him an excited smile. "Of course, we're not done yet, Daedalus. I've still got plenty to teach you about pony courting~ You're going to be doing a lot of listening for the next couple of hours."

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

It took three hours until Cadence was satisfied he knew enough to not screw up and hurt Starfall's feelings. Thanks to his perfect memory, he wouldn't be forgetting anything he had been told, and he had been told plenty. Cadence had taught him everything from how to properly take a mare out on a date to how to ensure everyone in his herd was content. She had even told him the signs of heat, little tricks to resist the tempting pheromones, and how to properly satisfy his partner without risk of pregnancy. Frankly, Daedalus had learned a bit more than he had cared to but he supposed it was a good thing.

Cadence gently tapped her nose against Daedalus' as she nudged him toward the door. "I think we've covered everything you need to know and more. Why don't you head to one of the courtyards and get some fresh air, hmm? Warm up in the sunlight, relax, and think on everything I've told you."

"Yeah, that does sound good. I think I'll take that advice, Cadence." Daedalus gave her a gentle hug as he put his newfound knowledge on pony affection to use. "Oh, and call me Jay."

"Jay?" She asked as she tilted her head slightly in confusion.

"My real name. Jay Fontenot. I took the name Daedalus after I became what I am to avoid people tracking me back to my family. I figured now that I don't really need to hide anymore I could go back to using my actual name." He explained and briefly ran his fingers through her mane as she smiled brightly at him.

"Okay, Jay. Have a great day and don't forget what I've told you here~"

"Trust me, I won't. I couldn't even if I wanted to." Jay said with a small smirk as she chuckled understandingly. He turned and made his way out of her room and back into the hallway. Just as when he entered, two Heart Guards stood outside the entrance to her chambers and they both turned and gave him a respectful nod. He left that segment of the castle and made his way back toward the Hunter's barracks only to stop a few hallways before the entrance as a sudden thought caused him to turn right and slip out a side door and into a large, open air courtyard. It was a peaceful area with a large gazebo in the center of the area. A little stream burbled merrily through the area as wild flowers grew all around. A layer of cool grass made even the ground comfortable.

Daedalus ignored the gazebo and instead moved to where the stream flowed out from a small grate in the wall. The soft splashing sound was soothing to his jumbled emotions and as he worked to get them under control, he found himself more and more relaxed as he sorted through his feelings. I've been here like three days. I've already been employed by prestigious monster hunters, met a mare who's interested in me and wants to see where things lead, and been exposed to raw magic that apparently tied my emotions to my soul.

That had been part of his lessons with Cadence. He hadn't brought up his dream to her or even told her after she had described what he had seen perfectly, but it added up. The reason why ponies were tied so closely to love and friendship unlike other species such as dragons, griffins, and diamond dogs was literally because of magic. The 'magic of emotions,' as Cadence called it, was so imprinted into Equestria that the very land and air was imbued with it. Any foreigner who came and stayed in Equestria would soon be connected to the magic. She had said it was why most griffins in their homeland were rude and brutish, but Equestrian-born griffins or ones who had moved to Equestria were generally far nice and friendlier.

Almost everyone who described it had described a dream where they were suspended in a viscous pink fluid. As the dream progressed, the gel would stream into the dreamer until it was all gone. When they woke, they would feel all their emotions so much stronger and clearer than before. It also apparently made it very difficult to go home as the magic would fade with distance from Equestrian shores until everything felt grey and lifeless. It was apparently something Celestia and Luna had mixed feelings about as it helped keep Equestria the peaceful and friendly love it is, but they felt it was a dangerous thing to change the feelings of creatures that come to Equestria. Apparently, any visitors had to go through a small class warning them of the the magic of emotions and that if they stayed too long in Equestria, they likely wouldn't want to go home.

After he heard this straight from the Alicorn of Love's muzzle, he understood he had most likely experienced the same thing. The ambient magic of Equestria had tried to boost his kinder emotions only to find none and instead tied them to his very soul, and no amount of viral control over his physical body would allow him to affect his soul. However, he would be lying to himself if he said he was unhappy with the change. He could truly care for others now, not just the synthetic care he felt before. Although, the Princess had described that the dreamers only saw pink, not the kaleidoscope of colors he had seen during his dream.

A weight settled on his legs and snapped him out of his thoughts as he tuned back in to the world around him. A pair of familiar pink eyes gazed out from under a Solar guard helmet and met his own. Whether she was shirking her duty, on break, or had just gotten off work, Starfall had found him and decided to join him. She pulled her helmet off and dispelled the disguising enchantment just before the Evolved reached out and cupped her cheek and gently brushed her fur with his thumb. She returned his smile with one of her own and nuzzled into his hand as she answered his confused look. "Princess Cadence told me where you'd be, and I'm on lunch right now."

He nodded in understanding before he reached down to wrap his arms around her barrel. Starfall gave a surprised squeak at being suddenly picked up but relaxed quickly as he held her close to his chest and began to run his hand through her mane. A content little coo sounded from the happy pony in his arms as she rested her head on his shoulder and got comfortable, ready to spend her break in the best way she could think of. Daedalus couldn't help but notice the warmth growing his chest as he held the soft mare and gave a pleased smile as he rested his head on top of hers, carefully minding her horn.

(11) Heart to Heart

Some time later, Daedalus became aware of Starfall shifting on him as she let out an unhappy noise. After a moment of procrastination, she slowly rose and stretched as she arched her back and let out a happy little coo. As she stretched, Daedalus couldn't help it as his eyes roamed over her form, taking in the sight despite her shiny armor. Even without being a pony, he knew she was attractive. Tall among ponies, she easily matched the height of Twilight and came just up to his chest when they were both standing. Her silver coat gleamed in the sunlight and, as he knew from the experience, was carefully cared for and incredibly soft to the touch. Her midnight mane framed her head in a short, simple curls that kept it out of her face when it was in her helmet. She opened her eyes and caught him blatantly staring with a small smile on his face as her eyes met his own. A deep care glimmered in those gentle portals, not yet love but not far from it either.

He could see it on her face, she had considered teasing him for staring for a second before she changed her mind. Instead, she leaned in close and planted a soft kiss on his cheek as he reached up and gently cupped her muzzle, his thumb caressing her own cheek in return. "I thought you had fallen asleep."

"I wasn't far from it, Star. You're comfortable." Daedalus said truthfully. It had been very tempting to just fall asleep as he had held her.

"Pot to the kettle." She retorted as she smiled happily at him. "You're surprisingly warm for somepony with no coat. I could sleep all day if I'm not careful, even if you are a little hard to lay on."

"Could make it a day just for us." Daedalus offered as her face lit up in excitement.

"That sounds wonderful. It'll have to be another day, though. I've got to check back in with my corporal and then get back on my patrol."

Glancing up at the sky, Daedalus saw the sun was about halfway between noon and setting. "You won't be off until after dark, will you?"

"No, I won't. Then I've gotta polish my armor and clean my bunk for inspection tomorrow. Will I see you tomorrow?" She asked as her eyes drifted shut. She leaned into the hand that cupped her cheek with a content little smile.

"I'd like that. Today's Friday, right? When's your next day off?"

"Sunday." Starfall answered an quickly gave him a gentle boop before she stepped back. "I've really gotta go back. If I don't, I'll stay here with you all day and get fired."

"I know. I would too. Have fun, Star." Daedalus said, giving her a playful smile.

She snorted and returned his smile. "Fun, sure. Walking through the halls for another six hours before heading back to clean a room I share with eleven other mares. I'd prefer to stay with you but I rather like being able to buy food and take you out sometimes~"

She levitated her helmet back up to her head as the illusion quickly took hold. Her colors changed back to the pure white coat and lighter blue mane that was standard for the guards. Giving him one last smile, she turned around and exited the courtyard as she returned to her duties. Letting out a contented sigh, Daedalus let his head rest back on the grass. He really had been on the edge of falling asleep with her. Despite not needing sleep and having nigh-infinite stamina, he felt tired. Not physically of course, but more mentally from the busy day. He had met his sect of the Tartarian Hunters then had a several hour long talk with Cadence. While he truly did appreciate all of it, her lessons had shifted from pony love to pony sex far quicker than he had anticipated and it had been pretty embarrassing when she got to heat. Not to mention, laying there for what was probably nearly an hour with a warm feeling in his chest hadn't helped his tiredness at all.

"Somepony's been busy~" Daedalus heard a familiar voice call out teasingly. Opening his eyes again, he looked toward the entrance to see Celestia entering. Giving her a small smile, he beckoned her over to him. Walking over with a serene smile, she took a seat next to him. "First you get introduced to the Hunters. Then you have the talk with Cadence, probably learning more than you ever wanted to this quickly. And finally, I find you out here snuggled up with one of my Guards who's acting like a filly with a crush~"

"Things are happening far too fast." Daedalus answered honestly as he stretched. Celestia paused, having expected him to tease back like he did before. Celestia instead wrapped her wings around him and gently pulled him into her. When her large wings wrapped around him, he chuckled softly. "Though not in a bad way. It's just hard to keep up with all that's happened today and yesterday."

She giggled softly and gently nuzzled her soft muzzle into his cheek. "Talk to me, Jay. It doesn't need to make sense, just air out some of those silly thoughts in your head for me."

"I've only been here three days now." Daedalus explained as he leaned his head side. "I think I'm adapting well and Cadence helped a lot in that regard as she taught how important physical affection is for ponies. She calmed a lot of my fears with Starfall but, still. Everything is happening so quick. Then there's my emotions."

"Your emotions?" Celestia asked curiously.

"I'm a virus. I don't have natural emotions. Everything I felt was because I decided I wanted to feel it. But after a dream I had last night, I can't control my emotions. I'm not unhappy with that change, but it's something I'm having to adjust to." Daedalus explained.

"Pink gel flowing into you?" The white alicorn asked as her muzzle softly brushed through his hair as she nuzzled the top of his head again.

"Yeah. I didn't tell Cadence about it but she mentioned it as part of her 'talk.' I know it's the ambient magic in Equestria connecting my emotions to my soul." As he nodded, she squeezed him tighter with her wings before pulling back. A hoof touched his cheek, turning his head to look at her.

Her magenta eyes met his light blue ones and he felt her aura surround him. As the sense of belonging overcame him, he found him wild emotions calming as she continued to look into his eyes. She gave him a moment as she watched the stress in his eyes fade before she spoke. "Oh, you sweet, silly man. You have nothing to worry about. Yes, things are progressing quickly, but can you look me in the eyes and say it's bad?"

"No, I really can't. Starfall... I like her. I definitely do. Being part of the Hunters will be good, too. I'll be able to help a lot of ponies and save lives." Daedalus explained. The white alicorn smiled softly and gave him a third nuzzle as her nose gently rubbed against his own.

"Then don't worry about it, Jay. If the changes aren't bad, let them come. Take them in stride, trust your friends, and enjoy life. After all, I don't see why you wouldn't be happy with a pretty mare crushing on you and an attractive goddess hugging you~" Celestia said, ending with a teasing smile as mirth twinkled in her eyes. Reaching up and cupping her muzzle, he gently caressed the short fur with his thumb.

"If I didn't know any better I'd say you were flirting with me, Celestia." He said with a small smile.

"Who said I'm not~?" She cooed with a light pink blush on her muzzle, closing her eyes and leaning into his hand. Feeling him freeze for a second, her smile widened as she giggled. "Don't worry, Jay, I'm not going to make things harder on you. Once you're comfortable with Starfall, though, I make no promises~"

"A-ah." Daedalus said, not quite sure what to say to that. It didn't help when she gave him a knowing smile, winking playfully. "You're horrible."

"I make things fun." She said confidently. Pushing him back onto his back, she followed him soon after and folded her legs under her, resting part of her upper body on him. "Half teasing aside, how do you feel about Equestria now that you've met some other ponies?"

"Half teasing?" He asked her and only received an innocent look in return. "Anyway, I like Equestria. I've already told you that I think I could come to see this place as home and that's completely true. More than that though, I enjoy the ponies here too. All the physical affection isn't something I'm used to, but it's nice."

"I bet it is." Celestia smirked, leaning further onto him. "Especially when you're surrounded by pretty mares~"

"Hush, Celestia." Daedalus said with a chuckle and reached up to run his hand through her hair. Despite the magical appearance of her mane, it only really felt like tingly, soft hair.

"Nah, I know you enjoy it." She giggled softly. "I know I would."

Falling into a comfortable silence, Celestia hummed happily at his attention. With her soft fur brushing against his skin and a pair of warm wings draped over his body, Daedalus couldn't help but think how lucky he was. Of all the worlds he could have been brought to, this was the one. It could have been a corrupt nation, a place of greed, or horrors even worse than the Evolved. Instead, he got very snuggly ponies.

"So about that flirting." Daedalus said after a moment as he looked down at the alabaster alicorn.

Looking back up at him from where her head was resting on his chest, she gave a sheepish smile. "I'm sorry if I bothered you with that, but it wasn't just a tease."

Letting his head fall back to the grass, he sighed softly before he started to slowly chuckle. He felt her muzzle maneuver its way into the crook of his neck as she continued. "The life of an immortal is lonely, Jay. There aren't a lot of male immortals on Equis and none of them are not what I would call 'friendly'. The only one I could name is Discord and I shudder to think of a relationship with him. Then you come along. Calling it a rocky start would put it lightly, but the Elements resolved the issue, and then you came here to Canterlot. You show my sister and I complete trust by telling us what you are and what your past is, quickly cementing yourself as a friend. You befriended my sister almost instantly and get along with her well. Despite the fact that you could literally do nothing for eternity since you don't need food, you instead decided to join the Hunters to help ponies. You could argue that it was Luna's boon, but you could have easily had it considered unfair since you'd be risking your life."

"Then you meet Starfall and she becomes interested in you. Instead of rejecting her, you go out of your way to learn how courting works in our society. Then when you learn how much ponies rely on physical affection, you immediately start showing it and making those close to you feel more cared for. Even in a completely strange world out of your element in a hundred ways and with your entire life changing overnight, you focus on fitting in with those around you. I can't help but find you attractive." Celestia said honestly, reaching up and pressing her hoof against his cheek. Her pink eyes shone with something he couldn't quite identify, simultaneously looking so confident yet so vulnerable. "Truth be told, I probably shouldn't have said anything. You have enough on your mind with Starfall and learning how to show love like a pony and you don't need to worry about anything else. But I had already stuck my hoof in my mouth and I wasn't going to back down. For now, just focus on Starfall, Jay. Once you're settled with her for better or for worse, then we'll talk."

Reaching up and gently grasping her hoof, he stroked the silky fur as he met her eyes, the same powerful calm helping him keep his head on straight. "Truth be told, it's not as bad as you might think. If I had been a normal human, I think I'd be struggling a lot more than I am now. Celestia, I was a slave to a genocidal god who used a mutant zombie apocalyptic virus to try to destroy the world. Going to a world where ponies are very open about what they're looking for is a cakewalk. I had years to adapt to what I had become, what my world had become, and having it change again is nothing strange to me. Especially since it changed for the better. My virus ensured my emotional state never changed because I didn't have an emotional state."

Resting his forehead against hers and minding the large horn, he closed his eyes and sigh. "Mentally, I'm a Greater Evolved. Emotionally, though, I'm still a human. That comes together into a complicated mix of 'I don't know what I'm feeling.' Side by side, I simultaneously have no issue with dating a pony but I'm scared of the idea of polygamy. Like you said, a part of me is okay with it. After all, the idea of having two attractive mares interested in me sounds nice. Another part of me finds it terrifying. I could screw up twice and hurt two people I care about, not just one."

Nodding in understanding, Celestia leaned in and gently nuzzled her nose to his own. "Then don't worry about it. Maybe in a year you'll have no issue with it and think you're being silly now. In my opinion, just focusing on yourself and Starfall is the best thing you can do for now. Okay?"

Giving her an appreciative smile, he nodded. "Okay. I'll try not to keep you waiting, though."

"I've waited two thousand years for a good stallion. Even a hundred more is nothing in the grand scope of my life." Celestia said with an honest smile. "For now, just get comfortable and keep brushing my mane. I'm still free for the next twenty minutes."

Laughing, Daedalus nodded as he brought his hand back up to her mane. "Alright, Celestia."

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

Celestia was startled as the door to her bedroom was suddenly flung open as Luna entered with a happy smile on her muzzle. Gently closing the door behind her, she hurried over to Celestia's bed and climbed in, the plush mattress easily able to handle their combined weight. She scooted closer to Celestia until their sides were touching and gave her older sister a hopeful look. With an understanding smile, Celestia draped a large white wing over the midnight blue alicorn and softly nuzzled her. "Why, hello there my little Moon~"

"Fancy meeting you here~" Luna responded playfully, snuggling deeper into her sister's embrace as she rested her head on Celestia's outstretched hooves. "How was thine day?"

"It was a good day. I caught up on about a tenth of my paperwork and released a statement on Jay, so hopefully he won't receive as much staring next time he goes into Canterlot now that ponies know about him. Although, I did buck up." Celestia said, giving Luna a sheepish look as the smaller alicorn looked up at her, eyes narrowed. "I maaay have mentioned that I was attracted to him and considering pursuing him."

"Sister." Luna gave an exasperated sigh but couldn't hold it against her, instead leaning in to nuzzle Celestia's neck. "Why did you do that? You know we were going to wait to avoid overwhelming him, especially after Starfall beat us to it."

Celestia gave an embarrassed whine, a pink dusting on her muzzle betraying her feelings. "I know, little Moon, but we were talking in one of the courtyards and he was confiding in me and we were holding each other and then a tease just slipped out. I already stuck one hoof in my mouth and I didn't want to try to play it off in case I made him think I was incredibly not interested in him, so I just told him the truth and explained it, and promised that I wouldn't pursue him until he was comfortable with Starfall."

"Did you tell him about us?" Luna asked, giving her sister a look. "We agreed we'd both be there for that."

She shook her head. "No, I didn't. I didn't want to give him even more to think about. We had a heart to heart, though, and he's not as overwhelmed as we thought he was. The ambient magic of Equestria has already touched him and his emotions are far stronger than before, but he said he's happy with the change."

Luna glanced down, a small smile coming to her muzzle even as it tinted red. "I imagine he'll be quite happy when he finds out he has both of us pining after him."

Celestia giggled, nodding her head. "Well, once he's gotten used to the idea of a herd. He was raised to be strictly monogamous and, though a lot of who he was has changed, he's still emotionally the same as he was before he became what he is."

Nodding her head, Luna sighed. "I suppose that is going to be hard to adjust to. Do you think Starfall could do it?"

"Absolutely. That mare has always wanted a big herd. She's a force to be reckoned with when it comes to getting what she wants. And she'll have us helping her." Celestia giggled, thinking about the Solar Guard. "He won't stand a chance."

"What do you mean, sister?" Luna asked, looking up at her sister with confused, innocent eyes.

Celestia gave her sister an alluring smile, making Luna blush heavily as she realized what her sister was getting at. Celestia leaned in and gently nibbled on the tip of Luna's ear and gained a small squeak before whispering softly. "With the three of us teasing him, no male could ever resist us for long~ By the end of the year we'll have Jay between the three of us."

Blushing hard, Luna turned her muzzle to catch Celestia's, turning the little tease into a gentle kiss.

(12) Zuri

The next few days flew by in Jay's opinion. Nothing in particular happened. No special events, nothing really exciting, it had just been a week of settling in. Truth be told, he loved it. It was a far cry from before where a special event was destroying a city and killing millions or where something exciting was a fight for his life. Each day, he stayed with Starfall during her lunch in the same courtyard. Sometimes she ate before coming, other times she brought food with her. He had even ordered takeout from Genevieve's restaurant to surprise her, something that had made her really happy as they ate together and snuggled in the shade of the high walls with clear blue sky far above them. For the first few days, he didn't see much of Celestia or Luna and assumed Celestia was keeping her distance out of worry of making things harder on him. Though he had ended up finding out she had just fallen behind on paperwork as she focused on helping him settle into his new home and it had finally caught up to her to the point she couldn't delay it anymore. To make up for it, he started keeping her company while she did said paperwork, though he obviously couldn't help as it was all classified to him. He had also chosen not to watch her hold court, but instead joined her and Luna for dinner.

On Luna's hoof, she had gone back to a night routine as she cited something about guarding dreams, but he hadn't asked for clarification at the time. She had also given him his calling card and Hunter's token and was told to keep them both on him at all times. As long as he kept his calling card on him, he would be able to receive letters from any of the four Princesses or any of the Hunters in his sect. Truthfully, he had been told anyone could send him a message as long as they knew his magical imprint, something all living creatures in this world had and something he had gained after he had been exposed to the emotion magic permeating Equestrian soil. However, that meant nothing in the realm of using magic and he still needed to rely on the enchanted Hunter's token, which Luna had slightly modified to allow him to send messages. 'Stored inside the latent matrices of the spellweave' as Luna had put it, the imprints of the Princesses and Hunters were stored. All he had to do was think of who he wanted to send a message to and tap both his token and his calling card to the scroll and it would dissolve into smoke and fly away.

The token itself was actually very well designed. It was made of a silvery metal that Luna had called moonsilver, an alloy that she and select few others could create. Engraved on both sides was a large manticore in the center of a triangle with each point comprised of a dive bombing pegasus, a bucking earth pony, and a casting unicorn. Behind it all was a stylized representation of Canterlot Castle which signified that the token belonged to a Hunter of the Canterlot sect. The medallion normally only had two spells enchanted into it normally. The first was a simple enchantment that would cause the moonsilver to glow when held and focused on by the Hunter it was attuned to, which ensured no one could pose as a Hunter successfully. The second spell allowed him to enter into any of the Tartarian Hunter compounds across Equestria. Each one had the same protective enchantments on the sole entrance and could not be physically opened by any means, and took the presence of a token or the might of an alicorn to open magically. Beyond that, Luna had claimed nothing less that the force needed to turn steel to sand would be needed to force the doors open and Jay found himself tempted to test that claim.

His time with the Hunters hadn't been wasted, either. Among their sect, he had almost immediately become the favorite sparring partner for everyone except Aqua Dome. For almost everyone, his ability to rapidly shift between various methods of attack and defense made him great practice for them. He could go from fighting Iron with a sword and shield to wildly swinging massive, nigh-unbreakable claws in seconds and forced them to become more versatile. Beam had even said it was some of the best practice she had gotten in years, far outmatching the hard magic constructs the arena could summon. For Aqua, dueling him was good practice for if her magic ran out but was otherwise useless. Lack of magic of any sort had made him incredibly susceptible to even the most basic of telekinesis. Strength great enough to crush steel could be immediately halted by a telekinetic grip, though Aqua claimed it was far harder to stop him if he was already moving. She had even figured that if he was moving at full speed and swinging as hard as he could, it was possible Twilight couldn't even stop him with her magic. For his part, he had learned that being completely restrained in a telekinetic sheet didn't stop him from creating new limbs, but Aqua had wizened up to that trick and started to catch his newly formed limbs before they could hit her.

Jay had even made the decision to write to Twilight and ask why the emotional magic that gave him his imprint hadn't helped him overcome his natural weakness, but that had been a mistake. One long range teleport and three hour lesson later and even his photographic memory didn't help him understand everything she had seen, even if he could repeat it. The only thing he took out of the session was that there were three classes of magic called active, passive, and ingrained, and that emotional magic was ingrained and the weakest type but also somehow the strongest, and that he would need active or at least a strong passive to fix that particular flaw of the virus.

Either way, the constant dueling kept them all at the ready. Not having a hunt for nearly a week was rare to the Canterlot Sect, but far from unheard of. Even if they didn't get called out soon, one of their bimonthly hunts was coming up anyway. Specifically, it was one scheduled in the Everfree Forest. One way or another, he would be attending a hunt in a few days. On another, unrelated note, he had even gotten everyone caught up on his name and explained that Daedalus was just a pseudonym he had taken to protect his family after his infection- though he had kept that little tidbit to himself when he had told Starfall. Either way, he had finally fully changed from using Daedalus to using Jay Fontenot.

Lastly, Jay had taken to exploring Canterlot in his down time, something he had a lot of. A few shops here and there had caught his attention, including one little alchemy shop on one of the larger streets just four blocks down from the restaurant Starfall had taken him too. He had been walking through the streets and almost hadn't even noticed the building before his eyes had caught the 'Help Wanted' sign hanging in one of the windows neatly framed by vines that were coated in pretty orange flowers. When he remembered the Hunters were looking for a more well-rounded potion brewer than Beam, he had given a mental shrug and entered Zuri's Balms, Tonics, and Droughts.

Jay had come to find out that the shop was run by a zebra named Zuri, a young girl in her early twenties who had left her homeland of Zebrica to make a name for herself selling potions in a land that didn't have many alchemists. According to her, it had worked far better than she ever imagined. As the only potion maker in Canterlot, she had more customers than she ever expected. So many, in fact, that she could no longer keep up with the orders even after rejecting about a third of her customers, mostly stallions coming in for potions to make mares fall in love.

The Evolved had explained that he was a new Tartarian Hunter and was interested in learning alchemy to assist the rest of his team. He told her that his schedule was very flexible but whenever he would be called to deploy, he would have to drop everything and go no matter what he was doing. She had thought about it for a minute then, after a moment, decided to accept his apprenticeship, and requested that he bring back any reagents he happened to come across while out in the field. Jay had accepted it and they came to an agreement. At first, she began to discuss pay only for him to dismiss it, citing that his pay from the Hunters was enough for him to live comfortably. Instead, he considered the apprenticeship payment enough for helping the store in his free time. His apprenticeship began the next day.

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

"Alchemy is an incredibly versatile skill. The amount of potions an alchemist can create is theoretically infinite with no known limit on what kinds of effects you can create through them, it's just a matter of discovering recipes. There are books that contain exact recipes for alchemy, but not many. Most alchemists choose to keep their recipes to themselves and only pass them down to their apprentices. I don't publish my recipes but once I've taught you all that I can, whether you choose to publish or keep them to yourselves will be your own." Zuri had closed the store only twenty minutes ago but appeared as eager to get started as he was to learn.

"All potions are created through two or three parts; the base, the primary reagent, and the secondary reagents. The base is the primary liquid needed, most commonly oil or water, and must match the desired potion's properties. Alchemist's fire, for example, is made with cooking oil as a base. Nothing else will work. Nature's growth, on the other hoof, is made with any natural juice as a base." Zuri explained before she glanced to Jay to ensure he was still awake. It would not be the first time an 'aspiring alchemist' fell asleep on her. To her satisfaction, he was very much awake and focused.

"The primary reagent is what truly gives a potion its effect. The method of application varies greatly from pouring in carefully measured powder to just dropping in a few stems or leaves. The most effective method will vary potion to potion and will be one of the many things you need to discover to truly 'master' a potion. For Rest of Mulbane, thirty grams of powdered dream thistle is the most effective method and will put you to sleep for twelve hours, but any other method or amount will work."

"Last comes the secondary reagents, which themselves are divided into two categories; reactive secondaries and additive secondaries. Reactives are reagents that can be used to change the effect of a potion. Magnolia buds can be used to make Mulbane's Late Night, though it's not the most effective and you can't buy magnolia's year round. It's cheaper and more efficient if you brew a Rest of Mulbane first, then add two and a half grams of rose petals and a gram of dandelion stem instead." Zuri paused and glanced at Jay again.

Maybe it would look better if I was taking notes instead of memorizing this on the spot.

"Then there are the additive secondaries. Additives aren't very well documented, but it's widely agreed upon that there are a plethora in nature. These ingredients will add additional affects when mixed with the proper potion, but the requirement of mixing the right potion with the right additive in the right amount is why these are difficult to discover. They can result in anything from increased shelf life, higher potency, longer duration, better taste, and so much more. Alchemist's Fire is a viscous oil that burns hot and long, but is pretty easily snuffed out and doubly so with magic. Add in wood charred by dragon fire and alchemist's now call it Burning Jelly. It'll stick to anything and needs to be completely snuffed of all air and fuel before going out." That earned a look from Jay as she described something similar to napalm, though she didn't notice his concerned gaze on her back.

"Now, more advanced potions get much harder to make. They'll require special equipment, rare ingredients, extra preparations, and a tinge of magic. Most of the simpler potions are created using the innate magic of the plants and ingredients you gather, but thesepotions will need a guiding touch of magic to really bring out their effects. Lover's Endurance won't work if you just throw the ingredients together and bottle it. Not only does the lover's leaf in it need to be steeped in a potion of Lover's Desire, it must also have an imprint of magic from someone who's been intimate with another." Zuri said, smirking softly.

"So to make a sexual stamina potion you have to let the main ingredient soak in an aphrodisiac, then have the potion itself be made by someone who's not a virgin." Jay spoke up finally with a soft chuckle as he shook his head. "Now, what about someone with no magic at all, not even passive magic like an earth pony?"

"Yes, exactly." She laughed, completely unaffected by his blunt way of saying it. "You'll be unable to make some of the higher tiers of potions, but all life contains imprints of magic and that is all that's needed for most. No active spell and no passive channeling is needed, only the barest shred of ingrained magic. Any other questions so far?"

"You mentioned that most plants have innate magic to them and that alchemy can help draw that power out and refine it. How do you know what effects a plant will have?" The Evolved asked, smiling softly.

"There are two ways. Of course, you can always just throw ingredients together and find what works, although this is not always the safest. Most of the time, your potion will just turn into a nasty smelling sludge. However, some ingredients do not like being mixed without proper stabilization and have very messy results, ranging from fire to ice and everything in between. The safer way is a potion called Insight, a simple tonic made from oak bark, grass clippings, and ground up rubies. Drinking this potion will give you alchemical knowledge on any reagent you are holding. Be warned, though, that it'll only last a few seconds. Whether you've randomly discovered something or used a potion to, make sure to write it down lest you forget. There is much more for me to go over such as using enchanted gems to simulate conditions you cannot meet but that is for later."

Rising to her hooves, she took another sip of water before she gestured for him to stand. "Come, I'll have you make your first potion. We'll start with Insight since the ingredients cannot react badly under any condition, even if you completely buck up. It's a very cheap potion but thanks to the time it takes to make it and it's duration, it ends up being a waste to use often. I recommend relying on it only when you must. As you become more experienced in the field, you'll be able to guess at what most plants will do just by your gut feeling. Whenever your gut fails you or you believe a reagent to be volatile, Insight will be your friend."

Following her downstairs from the second floor that served as her living space and into a back room, he found himself in what was clearly her workshop. There was no stereotypical cauldron present which made sense to him since a cauldron like that would make hundreds of potions in one sitting. Instead, the lower marble counters were covered in beakers and flasks with a large six door cabinet on one wall holding many more. Various lengths and shapes of glass tubing sat carefully contained in felt-lined boxes, creating an easily customizable network that could be used for a variety of processes. Another large cabinet and shelf system contained a large mix of materials, nearly everything from wood to clay to drying plants and more. Finally, a long series of shelves spanning half of one wall held a large variety of potions, all neatly labeled. Jay moved over to one of the counters at her insistent nudging, finding himself suddenly nervous.

"Before we continue, is your special talent alchemy?" Zuri asked, turning slightly and nodding toward her cutie mark. It stood out cleanly against her striped fur, being an open-topped red bottle with several green drops falling into it.

Jay shook his head. "No, my kind don't get them."

"That is not an issue. Now Insight uses a base of boiling water. Three strips of oak bark will make the potion itself. Crushed rubies and grass, while not necessary, will improve the effects of the potion and so you'll be using them too. First, start with the base." Zuri directed, beginning the process of guiding him through his first potion step by step.

Jay fell into an easy rhythm as he worked, following her directions to the letter. While the end goal and materials were utterly new to him, the process was very similar to working in a lab as he had done before his infection. Setting up the pony version of a Bunsen burner, Zuri explained to him that an open flame must be directly on all potions that required heat. Boiling the water separately and then adding it to the flask would not work, and as such all alchemical equipment was enchanted to resist high heat. The water soon came to a boil as he stoked the coals, then followed her next direction. Three strips of bark, each three inches long and one inch wide, were cut from a small oak log that had about half the bark missing already and maybe a tenth of the inner wood gone. He dropped the pieces into the glass and expected them to float around, but was shocked as the bark instantly dissolved with a small glimmer of magic and the boiling water turned into a boiling brown liquid.

"That is how you know the ingredient you used will work. Had you added a primary ingredient that did not work with a water base, the magic of alchemy would not have functioned and you'd have soggy reagents. However, this only applies for the primary reagent of a potion. From this point on, you can throw almost anything into the potion and it will accept it. However, results may vary." Zuri said, a wide smirk on her muzzle as she gestured toward the counter itself. When he looked closer, he could just barely make out little cracks in the marble that hinted at breakages and repairs.

Jay nodded and followed her next step. He grabbed a jar that was half full of grass trimming that was somehow neither brown nor mushy, almost appearing as if they were cut that morning. He made his way to one of the smaller balancing scales and set a fifty gram and ten gram weight on one side and began to slowly add grass to the other tray until it was perfectly balanced, the carefully maintained measurement lines on the top matching perfectly. Zuri nodded approvingly as he carefully collected the measured grass and added it to the potion. Again, the grass dissolved with a little glimmer of magic as the water turned a shade of bubbling red. "Keeping your equipment clean and in good condition is of utmost importance as an alchemist. A variance of only a single gram will cause some of your potions to come out fine and some to come out too weak, not even mentioning the risks of a potion violently failing as the wrong ingredient amount is added. Now, five grams crushed rubies."

He returned the jar right where he had found it and earned an approving hum from Zuri. Then he grabbed another sealed jar labeled 'powdered rubies' and was stopped. "No. Crushed rubies. The difference matters."

With a nod of understanding, he placed the jar back in the cabinet and browsed more, soon finding the right jar. Instead of sparkling powder, this jar was full of gemstones that looked as if they had been beaten with a hammer. Crushed, indeed. When Zuri didn't say anything, he took the jar back and carefully measured it as well, adding it to the potion. Immediately, the potion changed from a clear grey to a cloudy orange and he heard Zuri trot over to him.

"Now, the potion is nearly complete, you only need to seal it. Right now, this potion can be safely bottled, sold, and used and will work exactly as intended. However, if you sell this and a pony takes it home and boils it again, they can add their own ingredients to it and it will continue to accept them. That can spell much trouble for an alchemist. If the potion ends up exploding, there's no way to prove whether we sold an unsafe potion or if the customer changed it themselves. As such, you must ensure you seal all potions you make before you sell them. While you are here in my shop, you will leave no unsealed potions, understood? If you do not have the time to finish them, you will not 'start them and come back later.' You will not start them at all. Once you have your own place of work, then you may start and finish potions whenever you like. Clear?"

"Completely. How do I actually seal the potion?"

"The method to seal a potion depends on the base. For boiling water, you will stir it until it changes color one final time. Then you will quickly remove it from the heat and submerge it in water, it doesn't need to be cold but can't be hot. Do not worry, the glass will not shatter. Any alchemically rated glass will be safe." Zuri explained and dispelled his worry about the glass shattering in his hand from the sudden temperature change.

Jay grabbed a dipstick and spent nearly ten minutes stirring the liquid. Eventually, the color changed from a cloudy orange to a cloudy yellow. Unnecessarily using a pair of tongs, he picked up the heated glass and took an offered cork from Zuri, plugging the top. Then he dunked it into a mostly full basin of water at the edge of the counter as it hissed loudly from the heat. When the noise died down, he removed it from the water and grabbed it with his hands. It was still warm, which was not a surprise to him, but not at all hot. One final observation of the potion was that it was no longer cloudy but instead a solid yellow color.

"Good. Now, cork the bottle and store it." After Jay had done so, she continued. "Glue a paper to the bottle and write your name and what the potion is. Ensure you use the blue ink, it is of my own creation and completely erasable. It helps me save on paper and glue."

Now clearly labeled with his name and 'Insight,' Jay set the potion in an empty spot on one of the shelves. "That is your potion. I will not use or sell it without your express permission, and as such it will sit there until you need it. All potions you make will follow the same rules. If you do not label it, I will dispose of it. If you label it and don't put your name, I'll know it's yours but sell or use it anyway. Be responsible. Not all potions are safe and I do not want to hear that you set a filly on fire because you gave her the wrong potion."

"I understand. I'll be careful, I promise."

"Good. You did very well, be proud of that. My first Insight potion was not so quick. I did not mess up, but my measurements weren't so exact. The further you are from the 'proper' ratio and states of the ingredients, the longer it takes to make. I had to stir mine for two hours. Of course, it helps having a calibrated scale instead of guessing." Zuri said, giving a goodnatured nudge to his side. "Now, leave. I want to eat, bathe, and sleep. Your next lesson will be in three days, though you are welcome to come back any time. Even if you only watch, you can learn a lot just by paying attention."

(13) From One Nightmare to Another

Daedalus was in New York City. He was certain of it. If the massive skyscrapers, the streets full of cars, or the clusters of trash lining the edges of the road didn't give it away, then the utter state of ruin and infection it was in did. The city was once full of life with millions of residents all from various cultures around the world. Yet now it was an utter ruin. The once strong cement buildings were now broken down and crumbling to pieces. Those that hadn't been impacted with massive force or shelled into oblivion by VRF artillery were now host to Hives with giant viral pods hanging off the sides. Though they weren't visible, Daedalus knew that the interiors were full of man-sized pods that served the same purpose - growing the various monsters that Mercer used as his army. Though not as fast as the mutation templates the Greaters could use, the pods were entirely self sufficient and able to produce near endless armies as long as they had access to biomass, and with the amount of dead Blacklight left behind there was plenty to go around.

He felt eyes on him as he gazed across the ruin. It wasn't a surprise. Mercer was usually somewhere near one of these raids.

Even as he watched, one of the large pods hanging off the side of the building began to rip open. It was the last one he was waiting for. The great beast fell from the pod, impacting the ground with an earth shattering thud that rumbled every building within four blocks. As it stood up, Daedalus examined it with an appraising eye. This was the first time these new beasts were being used in battle and Mercer had tasked him with ensuring they had developed properly, as well as stress testing them out in the field.

The beast was massive, easily sixty feet long and twenty feet tall. It mostly appeared like a beetle as six giant legs supported the monster, each one three feet thick and ending in hooves. A small, narrow head turned side to side, taking in the sight of its corrupted world as eight beady black eyes adjusted to the light. Thick, pure white plates of chitin formed a hardy exoskeleton around the monster, protecting it from small arms fire and emplaced weapons. Supposedly. Finally, four giant and razor sharp tusks extended from the beast, capable of impaling just about anything. Daedalus stood up, reaching out across the hivemind and willing the Behemoth to the waiting point where it would join three others of its kind. As its primitive mind received its orders, a great bellow shook the air and Daedalus imagined the sound would be rumbling his very bones had he had them. A few seconds later, the roar was echoed by three more and Daedalus allowed himself a small smirk. The VRF would definitely be scrambling to get ready, though it wouldn't help. Then he stepped off the edge of the building, plummeting to the ground three stories below.

The Greater Evolved impacted the ground hard, shattering the already cracked asphalt under his immense weight. Taking off into a sprint, he connected to every monster he passed and urged it to join the massively growing horde that was beginning to wander after the Behemoth. The slow Walkers were often simply thrown aside by the large Gladiators, each one standing eight feet tall and covered in the same viral plate armor that Mercer himself could use. Every single one of them had a deformed shield of bone on their left arm with some crude variation of a viral weapon on their right. As he ran, he saw claws, tendrils, blades, and even giant fists yet all were crude, imperfect versions of the weapons the Evolved used.

From a collapsed building, a veritable horde of Warpers took to the air, banking hard and flying to land on the Behemoth's back. His viral eyesight allowed him to easily make out the small dog-sized monsters. Canine in nature, each one was equipped with large, scaled wings that allowed them to fly. Because they were physically weak due to a need to keep their weight light, they were best as swarm creatures. With short, spiked growths on their body similar to what hedgehogs had, each one was capable of killing a man in kevlar simple by body slamming him. Further than that, they were able to easily throw a helicopter off balance and causing it to crash just with their numbers.

Two hours later and Daedalus was ready. His 'loyal' army awaiting him, he quickly scaled the side of a tall building and walked to the edge. On his right were six people, all Lesser Evolved. Truth be told, he couldn't be bothered to remember their names. Most were probably going to die here anyway. Turning his attention back to the large, ruined park in front of them, Daedalus couldn't help but smile. All around the trampled trees, rocks pulverized into dust, and the remnants of burned out APCs scattered here and there, a massive viral army awaited. Connecting to the infected, he took a quick head count. "Six hundred Warpers, six hundred Gladiators, four Behemoths, and three thousand Walkers. This'll be easy."

"What are your orders?" One man asked nervously, swallowing as Daedalus turned to regard him with icy eyes.

The Greater Evolved shrugged lightly. "Split the Gladiators, Warpers, and Walkers between all of you evenly. One hundred of the two former and five hundred of the last side by side. You already know what to do and how to do it. With the outpost so heavily outnumbered, there won't be a need for any specific strategy. Just let my Behemoths break the walls and then pour in. Any questions?"

When no one spoke, Daedalus gave the command. Each of the four great monsters began to walk through the streets, two on either street that headed toward the VRF outpost. Jumping away, he felt the smaller monsters form up into something approaching ranks behind the Behemoths as they were directed by the Lessers. A few minutes later and Daedalus found himself on the edge of a large clearing, gazing at the outpost that signified the edge of the infected quarantine zone. Normally, the edge of Blacklight controlled territory would have been unimaginably reinforced. State of the art weapon emplacements, squads of augmented super soldiers, armored and air assets, and enough munitions to flatten the Rocky Mountains. Six months ago, that was the case.

But the VRF were practically in the closest thing to full retreat as they could get. Daedalus knew that twenty miles out a new Red Line was being built, the VRF pulling every trick in the book to anti-virus their defenses. This was just an outpost, the scraps of the scraps that either couldn't have been evac'd fast enough or were chosen as unfortunate sacrifices to slow down the ever expanding tide of Blacklight. A few APCs, an IFV, and a few hundred soldiers. Daedalus saw two manned emplacements totaling four fifties, but that was about it. The only thing that was operational was the wall itself and his Behemoths would soon fix that.

Alarms sounded as VRF scouts spotted the Behemoths that were still a few blocks away. Daedalus frowned but in the end, it wasn't a major issue. The Lessers had just missed at least one man. That, or they had killed the scouts too early and so the lack of a check-in alerted the enemy. Rising, Daedalus gave the attack order to his army of monsters.

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

Daedalus was not happy. The attack hadn't gone to shit, necessarily, but it wasn't going flawlessly either. When the Behemoths were just a block away from the outpost, entering into the leveled no man's land that surrounded it, a fast mover had passed overhead. Series of small cluster bombs had been dropped, decimating a portion of his horde and killing one of the Lessers. It would have been worse had his infected been clear of all the buildings as they absorbed a decent portion of the damage, but it had still cut his numbers down by about a fifth.

The walls had been breached just fine, the Behemoth's large tusks and gargantuan strength easily ripping apart the concrete and rebar in mere moments. Hordes of Gladiators tore into the infantry, leaving behind piles of slashed, impaled, and pulverized corpses as standard kevlar armor did nothing to stop the infected. The sound of helicopters in the distance filtered in through the gunfire, screams, and roars. Only a moment later, four Blackhawks crested the no man's land as eight door guns began firing at every non-human thing they could see. With a mental command to the Warpers who no longer had a Lesser, one hundred black beasts filled the air as they swarmed toward the helis even as the door guns turned skyward, each heli taking a different elevation to reduce the risk of friendly fire. Scoffing, Daedalus turned his attention back to the ground as he heard the sound of screeching metal. To his surprise, one of the Behemoths had impaled the IFV on it's tusks then began to use it as a weapon against the APCs. Reaching out to it, he felt that no other Evolved had given it an order since his last one and nodded approvingly. Mercer was right, these things would have higher intelligence than the other monsters they had.

Finally deciding it was time to join the fight, Daedalus passed on his intentions to the rest of the Lessers before leaping forward. Impacting the ground with an earth shaking thud, he grabbed the burned out husk of a civilian car before hurling it at one of the Blackhawks. The heli, nearly blinded by all the dog-sized monsters around them, hadn't even noticed the impromptu projectile. It impacted with a horrific sound, an explosion following soon after as the heli detonated into a fireball, everyone aboard most certainly dead. The pressure wave destabilized one of other air assets, apparently knocking one of the gunners either over or out as a door gun stopped firing. Seconds later, that door was utterly swarmed as Warpers entered the heli, ripping apart it's occupants before the whole thing began to fall out of the sky. With half the air support already destroyed, Daedalus paid them no mind as nearly four hundred Warpers were more than enough to take out the last two.

Charging in the breach in the walls, Daedalus quickly grabbed a disabled APC that looked to had been in the process of repairs. Aluminum alloy crushed beneath his fingers as the M113 buckled, the hull immediately compromised as he heaved the twelve ton vehicle into the largest clump of soldiers he saw. Seconds later, his massive claws bisected an unfortunate soldier who happened to just be vaguely near him. From there, he turned into a whirlwind of death. Every slash ripped soldiers to pieces, every kick pulverized bone underfoot, and every drop of blood and corpse was consumed as he became a whirling mass of tendrils. Human form falling apart, all that was left was a corrupted god of war as dozens of spiked and bladed tendrils lashed out at anything near him. Both humans and infected were destroyed, biomass replenished faster than the fifties could tear chunks through his flesh. Eventually, the twelve point seven millimeter guns ran dry of ammunition, the gunners soon joining their comrades as they were overwhelmed by Walkers.

Twenty minutes. Twenty minutes from the alarms going off to the last heli being knocked out the sky was all it took to completely overrun the outpost and kill every last man there. Daedalus allowed himself to smile, then reached out across the link. Not to his surprise, the Lessers had all been killed. He didn't know when or how, nor did he care, so he just gave the order to start collecting bodies. Those who were still mostly in one piece would be infected by the Behemoths, regurgitating a vile red fluid that rapidly set on mutating the still living tissue. There were not many of those. The rest would be brought back to the hives to be recycled into biomass. Still, it was a good sign. One of these outposts used to take days to fall. Now it only took minutes. The new Red Line that the VRF were setting up would be much harder to break, but with the new creations he knew it was only a matter of time.

Something touched his shoulder.

The Greater Evolved spun around, reflexes kicking in as he kicked whatever had touched him in the chest. Bones cracked under his force, launching it back at astounding speed. Daedalus only really got a sight of something blue before he punched the ground, tendrils spidering through the weakened asphalt ready to impale his attacker in a hundred places.

A pulse of a strange presence and suddenly Jay realized what he was doing. He gasped, snapping his connection to the tendrils in an instant, just seconds before he killed Luna. Bounding forward toward her, he dropped onto his knees next to her as the sounds and smells of the dream faded into the background, the world dulling as the dreamer was no longer focused on it. To her relief and amazement, Luna was alright. Bones that should have been naught but dust were perfectly healthy and she didn't even have a pained look. Instead, she had a look of concern and horror on her muzzle as she gazed around what he realized was a dream. No, not a dream. A memory.

"Sadly, thy Lady of the Night must leave." Luna said teasingly, giving him a short nuzzle. "I must return to my duties as the Guardian of Dreams. Perhaps I'll meet you there one night."

It clicked then as he understood what she meant. Jay flinched as she turned her attention to him, his eyes straying away from hers. Unable to bear the veritable waves of worry emanating from her, he stepped back as she stepped closer to him.

"Jay... what is this?" Luna asked, her voice full of pain. Not for what she had no doubt seen him just do, but for what he had to go through if this place was what she thought it was. Jay was silent for a long time, unable to meet her gaze. Finally, he looked up. Icy blue eyes that seemed so vulnerable met her teal ones, nothing but concern for him in those beautiful portals to the soul.

"It was my home."

That was all she needed to hear. Somehow closing in on him faster than he could react, her hooves and wings wrapped around him together as they fell to the ground, Jay not even trying to remain standing as she leaped on him and instead just hugged her back. Burying his face in her mane, he held her as tightly as he dared to avoid hurting her anymore. She hummed softly, a wordless tune that she new quite well as her soft voice filled the air, drowning out the last sounds of the Blacklight around them.

"I tried to hurt you, Luna." Jay said quietly, his voice heavy with emotion.

Luna responded just as quietly, nuzzling the top of his head. "You can't hurt me, not in a dream."

Jay nodded slowly, relieved to know that. The two stayed quiet for a long time as Jay slowly calmed, Luna's continued humming helping him relax. Luna, for her part, felt so very sad. She had seen Jay do some terrible things just now, and despite knowing that he only did it under Mercer's control, she still felt a pang of fear. The man in her grip had told them what Blacklight was, what it could do, but seeing just what Jay was capable of, seeing humans wielding weapons and machines she could barely comprehend being ripped apart like paper, the alicorn couldn't help but think just how lucky she was that Jay wasn't truly evil like Mercer. After Jay seemed calmer, she pulled back from him and gave him a reassuring smile, receiving a weak one of his own in return.

"I'm sorry you had to see this." Jay said, glancing around at the ruined outpost. No longer in sync with the memory, he couldn't help feel disgust at his actions. "That you had to see the monster I am."

"What you were forced to be, Jay. Something that was forced on you by a truly evil monster." Luna disagreed, wrapping her wings around him tighter as she rested her head on his shoulder. The Evolved let out a shaky breath as he wrapped his arms back around her, seeking comfort from the soft blue pony. "You are not a bad pony. You were controlled by someone who is a bad pony."

"That doesn't take back what I've done." Jay said quietly as he rested his cheek against hers. A second later, he opened his eyes as a cool breeze touched him. The outpost, and all of New York, was now gone entirely. Instead, the two of them were now on a green hilltop beneath the stars. All around the crest of the hill were thousands of flowers, each one a different shade and shape than the last. Jay had to admit, Luna knew how to pick a spot.

"No." Luna quietly agreed, nuzzling into his cheek. "It doesn't change what happened. But it also doesn't make you evil, only another victim in a different way. The only thing you can do is live your life and do everything you can to make sure nothing like this happens again."

"I just don't know if that's enough for everything I've done." Jay said softly, receiving a firm nip from Luna. He turned to look at her in surprise as she continued.

"It's all we can do. We can't bring back those we've hurt or fixed the scars we've caused, only move on and better ourselves." Luna said, making Jay pause as her phrasing.

"Have you..?" Jay asked, not finishing the question.

"Have you heard of Nightmare Moon?" Luna asked, answering his question with one of her own.

"Only the name."

"A thousand years ago, I gave in to my jealousy and anger. I rebelled against my sister, tried to overthrow Equestria, and nearly brought about an eternal night. I was only stopped when my sister was forced to use the Elements of Harmony on me, banishing me to the moon for a thousand year stasis." Luna explained, gently rubbing her nose against his as the dream around them began to change.

(14) From One Nightmare to Another Pt. 2

Jay recognized where they were. The last time he had seen this room it had been nothing but crumbling ruins, and the thrones he recognized were now whole instead of shattered remnants, but he knew he was in the ruins of the old castle. Only it was no longer a ruin. While not as opulent as the artfully built marble halls of Canterlot Castle, it was still beautiful in its own right. Carved stone brick was the most predominant building material, designed less like a palace and more like a fortress. The thrones were far less expensively made than the ones in Canterlot, one made of marble and one made of onyx with the simple emblems of the Day and Night on them. Jay glanced around the room as he took in the rows of tall pillars supporting the intact roof, then noticed the guards situated at the entrance.

The Evolved openly stared at the guards that looked nothing like any of the branches of the modern Royal Guard. The modern variant of shiny gold armor that looked pretty but provided next to nothing in the way of protection was gone. Instead, these Guards looked more like Hunters with their arms and armor. Heavy plate mail covered the most vital parts of the body as chainmail extended from underneath the plates and covered more. Weapons varied heavily as Jay spotted a maul, swords, spears, hammers, and more. Only the two guards at the door wielded the same weapons, two great bardiches that were slotted into special mechanisms in their armor. These were soldiers ready for war, not fancy law enforcement.

A large stone side door was swung open as a familiar face entered. Princess Celestia, Alicorn of the Sun, looked both the same and so very different than he remembered. Her great golden peytral was cherry red, appearing to be superheated just like her crown and horseshoes. An extra plate of golden metal also sat on her flank seeming more like armor than jewelry as it followed the curve of her admittedly shapely flanks. Her mane and tail that normally waved calmly in an ethereal wind instead billowed about wildly, small flares of light appearing deep within her hair and reminding Jay of supernovas. Even her aura was different. The calming effect was replaced by a sense of pride, and the feeling of belonging that inspired feelings of home was gone, instead filling him with a confidence that caught him off guard. If the diarch's aura really represented who they were on a personal level then the term 'hot headed' definitely fit this younger version of Celestia.

The alicorn took a seat on her marble throne as she quickly levitated a large stack of papers from her secretary, a young unicorn mare who quickly retreated into the shadow of the thrones after being released of her luggage. For what seemed to be an hour or two, Celestia leisurely perused the various files as the steady rasp of papers filled the throne room. Waiting was something familiar to Jay and he had no issue simply standing patiently as he watched. Eventually, she levitated the stack of papers out and around her in a field of files as she nodded to the door guards. When Celestia spoke, her usual motherly tone was far from present; instead, her voice was laced with boredom as she addressed the two ponies. "Let the day court commence, gentlestallions."

As the great stone doors swung open effortlessly under the shoves of the guards and aided by magic, a thousand year old session of day court began. Even though Jay had never sat in on Celestia's modern court, he knew within minutes that things had worked very differently in the past than they did today. Throughout his time in the castle and exploring Canterlot, he had overheard many conversations about the goddess of the sun. Whenever Celestia was brought up, it usually involved her patience, caring demeanor, or kind heart in some shape or form. Ponies spoke of her with reverence, of how her day court changed the shape of Equestrian history and how royalty the world over acted. Everypony whether they were a lowly traveler or a high born noble could petition her personally in her court and receive equal treatment. Despite already knowing all the details of every case that came before her, she allowed everypony the chance to state their case before giving her verdict. Everypony who was literally anypony could go to the Solar Court and gain the full focus of Celestia's attention, and her aura, for at least fifteen minutes.

This was not what Jay saw. While it seemed to remain true that anypony could petition Celestia, that was where the similarities ended. Celestia, in truth, didn't seem to be cruel or even angry with those around her. She just seemed to care about her ponies less personally than she did in the future. The ponies of the old city came in with nervous looks on their muzzles, avoiding her hard eyes as they shuffled slowly in escorted by guards. They would state their names and that would be it at times. Celestia would glance at one of the dozens of papers she was levitating, then state her verdict. The pony would be escorted out and a new one brought in. It continued this way for an hour as Celestia gave her verdicts in a quick and efficient manner, though with all but faintest traces of her future love and care gone.

Eventually, court ended. The last pony was calmly escorted out after having his request approved by the Princess, every last Guard in the room soon following him as they were dismissed. Celestia took a moment to organize her papers before passing them off to the secretary who had still been standing in the shadow of her throne, the young mare leaving soon after. Only Celestia remained. For a second, Daedalus wondered how Luna knew of this if she wasn't even present only for that question to be answered a second later as Celestia spoke. "Luna."

Metallic hoofsteps clopped against the stone floors as Luna walked out from behind the raised dais, coming to stand at the base of her elder sister's throne. Jay was surprised when he saw her, looking almost as she did in the present. In fact, the only real difference that Jay could see was that she appeared smaller and that he could not feel her aura, as overbearing as Celestia's was. Celestia glanced down at her younger sister, the ever present love that Jay was familiar with absent. "Have thee learned anything from watching mine court?"

With a mildly annoyed snort, Luna stamped her hoof. Her onyx peytral shifted on her barrel as it seemed a bit too large for her as she addressed her elder sister. "We art aware of how to hold court, dearest sister. We have been doing so for nigh on two hundred years now and have had plenty of experience. We still do not understand why thou have asked us here to watch thine court."

"We simply believe that thou would appreciate mine advice. Thy court does not serve the number of petitioners our own does, and we feared that thee were making a simple mistake that was driving away thy ponies. We believe that viewing how we hold our court would benefit thee." Celestia stated with an easy smile on her face that was neither malicious nor mocking, but Luna bristled anyway. Jay couldn't blame her, that would have pissed him off too.

"Driving away- Sister! Thy ponies shun our night and choose not to attend mine court. We hath even compromised, changing the time to bring it an entire four hours earlier to ensure ponies would not have to miss vital sleep to attend. Even still, the only ponies who show are those who could not attend yours." Luna huffed and shook her head, her nebulous mane flinging wildly as her fur bristled. A second later, she stomped out of the throne room as her wings fluttered at her sides betraying her aggravation. Celestia stared at the retreated princess with a conflicted look before her eyes hardened, a condescending scoff echoing through the empty room as the dream began to blur and change.

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

The dream reformed around him as the world rapidly snapped into focus as sharply as putting on a pair of glasses. Although he wasn't sure how he knew, Jay recognized this scene as taking place several decades after the previous one- perhaps the information was ingrained into the dream itself, or Luna was feeding him the knowledge. Either way, a significant change took place in the previous years. The two sisters were sharing a meal, though it was far from the friendly and familiar events he shared with them often enough in the modern day. Examining them quickly, both alicorns appeared differently than they did in the last dream. Celestia was closer to what she was now, as her mane and tail now flowed far more calmly than the wild whipping in the past, and her regalia was no longer treading the line of molten. He also noticed he could no longer feel her aura, though he most certainly felt Luna's. When his eyes drifted over her down-turned face, an intense conflict of emotions hit him like a sledgehammer. Guilt and shame warred with righteous anger and indignation, with pride driving everything to new heights. Her coat was darker now, a very dark blue bordering on purple. Her mane and tail seemed unstable, almost as if the clearly defined and visible edges were at risk of falling apart and letting the whole mane go up in smoke. A nearly perpetual frown sat on her muzzle as she ate her stew, clearly refusing to look up and meet Celestia's eyes who was doing her best to do the opposite.

For a time, the two ate in complete silence with the exception of the sound of metal meeting porcelain or the occasional slurp. With each glance Celestia shot toward her younger sister, a painful pang of sorrow filled Jay's heart so powerful that he wanted to reach out and hold her close, despite knowing that these events had happened over a millennium ago. It didn't make the sadness and regret in her eyes any easier to bear. Eventually, Celestia pushed the remaining half of her stew away and set aside her utensils as she fully turned to her sister. "Luna...?"

If it weren't for knowing that both mares were so, so very different in this day and age, Jay would have been flabbergasted on Luna's reaction to just her name being said. The midnight alicorn sighed in a deep seated aggravation as if Celestia's very presence annoyed the hell out of her. The magic around her horn faded as she set aside her meal as well and turned to meet her sister in gaze. "We do not wish to hear it, Celestia. Thou have done enough."

The elder sister stared at the younger, tears welling in her eyes as her breath caught in her throat. After a moment, she spoke slowly with a choked up voice. "We hath apologized so many times, dearest Luna. We were a fool, hurting you as we have done. Thou showed me what I was doing and I improved myself, I changed for the better as you requested. We doth not know how to fix the rift between us when thou refuses to talk to us or offer the chance to accept our apologies."

"Thou treated us as a foolish filly for centuries despite barely being my senior. Thou refused to allow us to take on more responsibility, limiting our connection to our little ponies to the occasional official appearance. Our night court is cancelled in all but paperwork as nopony shows up anymore. Our ponies ignore the stars that we pour our heart and soul into and even shun us directly. Thou ignored our attempts to make amends for years, and now there is little that can fix the rift thou created. Even if you are a better pony than you once were, there is no undoing what you have done." Her cold, empty voice that belied neither the flames of anger nor the sting of regret seemed to hit Celestia harder than if Luna had been screaming, and the tears that were building began to fall as she made one last desperate attempt to reconcile.

"W-what of our love? You promised w-when I was no longer arrogant..."

"You are still our family, sister, and always will be. In that regard, I will forever love you no matter how it pains me. However, the bond we had and the love we shared for each other is extinguished. Truly, I do not believe I could ever love you the same way again." Luna simply said, as if explaining a particularly unpleasant detail. Just after she finished speaking, she rose to her hooves and left. As Celestia's tears began to splash on the table, she sagged as all energy seemed to leave her and left behind the image of a broken, sobbing mare. As the dream began to twist and fade again, Jay couldn't help the thought that ran through his mind.The love we shared for each other?

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

Jay could tell this would be the final scene he saw, one that was taking place a century after the last, and twice that since the first. Tension was thick in the air as all around the large room, small groups of lower ranking officers held quiet conversations. Celestia herself stood in front of her throne as she held a hushed conversation with several high ranking guards, each one armed to the teeth and heavily armored. Her magenta eyes glanced toward the window where moonlight streamed in, the worry in her eyes growing each time as her eyes swiveled around and wings twitched nervously. Her horn adjusted a sword strapped to her flank, clearly nervous of the possibility of using it. Eventually, the doors to the throne room were shoved open none too gently as Luna walked in, though looking completely different than he had ever seen her before.

Her blue coat was now so dark it appeared as black as her destabilized mane and tail, each of which were now nearly as large as her whole body. They billowed wildly around her body as stars flared deep within, and her once black peytral was now replaced by dark blue armor that, truthfully, did little to protect her. They even capped her hooves and extended up her legs, a snug fit on her new form. Her slitted, teal eyes stared at Celestia with such an ingrained hate that Jay had a flashback to one of his many meetings with Mercer. As the lunar alicorn approached the throne with a measured gait, she passed where he was 'standing' and he realized she was also much taller than previously, easily matching Celestia in height. And when she smiled, razor sharp fangs flashed in her muzzle.

A small part of Jay couldn't help but admit that she was damn attractive.

When the Guards surrounding the throne drew weapons, Luna's horn flashed once as they all vanished with a violent crack of displaced air. Celestia, her eyes widening as her fears came true, stood up quickly as she spoke. "What did you do to them, Luna!"

"They are home safe. Even with hate in our heart, we will not harm our ponies so directly." She snarled, baring her fangs at her sister. "And our name is not Luna. We art Nightmare Moon, and you will call us such."

"Why have you not set the moon, sister? Sunrise is well over an hour late." Celestia demanded as she avoided the name 'Luna' chose, her eyes narrowing.

"Our ponies shun the night and worship the day. We are neglected, left to become naught but dust by our citizens. We art feared, and so we set to fix this grievous error. The sun will not rise until our night is admired as greatly as thy day." Nightmare Moon said simply. Celestia's eyes widened in horror as she shook her head.

"Luna, y-"

"NIGHTMARE! MOON!" Nightmare screamed as her composure broke, her eyes growing wild with madness as she stomped her hoof hard enough to crack the floor. "You have no claim to that name!"

"Nightmare, the world will die without the sun! Both are needed to keep the world alive!" Celestia begged as she tried to reason with the shadow of her sister.

For a moment, Jay thought the pretty accurate reason would work as Nightmare fell silent, taking a moment to get her breathing under control and straightening her bristled feathers with a pass of her magic. That hope was dashed when she spoke. "Then our ponies should see to correcting themselves rather quickly. If not, I can simply rebuild from what is left."

Celestia's eyes, once full of desperate hope and fear, immediately hardened at Nightmare Moon's words. Though she loved her sister with all her heart and wanted nothing more to right her past wrongs, there was a line that all royal families had; a line that separated issues that affected family from issues that affected the world. Luna had crossed that line and the solar diarch knew what she needed to do, as much as she feared it at the same time. "I can't let this happen. So be it, sister."

That was all Nightmare needed to hear. She didn't say anything, she didn't make any threats or promises, or even make a snarl of anger. She wrapped Celestia in her telekinetic grip and launched her through the roof, shattering the ceiling completely as pulverized stone began to fall from the sky. With a magically empowered flap of her wings, she took off after her sister as the battle began to rage overhead. In the few glimpses he could see through the windows and broken roof, violent spells began to pummel the city as quickly as hail while matching beams speared toward the sky like a reversed meteor shower.

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

One last time, the memory- for that is what it clearly was, not a dream- collapsed around him and left him floating in a void. Only moments later, he now sat on the hilltop again. Luna leaned against him as she buried her muzzle in the crook of his neck, tears wetting his skin as she sobbed quietly. Jay reacted without thinking, immediately wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into his lap as he held her close. It was clearly the right thing to do as she latched onto him, squeezing him like he was her lifeline as she found the crook of his neck again. Jay didn't mind. Her cool fur felt nice against his body as he ran his fingers through her coat. She needed him and he wasn't going to disappoint. Slowly, he began to hum the same, soft melody she had hummed to him just a short time ago.

Eventually, her light sobs turned to quiet cries, which faded into sniffles. In time, she pulled her muzzle away from him as her ashamed eyes met his understanding ones before she glanced away in embarrassment. In response, Jay just reached out and cupped her muzzle as he gently wiped away her tears with a thumb. That earned him a more honest smile before she sighed. "Just as you relived your memory, I did mine as well. I did not wish to experience the final fight with Celestia again, nor my banishment to the moon and subsequent hopelessness I felt as I realized I would spend an eternity on the moon. I cut it short."

"Why did you put yourself through that, little Luna?" Jay asked, using the nickname to try to cheer her up some.

It worked, albeit slightly. A small smile made its way onto her muzzle as she looked at him. She reached out with a wing that soon wrapped around him before she leaned in, resting her cheek against his. She whispered quietly as she softly nuzzled him, speaking through small sniffles. "So you know that you aren't alone. You aren't the only one who has been in a bad place, and you will always have somepony to confide in should you ever doubt yourself."

Jay leaned into her as well as the short, smooth fur of her muzzle brushed against his cheek and he felt the same warmth he felt with Starfall fill his chest. A small smile came to his face as he thought that maybe it wouldn't be so hard to adjust to this world and it's strange cultures before he put that thought out of his mind. Instead, he gently grasped one of her hooves and spoke just as softly as she did, though much more collected. "The same goes for you, Luna. No matter where I come to live in this world, or what place I carve out for myself, you'll always be welcome with me."

Luna's small smile widened as she nuzzled him more firmly before he shifted and pulled away slightly. A spark of longing shot through her as she almost snapped out and grabbed him again, but that spark faded when he squeezed her hoof gently. Her cyan eyes met his icy ones as he gave a curious hum followed by a sly smirk that made Luna shiver, though whether in concern or something else, she wasn't sure. "So, something that was said during one of those memories made me a little curious."

Dread. Yeah, it was definitely dread. She was pretty confident she knew what he meant, and that was proven right a moment later as he quoted her. "'The love we shared for each other?' What did you mean by that, little Luna?"

Luna swallowed nervously as the previously warm heat of his body became sweltering, and her mouth was too dry to speak. She opened it only for a dry croak came from her as she stopped and swallowed reflexively. "Well, uh, t-the thing about that i-"

Jay snapped awake as something pushed into his side, old instincts lashing out as he grabbed the offending hoof. Fortunately, his conscious mind took over before the viral claw followed his first hand. His eyes followed the chainmail-coated hoof up to meet the grim look on Beam's face, the thestral fully donned in her silver chainmail. "Get up, Jay. We've been called on a hunt. We leave in ten."

The dark mare had to step away as he rolled out of bed, immediately ready as he needed no real preparation aside from getting the extra swords from another hunter. His thoughts strayed to Luna for a moment and what she had nearly said just before he had been woken up, but he pushed those aside for the moment. He needed to focus. "Let's go."

Beam gave him an approving look as she noticed the complete lack of grogginess as well as how quickly he was up and ready to go. "Right."

(15) The First Hunt

They had boarded an airborne carriage in less than twenty minutes, a vehicle that was large enough to match a large van on Earth. It was made of white wood with what appeared to be steel reinforcements and carried an overall framed design. The four corners of the carriage supported the roof above their heads, and the back wall was one solid piece as well. The other three sides of the carriage were open to the air though and he was sure the ponies were thankful for the wind cooling down what would no doubt be a hot ride otherwise. He had also overheard Star and Beam talking about something called a weight reduction enchantment. He could guess its use.

Visibility would be low during this hunt, but not incredibly so. He had been woken up some time around two in the morning for the hunt and the moon was still shining brightly above them. Apparently, Luna had changed the moon's phase to full once the Hunters were deployed, but a lot of the light would be filtered out once they got into the Everfree. Turning his attention to his companions, he took in the sight of all their armor and equipment. Lightning Star and Glimmering Moonbeam were pulling the carriage, their shimmering chainmail glittering in the moonlight. Star's wings sparked with every wingbeat, electricity crackling through his enchanted wingblades as a belt of small red crystals crossed over his chest. Beam chose not to wield wingblades and instead wore a bandolier of knives across her chest in easy reach of her hooves. He knew that the knives in specific spots on said bandolier were treated with special concoctions that ranged from paralytic to neurotoxic.

Looking back into the carriage, Aqua was clad in a white robe that matched her coat color. Runes appeared to be emblazoned on the fabric with ethereal energy, likely enchanted to boost her magic or something along those lines. Her horn was alight with blue magic as she passed out red crystals matching the ones Star carried. She also gave him specifically another blue gemstone on a chain meant to go around his neck. Seeing his curious look, she explained what they were. "The red crystals are explosives. Everypony gets two except Star who acts as our strike bomber. Activate it with magic and an orange light will flare inside of it, then you've got five seconds to throw it before it detonates. The blue crystal is your communication crystal, it'll let you speak to anyone of us within a league, and can also function as a tracker within the same distance. You can receive communications at any point, but if you want to send an outgoing message you'll have to use your token since you don't have your own magic. Same with the bombs, actually. Oh, and only myself and Iron can using the tracking enchanted into it, it requires a spell."

Jay's gaze drifted to Kin next, to the giant earth pony adorned in black plate armor that flexed with his hide as he moved. The gaps were protected by a shimmering cobalt magic similar to Wrought Iron's own armor. Two axes were crossed on his back with a third strapped to his side. The two on his back were large double bladed battleaxes, both identical in design except for the material of the blades themselves. One axe was forged of steel or iron, Jay wasn't quite sure which. The other, though, had mismatched blades- one was a bright golden metal and the other a shiny silver. It didn't take long for Jay to realize that the axe was made of sunsteel and silver.

I don't think making a weapon out of two separate metals is a good idea. Then again, it could be reinforced by magic.

Kin's last axe was strapped to his side, a smaller one with a single blade most likely meant to be used in close quarters when the large pony was unable to grab and swing his larger blades. All in all, he looked pretty damn well equipped and like he could handle just about anything the forest could throw at him. Hopefully, that remained true.

Lastly was Captain Iron wearing the same armor he wore when they first met. The only real difference from Kin's heavy armor was that it was a dark shade of grey rather than black, otherwise the two sets of plate mail were near identical. A large warhammer rested on his back with a flat steel head on one side. Opposite the flat head was a dual set of spikes, again made of silver and sunsteel. As he looked, Iron's horn lit up with a dusty aura and two greatswords were levitated over to Jay. The Evolved took them both, slightly unsheathing the blades as he examined them. They were simply designed, straight blades meeting large crossguards that would protect his hands. While the blades were definitely greatswords to the generally smaller ponies, they were closer to what one of his memories called a 'hand and a half' with a blade of about three and a half feet in length. The simple design and plain leather sheathes clearly identified these as the backups Iron mentioned before as the pair shared the two metals he was told he'd need. "Just in case, Jay. From what our info is, we won't need silver or sunsteel but it's better to carry an extra blade than to die."

"What are we hunting, anyway? Beam didn't tell me." Jay asked, giving Iron a curious look. Whatever it was, it likely wasn't magical if plain weapons worked just fine.

"Cause I didn't know!" Beam interrupted, her voice emanating from the crystal around his neck and slightly muffled by the sounds of rushing wind. It was good to have confirmation that the crystals transmitted all sound around the user, not just what the user was saying.

"Right, normally you won't get your briefing until we're actually en route since the faster we get there, the less ponies die. It's why we say to keep your kit fully prepared at all times and in a place you know well so you can get to it fast." Iron explained, adjusting his warhammer as he made sure it was strapped in place properly. "Those two blades are yours from now on. Keep them on you as much as possible. Like I said, you probably won't need them. Better safe than sorry, though."

As Jay nodded and formed two false-leather straps on his back to hold the swords, Iron continued. "The situation is about as cut and dry as it can get. Three fillies from Ponyville got it in their heads to go explore the Everfree, and to nopony's surprise, they ended up getting lost. This isn't a rescue mission though, everything ended up turning out alright. The fillies were chased by a pack of timberwolves, but ended up running into a small search party lead by the Element Bearers. The wolves got scared off and the fillies only had couple scratches. That's as much as we got details-wise."

"Our job is simple. The wolves might get more bold now that they've had a run in with a group of ponies and got away uninjured. It'll be twice as bad if they got a taste for pony blood. We can't have that. We're also going to be taking care of a hydra that's causing a couple problems for the locals. It's driving predators out of the forest, which is increasing competition and making predators roam wider. The fillies probably wouldn't have even run into wolves if it weren't for the hydra. As such, we'll be splitting into two teams once we're on the ground."

"Secondary team will be tasked with dealing with the wolves, and it'll comprise of Star and Aqua. Star can move fast enough to catch up to the wolves just fine, and he's strong enough to carry Aqua on his back. Aqua's fire will let her make short work of the timberwolves, too. Jay, for you to know, you have to burn the bodies of timberwolves. Once they're destroyed, magic will just collect in the wood again and reform the wolf. Burning the wood disperses the wild enchantments and kills it for good." Iron explained and received a nod from Aqua just as Beam's voice came through over the crystal, sounding in agreement.

"Primary team will be dealing with the hydra. It'll consist of me, Kin, Beam, and Jay. Beam, you'll be our aerial scout. Stay below the canopy, keep a steady speed, and find the beast. We know it's on the move, so it shouldn't take too much to hear that big thing stomping around. Obviously, me, Kin, and Jay will move in on the ground. Jay, how fast can you run?"

While Jay didn't exactly have an accurate speed, he had a rough idea of how fast he could move at his top speed. He was slightly slower than Mercer who he knew could outrun a Blackhawk heli, and thanks to the memories of the thousands of soldiers he's consumed he knew that the VRF Blackhawks stayed around two hundred miles per hours but could top out past that. Since he was slower than Mercer, he had a pretty accurate guess of how fast he could move. "I'd say somewhere around one hundred fifty miles per hour is my max, faster if I change to a quadrupedal form."

Iron shook his head. "I don't know what a mile is, Jay. How many leagues is that?"

"How far is a league?"

"Three thousand hooves." Iron answered. Knowing that three hooves was about a foot thanks to Celestia during his duel with Luna, he did some quick mental math. At one fifty miles an hour, he could cross a league in about five seconds.

"Roughly, I can cross a league in five seconds once I get to top speed." Jay answered to wide eyed looks from the non-pegasi, which didn't surprise the Evolved at all. From something on foot, that kind of speed was ridiculous.

"Alright, you're gonna be working with Beam. Find the hydra and call out on the comms crystal when you do. Once it's found, all of the primary team will regroup and assess. The primary threats to look out for on the hydra are it's heads, tail, and corrosive bile. The first two are obvious why, you don't want to get bitten in half by a head twice your size or crushed by a tail the side of a shed. Hydras are also able to vomit on command and their stomach bile is highly corrosive, allowing them to eat almost anything safely. Beam and Jay will keep it's attention on the air and ground while me and Kin strike it to wear it out. Jay, hit it hard every chance you get. The more you make it work it's natural regeneration the slower it gets. Once we hurt it faster than it heals, we'll start cutting off heads and detonating the crystals to burn the stumps. When it's down to the final head it's going to become very defensive. It'll keep it close to the body and not attack as much but we need to cut it off."

"Leave the final hit to me. Worst comes, I think I can just rip it off once it's weakened." Jay said earning nods from those around him.

"Good, any questions?"

"What's the terrain like in the Everfree?" Jay asked, wanting to know what kind of areas he'd have to search. "I'm not going to be able to move at my max because of the trees but I'm even slower in mud."

"Not an issue." Aqua answered. "We'll be operating in dry forest. The only swamp in the region is the Froggy Bottom Bog and it has its own hydra that doesn't really bother anypony."

"Alright, if nopony else has another question..." Iron trailed off, waiting to see if anypony would say anything. When nothing came forth, he continued. "Get some rest, we all got woken up early. Just don't fall asleep."

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

When they landed in Ponyville, Jay was surprised to find Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash waiting for them just outside the carriage. While Aqua moved to help the two pegasi unhook faster, Jay approached the three Elements with Iron. Jay couldn't help but notice that both Applejack and Rainbow were bandaged and as they approached, he turned to Iron. "Do we have a few minutes for me to heal those two?"

"Yeah, go ahead. I'm going to find out what I can from Princess Twilight." Iron agreed, approaching the alicorn. Jay walked over to the two young ponies.

When the two seemingly injured ponies noticed him approaching, they gave him small smiles as they wrapped up whatever they were talking about in hushed tones. Jay took a moment to take in their appearances. Both of them were pretty disheveled, a little banged up, and more than a little dirty with twigs tangled in their fur with mud and sweat soaking them both. Applejack's hat was missing and her matted mane looked like it had a few chunks torn off, which had definitely hurt. A deep bruise was slowly forming on her muzzle and a lightly stained bandage was wrapped around her barrel, the white cloth slowly turning red. Rainbow wasn't really any better off. The feathers on her wings were bent askew and it looked like a few were missing, but nothing appeared broken. Instead, one of her hooves was wrapped up in a slag that held it close to her chest, making her hobble around on three legs. When Jay came to a stop in front of them, he sighed and kneeled down next to Applejack. "You two should be resting in a hospital, not out here. You look like you've been through enough."

Applejack just gave him a soft smile. "Yer right, but we couldn't. Not while knowin' that those timberwolves could end up coming here after they got a bite of us. Twi had mentioned you were a Hunter now, so it's darn good ta see ya. We wanted ta go back out there with y'all but Twi won't let us. Rightfully so, probably."

"Yeah, at least with you here, we know the wolves won't stand a chance." Rainbow said, giving him a confident smile. Then it turned to a sheepish look. "And, uh, while you're here, do you think you could heal us?"

"Yeah, that's what I came over here for. Applejack, you first. You look like you're still bleeding." Jay said, giving the two an understanding look as he reached out to her. Pressing his hand against her side lightly, his viral tendrils reached out and into the wound from the palm of his hand, unseen to the ponies. Through the bandage, he could tell it wasn't as bad as he feared. She had three long but shallow claw marks running across a portion of her barrel from the bottom to the side. The wolf that had gotten her apparently hadn't gotten a good grip, fortunately. Localized anesthesia was injected into the site with a relieved sigh from Applejack confirming his suspicions that they hadn't actually gone to the hospital and just bandaged themselves. Viral tendrils knitted living flesh and, after a moment of consideration, he examined Applejack's gene sequence. To his surprise, he could view it perfectly fine. Taking a sample to consume later, he quickly finished healing her injury before turning to Rainbow.

Gently grabbing her hoof, she flinched lightly in his grip. Jay glanced up at her in slight concern. "Broken or sprained?"

Her muzzle tinted a light pink as he heard Applejack start to laugh before Rainbow answered him. "N-no, I just don't like my hooves touched."

"I'll be quick." Jay promised, turning his attention back to her. Again, painkillers were injected into the wound as he examined it. She had been bitten, wood fragments still buried in her flesh as the teeth splintered. The injury was deep and Jay couldn't help but be surprised at how well she was hiding the pain. He quickly extracted and consumed the wood, then began to repair muscle and tendons. The Greater Evolved detected a strange concoction in her body that he couldn't identify, but could see that it was clotting her blood and preventing her from bleeding. "Did you take some medicine to clot the blood?"

Rainbow nodded above him, a lot more at ease now that the pain was gone. "Yeah, back in the Forest. I got bit first so Applejack gave me one of her potions she got from Applebloom that stopped the bleeding. The wolf that jumped her crushed her saddlebag though so she couldn't do the same for herself."

Finishing up, he pulled back from Rainbow and helped remove the sling from her. Tentatively, she pressed her hoof to the ground and sighed in relief with no pain came with it. "Thank Celestia. You're a lifesaver, dude. I didn't wanna be stuck in a hospital for a week. Kinda numb, though."

Removing the bandage from Applejack, he visually inspected the area and confirmed that no scars were left behind. "Yeah, that's the anesthesia. It's short term but powerful, so it'll wear off in a few minutes and you'll be fine. Same with you, Applejack. Also, the wounds won't scar so you don't have to worry about patchy fur."

"Wouldn't o' mattered none, as long as I can still help my family on the farm, I'd a' been happy. Still, thank ya, Jay." Applejack said, wrapping a hoof around him and giving him a hug. He returned it for a second, then let go as the three of them walked back over to the rest of the Hunters.

Aqua was climbing onto Star's back, the little unicorn easily able to fit in what appeared to be a specially-made attachment to his chainmail. A few clips on Aqua's robes slotted into the metal addition and Jay realized this was probably a duo that worked together often. Iron gave Jay a curious look to which he nodded toward the ponies, and then the large unicorn turned back to the rest of the Hunters as the three Bearers listened in. "Alright, you know the plans. Aqua, you and Star are heading toward the timberwolf pack. Between your fire and Star's crystal bombs, you should make short work of them. If something goes wrong and you need backup, use the comms and we'll send Jay, Beam, or both to reinforce you. The rest of us are heading for the hydra. Last chance to ask any questions. If not, get going."

A second later, Aqua and Star took off in a burst of speed as Rainbow looked on in surprise, then gave an excited grin as she realized Star was fast. Jay could easily agree, he had to guess the little pegasus could fly at least triple his own speed. Beam whistled to catch Jay's attention, then nodded in the direction of the Forest. Jay returned her nod and the two took off into the Forest, traveling together for the first two leagues then splitting off as they searched for the Hydra. The Forest was darker than he last remembered, but that was expected. Last time he had been here it had been the middle of the day, somewhat closer to the edge in the makeshift clearing of the old castle. Now it was the middle of the night, deep in the forest, and with an unbroken canopy high above him. Jay didn't have night vision any better than a human as it was something he never needed in New York- the VRF lit their bases up just fine with floodlights. No, he had something better.

Everything turned red as his sight dulled, specific details becoming harder to make out. All sounds became muffled as he tuned out every other sense, focusing on the innate viral sight that any infected with a hive mind could access. Glancing down at his hand as he ran, he saw his own body emitting a bright white glow that he knew belonged to those who were heavily infected. Glancing around, he saw that all life had gained a very dull red color and the occasional animal his sight picked up were orange. He nodded in approval, his speed picking up as the ground beneath his feet cracked and buckled from his weight. In truth, he was excited for this. Iron had mentioned the hydra had regeneration and he dearly hoped it was biological in nature, not magical, so he could improve his own regeneration. The acidic bile would be useful too, allowing him to create a non-viral ranged weapon he didn't have to worry about retrieving later.

His comms crystal lit up in a dim blue glow, Aqua's voice coming through muffled but still audible thanks to its proximity to him. "We've found the wolves. There's about twenty of them heading for Ponyville but we've caught up to them with plenty of time to spare. We're engaging now."

Iron's voice followed behind a moment later as Jay's keen hearing picked up the very distance sounds of roaring fire. "Copy. Our scouts are still searching for the hydra. Jay, Beam, how's going?"

Jay waited assuming Beam would transmit first and was proven right a few moments later as Beam's voice came through the crystal. "Nothing so far. No stomping marks, corrosion, or slime. I don't think it's in my sector so keep an eye open, Jay."

Reaching down, he touched his token to the communication crystal and, when it lit up green, he spoke. "Same as Beam over here. I've got nothing so far but as I'm going further the animal population is dropping. I think Beam's right, it might be near me."

"Copy. We're going to shift and head your way, Jay. Beam, turn east and start making your way toward him." Iron responded.

Before Beam could say anything else through the ponified radio, a reverberating roar cut through the night air coming from about a mile in front of him. At first, Jay had thought the roar had somehow echoed through the trees as it was nearly perfectly mimicked a few seconds later only to realize it was most likely another head roaring. Speaking through the crystal again, he informed the rest of the Hunters. "Yeah, it's ahead of me by about two leagues. I'm going to continue forward a league and then wait for the rest of you."

"Copy, I'm inbound from your southwest." Beam said, the sound of rushing wind signifying her picking up speed toward him.

"We're ten out." Iron responded, heavy thumping coming through the crystal as the two heavy plated ponies galloped toward him. "Don't engage and pull back if it starts to approach you."

"Will do." Jay said, letting go of the token and cutting off his transmission. Soon enough, he would fight his first monster in this world and see how it compared to the monsters he knew.

(16) The First Hunt Pt. 2

It hadn't taken the rest long to catch up to him. Beam was just faster than him and had caught up just after he reached the one league mark, landing next to him and seeming to be completely at ease. While they waited, they could both hear the heavy footfalls of the hydra ahead of them as it stomped through the forest. Each heavy thud shook the ground, mild tremors shaking the earth beneath his feet as Moon shifted nervously. As far as Jay could tell, though, it wasn't coming towards them. With that concern abated, Jay glanced to his partner. "Nervous?"

The little thestral mare gave him a hard glare and indignation sparked in her eyes as she bared her fangs. The little show of aggression only lasted a second before she deflated with an irritated huff. That, too, faded soon after as she slowly nodded. "A little. There's never a guarantee to return from these hunts and even the simplest hunt can kill, but hydras are really bad. Pretty much anything they can do will kill a pony in a single tap. The tail will break every bone in my body, a stomp would flatten me to paste, a bite would cut me in half or swallow me whole, and the acid would just leave bones behind. The only way to fight a hydra and live is to never be hit."

Beam glanced away as her hoof pawed at the ground slowly, betraying her nerves. "I've... got a bit of a track record for getting hurt on our hunts. It's usually minor, but with a hydra... there are no minor injuries. I'm worried because getting hurt is death during this hunt, and I pretty much always get hurt. We're Hunters and it's our job to give our lives to save the innocent. I'm prepared for that and accept it. But..."

"Just because you're prepared to doesn't meant you want to." Jay responded as he nodded in understanding. After a second of consideration, he reached out and began to run his hand through her mane gently, earning a soft sigh from her as she leaned into his touch. "Like you said, there's never a guarantee. But I'll do my best to keep you safe, alright, Beam? Let me take the hits. I don't really feel pain, and it can't kill me. I'm built different."

She snorted softly at the cheeky tone he had and looked up with a soft smile, her slitted teal eyes shimmering lightly in the faint moonlight. "Yeah. Just, make sure you stay safe too, okay?"

He gave her a toothy grin. "Don't worry, I've got reasons to go back home."

She returned his grin with a smirk of her own, feeling a little better as she talked with him. "Let me guess, Starfall~?"

Jay coughed suddenly, not realizing she knew about that. Her grin only widened at his reaction as she realized she was right. After a second, Jay gave a nod and moved to speak only to stop, the heavy hoofsteps of two ponies approaching them rapidly from the distance. He nodded his head in that direction as Beam hummed in agreement, her ears already perked. After hearing them, it only took a minute or so for the two large ponies to arrive as they slowed down. Iron gave the two an expectant look and Beam spoke, already knowing what he was about to ask. "The hydra is about two and a half leagues ahead. It's stomping northwest but doesn't seem to be chasing anything, more just making a lot of noise and trying to drive away competition. Jay and I are ready to run interference while you and Kin hit it hard."

"Good. We'll move in and get going. Jay and Beam, you two pull ahead and get eyes on the hydra. Do not engage yet. Keep in the underbrush and in the canopy respectively. Once Kin and I are in position, we'll attack it together. Beam, stay evasive and make sure you don't get touched. I hate to say this, but if anypony gets hit, it needs to be Jay. He can take the force and be alright, but the rest of us aren't so lucky. Aim for the eyes and necks as much as you can. Jay, stay aggressive and stay in its face or at its feet. Keep its eyes on you and make it forget we even exist. Kin, me and you will be darting in and out and striking its legs. Aim for the arteries and try to make it bleed as much as possible. The more we work its regeneration, the weaker it becomes and the faster we can kill it for good. Any questions?" No one said anything. It wasn't a complicated plan and left it open for everyone to decide how to get their own job done in whatever way was safest for them. "Alright, head out."

With a mix of nods and sounds of conformation, the squad of five took off. Jay sprinted along the ground as Beam shot skyward, flitting in and around the canopy to keep her visibility as low as possible. The two ground bound ponies fell behind rather quickly, though they stayed within earshot the entire time as the two scouts had to move slower- Beam didn't want to strike a branch at full speed and Jay wasn't sure how good a hydra's hearing was. It only took a couple minute or so for them to cross the distance as Jay caught sight of it and let his form unravel, becoming little more than a viral mess blending into the wild shapes of the trees and underbrush.

The great beast was large. Very large. It was easily eighty feet tall and about twenty feet thick at its torso and entirely orange. He had half expected some shade of green or brown. The reptile was bipedal as it stomped around on two large flat feet with three large claws on each. It's torso quickly extended into a long, thick tail and on the other end, the torso quickly shifted into four necks each about five feet thick and tipped by a snake-like head. From the tip of the tail to the top of the neck, multiple rows of bright red and razor sharp spines covered the hydra. The four heads were swaying around independently as eight sets of green eyes looked for the next meal. As one glanced in his general direction, he noticed that it's mouth and teeth were covered in dried blood from what was no doubt a recent meal. Overall, while the hydra was still an intimidating sight, it seemed more squat and fat that what he was expecting.

Just like Beam had said, the hydra was deeper into the forest to the northwest, and it was clearly intentionally making as much noise as it possibly could. Every heavy footfall came down with more force than seemed necessary for its assumed weight, and its heads were busy biting smaller trees in half around it and throwing the shattered logs around with powerful flicks of its necks. Iron's briefing about it driving predators out of the Everfree came back to him and he had to admit that was definitely the case- if he was a wolf or manticore, he'd be running away from this thing too.

Jay heard the underbrush next to him very lightly rustle over the faint undertone of breathing and glanced over his shoulder. Kin and Iron were approaching him as they kept low and moved slow. He pointed up toward Beam and gave them a nod that was returned then turned his attention back to the hydra. The two ponies laid down on their bellies as they peered at the hydra.

"It's a large one. Easily sixty hooves taller than average." Jay heard Kin's rumbling voice whisper.

"It's ancient and probably about to die. I didn't consider this. The last record of a hydra dying of age was nearly three hundred years ago. They tend to drive off as many predators and carrion scavengers as they can in the last few weeks of life so they can die in peace and not have to fight. This changes nothing, though." Iron explained with a slow nod as he put the information together and realized why it was acting this way. "Jay, Beam, are you two ready? We'll help it die a little earlier than it planned."

"Yep." Jay said simply at the same time Beam voiced her assent.

"Start. Keep its attention away from us and we'll hit it when we can and wear it down. Our axes and hammer will cut through the flesh and into arteries and veins pretty easily." Iron gave the order. As soon as he finished talking, the two scouts burst into action.

Beam kicked off her branch and darted toward the hydra, staying high in the canopy. When she neared the hydra, she veered upward sharply and ascended the last twenty feet to the hydra's head and darted between two necks as her wingblades lashed out. The glimmering metal carved a thin line in the orange scaled flesh of the beast but did little else, the masses simply too thick for the small blades to cut deeply into. Still, the hydra roared more in fury than pain as all four heads turned toward Beam. Taking the opportunity for what it was, Jay ran forward only a few feet to get clear of his two companions before kicking off the ground as the dirt beneath his feet cracked and buckled. Midair, his right arm shifted into a massive collection of tendrils, each one rapidly coiling around itself into a viral approximation of a giant fist as large as his torso. An instant later, the hammerfist violently ejected biomass and increased how fast he leapt through the air. He impacted the hydra's gargantuan torso that the densely packed flesh and muscle rippled away from the point of impact, staggering the beast as it stumbled back several steps. Jay felt at least one bone splinter underneath his strike as the monster roared, this time with pain just as much as agony. He saw a flicker of movement before the beast's tail whipped around and impacted him, utilized more like a whip than a club as only the last foot of the tail hit. The hit damn near bisected him, ripping through two thirds of his torso and sending him flipping end over end as he was launched away. Three heads roared in triumph as the fourth tried to catch Beam, foolishly believing him to be dead.

It was foolish because the hydra did not fight with magic. The injury it dealt Jay had been fully healed before he even hit the ground. As he took a second to stand, he noticed that the many small cuts Beam was leaving on the hydra were bleeding far more profusely than he'd expect from what was essentially a paper cut to the beast. Eyeing the little mare that was evading the heads with experienced ease, he saw that she now had two daggers slotted into locking mechanisms on her hoof caps and came to the conclusion she was utilizing some type of anti coagulation agent to encourage bleeding. If they were trying to wear out its regeneration, forcing it to replace blood was just as good a way to do it as replacing flesh. Then his gaze shifted to the two ponies weaving around the hydra's feet. Even Iron was striking with the spikes of his hammer instead of the blunt end as Kin's axe left deep gashes in the flesh that just poured blood out. With that in mind, he decided to forgo the blunt approach as his hammerfist disappeared in a shifting mass of viral flesh, quickly replaced by a pair of thorny claws that glowed an eerie red sheen.

Jay sailed through the air, again bleeding biomass. Evolved, while amazingly agile on the ground, had little in the way of airborne mobility. As such, Mercer had long ago discovered how to eject biomass from his body to increase the distance of his jumps, keep him in the air longer, and even allow him to mimic a sort of gliding. Later, he had adapted the same effect to eject biomass out of his hammerfists, allowing him to strike harder and faster than ever before or even change directions in mid air. Eventually, he had passed on the same technique to the Greaters under his control and Jay was now using that to his advantage, able to easily leap two hundred feet with every jump though at the cost of his slowly trickling supplies of biomass. As he neared the hydra, he yelled to the little thestral that was busy giving it a death by a thousand cuts. "Everyone, get back!"

Set on replenishing his biomass reserves, Jay again impacted the hydra's torso, though this time without a strike. Instead, he buried his left claw into the hydra as dozens of viral tendrils immediately began burrowing into the beast's flesh and anchoring him in place as it tried to throw him off. With his right claw, he began to tear into the hydra with extreme prejudice, digging the unnaturally sharp blades into the hydra's flesh and ripping chunks out before rapidly consuming it and assimilating the new DNA. Integrating new genetics always forced him to undergo a metamorphosis and resulted in a massive burst of kinetic energy. Jay was, honestly, counting on it. He just hoped the others made it clear in time, but they shouldn't have any trouble getting away from the hydra that only cared about the creature on its side and ripping it apart.

Deep within his internal system, the virus quickly isolated the new genetic sequence it had been provided. Identifying which genomes would be useless to the Evolved, it rejected them for integration and instead catalogued them away for future use. Orange melanin, scales, green pupils, spikes- it already had those. Even more were rejected and outright discarded. Then it separated things that would be useful to the virus, rapidly modifying the genes before integrating them into Blacklight itself. The coding for bile production evolved into a powerful acid coating that could be secreted from his body. The hydra's ability to efficiently digest anything living into energy improved Blacklight's assimilation, streamlining the process that broke down organic matter into base nutrients and allowing the virus to gain additional biomass from anything it consumed. Finally, the hydra's natural regeneration was modified into an increased passive biomass production. Before, the minuscule trickle of biomass that took a month to return Jay into his standard state was exponentially improved, cutting the time down by sixty percent as better collection methods and improved efficiency were implemented.

Then Jay felt the pressure begin to build up. The Blacklight virus now had to implement the new viral strain into every cell in his body. There were two ways to do this. The first was only possible if the virus had a few days to individually insert the new strain into every cell in his being. Being that the virus almost solely gained an improved strain during some form of combat, this was never an option. Instead, the virus would quickly shed a layer of its body before rapidly replacing it with cells containing the new variant before moving on to the next layer. The process from the core of his being to the external 'skin' would only take thirty seconds, but something needed to be done with all the excess, outdated cells. Instead of consuming it for biomass, the virus would instead violently eject the old cells. This was, in truth, the core process that Mercer had redesigned for greater air maneuverability. Using only a pound or two of biomass over several seconds, this ability could be used to increase the force of blows or change directions in the air. However, ejecting nearly a quarter of a ton of viral material in an instant amplified the effect over thousand fold. Finally, small tendrils connected to the shed cells would command them to consume every bit of flesh they touched and feed the newly gained biomass back to the source before detaching and allowing the shed cells to die. All together, a metamorphosis invariably resulted in a kinetic explosion that would simultaneously pulverize anything nearby and consume any and all organic matter, resulting in one of the most devastating effects the Evolved could ever do- albeit one they could not do on command.

To the ponies that had backed off from the hydra, it was hard to tell what had happened. It appeared as if Jay had just dissolved into a mass of formless tendrils before what appeared to be a black and red mist began to coalesce around him. The hydra roared in pain and fear as its instincts screamed at it, and it tried to stagger away as the mist began to thicken and pulse. Each of the three Hunters had just enough time to fold their ears back in concern when Jay seemed to detonate. The mist around him expanded rapidly as a small, fast pressure wave shook the air and ground as two objects came flying out the mist too fast to be identified. Half of the hydra's torso was completely consumed by the mist as roars of absolute agony shook the earth and nearly deafened the ponies. The great beast stumbled as one of its legs fell completely free of its body, hitting the ground with a wet squelch as the upper quarter was just gone. Seconds later, the rest of the hydra followed its leg as it hit the ground. A moment later, the black and red mist faded as quickly as it had appeared as Jay leaped away from the beast, revealing just what had happened to the hydra.

The Hunters couldn't help but stare in unabashed awe as a massive crater easily twenty feet tall and six feet wide had appeared in the hydra's lower torso where Jay had been. At first, the visible bones and torn flesh were unnaturally clean without even a splotch of blood, but that soon changed. The hydra began to bleed horrifically as its natural regeneration just could not keep up with such terrifying damage that had appeared in an instant. Iron even noticed that there were no chunks of flesh or blood stains around the beast or even on Jay, as if all the missing flesh and blood had just been erased instead of torn or blown off. As the Hunters collected themselves, quiet and pained whines were the only sounds that filled the air before Beam darted over to Jay. "What the BUCK was that! That was amazing! Why didn't you do that from the start?"

Jay gave Beam a small smirk. "It's a bit risky to do that and I can guarant-"

Iron's voice interrupted Jay as the older unicorn shouted. "Look out, Beam!"

Both of the scouts snapped their head toward the hydra, the monster clearly not as stunned as they thought. Though still knocked over and grievously injured, the great beast was not done yet as the four heads rose and faced them, great mouths opened wide as muscles contracted and flexed, almost appearing as if they were about to vomit. It only took Jay a second to realize what they were about to do. His head snapped to Beam hovering a foot above his head, her teal eyes wide in fear and realization even as the first pressurized jet of green bile shot out of the leftmost head aimed directly for the thestral. The Greater Evolved reacted quickly, snapping his arm up and grabbing Beam's leg. With a heave and a pop, Jay launched the thestral out of the way even as her shoulder dislocated from the sudden acceleration. Jay only had a second to hear Beam's pained cry as four jets of potent acid impacted him.

Though he had gained the ability to produce the hydra's acid the virus had not subconsciously collected the genetic code that allowed it to produce the secretions that made it immune to its own bile. As such, Jay himself was not immune to the acid that stuck him in four simultaneous splashes pressurized enough to become beams. Instantly, Jay lost an arm and half of his head as the jets punched straight through the compacted flesh and severed one limb. The jet that had been aimed at the thestral didn't directly impacted him, instead splashing him with acid as the outer layers of his skin began to dissolve. The final stream of acid had barely missed him but blinded as he was with half his head gone, he jumped straight through it as he tried to retreat out of the way of the attack. Impacted the ground with a thud as he lost his legs below his knees, Jay was very grateful that he only felt pain from magic as his body rapidly shed the damage cells and repaired him. It took several long seconds as the acid kept eating through the newly formed cells but eventually the bile was rendered inert and he healed. Rising to his feet, he first looked toward where he had thrown Beam. To his relief, he had successfully cleared her of the acid and she was fine if favoring one leg now as she took to the air again.

"Jay, start cutting heads off!" Iron yelled to catch his attention. He looked over to see Beam land near him and start taking their explosive crystals and realized he had lost his own and was surprised they hadn't detonated when he did. The Greater Evolved nodded and leaped toward the hydra again, the great beast now seeming to be entirely spent of energy. Even its regeneration had slowed having healed half of it's wound but now seeming to barely function. Jay landed next to one of the heads as it weakly snapped at him. He stepped back from the admittedly pathetic attack and shifted his arm into a blade, extending it more than normal to be able to slice through the thick necks in one swipe. Beam, above him, readied the first crystal just as he decapitated the first head.

Jay jumped back as he watched in mild interest as the stump of a neck bubbled and began to extend but before it could do repair any more than a few inches, the red crystal tinked softly as it hit the ground next to the stump. A second passed before it erupted with the roar of fire matched by a roar of pain as heat blasted the front of Jay's body. When the flames had faded, the stump was very clearly cauterized and no longer attempting to heal. Together, the two scouts made very short work of the remaining three heads as the hydra was too exhausted and injured to even try to run or fight back. When the final head had been cut off, Beam awkwardly landed next to him without cauterizing the last stump. Seeing his confused look, understanding dawned on her face as she spoke. "Oh! The last head doesn't need to be burned. Once its cut off, the hydra dies."

Jay nodded and turned to her as he knelt down. "Sorry I hurt your leg but I didn't have time to be gentle. Just stay still and I'll take care of it."

The little thestral just gave him a grateful smile. "Nah, don't worry about it. I'd, uh... well, I'd probably be dead if you hadn't. I kinda froze up there."

When he touched her leg, she sighed softly as it quickly went numb as nearly microscopic tendrils extended into the flesh and knitted together the torn tendons and reset the bone. Once it was done, he started to stand back up before stopping as he looked at Beam. Her tufted ears were folded back and her tail flicked slowly as she looked away from him. Giving a nod as he decided what to do, he instead scooped her up before standing. Beam squeaked in surprise as she was suddenly picked up, her ears perked and muzzle tinted red as she looked up at the faintly smiling man holding her. "W-what are you-"

He interrupted her. "Your leg will be numb for a bit and I'm sure your wings are tired. I'll just carry you back to the carriage so you don't have to try to walk on a numb leg or fly with sore wings. I want to get out of the forest before something else decides to try to attack us."

"Smart call." Iron said, smirking at Beam's blushing face as he and Kin approached. "And once we're back at the carriage, I want to know just what that was that nearly obliterated the hydra. Not know though."

As Beam hit her face in her front hooves, Iron's horn lit up in that now-familiar miasma of energy as he activated his communications crystal and his voice came through all of them, wonderfully devoid of horrendous feedback. "Aqua, Star, status? We're done here, the hydra's dead. Minor injuries but Jay already fixed them."

A second later and Aqua's voice came through the crystal faintly muffled by wind. "We're done here too. We were on our way to you but we'll head back to the carriage again. No injuries here."

"Copy, see you there." Iron said as he cut communications and turned toward the way they had come. "Let's go. Jay, you did well on your first hunt. We'll celebrate once we're back in Canterlot, I hope you like cider."

(17) Return to Canterlot

The return to Canterlot passed quickly enough. After collecting his swords from where they had been launched during his metamorphosis, the party of four made their way back to Ponyville uneventfully. Jay was sure that Rainbow, Applejack, and Twilight had wanted to wait for them to return but it had taken several hours to find and then kill the hydra and it was now nearing sunrise. Instead, it seemed that Rarity and Pinkie Pie were waiting for them with Aqua and Star, apparently having a very early picnic. From the amusement his squadmates felt he figured it was more Pinkie's idea than Rarity's.

When the four Hunters approached the rest of their group and the two waiting mares, Rarity looked up and gave a tired smile. "I'm so very relieved to see everypony okay. Miss Aqua already told us that the timberwolves and hydra have been taken care of."

"Yes ma'am." Iron said as he gave the pretty unicorn a smile. "The wolves won't be coming for the two Bearers who were bit earlier and, hopefully, predator incursions will drop in this region now that the hydra is gone."

Rarity nodded happily as he explained the results. Idly, Jay picked up the sound of Pinkie talking Star's ear off and glanced over, seeing the brightly colored pegasus giving him a pleading look. Jay just smirked and shook his head before looking back to Rarity as she spoke sheepishly. "I'd offer you all tea but, in truth, I just want to go home and get back to sleep."

"That's perfectly fine, ma'am. A lady as brilliant as you must keep up with her beauty sleep." Jay almost laughed as Iron shamelessly flirted with the mare who had to be at least ten years younger than him. In his arms, Beam gave a quiet giggle as Jay started to walk away and toward the carriage as Star took the opportunity to follow him and leave Pinkie behind. For her part, Pinkie took his sudden departure well and instead turned to Aqua as Jay tuned them out.

"Go ahead and let me down, Jay. Me and Star need to get hooked up to the carriage." Beam groaned softly, clearly reluctant to be let down. While she had halfheartedly protested on and off through the walk back to Ponyville, she had quickly come to accept that he was carrying her and just made herself comfortable.

"Nah, you stay comfortable there, Beam." Star chuckled as he walked past the two of them. "I heard you almost took a pretty nasty hit and got hurt getting out the way. You just rest easy on the way back and just buy me a cider next time we all go to a bar."

The young thestral gave Star an ineffective glare, the slightly red fur on her muzzle ruining the effect as Kin helped Star hook up to the carriage. Jay climbed into the carriage and took his previous seat as Beam wiggled in place and got comfortable, resting her head on his legs as she stretched out on the bench next to him. Jay gently ran his hand through her moonlit mane as she sighed in relief, happy to be on her way back to Canterlot. "Feeling better, Beam?"

"I'd say she is!" Aqua cut in with a smirk as the tiny unicorn climbed into the carriage and gave her companion a cheeky smirk. "I've never seen her look so relaxed and comfortable."

Beam just cracked one eye open and frowned at the foal-sized mare, huffing softly. "Mm, 'onna beat you up."

"Naw, you'd have to get off Jay to do that." Aqua continued as Kin and Iron climbed into the carriage just behind her. Jay couldn't help but notice the almost imperceptible blush Iron had as he removed his helmet and smirked, wondering if just maybe the flirting had gone somewhere. At Aqua's tease, Beam just groaned in annoyance and turned her head, subsequently snuggling further into Jay as he chuckled softly.

"Teasing Beam aside, everypony did very well tonight." Iron said as he looked around his Hunters. "Aqua and Star handled a large pack of timberwolves without a single injury or issue to show for it and the rest of us took on an ancient hydra with only one minor injury. Most of it was thanks to Jay, our newest Hunter. I'd say he's definitely earned himself the title of Master Hunter and a place among us. Any complaints?"

Unsurprisingly, no one disagreed with Iron's statement as all the ponies in the carriage nodded. "Good. Then let's get back to Canterlot and show Jay a true welcome. Star, take us off!"

That got smiles from everypony as the carriage started to pull forward before it lifted off and took to the air, easily carried by just Star. Jay leaned back in his seat as he realized he was looking forward to being back home. Home. It's been a while since I've had a place I called that. Though, with Starfall and all my friends there I don't think I could call anywhere else home.

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

They arrived back into Canterlot just after the sun cleared the horizon, landing in the sky docks and leaving the carriage for the Guards there to check in and store. To Beam's silent happiness, Jay had opted to just pick her up and continue to carry her the rest of the way home. After a bit of teasing, the six Hunters made their way to their compound in silence, tired but excited to celebrate another successful hunt. When they opened the door to the compound and entered, only Jay was surprised to find Luna waiting for them. When the alicorn saw him holding the little thestral, her smile widened as she gave Jay an approving look. "Ah, young Beam and friend Jay. That is most certainly a wondrous way to celebrate a successful hunt. Perhaps I should delay the celebration until the two of you have had your fun?"

Beam's muzzle erupted into a bright red blush and Jay couldn't help but find it amusing that the little pony who had teased and flirted with him on his first day in the Hunters was now the target of the same teasing. The rest of the Hunters found it amusing as well, chuckling and giggling as Beam couldn't find the words to defend herself. Eventually, she just huffed at her boss and buried her muzzle back into Jay's arms. Luna giggled as well and Jay couldn't help but smile as he gave the little thestral a teasing squeeze before Luna continued. "Teasing my little thestral aside, I've taken the liberty to ensure that plenty of good food and good drink are waiting for you all. Of course, I'll be joining you as well."

Aqua snickered as she entered, playfully bumping Luna's leg. "Of course the Mistress of the Night won't pass up some good food."

Smiling warmly at the little unicorn, Luna agreed. "And good company. Now, let us make way to the dining room and fill our bellies with food and cider!"

The ponies cheered as they all moved to the kitchen. When Jay started to go with them, Beam bapped his face with her wing. "Hold on."

The little thestral gave Luna a look and she nodded with a small smile, continuing on into the kitchen and dining room combo. Once only Jay and Beam were left in the room, Beam hopped out of his arms and stood in front of him, gesturing for him to kneel down. The Evolved did, getting down on his knees to be about the same height as the pony. Beam gave him a warm smile with her teal eyes glimmering in gratitude. Stepping close, she wrapped her hooves and wings around him and gave him a tight hug. Her voice, heavy with emotion, spoke quietly as she gently nuzzled his cheek. "Thank you for saving my life, Jay."

"You're welcome, Beam." Jay said softly as he wrapped one arm around the thestral and cupped her muzzle with the other, gently holding her. "I couldn't let my favorite thestral die, now could I?"

She giggled softly, leaning into his touch. "I'm the only thestral you know."

"That makes you the favorite." Jay said with a small smile, pulling back to gently touch his nose to her muzzle.

Beam blinked in surprise for a second then smiled wider. A second later she leaned in and pressed her soft muzzle to his cheek, giving him a gentle kiss. Pulling back with a red tinted muzzle, she quickly hurried into the kitchen with a soft "Thanks, Jay."

Blinking in surprise, Jay reached up and touched his cheek as he stared at where she had been in front of him. He wasn't sure how long he was there but soon felt a wing drape itself over his shoulder. Looking to his side, he saw Luna smiling down at him as her wing gave him a little squeeze. "Enjoying yourself?"

"I, uh... I don't really know what to think." Jay said honestly. The lunar alicorn just gave him a knowing look.

"Then don't. Just come on and have a good meal with your friends."

Slowly, Jay nodded in agreement as he rose to his feet with Luna before following her into the kitchen. When they entered, Beam quickly glanced away with uncharacteristic shyness. Though to her credit, Luna hadn't been kidding when she mentioned good food and good drink. The counters were full to the brim of platters and bowls of various dishes. Everything from breads and salads to soups and cakes lined the counters in a buffet-style spread. Set up on the far back counter was a series of labeled kegs, no doubt various kinds of alcohol. Kin and Beam were both at the counters filling up plates of the offered meals with the large earth pony piling his plate up as much as he could. Iron and Star had already broken into one of the kegs and sat together drinking just as much as they were eating. Finally, Aqua sat in front of a bowl of stew almost as large as her. In front of the seat next to her was a set of bowls and plates holding a little bit of everything and he watched as Luna quickly hurried back to her food.

Jay smiled softly as he made his way over to the counters full of food and began to follow Luna's example, picking up a little bit of everything. He was sure the castle chefs had made this food and, as he usually shared a meal with Celestia and Luna in the evenings, knew that it would all be good whether it was something he was familiar with or not. Taking a seat on the other side of Luna, the two of them shared a small smile. A second later and Beam sat next to him with a warm smile that he happily returned as they all began to eat- not that Kin, Iron, Aqua, or Star had waited for them. Yeah, I could definitely call this place home.

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

The celebration had lasted three hours well into the morning. Everyone had ate, drank, and celebrated to their heart's content. Luna had drank Star under the table with ease just to turn around and do the same to Iron back to back. Aqua had eaten enough that she was noticeably more round than before much to Jay's amusement as he poked her distended stomach several times throughout the night. Kin had spent most of the night just eating as much as he could and, in the end, had been the one to beat Luna at her drinking game and downed an entire keg himself. The only two who had been somewhat reserved in their drinking or eating had been Jay and Beam, who had never really left his side. Jay couldn't lie to himself and say he didn't enjoy the cute thestral sticking close to him but her actions had done nothing to help with his cultural shock.

Eventually, the Hunters had retired for the night to catch up on the sleep they had missed out on and returned to their various rooms- though Jay and Kin had needed to carry Star and Iron to their respective rooms on the stallion's side. At first, Jay had been considering carrying Luna back to her room as she dozed on the giant cushion with a half empty keg next to her. In the end it hadn't be necessary as several Lunar Guards had arrived to take care of the Princess of the Night, teleporting her back to her room so the average pony didn't see her passed out drunk.

Finally, Jay had retired to his own room to examine the genetic samples he had received from Applejack, Rainbow, and Beam. The Evolved lied down on his bed and relaxed, sighing softly. Before he began to examine the genetics, he began to fix something that Starfall had called out a little over a week ago. "I could sleep all day if I'm not careful, even if you are a little hard to lay on."

Though she hadn't know why, she was absolutely correct. At the time, he had only changed his body to have a heart and lungs and nothing else. His 'skin' was incredibly dense and tough with no give to it, pretty much the equivalent of laying on a block of steel. He figured it was about time to fix that. Jay could argue that making his body less dense and heavy was a good move to retain his mostly undercover status, the truth was that it was purely for Starfall's sake. Being lighter would just outright be safer day to day. As it was, if something did manage to knock him over and onto a pony then there was a very high chance that the pony would no longer be among the living. On the other hand, reducing his density would be a defensive downgrade as his flesh would be far easier to pierce or rip out but, in Jay's opinion, it wasn't as bad of a risk as he expected. Even if something was tearing off his biomass, the hydra's upgrade to his own production would potentially offset it.

In the end, being less dense and lighter would make Starfall more comfortable. That was worth it all risks aside.

I know you said you don't care what I do in the room as long as its clean but I doubt this is what you meant when you said that.

Opening the small closet door, the Greater Evolved sat down and crossed his legs as he prepared to offload a very large portion of his biomass. If he was going to do this, he supposed that the hardest to infiltrate place he had access to do was the place to do it. Thick, black tendrils extended from his back as they weaved over the ground and into the corner of the closest. There, the tendrils formed the frame of a large, thick oval shaped vaguely like a giant egg as the growths thickened. Then red light pulsed along the lengths of the tendrils as biomass began to accumulate inside the 'egg.' As the object continued to fill with biomass, Jay's own weight and density began to reduce rapidly until he was slightly denser than a normal human, weighing about two hundred fifty pounds where the average for his frame would be two hundred. Then he disconnected the tendrils from his back and left the frame behind, opening his eyes soon after.

The 'egg,' which he decided to simply call a biomass cell, was about five feet tall with the solid, thick black frame of viral tendrils. Inside the frame, black organic matter filled about a fifth of the volume as bioluminescent orange light pulsed within. Jay placed a hand against the frame, giving a few command and deactivation sequences to the virus within and rendering it completely inert as the glow died out. Technically, this cell was alive in the same way that a hunter or warper was and, as such, was connected to his Hivemind. Completely inert as it was, he couldn't do anything more than sense that it existed and whether or not it had been tampered with but Jay considered that pretty good. In the event that he felt the biomass cell being tampered with, he could send an 'activation code' to it and it would react, repelling whatever was messing with it non-lethally and then burrow through the earth to reunite with him. Even if this compound was as safe as could be, there was no such thing as 'too much security' when it came to keeping Blacklight contained. Though, being that it was his own strain, it could never go rampant without another Evolved causing it.

That settled, Jay moved back to his bed and settled in before undergoing one more biological shift. If he wanted to be as 'normal' as possible, he was going to go the full route. Rather than his entire system being made of perfectly identical cells, his body now began to specialize just as living organisms did. 'Skin' and 'muscle' were no longer made of the same material and served the same function, now they were different. Instead of psuedo-nerve receptors on his external layer of virus, he now had a fully functional nervous system, brain included, that was responsible for controlling his muscles. More changes came as his body restructured itself into an identical replica of how he had been before his infection. He was still Blacklight- that was impossible to change with a simple shapeshift- but he was the closest to 'alive' he was ever going to get too. Lastly, he created a form of faux-cloth over his body then disconnected it from the rest of him, creating a fake set of clothing that was no longer attached directly to him- though he would need to see about getting some actual clothes.

Finally, nearly an hour after getting into his room, he set to do what he had planned. Mentally reaching inside his system, he found the isolated sequences he had obtained from the three samples and began to examine them. It was precisely what he expected. For some reason, the strange DNA obscuring effect that had prevented him from examining Starfall's genetics was unique to her and her alone. He supposed he could argue that the result was possibly caused by the increased magic inside a unicorn, but he now had samples of a thestral, earth pony, and pegasus and hadn't experienced a slight symptom of what he had come to call genetic blindness. If magic was the cause then surely the other three tribes would show at least a little of it.

Additionally, he found that he couldn't identify any traces of genes that spoke of 'magic.' It wasn't that he couldn't see them but that they weren't there at all. Honestly, that didn't surprise Jay at all. He had assumed from the get go that magic was something either mental or spiritual, not physical, and that there wouldn't be any genetics that simply 'made' magic. Sure, he had found the genetic composition of the bone-like material called alicorn that made up a unicorn's horn, the recessive genes lying dormant inside Beam's DNA from an old ancestor. Sure, he had found traces of that same alicorn inside the sequences for a pegasus' wings or an earth pony's hooves, but he hadn't found the coding for magic itself simply because it wasn't biological in nature.

Resting his head back on his bed, Jay let his thoughts stray. For better or for worse, it seemed as if the genetic blindness was specific to Starfall alone. Magical disease? Curse? Alchemical effect? He had seen and experienced so much in this world that he wasn't even sure where to begin identifying the underlying cause. He was going to see her tomorrow anyway. It was one of her days off and she had asked him to come do something with her in the afternoon though she hadn't said what. Jay had readily agreed, of course, but it now provided an opportunity to try examining her genetics again. If ponies were anything then they were predictable about wanting to cuddle- not that Jay minded. Starfall was as easy on the eyes as she was friendly and charming.

As Jay's mind wandered he couldn't help but keep coming back to the same thought. He really hoped she wasn't afflicted with some magical disease or curse.

(18) Royal Training Grounds

Jay hadn't meant to fall asleep. Whether it was a sign that he was comfortable in his new home or was adapting to 'normal' life again he wasn't sure, but either way he had unintentionally fallen asleep in his bed only to be woken up seemingly soon after by the sound of a scroll materializing from his calling card. Jay grabbed the scroll from where it had fallen onto his bed and unrolled it, idly noting the shield and star emblem on the ribbon that had held it shut.

Daedalus,

Firstly, I'd like to congratulate you on your first hunt. Not many ponies- or evolved- can claim to have killed a hydra. Second, I'd like to apologize for contacting you so early in the morning and on such short notice. However, I have a favor to ask of you. If you are available today, I'd like you to come down to the royal training grounds at the base of Canterhorn Mountain. Myself, as well as many of my higher ranking guardsponies, would like to discuss with you efforts we should take in the event a more hostile evolved were to somehow arrive in Equestria. If you are free and willing to help, just head out the main gate to the city and follow the cobbled path on the right. You can't miss it.

Captain of the Combined Royal Guards
Shining Armor

P.S. I'd also like to talk to you in private.

Jay rolled out of bed and opened one of the drawers on the desk he had been provided, removing a scroll. He grabbed an ink well and quill and quickly wrote out a quick, albeit messy, reply.

Shining Armor,

Thank you for the congratulations. It had been an eventful night that nearly ended badly for one of us, but fortunately we made it home with only a minor injury among us. Secondly, there's no need to apologize. An early scroll isn't an inconvenience at all. Of course, I'd be more than happy to help the Guards prepare for such an event, though I dearly hope any training or preparation goes unneeded. I will be there shortly.

Lance Corporal Jay Fontenot

P.S. My real name is Jay Fontenot. I'd also like to talk to you in private as well, so that works out for me.

Thankful that Aqua had added other important imprints to his token, Jay held his calling card and Hunter token together before he tapped the rolled up scroll to them as he thought of the Captain. Immediately, the scroll erupted into a heatless fire before blowing away in orange wisps of smoke. The Evolved quickly grabbed his two swords and strapped them to his back using a copy of the original false-cloth strap formed out of his viral cells and then opened the closet door. If Shining had wanted to test things to find out an effective defense against Evolved, it would be best for him to come equipped like an Evolved. He quickly connected to the biomass cell and absorbed all except the frame, increasing his weight to five hundred five pounds. He hummed slightly as he realized that he had collected five pounds of biomass overnight, not quite sure just how the virus did that.

Now fully prepared to beat around some Royal Guards, he exited the room and made his way toward the royal training grounds. Once he exited the main door of the compound, he started heading toward the main entrance to the city. According to the letter, the grounds were at the base of the mountain beneath the main entrance yet he didn't remember seeing the area on the way to Canterlot either time.

Once he had made his way out of the castle and into the very early dawn, Jay picked up speed as he started to jog through the city. As he made his way toward the front gate of the city, he received quite a few waves and nods from the various ponies who were out and about, overall just having a more welcoming experience than he remembered last time he had walked through the streets. Then he smirked as he realized the myriad of pedestrians, while certainly not poor, also weren't coated in tens of pounds of jewelry. It seemed the nobles didn't quite like waking up at the crack of dawn.

Once out of the city, he spotted the cobblestone road easily enough. Shining had been right, he couldn't miss it. It was easily ten feet wide and had a gentle, winding slope that slowly angled down. Once he was on the path, he picked up speed even further as he followed the road at a calm speed of sixty miles an hour, soon finding out why he hadn't spotted the area yet. Situated in a natural alcove between two of the smaller peaks of the mountain range, the training grounds blended in quite well with a natural stone wall extended thirty feet up. Idly, Jay considered just leaping over the wall before deciding that just maybe giving the guards a heart attack wouldn't be the best idea. Instead, he just stopped just outside the closed gate. Before he could knock, a large slit opened in the gate as two Solar Guards gazed at him. "Good morning, Mr. Daedalus. Please present your Hunter token."

With a nod, Jay pulled the medallion from underneath his shirt and showed it to the gate guards. In his grip, the token gave off a soft silver glow as it reacted to the touch of the Hunter it was meant for. With a nod, the two Guards accepted the authenticity of his identity. Silently, a small door concealed within the large gate swung open on silent hinges and he entered the training grounds only to stop just inside, momentarily caught off guard by the sheer size of the area thanks to the tall walls hiding the inner view.

Based inside a large, walled in compound spanning what Jay estimated was easily fifteen square miles, the guards clearly had all the space they would ever need to form, train, and maintain their forces. The compound consisted of a grid of large barracks that Jay figured could easily hold the entire Combined Royal Guards as each barracks was emblazoned with the emblem of either the Solar, Lunar, or Heart Guard. Situated in equal points in the grid of buildings were two larger open air mess halls that didn't seem to be divided into certain branches, instead allowing any Guard who was waking up or coming off a shift to get a hot meal. Next to the barracks was a collection of large, multistory buildings. If the number of windows was any indication, they were probably apartments for the higher ranking members who didn't stay in the barracks. In between the barracks and apartment complexes was another low, long building that Jay wasn't sure the purpose of but could guess was recreational in purpose.

Finally, the actual training grounds took up the rest of the rather large area. Jay took a quick glance across the place and saw a myriad of things. Six training courses of varying lengths and design curved slowly to match the outer curve of the far wall, some of the courses actively in use. With a few hundred foot buffer zone, a small group of Solar unicorns were practicing magic against both dummies and other Guards, seeming to be training unicorns on combat magic just as much as training non-unicorns on how to resist combat magic. Next to that, he could see Lunar Guards of varying races practicing with modified crossbows that seemed to connect to a special slot in their armor. A large collection of mixed unit guards were also practicing hoof to hoof combat and weaponry duels with wood replicas. Finally, Jay noticed a set of four familiar arenas set side by side next to a small building. Apparently, even the Royal Guard had a set of Discord's arenas to play with.

Even in the early hours of dawn, the Guard was active. Not even counting the number of ponies eating or practicing, there were also a large number of stallions and mares relaxing, chatting, walking, or flying about the area. Surprisingly, Jay didn't garner much attention as he made his way deeper into the grounds before a pegasus Solar guard caught up to him and hailed him. "Good morning, Lance Corporal. Captain Armor is waiting for you in the private arena."

When the pegasus gestured toward the small building next to the arenas, he was glad he chose to return to his usual density if they were going to through some practical tests into the mix with the discussions. With a quick "thank you" to the pegasus, he quickly made his way to the enclosed arena and entered. Inside, he found Captain Armor laying on the ground in his armor. The unicorn looked up when the door entered before he gave Jay a nod, then gestured next to him. The Greater Evolved made his way over and took a seat on the floor, crossing his legs. Shining Armor spoke first.

"Thank you for coming, Jay."

"It's not a problem, Captain. I'm more than happy to help out."

The unicorn nodded. "The others will be joining us in twenty. I wanted to talk to you before."

"I did as well." Jay agreed, nodding his head as he met Shining's eyes. "I wanted to apologize for attacking your sister."

Shining sighed softly as Jay accurately guessed at what he wanted to talk about. "I don't blame you, Jay. I know you weren't under your own control. It's just..."

"That's your sister." Jay continued when Shining trailed off. "Whether I was in control of my actions or not, she could have gotten hurt and that's weighing on you."

The Captain gave him a weak smile. "Well, hearing you apologize does help."

Jay chuckled softly. "I may not have a sister but I have a lot of close family too. I know the feeling."

The stallion's head tilted in surprise, looking at Jay. "I, uh, didn't want to ask."

The Evolved nodded. "Yeah, I get that. No siblings but I do have a mom, dad, aunts, uncles, and cousins. I grew up knowing all my extended family and cousins were no different to me than brothers or sisters."

When Jay didn't continue, Shining was quiet for a moment with a pensive look on his face. Then he continued, his voice quiet and tinted with concern. "If it doesn't bring up bad memories, what happened?"

Jay sighed softly. "They're alright, as far as I know. They were halfway across the country from where Blacklight happened, so they weren't at risk. They think I'm dead, though. When I got infected, I changed my name to Daedalus so that people couldn't link me to them and hurt them for what I was. I wish I hadn't needed to but, well, I'd rather my family be safe and think I'm dead than be in danger."

"Yeah, I get that." Shining nodded in understanding, glancing at Jay as if looking at him in a new light before the Evolved continued.

"I haven't talked to you much and for that, I'm sorry. You're the Captain of all the guards from what I understand. No doubt, you care deeply for your country, your ponies, and your family and I've already tried to hurt the last one. I promise you, Shining, that I'm not an enemy. I've come to see this place as home, something I thought I lost the right to when Mercer made me a monster. The ponies here have shown me nothing but acceptance and friendship. I'd never do anything to ruin that. Even if somehow Mercer himself were to arrive, I wouldn't turn. He doesn't have sway over me anymore."

Shining didn't say anything after that, thinking over what Jay had said. Though he didn't say it, the Evolved knew his words were just what the Captain had wanted to hear. Jay didn't feel a need to push anything, either. He just waited in a comfortable silence with the younger stallion.

It hadn't taken long for the others to arrive as the door to the private arena opened right on time and three ponies entered, one for each branch of the Royal Guard. All three Guards were fully armored, their colors matching their respective branches. The Solar Guard was a young, white coated pegasus mare. The Lunar Guard was an older looking earth pony stallion. The Heart Guard was a pink pegasus stallion. Each of them wore the dual silver stripes denoting the Captain rank. As they neared, Shining spoke. "Jay, these are the Captains of the branches of Equestria's Royal Guards who each run a branch mostly self sufficiently with only the barest oversight from me. The Solar mare is Captain Dawn, the Lunar stallion is Captain Azure, and the Heart stallion is Captain Break. Captains, this is Jay. I trust you three know why we're all here?"

As Captain Armor introduced each of his subordinates, they gave him a nod as their name was called. Once Shining finished speaking, Break spoke. "Yeah, we're here to figure out exactly what we can do to defend against any more Evolved showing up who aren't as nice as Jay."

"Right. Jay's agreed to give us some pointers on how to combat Evolved with the least amount of casualties. If he's feeling up to it, we may move on to some practical demonstrations." Shining explained as the everyone took a seat again. "Jay, the floor is all yours."

"Alright, I'm just going to start off blunt. Anyone who isn't a unicorn or alicorn won't stand a chance." Jay said honestly, immediately getting frowns at that. "Earth ponies, pegasi, and thestrals will be better off focusing on the horde."

"Horde?" Dawn interrupted him, her frown shifting into a concerned look. "How big are we talking?"

"Blacklight, depending on a variety of factors, can result in different Blacklight creatures. The Evolved are the rarest kind. The most common are the Walkers. Walkers are the result of the Blacklight being injected into a creature and then left to do whatever it wants to do. The victim invariably dies and then becomes Blacklight, usually mutating into some monstrosity before attempting to murder and devour those around it. These things have strength, speed, and resilience to the extreme but the average earth pony hits much harder than a Walker." Jay explained, leaning back against the wall as he sighed softly.

"Wouldn't earth pony Walkers hit even harder, then?" Shining asked. A heavy frown creased his brow as he started to understand the threat Blacklight held.

"Yeah, but not as strong as an earth pony. Biologically speaking, earth ponies aren't that strong. Would you consider Applejack to kick hard?" Jay asked, looking between the Captains and receiving nods all around. "Applejack can kick hard enough to crack iron. I would know, she split an iron horseshoe on my chest when we first met. If I remember right, cast iron takes about twenty thousand psi to break- don't worry if that measurement doesn't mean anything here. What's important is that just based on muscle strength, Applejack should only be able to kick at about two thousand psi, a tenth of the force needed."

"What does that mean?" Azure asked from where he was resting his head on his legs.

"Almost ninety percent of an earth pony's strength comes from their passive magic. As far as I can tell, all Blacklight including myself are completely unable to harness magic. With earth pony Walkers not having their magic, but still stronger than average, I'd say one of them would kick about a third as hard as Applejack would. Overall, an earth pony Walker would be significantly weaker than an earth pony. Now, moving on, there are the actual Blacklight beasts."

"Other than Walkers, there are three main types of Blacklight beasts. None of these develop as a natural form the virus makes and instead must be created by an Evolved. The first is the Gladiator, a large humanoid creature covered in viral plate armor and wielding a shield as well as a weapon. Usually bladed, these weapons can also take the form of hammerfists or whipfists. Overall, these things are very strong. Unlike the warpers and walkers, they don't have any particular weakness. They're surprisingly agile for their weight, incredibly strong, with fast reactions and tough outer layers."

For the next two hours, Jay explained every type of creature the Blacklight Evolved used from the simple Gladiator to the terrifying Behemoth, and even going so far as to detail the old gen monsters that were no longer in current use by the Evolved. He detailed their strengths, their weaknesses, and his suggested tactics for fighting them. The Greater Evolved told the four Captains of how the beasts can be made from a freshly killed or still living body or even grown from a sac using raw biomass. He explained how a few Behemoths and a horde of Gladiators can be used to create a self-replicating Hive, bringing back biomass to create more and more creatures.

Jay went on to explain how Blacklight had a massive weakness to magic as even the lowest powered of stun spells would burn a hole into his body. He told them of the difficulty he had healing magically-inflicted wounds and how enough damage could cause his body to destabilize. Eventually, the conversation moved onto practical demonstrations and the four Captains began testing strategies against the Evolved. Jay demonstrated the physical strength that he had by throwing Azure around with one arm. He demonstrated his speed and reactions by catching Dawn out of the air, and even caught Shining off guard. The unicorn had grabbed hold of his arms, legs, and head in a telekinetic grip and smirked as if he expected that to be the end of it. The Captain hadn't expected a thick tendril to erupt out of Jay's chest but reacted impressively quick, catching the giant spike. Only, a few seconds later he lost the duel as another tendril split off of the first one and 'impaled' him. "Keep an Evolved away from you. The amount of limbs we can produce is limited only on our biomass and the more we get to consume in a fight, the more biomass we have to use. Even as I am right now, I'm just over five hundred pounds. I consider my minimum threshold to be three hundred so that gives me two hundred pounds of biomass to play with. If Mercer had just recently gorged himself on the various citizens in Canterlot, he'd easily have a few tons of organic matter to chuck around. Keep your distance and remember that even the weakest spells are damaging to an Evolved."

Author's Note

Starting in ten or so chapters, expect longer lengths and just more things happening as I push past the roughly 3k word limit I've been doing. The longer length would start now, but I've written these chapters a couple months ago and they don't quite flow well when combined with the next.

(9) Tartarian Hunters Pt. 2

"Like Sparky said, our formal name is the Tartarian Hunters. The name originated from our founding a little over two millennium ago after the six of them banded together to hunt and kill a relatively large band of demons that escaped Tartarus. Nowadays, Tartarian threats are pretty much nonexistent except for the occasional summoner who wanted to summon a succubus, so we mostly just go by the Hunters." Wrought Iron chuckled softly as he brushed off what Beam had said. "We also serve as personal bodyguards toward the Princesses. While Luna is our only direct superior, she will occasionally 'loan' us out to the other alicorns as protection, security, or for a job or two. That includes you, too. Also, even though only Luna is in our chain of command, if one of the alicorns gives you an order, you do have to follow it as long as it doesn't contradict one of Luna's standing orders."

"Our direct boss or not, the alicorns are still princesses." Jay surmised and received a nod from the elder Hunter.

"Normally, a new member comes to us through an apprenticeship. A full-fledged Hunter will find somepony who shows promise and interest in the profession and take them on an as an apprentice. The master will teach the apprentice all the tricks of our trade. They learn everything from how to actually protect a VIP, what kind of monsters we face and their strengths and weaknesses, civilian rescue and deescalation, first aid, and generally some side skill that the apprentice chooses for themselves. At some point, either your master or Luna herself would feel you're ready to become a full master. You meet Luna in a duel. You don't have to win or even come close, but if you manage to impress your master or Luna- preferably both- you become a full fledged Master Hunter and can take on your own apprentice whenever you feel you've found one. Being a master does not mean you're done learning, either. It just means you've learned enough for us to trust you to bring somepony else in."

The captain paused to collect his thoughts. "Out in the field or informal situations like this, we don't use ranks or titles. Second Lieutenant is the second in command of our sect, but if Sergeant here's got an idea that might save a few lives or make our missions easier, he's expected to speak up and share it. Listen to your superior of course, but don't be afraid to speak up and share an idea. If you don't, you can't learn whether it was a good one or what you thought wrong. And like I said, even off the field we don't particularly care for ranks or formality. In our halls, Luna is just Luna. Beam is Beam, not Second Lieutenant Glimmering Moonbeam. If you're ever put with some other branch of the Guard, you best pick up those formalities you left behind though. Don't give us a bad name for being too 'lax and lazy.' We're outside the command chain for the Royal Guards and don't often work with them, so the only impression they get of us is what we give them, and we don't need a bad reputation going back to Luna."

"That brings up a question I have about the military here." Daedalus stated when there was a pause in conversation. When Iron gestured for him to ask, he continued. "How many branches of the military are there and what purpose do they serve?"

"I've got this one." Aqua interrupted. When Iron didn't stop her, she answered Daedalus' question. "There's five branches total. The 'Royal Guard' comprises of the Solar, Lunar, and Heart Guards. Each one takes their orders directly from their alicorn and usually double as their personal guard as well, only Luna does things different with the Lunar Guard and the Tartarian Hunters. The Royal Guards function as a police force first and personal guard second, but can also double as a military in extreme situations. Then we have the Hunters. We focus primarily on keeping the populace safe against natural and supernatural threats. Everything from demons to spirits to wild animals. Finally, we have the Equestrian Rangers, the largest branch by far."

"Since the Solar and Lunar Guards are focused in Canterlot, the Heart Guard in the Crystal Empire, or wherever their Princesses are, that leaves most of Equestria undefended. Instead, the Equestrian Rangers take the place of the primary military and police force in the nation. Every town or city with a population over ten thousand has a recruitment center and permanent garrison, and any village with less than that has a rotating temporary garrison." Aqua finished. It wasn't the most detailed explanation of the five branches, but it answered his question just fine and told him what he needed to know.

After a second, Iron picked up where he left off. "It goes without saying that as a Hunter, lives come first. If it comes down to it, we're all prepared to give our lives to save innocents as is our duty. Just, it's better to kill the monster, save the ponies, and save yourself. You can go kill more monsters that way. Though, if you're as immortal as you say you are, that won't be a problem. Any questions?"

"How often do we get deployed and what do we do in between?" Daedalus asked and leaned against Beam's couch as he stretched out his legs. To his surprise, Beam took the chance to just roll off the couch and land on his legs, resting her head on his thigh as she stretched out her leathery bat wings and gave a clearly fake yawn."

"Man, you're warm. I definitely think you'll do just fine here."

"Just ignore her. She does that to everypony. Beam flirts so much you'd think she's bedded every stallion in the castle but I'm almost certain she's never been laid." Aqua commented with a smirk toward her fellow Hunter. For her part, the thestral just stuck her tongue out without even opening her eyes.

"I wouldn't mind if a certain handsome human were to change that~" Beam teased with a smirk up toward the virus, her playful eyes meeting his amused stare.

"No thank you. I'm already taken by a mare."

"So?" Daedalus paused at the honest confusion in her voice and he felt like she wasn't just insinuating that he cheat on his potential partner.

"Beam's shamelessness aside," Iron interrupted with a chuckle. "We get deployed whenever something happens. We do have scheduled hunts in the Everfree Forest, Shallow Swaps, and Winding Woods to curb predator population growth near populated areas, but we otherwise might get called to a hunt every three days or three months. If we're really unlucky, we might even have to split our sect to cover each hunt in our location. That usually happens once or twice a year. In between deployments, we practice, train, and bond with each other. Pretty much, you do whatever you choose when we're not out on a hunt provided its, you know, legal."

"How many Hunters are there in total?" Daedalus asked as Beam's muzzle insistently poked his hand. After a mental shrug, he started to run his hand through her mane as she closed her eyes again and gave a satisfied hum. Whatever Aqua said about Beam's constant flirting, she definitely got what she wanted.

"We have eight sects scattered across Equestria. We're the largest with you making our sixth member. We have two sects with five, four with four, and one with three. Overall, we have thirty five members across Equestria. Absolutely minuscule compared the the Solar Guards who number about four thousand, or the Rangers with thirty three thousand."

"Quality over quantity." Daedalus said with a nod.

"We'll definitely get along just fine." Iron echoed Beam's earlier statement with a smirk. "Now for what I'm sure you're most interested in, pay and housing. Are you familiar with our economy?"

Daedalus shook his head. "No, I'm not. I've got some bits that were given to me to hold me over for some time, but I haven't even looked at them yet."

"Alright, Beam, you're our treasurer so you wanna explain everything?" Iron said as he looked down at the happy pony.

"Mm, sure. So we use bits as our currency. Most are gold but the higher denominations are platinum. The gold bits are one, five, ten, twenty five, and fifty. Platinum ones are hundred, two hundred fifty, and five hundred. Your brand new Private gets paid three bits an hour and works thirty hours a week. Monthly, that's about three hundred sixty. If you rent a place in Canterlot- trust me, don't- you'll be spending about eight hundred a month. However, if you live in the barracks you're provided that drops from about eight hundred to about two hundred a month. More if you eat out a lot, less if you buy bulk food and cook for yourself. Rank increases with pay, of course."

"As a Hunter, you don't guard doors and halls and occasionally arrest a petty criminal. You also don't have a 'shift.' You risk your life for the citizens of this country and are expected to give that life to save others. You're always on call. When you receive the order to deploy, it doesn't matter if you're bored and waiting for it or rutting your marefriend, you need to be halfway here before you even finish reading the scroll. As such, your pay will be higher. You'll be starting out as a Lance Corporal, the lowest rank we allow in the Hunters. Your pay will be twenty a day. About six hundred bits a month, but then you got taxes. The griffons have this weird thing called sales tax where you get taxed on every single item you buy plus your income. We don't have that. You pay taxes on your income and taxes on any purchase over five hundred bits, and it's ten percent either way. That's it. In Canterlot and Cloudsdale, your taxes go to Celestia and Luna. The other two Princesses have their own areas they get taxes from, and if you live in any area outside the crown realms but inside Equestria, your taxes get split evenly between all four. So the three hundred bits I hoof you every other Friday is more like two seventy. For now, I'll hoof you your bits in coinage on payday but if you get a bank set up, let me know and I can get your pay deposited from the crown to your account instead. I recommend the coins though, they jingle nicely. Any questions yet?"

"You mentioned I'll be a Lance Corporal, but ranks don't have much meaning here in the Hunters and Iron also said our command is separate from the others. How does a rank hold up to the other branches in Equestria?" Beam smiled as he asked that, happy he was paying attention.

"For the other four branches, it doesn't. Until you're a Sergeant Major or higher, your rank doesn't mean jack in another branch. A Solar sergeant has no authority in the Lunars, and a Heart Private doesn't take orders from a Lunar sergeant first class. Once you get to SGM, the ranks transfer between the four branches but local ranks override foreign. So, if a Solar and Heart SGM gives an order to a Solar Guard, he'll listen to his own superior before he follows the Heart Guard. As a Hunter, though, you don't take orders from other branches period, and can't give orders to other branches either, unless you're directly on loan to that branch. So even a captain from the Solar guard can't order you around unless you're on loan to Celestia." Beam explained quickly with a chuckle. "The Captains don't really care but it really gets on the nerves of sergeants and first classes, the newer officers who are in the middle of a power trip from their promotion."

"Now, onto benefits. You'll have the standard Palace package but it won't really do you any good. Don't get me wrong, you get medical, dental, and life insurance as long as you're employed by the palace no matter what your job actually is, but it won't do you any good with what you said you are. It all comes out of Celestia and Luna's personal pockets to boot. Something about nobles nearly rioting six hundred years ago over it or something, I don't really know the details, so they just pay it themselves and it doesn't cost you a bit in taxes. A little 'thank you' from our local pegacorns for keeping their home and capital city running. I know the Rangers get some good benefits too, but I don't know them off the top of my head or what pays for it."

"Moving on, you're provided housing here but are welcome to rent or buy wherever you want provided your in our sect's region, which is pretty much just Canterlot, Cloudsdale, and Ponyville. At the end of our hall, the last four doors are barracks, though I call them that loosely. They each lead to other halls and every member has their own room complete with a small kitchenette, bathroom, and bedroom. Food's your own problem though but we usually have 'family dinners' once or twice a week I hope you'll join. Anyway, the back two doors are for those who are permanently stationed here, and the closer two are for any Hunters visiting Canterlot and aren't quite as nice as ours- they get the good rooms back in their own sects. Oh, and the mare side is on the left and the stallions on the right. There aren't technically any rules about going into the opposite gender's area, but if you decide to get intimate with somepony then you're expected to either keep it quiet or take it to a hotel- nopony wants to listen to that."

"Now, I'm tired of talking so if you don't have any questions, Iron's prolly gonna give you a tour of the place." With a teasing smile, Beam finally climbed off of him and stretched. Her tail flicked him in the face playfully before she hurried out the door with a smirk toward him. "If you actually end up needing me, I'll be napping in my room."

Once Beam was out the door and it closed, Star gave a small chuckle. "You did good putting up with her, Jay. I could barely stand her when I first got taken on as an apprentice, but you didn't seem to care at all. Just don't go getting your hopes up if you want to actually try to bed her. Aqua wasn't kidding when she said she's pretty sure Beam's never been laid."

Iron rose to his hooves as well and gave Daedalus a respectful nod. "Officially, welcome to the Tartarian Hunters, Capital Sect. Now c'mon, I'll show you around. Once you get past the main door, we offer functionality, not lavishness."

The Evolved gave a parting wave to the other ponies in the room, not surprised to see that Aqua had literally been bored to sleep as Kin and Lightning returned his wave. Daedalus stepped out into the hall and followed Iron straight across into the room opposite the common room. He wasn't surprised to find that it was a large kitchen and dining room combo. With three ovens, each with four stove-top burners, and various other kitchen appliances, it was easily able to handle the entire sect plus any visitors. Off to the right side, there was another large and low table surrounded by cushions for them all to sit at and eat. "Here's the main kitchen. When we have those 'family' dinners Beam mentioned, this is where we all cook and eat something together. You aren't required to join us obviously, but it would be greatly appreciated. It's a good way to bond and get to know the ponies you're risking your life with."

"I'll be joining everyone, don't worry." Daedalus said with a smile with a soft chuckle. "I won't argue about having some more friends."

"Good, we may not be 'traditional' ponies what with being hunters, but we still love a good friend or twelve like anypony else. This kitchen isn't stocked so if a bunch of food suddenly shows up, don't touch it. It's either another Hunter coming to Canterlot for a time since the guest barracks don't have kitchens, or it's food in preparation of a group dinner. Other than that, it's, well, a kitchen and dining room. Not much to be said." They left the kitchen and headed toward the next room as Iron stopped just outside the door. "It completely slipped my mind earlier, but the main door is reinforced. It's made of lunar iron, a special alloy on Luna can make, and very heavily enchanted. On top of all the strengthening enchantments and counterspells weaved into it, it'll also disrupt the illusion magic of changelings, incinerate any undead, and halt any cursed that try to walk through it. Normally, that would mean you also couldn't enter here either if you get cursed out in the field, but you'll be receiving a special token from Luna that'll allow you to bypass the defenses so even if you're cursed you can enter. The token won't work for anypony else either, not even another Hunter. It'll work for you and you alone."

That said, he pushed open the door and they quickly entered. This room varied from the others in the sense that it clearly wasn't a quality of life room. It was large, easily a hundred feet wide and long with a variety of training equipment on the left side. Everything from targets to strange, ponified exercise equipment sat on the left side of the room. On the right side was a shimmering orange barrier identical to the one he had fought inside already, as long as the room and a third the width. "This is the exercise and training area. It's got targets, equipment, and even our own miniature arena. If you enter with two ponies, it works exactly like the one you used with Luna. However if you enter alone and say 'Discordian Arena, activate,' then it'll begin creating hard magic constructs to combat you. Based on your thoughts, it can create anything from demons to timberwolves to chimeras to other ponies, though it won't live up to the real thing. It's also the only one with this feature."

"Discordian Arena?"

"Discord wanted to make sure we all knew who made it." Iron chuckled.

The next room sparked Daedalus' interest far more than the previous as it seemed to be some odd combination of lab and metal workshop. In the far right corner, a dimly burning forge sat encased in a magical barrier that blocked the smell of the smoke and the heat of the fire. Chemistry equipment sat on the left side of the room, and what seemed to be stereotypical alchemy equipment sat on the close right, over complicated tubing included. "I think I'll be most interested in here."

Iron chuckled, nodding. "You seemed like the type. As a whole, we've got poisons covered but Beam only really dabbles in other types of potion making. Of course, what you choose to learn is whatever you choose, but we'd appreciate a potion maker if you find somepony who can teach you. Most of our armor is custom made by Luna and enchanted by Aqua, but you're also free to use the forge whenever if your built in weaponry won't cut it. I expect you to have at least one silver and one sunsteel blade for creatures not affected by mortal iron or steel, or whatever yours are made of. Until you learn how to make them, we'll be able to cover you pretty easily. Everypony keeps spares of pretty much everything."

They skipped over the second to last doors on each side and the last door on the left as Iron led him to the stallion's permanent barracks. This door led to another, even smaller hallway that had eight rooms, four on each side. Iron led him to the second one on the right. Like Beam had said, this was going to be his bedroom. When they entered the room, the door led immediately into a small kitchenette furnished with an oven, a toaster, a small table, and two cushions side by side. Past that, there was a short hallway with a door on either side. Right led to a small bathroom that was pretty standard to what he expected, if a little ponified in height and shape, while the left led into a simple bedroom. A bed just big enough for him dominated the center left of the room with a single dresser at the foot facing out. There was also just enough walking space for a large pony to loop around the bed and to a small closet. "It's not much, but hey, it's better than sharing a room with eleven other stallions plus it's free. Everypony's got the same size and space, so if you want or need something bigger you'll have to rent or buy elsewhere. Otherwise, it's yours. We don't care what you do with it, just keep it clean. Nopony wants to walk in and smell mold and sex or kick away a dozen cider bottles on the floor. Anything you want to ask?"

"Nope, none at all. Thank you, Iron, and I look forward to working with everyone. I suppose even Beam, too."

Iron smiled a little at his joke. "You'll get used to her. She grows on ya, and it helps the younger ones who come through here feel more confident when they have a pretty mare flirting with them all the time. I can never tell if she's ever serious, though. Anyway, you have fun and get settled in, we'll be around if you ever need to speak to one of us. Once Luna's free of most of her duties, she'll stop by and get you set up with a calling card and Hunter token and you'll be officially officially a part of us."

With a final nod, Iron turned and left the room. Daedalus sat down on the edge of his bed and found it could easily support his weight, diminished though it was. He was slowly recovering biomass from filtering the air of particulates, but without a proper 'meal' it would taken him about a week to go from human-level density and weight to his standard. Thinking of his genetic abilities reminded him of the DNA sample of Starfall he had taken and stored, but not yet examined. After a second, he turned his attention inward to examine the genetic sequence of the unicorn only to freeze in his track as something decidedly not right became apparent.

As a general rule, DNA didn't change. The genetics you were born with were the genetics you lived with and for the most part it was as simple as that. Unless you brought it advanced procedures like gene therapy or exceptional circumstances like radiation exposure, your DNA remained as it was from your birth. Maybe different genes triggered in different points of your life, but those inactive genes were already there since before your birth. Starfall's genetic code seemingly did not follow this rule.

Try as he might, he couldn't really see her DNA, though he couldn't precisely tell if it was changing either. He could detect that the DNA was there. He could detect that she had forty two pairs of chromosomes, ten more than a horse from Earth. He could detect that the actual structure of the DNA was the same as he expected. But it was as if the DNA was blurry somehow. With no defined edges, he couldn't exactly tell what did what or went where. Willing himself to consume it as he assumed he was experiencing something akin to genetic blindness due to magic, he was shocked to find that his virus didn't even recognized the material as organic. Just as he couldn't consume rock or metal, he couldn't consume this DNA sample either.

Magic, He thought with a derisive sigh. For whatever reason, he was blocked from even examining the unicorn's DNA and the most likely reason, as much as he hated it, was magic being the cause. Laying back on his bed, he thought of what he needed to take care of next.

Next on my list, Cadence. I need to talk to her about Starfall before she heads back to the Empire.