[Blazing's Entry]
After riding through the Imperial 'countryside' for several days now, I can safely say times have changed. Where before lay simple singular settlements sometimes of only several houses surrounded by farmland, now even the scattered houses have electric wires coming into them. From what I heard, even this far away from any real city, indoor plumbing is a thing.
The cities, though... that's really something.
I thought Manehattan was huge, and it is by equestrian standards, but it is just a larger village compared to what a city means in the Empire. Imperial cities are humongous, houses upon houses as far as the eye can see from a tall hill. I remember the view from Canterlot city walls from where you could see Ponyville on a good day. Well, if that view consisted of only houses, skyscrapers, plazas, and millions of griffons and ponies filling the spiderweb of streets then it would be close to the reality of the Empire. I can't even begin to imagine what Holy City looks like in this day and age. It must a country in itself.
Enough gawking, though.
Important things... important things...
Right, my Corruptor socks were shifting throughout the entire ferry ride. I didn't know what caused it, but I recalled something I heard during my trip through Equestria - Corrupted were unable to cross ocean water for some reason. They are supposed to be mostly plants rather than mammals like ponies, so the salt content would be deadly to something that 'evolved', if Harmony's tampering could be called that, on the land.
I might be bringing the first Corrupted ever to the Empire.
Which feels wrong, now that I think about it. The consensus of ponies I met in Manehattan was that Corrupted exist only in Equestria. I can't help disagreeing. Griffon Legion, or specifically Black Ops, have always kept close tabs on the world's affairs, at least observing when direct action wasn't possible. I know that Corrupted bodies dissolve quickly when killed, which was the main reason pony knowledge about the species was stunted for over a century before Nightshade's rise. Black Ops, however, are known to be ruthless and they wouldn't mind causing the loss of many soldiers in order to get a live specimen.
Hmmm...
Well, what IS refreshing is the amount of ponies travelling on the train with me. It seems the pony slave pens which Manehattan became during griffon occupation remained contained to the city itself. The few ponies I've talked to during the trip are proud Imperial citizens which is definitely an improvement from the way Empire used to be during my time. Today, apparently, ponies make about twenty percent of Empire's population. However, they knew nothing about what Manehattan under griffons used to be, which tells me Imperial laws protecting citizens are at least fair. Manehattenites, though, were kept in poverty in order to need to sell their bodyparts, organs, horns especially to griffon companies.
Honestly, when Bucket told me how Twilight destroyed the entire Imperial fleet and mind controlled the griffon garrison, making them blow their brains out...
...I thought they deserved way worse.
If I, with my full power, was there, I think there would be no Griffon Empire today. I have trouble forgiving, and I despise manipulators.
That's exactly why I would make a pretty shitty diplomat.
[End Entry]
"Lord Void, we beg thee!" laments the kneeling earthpony on the verge of tears.
He isn't alone. The entire town has gathered around a little prayer gazebo they erected for me years ago. They are exhausted, starving, sick, every single one of them. Young stallions and even younger colts are helping mares stand or are carrying foals unable to move on their own. The droughts hit them hard, much like many others. During past years, it has gotten worse and worse, and I have visited places full of souls about to depart. After all, that is who I am, the alicorn of Death. I do not torture, I do not kill, those are things that happen in the real world. I simply guide the lost ones to my realm, my Final Sanctuary, where souls finally find their peace and refuge from pain.
And yet, the more of them come, the more powerful I become, the more it hurts.
"I do not know what more to do to help thee," I have to answer, "I dug the field irrigation systems alongside thee. I have shown thee how to build aquaducts. I told thee the ways to stockpile food and keep it fresh for long. We even discovered the mountainside ice caves several days of travel from here. What more can I do?"
Some foal's hacking cough breaks the desperate silence.
"Use thine magic. Thou art an alicorn, are thou not?" the town mayor's wife presents her own filly, sweating profusely while wrapped in a blanket, shivering and coughing quietly, "Thou canst perform miracles."
"I... I cannot perform magic, not what thou mean by the word, my power does not allow it. I cannot heal thee, nor thine foal. I cannot conjure food. I cannot control weather. I am not mine sister. I exist to do but one task, and thou knowest what it is. There is only one way I can help now."
The already heavy air of impending doom only deepens at my words. It is clear most foals won't survive the night. The villagers understood when I told them that my help was against my sisters' law of free evolution, that I was already doing something alicorns weren't allowed to by the firstborn. That is why I am sure they tried everything they learned already before asking me for help... and failed.
I found a tribe of earthponies living in this part of the world we now call Equus, out here where alicorns rarely walk mostly due to my presence, and shown them some of the inventions Magnus, the alicorn of Magic and the youngest of us primal three, came up with. It worked well in this isolated place, but now that something was happening to this area of the planet there was no way to relocate somewhere less desolate. My experiment failed.
The mayor whispers something to his wife who starts crying but hands him his bundled up filly. The finality of the situation spreads through the crowd of ponies, and soon the mayor's wife isn't the only one sobbing.
"Then I plead for thine help anyway," his eyes tear up as well, "Our filly will not survive the night, much like many others. Fever, hunger, and plague are devouring them from inside. I ask for thine help then, knowing what the help is, lord Void. Such pure beings like our young do not deserve a slow end like this."
"Art thou sure?" I take the presented filly into my hooves. Even I can feel the small body is as if on fire.
His eyes lock with his wife's. She walks over and kisses her daughter one final time.
I take a deep breath, and touch the little one with my horn. Black and purple sparks course through her body and her ragged breathing slows down. The feverish heat is fading away, replaced by encroaching deathly cold. The filly opens her eyes, turning her head.
"Mommy?"
"Sleep, young one," I say in a deep, soothing voice, "No more suffering, no more agony, just rest."
She goes limp, and I close her eyes with my hoof, watching a blue wisp of the filly's soul circle around me.
One by one, the villagers present themselves to me. They know there is no other way out. They tried to spread, they tried to move, many died in the attempts, but these remaining ones realize there are only few options left - the disease, painful starvation and subsequent insanity, or me.
Surrounded by lifeless bodies, I ponder the fragility of existence until a blue blur in the corner of my eyes snaps me out of it. I look at one wisp stubbornly refusing to depart.
"Mayor?" I ask, "Thine time is over."
The wisp reforms into a blue, see-through pony spirit.
"I want to repay thee all thine assistance over the years, my lord," he bows, "I wish to enter into thine service."
"I have no need for servants. Thou wouldst do better to have a last word with thine family before thou fadest away."
"They understand. All of us are indebted to thee. I might be a gnat in comparison to thee, but I desire to stay by thine side, grant thee power. That is mine wish, and the wish of mine city."
The power inside a raw soul given freely, raw power of life. That is something not even my sister possesses. The last wish. I can feel the energy coursing through the spirit. So much power at my disposal, so much...
...and so useless. I cannot use the raw resource to fuel spells revitalizing the land. It will not allow me to use complex magic reaching into the essence deep within all beings.
However, it might give me a pair of eyes no one else can see, a servant who can be by my side and find the source of this new plague decimating everything.
"I take thee into mine service. I will use thee well. However, I cannot break the rules of my realm, and thou must depart. I am not allowed to grant new life, even in spirit form."
"My lord?"
"Thine will and individuality shall dissipate, only thine spirit and desire will linger as my new servant and protector. Nameless, thankless, eternal."
The mayor puts his foreleg against his chest.
"I find thee to be deserving, lord Void. Thou hast done more for us than any of thine brethren, and if eternity of mine service is the price, then so be it."
Waving my hoof, the spirit pony dissipates, blue flame of his energy circling around my foreleg. This small creature bears the combined power of all three gods - the energy to create new life, the potential of evolution, and the capability of destruction. It is a drop in the ocean, but it is something no other alicorn has.
I owe it to the little creatures to use it well.
Dark flames surround me, and I leave the new graveyard, reappearing in complete darkness. Standing on black obsidian floor with many concentric magical circles of various sizes engraved in it, I focus on the smallest one in the center. It glows bright purple, and the familiar drag of teleportation spell drops me off inside a small wooden cottage located in a completely different part of Equus.
"Welcome ba-" Scream, wearing a simple white apron, turns towards me from a fireplace with something delicious bubbling inside a cauldron. Unlike me, Scream has no trouble using servants, and the boiling stew must have been made by one of them. The alicorn of Lust is a terrible cook, with the ability to summon otherworldly beings by buttering a slice of bread, which means the real cook must have left a short while ago, "You look horrible, Voidie. More casualties?"
"Yes. I do not know what is causing it, but it does not feel natural. I just wish my sister would help. Her power would be enough to stop it or slow it down enough for Magnus to research it."
"I think I know what you need, honey," Scream telekinetically unies the apron around her neck, giving me a half-lidded gaze and licking her lips.
"You might be right. A little comfortable rest might help."
"I was thinking of something more... RAW!"
Black goo devours Scream as she turns into a Corrupted and leaps at me, mouth full of tentacles invading my head.
***
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" I yell, flailing my limbs. My thrashing is stopped only by the metal floor of the train, "Ow!"
I've been having dreams about Void for the past few days. It must have something to do with unused true death still sitting inside me. I should use it up some time soon so that the dreams and Void's memories stop. I've had stolen powers before, but nothing this vivid and accurate, though. It's as if I am Void with everything that comes with it.
Needless to say, the ending of this one shocked me, although I've had similar dreams about myself right after Nightshade tainted me. I am pretty sure there were no Corrupted during Void's early centuries. That can mean only one thing, corruption is finally chewing through my mental defenses. I didn't think I was done with it completely, but I hoped it would strike later rather than sooner.
Oh well, Drachenberg is only four days away. I just have to last until then.
I finally recover from the unexpected nightmare, only to see my singular companion on this trip - a middle-aged chubby griffoness. Her head is yellow, the rest of her body is brown, and she's staring at me with eyes wide and beak agape. At my crotch, to be exact.
Oh dear.
The sexy slash terrifying end of my rest left me lying on my back on the coupe floor with a rock-hard boner which is the issue here.
I cross my legs.
"Umm, sorry miss. Just a-"
"From my experience, griffons don't wake up screaming with that," she smirks, nodding at me, "You ponies are truly different."
"Heh, heheh," I stand up, scratching my head in embarrassment, "Trust me, this was a new experience for me as well."
My golden ticket allowed me to get a private coupe, but since I took the first train headed towards Drachenberg from Griffonstone, I didn't get to choose what sort of train it would be. It was crowded, filled to the brim with ponies and griffons, and it took me nearly ten minutes to get to my coupe. Soon after, this sad griffoness came, asking if she could share the private space with me. I was against it at first, but she looked like a normal, non-threatening, griffon and she needed the help apparently, being worried about pickpockets on full trains like this one. She proved to be a chatty baker from some city closer to the center of the Empire, I still have no clue where the place really is, and the distraction was nice.
Well, that might change now that I made a complete ass of myself by accident. I had nothing to do with it, but you try to reason with a female and keep all your brain cells intact. Better to let my ears droop and endure her laughter or possible anger.
"Umm, I should go splash some cold water on myself or something. Sorry once again for upsetting you."
She waves her talons dismissively, her eyes not leaving my third leg, if I'm extremely generous with the description.
"Oh trust me, no problem at all. Not at all..." she licks her beak and winks at me. In the next instant she starts laughing, "You should have seen your face just now! Oh, young stallion, you're far too easy. I've seen enough at my age and I've learned to appreciate life's little 'incidents'."
"Oh, um, eh, yeah," my intelligence once agains drains away just at the right time. I can remain calm and collected while fighting gods set on devouring the world, but heavens protect me if I have to talk to a nice and assertive female of any species. The combination just doesn't make sense to me and turns my world upside down. I shake my head, "I really should go."
"Come on," her laughter leaves a dirty grin, "Just a minute or two more. I'm sure it'll leave on its own. You have no idea how often I wish my husband was this 'unlucky'."
"Oh, umm, yeah, well," I slip out through the door, moving my hind legs carefully to allow them and my white robe to hide my shame. Thankfully, now that we're days away from the coast and trading center like Griffonstone, there are much fewer passengers around. Speaking of empty space, should I tell her to find her own place? Nah, if she was fine with this she's a good enough company to keep.
The rigid annoyance is gone by the time I reach the end of the train car where the bathroom is. I slide a window open, reveling in the warm, dry, rushing wind. The passenger train cars have the common area with open seats and windowside tables at the front, and the coupes are further in the back. There are a lot of griffons moving around in the next train car, as I spot through the narrow back window. About a dozen, and armed, which sends shiver down my spine. They, of course, could just be some sort of train guards against possible nomad attack, which as far as I recall isn't too uncommon in the Empire, but...
...but a big guy wearing a mechanical prosthesis instead of his foreleg instantly shatters my hope.
Those are the griffon mercenaries Crimson Heart wrecked in Manehattan.
Yep, there's the leading spear chick, doubtlessly asking passengers whether they have seen one alicorn. Her goons are doing the same, milling around in the common area, and working their way towards my train car.
How the crap am I being tracked? Magic shouldn't be working on me personally, I switched all my equipment at the Order headquarters, and yet here they are.
I hear the door to the connecting passage between the cars slide open, looking around for any escape route. I can't fit through the hallway window and fly away, those cannot be slid open that wide to prevent accidents. Plus, all my things are in the coupe, and I don't want to wander a vast stretch of uninhabited land without any supplies and equipment... again.
Think! Think! Think!
The door leading to this car starts opening. I kick the bathroom door, jump inside, and slam it shut, locking it behind me. Barely allowing myself to breathe, I hear a male voice from the outside:
"This is the first train to Drachenberg, Veronica. Maybe we're too early?"
"Then we'll wait in the town itself later. Doesn't matter," the griffon leader, this 'Veronica' answers calmly.
"What if he waited and took the express? He'll be there a full day before us."
"Look, the bounty is doubled now, we have enough supplies to keep hunting him down for months, and we know where he's going. We're sure to find someone in Drachenberg who will have seen a freaking ALICORN! This far away from civilization he can't just leave the train to avoid us, just keep searching. Let's do the common area first this time, I don't want to deal with any more pissed off nobles more than I have to."
"Will do," the male griffon answers.
Knock, knock, knock!
"Occupado!" I yell in a way high-pitched tone, not that I need to pretend much, "Pfbrbrbrbrbrbrt," making a farting noise with my mouth, I groan loudly, "Chilli, never again. My anus is a rocket. Just use the bathroom in the next car, please, this is going to take a while," I raise my voice, "By Emperor's holy beak, it's eating through the porcelain, call the fire department!"
Angry grumbling, quiet laugh, and scratching of talons gradually fading into the distance are the reward for my theatrics. I give it about a minute, counting every second while listening with my ear pressed against the door.
Alright, let's hope they didn't leave a guard outside.
Click. Slide. Empty hallway. Close call.
"Phew..." I breathe out.
Now I need to retrieve my things and...
... and what?
They were right, flying outside through the coupe window would be unwise even with all my things. According to the map, Drachenberg is the stop after the next one which is still a day away. Come to think of it, that's not actually that bad. We're not riding through a desert, rather through some sort of steppes.
No, mercenaries aren't stupid, usually. They will have a griffon on the roof of the train car in the middle. And griffons have eyes like a hawk.. crossed with a cat. Kinda makes sense, really. Even if they aren't checking the surrounding area, there is still a big chance of being found by some marauding nomads who would undoubtedly want a ransom for an alicorn, or sell me to the Black Ops for experiments.
Rushing into my coupe, I quietly slide the door behind me, listening with my ears perked up again.
"Is there something wrong? You look even worse than five minutes ago. I could be wrong, but aren't you supposed to be relieved after spending some time alone in the bathroom?"
I completely forgot about my companion.
"Ma'am, as much as I love a bad innuendo, now it's not time for them."
"Sweating, heavy breathing, heartbeat I can here across the coupe. You look like this one guy who was hiding in my closet when my husband returned home early one weekend."
"Well, I'll end up much worse than said griffon after your husband found him unless I think of something."
"Oh yes, he kicked his balls with a steel-tipped boot, repeatedly," she stands up, hesitating as I twitch and look around, but walks over and whispers to my ear, "Trouble with the law?"
"Actually not, miss. Just a fake bounty on my head."
"Fake?"
Yep, count on a griffon not to be bothered by the idea of a bounty, and just care about its realness.
"Yes, I talked about it to the presumed issuer. Definitely completely fake, and they are investigating who put it on me. Unfortunately, the bounty hunters currently searching the entire train didn't get the memo."
I'm definitely not mentioning the 'doubled bounty' Veronica spoke about, which might be completely real because she must have gotten a new contract in Manehattan after I stole her official letter and gave it to Bucket. Huh, that means I'm now worth a million bits, if I recall correctly. Cool, in a way.
Who is behind it, though? If I wanted somepony dead and had that kind of money, I would call for everyone everywhere to join the hunt. I would flush my target out and make sure there would be no place to hide. Why are there only several, albeit obviously extremely experienced, groups of griffons and ponies after me?
Something about the hunt on me feels very wrong.
Knock, knock, knock!
Damn, that's the next coupe.
What to do? What to do?
"Do you need to hide in my bag?" the griffon baker asks, poiting at her travelling sports bag into which I just maybe might fit, "I can make this place look like I've been slobbing in here for days with all the clothes and pans I have with me."
Pans? I look at her luggage. There are two large bags and two small ones. If those are full of cast iron implements then the griffoness, while chubby bordering on fat, must be strong like an ox.
On the other hoof, if I do that I'll be completely helpless in case she decides to sell me out for a cut.
"Let's leave it as a last resort," I shake my head. I have about a minute or two tops, depending how much complaining and resistance the next-door passengers muster in face of armed griffons.
Hmm, they don't know who I am, they are just looking for a blonde, bronze-coated alicorn. Do I have anything to dye myself quickly? Something that would hide either my horn, my wings, or preferrably both? Something that wouldn't look like simple clothes which can be stripped off?
Actually, I do.
"Uhm, miss-"
"Barley," the baker smiles, "Don't worry about forgetting. I get that you're used to travelling alone and at speed. I'm not stupid."
"Never thought otherwise, ma'am," I salute, "I'd like to ask you for help, although not the bag offer. I'm willing to pay, because it may be slightly uncomfortable for you."
"I thought you said you didn't have time. Out with it, young stallion!"
"Well then," I breathe in and breathe out carefully, "Get your smallest frying pan, miss Barley," she turns around to her big bag, and I mumble, "Sutie, cover me completely like in Griffonstone. Make it look like a second skin and make sure to hide my wings."
The black goo engulfs me.
I need to ravage Barley's plump griffon posterior.
Mate. Bloat her with your seed.
Breed. She is adult, experienced, ripe for stretching and rutting.
Spread. Her holes exist to be filled by your tentacles.
Make her multiple teats fill with my tainting juices so it takes her as well.
She will feed more, spread us further, cover everything.
"Holy Emperor's feathers! Is that you?" Barley blinks, frying pan the size of a teacup plate held in one foreleg. I wonder what that's for, small breakfast flapjacks?
"Huh, wha?" I shake my head, realizing my mistake in cooperating with a Corruptor, "Yes, yes it's me."
"Good disguise, completely black and no trace of wings. Nicely covered, although you look a bit rounder around the barrel."
"Perfect, now remember, I can pay you-"
"I can hear them coming," she interrupts me in a singsong voice.
"Sit on my back, and slap my flank with the frying pan as if I was your, I don't know, gimp and we're just having fun on a long trip," I shoot, "That should disgust them enough to leave faster."
In addition to dying my coat completely, Suitie covers me in a shiny rubbery suit. Perfect. I guess the Corruptor can read my dirtier fantasies.
"Oh my," Barley's incredulous expression lasts only for a second before turning into a very, very hungry one. The heavy set baker mounts me with surprising speed and shockingly nonexistent amount of complaints. Her cushiony behind wiggles as she looks for a comfortable sitting spot on my back, and then...
The door to our coupe slides open. Too bad my side is turned towards it and Barley's free talons are gripping my ear, not allowing me to turn my head.
...she slaps the pan against my buttcheek, hard.
"YIEAOOOWCH!" the sharp pain makes me yelp, "What-?"
"Pets don't talk!" Barley strikes me again, this time softer.
"What in my father's oldest sandstorm wine is going on here?" I hear Veronica's muffled curse followed by multiple snickering voices, presumably her mercenaries, "Oh for crying out loud..."
"Who are you and what is your reason for interrupting our little... private session?" Barley asks, her warm and mischievous tone turning into a snooty one.
"We are looking for a wanted pony criminal possibly on this train and looking to flee into the Empire. If you value our laws then you will let us examine your companion freely. If not, then you can do it in chains."
"Chains are for my pet here, not me, young lady whoever-you-are. Chains and a bridle. Got a spare bridle, by the way? I must admit I am ill-equipped for this long and exhausting ride because somepony-"
WHAM!
"OWWWWWWWWWWWWW!" my whimper is muffled by Suitie reinforcing the covering around my muzzle.
"-messed up the packing. Good thing that my pet loves whipping, don't you?" Barley scratches me behind my ear.
"Yes, m-"
SLAM!
"MMMMAHHHMM!"
"Pets don't talk!" Barley turns completely towards Veronica, now using me as a chair rather than a pony, "Forgive him, he clearly hasn't been trained properly. So, the spare bridle..."
"Oh stars above no! No bridles. Just get him out of the rubber suit and if he's clean you can continue this... depravity," Veronica gags, scowling.
"Oh alright," she slides off, freeing my burdened back from her. I'm not saying she's fat, but she is definitely voluptuous AND has muscles of steel underneath. And as everypony knows, muscles weigh more than fat, "Don't rough him up too hard. Or do, he likes it," she beams at Veronica who is now stretching her foreleg in utter disgust towards my head.
"Where does this thing have a zipper?" the sand-coloured, white-headed mercenary leader asks.
Oh ho, no no no, she might look disgusted but she knows how these things work. Maybe to save face in front of the other mercs? Likely.
Crap? What now?
"Zippers, pfff," Barley comes to my rescue, "Such barbaric things. This is the newest product imported from Equestria, a living suit. No zippers needed," her voice grows a little uncertain, "Suit, release head."
Suitie, drop the covering part, keep me dyed.
Nothing.
I'll let you massage my butt the rest of the way if you do.
The thin cover around my head draws back, disappearing and letting out my mane drenched with nervous sweat.
"Dark green, almost black, coat, black mane, no wings," Veronica announces firmly, "Let's get out of this place and move onto the next car."
"Yes, Veronica."
I don't dare let out a sigh of relief until I hear all pawsteps and scratching of talons fade away in the distance.
"Pheeeeeeeew," I wipe my forehead, "Whah!" I twitch as my Corruptor clothes tighten around my body from the neck down and familiar kneading spreads through my posterior. Well, at least my head is free and normal again.
"THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN!" Barley exclaims in a trembling voice. I look at her, realizing she's shaking all over and breathing heavily, "I've never felt so alive!"
"Thank you," I wearily walk over and wrap my forelegs around her, "Thank you so much. Your performance was excellent."
"Yes, uhm, 'performance'," she coughs, "Hun, you've been a great company and I would be a rotten griffon if I let you fall into the grasp of the Redtalons."
"Redtalons?"
"You aren't too versed in griffon politics, are you? Redtalons are the major noble family of the eastern part of the Empire. They are powerful, but equally power hungry. Hmm, did you hear her talk about her father's sandstorm wine? She must be old Redtalon's daughter. But that means she is balancing on the law's edge. Redtalons harrassing griffons in the western Empire, what a scoop for the newspapers!"
"I'd rather not draw attention to myself if it's the same to you, miss Barley," I smile, adrenaline slowly leaving my bloodstream, "And I'd like to keep my word about reimbursing you for your trouble."
"Oh, my dear stallion, what old griffoness like me can truthfully say she had ridden an alicorn, especially one with such firm... assets," she makes squeezing motions with her talons. The dreamy expression on her face doesn't help, and the playful wink shakes me completely, "We still have a whole day before I switch trains and head home. How about I show you the full selection of my pans... and maybe my dumplings."
"Hahah, thank you for the compliment," I blush, looking away.
"On the other talon," her outstreched foreleg is shoved in front of my face, "If you're offering..."
I forgot. Griffons love gold.