[Blazing's Entry]
As usual, my intervention only caused untold destruction and misery, and my hesitation robbed me of one of my remaining two reasons for existing in this time and age. Blazing Light, the name that should have been buried and never remembered.
At least here, on the edge of the desert and walking westwards, I have time to write a fresh entry and deal with my thoughts...
...exactly what I neither needed nor wanted.
[End Entry]
Well, at least sewer architecture hasn't changed over the centuries. Two concrete walkways separated by a trough where the mess goes, with periodically spread ladders and tight hatches. As I'm standing back up, gathering what little strength I still possess, I bare my teeth like a rabid dog and start climbing up the ladder leading to the surface. My legs fail to hold onto the bars and talons grab my belt and pull me back.
"What do you think you're doing?" I hear Veronica's sharp voice while the merc with the mechanical arm takes my saddlebags and sword away.
"I need to find Crom, I need to know what happened to him!"
My cheek stings as she slaps me.
"THIS, you idiot," she points towards the female mercenary who was the last to get to the sewers and whose duty was to close the hatch.
The griffoness' upper body is covered in black growth seeping further into her skin and fluidly staining more and more of her. Small tentacles sprout as the transformation progresses, darting in and out of her back and checking the still and fetid air.
"Let me go," I drag myself forward. Just standing is becoming more and more difficult.
"What? To get rutted to insanity by one of those creatures, or killed? Everyone who was up there is gone, deal with it."
"I can deal with Corrupted," I bark at her, "Crom might be alive! He might have hopped into a cellar, or maybe he was already in the Legion fortress. They must have some sealed dungeons or something."
"You can barely stand, you half-delirious moron, which suits me just fine. Plus, what makes you think I'll let you go after this 'Crom'? Can you pay more than I'm getting for you? I doubt that. So forget about whoever your contact in the city was, he's probably enjoying the snuff orgy that's become of the place."
Griffons, carnivores. Yes, corruption will increase their sex drive, but also hunger. Veronica's description might be stomach-turningly accurate. If Crom didn't make it to any safe place, if he was with his family and transformed...
The image of a twisted griffon ripping his daughter open with his beak and devouring her insides flashes through my head, and I taste bile rising in my throat.
He wouldn't. He would resist... somehow. He wouldn't change into one of the monstrosities that almost killed me near Manehattan. He's not like that.
"HE'LL BE WAITING!" I take a wild swing at Veronica. Her head jerks sideways, followed by a trickle of blood from her beak.
The other three sane mercs take a step towards me, stopping immediately when Veronica raises her foreleg. When she speaks, her voice is dripping venom.
"I have dragged everyone to Equestria and then back through quarter of the Empire for you. I have avoided Legion checkpoints just to find out the pony I'm hunting, while an alicorn, is just a whiny little kid who doesn't understand his limits. The only reason I didn't break all your legs personally is because I don't want to bother one of my guys with having to carry your sorry ass. And you still have to cause trouble..." she takes a deep breath, "Alright, a duel, right here and now. If you by some miracle win, I'll give you and the Legion cop here a day head start. If not," she cracks her talons menacingly, "I'll make you pay for touching me, and when I deliver you to my employer and they still want you dead, I'll enjoy finishing the contract."
"Deal," I breathe out, "I wonder if your word's worth more than the fake bounty on my head."
She just chuckles, standing up on her hind legs and twirling her spear around. Her white head and sandy coat must be excellent at hiding in the desert, but here in the gloomy sewers even my eyes blurry with exhaustion can easily spot her every movement. If my tracing spell was working, it would be much better, but beggars can't be choosers.
Okay, okay, calm down. She's wearing some combination of white traveller's robe, a chainmail covering her barrel, and leather greaves on her legs. None of it would, obviously, stop a sword, but her equipment is clearly about fast travel and only the most necessary protection. Not that she needs it, because no one seems eager to give me my weapon back for the duel.
She doesn't wait for my examination of the situation to finish, stabbing forward. There's no way I can block her blows in my current shape, but she's putting herself into a position where she can only do one or two things, all very easily predictable if I go by the 'what is the best course of action' idea.
Sidestep. She overextends. I punch.
Well, I poke...
I don't have the strength to do more than push her face. She recoils, immediately jumping backwards in surprise. It can't be pain, a kitten wouldn't feel a punch like that.
I can avoid her next few attacks, reading her like a book and seeing her face contort in annoyed rage.
My legs are numb and freezing, more logs than limbs. The overuse of true death left me with charred coat, raw flesh in places, and life force seeping away with every movement.
Veronica puts the bottom end of her spear behind her back while rearing on her hind legs, prepping it for a wide sweep. Normally, I could duck under the blow, rise, and charge, but now I feel like if I go down, I'm not getting back up anymore. With that in mind, I push myself forward to tackle her.
She clearly expected me to try to dodge, and now I've got her. With all my remaining strength I...
...bounce off of her chest as she doesn't budge, and keel over.
Welp, falling over at an enemy is definitely a strategy I'm not going to try again.
"Ooof!" she kicks my stomach. I expect another one, but she just pushes me over on my back with her spear.
"You know... I've never had an unarmed sleepwalker give me so much trouble. I might have misjudged you a little," she turns away from me, "Keep an eye on him! He might actually be an issue."
I hiss, pushing myself up. A new set of talons helps me.
"I'd give it a rest if I were you," says Flora calmly, "If agent Cromach somehow survived the wave untransformed, he'll be staying put and waiting for the rescue. Legion can help, my... superiors will definitely send observers. We can't help," she leans in and whispers to my ear, "and I can't really do much without a weapon and surrounded by armed bounty hunters."
A loud groan crossed with a hiss interrupts her.
The tainted griffoness blinks, sclera turning black and leaving only bestial yellow pupils. Her armor doesn't fit her anymore, leather straps straining to accommodate her at least a quarter larger form. She's giving the bigger male mercenary a pleading gaze, but her three tongues are hanging out of her newly serrated beak. There's something more growing in her stare other than despair, and that is hunger.
"Camile, do you hear me?" asks Veronica, pointing her spear at the almost completely transformed griffoness.
Gurgle. Hiss. Stare.
"Do we have to get rid of her?" she continues matter-of-factly.
Camile recoils, looking down at her enlarged talons.
"No!" I say as firmly as my weak voice allows.
Everyone looks at me. Veronica raises her eyebrow.
Do I actually have an idea what to do? Of course not, but now that Crom is... likely beyond my reach, I just can't let this go on without trying. I have no power to cleanse her or anything, but I know how she must feel at the moment.
Slowly not to scare her or anything, I walk past the spear aimed at her and sit down. She's now taller than me, and her beak which by now can rip through armor is terrifying, or it would be if I wasn't close to completely numb.
"Camile?" I ask.
Stare.
"Your name is Camile, right?"
Head tilt.
"Do you understand my words?"
"She's clearly one of them-" I feel Veronica roll her eyes.
Nod.
"Memories and thoughts get jumbled and confused first, but knowledge stays for a while. She's been corrupted by something I haven't seen yet and it ate her fast, but I know how the process goes," I point at the, well, Corrupted now, "Your name is Camile. Name. Camile. We are friends."
She nods and licks my muzzle. I'm not sure how to feel about that.
My attempts at unbuckling her armor go undisturbed, and she breathes a sigh of relief when the tightness falls off of her body. Her reason for being on edge is quickly revealed when six full breasts are released from her chain mail. As I turn around, I catch the two remaining male mercs staring in shock at Camile's barrel.
"Yeah, she's a Breeder now."
"Meaning?" Veronica is still on guard.
"Meaning she won't attack any of us, very likely. Breeders, female ones I mean, are docile, friendly even. I think she's just confused as her memories are draining away."
"Can we... can we do anything for her?" the griffon with the mechanical foreleg asks with surprising meekness.
"No," I shake my head, "Well, you can, but you'll end just like her. Breeders like breeding, shockingly. I think she would really appreciate all of us crawling onto a pile with her. My suggestion is that you take whatever stuff you want from her, she's not going to need any of it ever again. You can say your goodbyes before she forgets everything."
"Come on! Is there really nothing?" he presses on.
And with that question, the finality of my own situation hits me. It is real, there is nothing to do.
Crom...
"No," I breathe out, "No one has ever found a way to reverse the process, I believe, otherwise the Corrupted wouldn't be such a dreadful enemy. They grow while you wither."
He looks away, but lowers his gun and walks over to Camile. He hugs her, whispering something to her ear. Her back tentacles wobble, and when the hug ends, she rolls over on her back, showing off her new love pillows and smiling at him.
He gives me a questioning look.
"I heard Breeder milk is extremely revitalizing, can heal near-fatal wounds, at the cost of taint," I share my knowledge from the short time I spent in Manehattan reading up on current state of Equestria, "If you want to remain here with her, by all means have a suckle."
"That's settled then," Veronica raises her voice, "Everyone say what you need and we're leaving," she looks seriously at Camile but remains at her spear's length, "We've done three missions together, Camile, and you've proven yourself to be an excellent addition to the team. Your family will recieve your share of the bounty, and I'm going to make up some sappy heroic story for your passing. My father might even honor you with official post-mortem commendation. Goodbye."
She starts rummaging through the now unused saddlebags for anything to salvage. The other three mercs give a little speech to the maybe, maybe not listening Breeder who nonetheless enjoys the patting and any physical contact. When Veronica is finished with sorting through the bags, she tosses them to Flora.
"You're earning your keep or you can try going a week towards the closest city without any supplies."
"Gee, thanks," Flora puts the bags on, rolling her eyes.
As we group up to leave, we hear a 'blrblrblr'. Camile is standing by the prosthesis merc's side, rubbing her head against his neck.
"I think she doesn't want to say goodbye just yet," I can't help smiling, "Was there something between you two?"
"She... got on well with me, yeah."
Veronica shoots him a glare.
"Don't be jealous, Redtalon," Flora fries her, "Someone might one day set fire to your cold heart too."
"Peck me!"
"Or just to you, that's fine with me," Flora shrugs while Veronica's eyes bulge. She must have never had two prisoners who gave so little damn about being captured.
"We're LEAVING!" the fuming mercenary leader orders.
For some reason, all eyes turn on me.
"She won't be able to leave her territory anyway, so you can let her tag along for a while."
Camile's favourite merc wraps his wing around her as she plods by his side all the way through the sewers.
Almost all the way.
The light at the end of the corridor is blocked by a figure. Sleek, black, curvy, and staring straight at us, namely me. My already overloaded sense for surrounding Corrupted flares with the power of this familiar mind. It's my Corruptor companion Suitie, or something which grew out of her. Now she feels overwhelming, a Corrupted of strength I haven't encountered since I met Mana Burn in Ponyville. She must have fed like crazy after we separated at Claus' mansion.
Everyone readies their weapons.
"Another 'friendly' one?" asks Veronica, not exactly persuaded.
"I am not sure," is all I can mutter, "but if she isn't, we're about ninety-percent dead."
"She looks... dripping," a merc comments.
"Yeah, she's a Corruptor."
"Fuck..." Veronica curses, "I've met one in Equestria once, it cost me three friends."
"Just grab whatever acidic or flammable you've got. Don't even bother with weapons," I realize I, the barely conscious one, am the leader now, "but don't do anything until she proves clearly hostile."
The pressure on my head grows as I approach Suitie. I feel the tendrils of her essence creeping through my brain and...
...retracting instantly.
Suitie opens her mouth. Her lower jaw splits into two, and all of us get a clear view of a black hole filled with small tentacles.
Funnily enough, the hostility isn't aimed at me. Suitie is threatening Veronica and her group. Good to know that she can rummage through my head as much as she likes. Now I understand what Mana Burn meant by Twilight being his mother, but Nightshade being his Queen and owner. I don't know who Suitie ate to become like this, but she's a nightmare in Corrupted form.
Unfortunately, I need Veronica alive to get to the nearest settlement, so I stand between the griffons and the Corruptor.
"I know, I know," I say comfortingly.
Suitie drools, black acid turning the concrete walkway into corrupted biomass. I conjure a little flicker of true death on my raised foreleg, and immediately lose any remaining feeling in it. Suitie snaps out of her fury, though, curving her back like a cat and hissing at me. She's confused. She's trying to protect me and I'm against it.
Corrupted aren't evil. They don't understand the concept, at least the simple ones. They just work around their base instincts and, for some reason, Suitie seems to have come to terms with being around me over our trip. That almost stops my shaking as I limp to her and wrap my wings and forelegs around her. She's warm with texture like melted chocolate without the stickiness.
Of course she immediately flows around my crotch area, but stops when I try to push myself away.
"Come on, you can hunt around here, and I'm sure the griffons will send more fun your way. I'd take you with me, but I can't handle you anymore. I can barely think already, and I can't affort to turn into your living ponnequin. I have a daughter to save," I stand up without any resistance other than my dead leg, "Just let us pass, I'm too tired to fight anymore after all these years. Please..."
Her entire front splits into two, becoming a hollow, pony-shaped container filled with nubs and ridges, inviting me inside. I have no doubt my last sane moments would feel heavenly, but no. I made a promise that is bigger than I am. When I rub her ear, she closes and her full and provocative shape returns. In the next moment, she melts, seeping into the little remaining concrete which immediately changes into pudgy soil I remember from Equestria. In mere seconds, her presence inside my head fades away completely.
"What the seven hells of Tartarus are you?" Veronica whispers, "Some kind of Corrupted whisperer?"
Turning around, I see all my 'companions' staring at me, eyes wide. Well, not Camile, who is nibbling on her friend's feathers for some reason. Corrupted are weird, but I now understand why the non-hostile ones are allowed into pony cities freely these days. Nightshade's point of view is becoming very clear to me.
"I'm a nopony, miss Redtalon. I've always been," I resume my limping forward towards the end of the tunnel and living vegetation.
Soon, the black puss surrounded on one side by the desert and on the other by steppes and living greenery which Drachenberg turned into is behind us. Everything is black, houses are are suffocated by thick black vines, and in the center looms the spire of Imperial Bank grown through with the stalk that exploded just over an hour ago and caused the transformation. Shadows of Corrupted move from time to time, but none are interested in chasing after us. When the city is out of sight, the bounty hunters let out a sigh of relief.
"Alright, full rations. We have about a week to go if memory serves," Veronica orders, calm, collected, and once again in her element, "We have as many members with us as we expected to, so we should be fine. You, police griffon, don't try to cause trouble or we'll break your legs and leave you behind."
"Yes, because I'm stupid enough to try to overpower four armed griffons and run off without a map," Flora shrugs, "Leave the threats to yourself, Redtalon. I'd like to see civilization again, and I have a duty to the possible survivors in Drachenberg to inform the Griffon Legion about their situation."
"Good," is all Veronica says. No one else adds anything, and our trek begins, "Back to... Equestria," she spits the word out.
With my body going on autopilot, gently guided by Flora holding me upright, my head starts working again. The difference between the constant whispering and minor headache when Corrupted are around and when they are not is night and day, letting me finally focus.
Equestria being Veronica's destination means several things for me. I am powerless right now, and I must tell Flora everything I know about Corrupted so that she can inform her superiors and force a quick Legion or Black Ops operation. If Crom is still fine then they will get him out, I won't. He will return to Equestria on his own eventually and we'll meet again. If he... isn't okay then my return to Drachenberg won't mean anything. I also need to secretly tell Flora to send an express message to Manehattan. There has to be a quicker way to get there than I and my company can. Manehattan is the only Equestrian port, which means Bucket will keep an eye on the boat schedule and jump on Veronica's mercs as soon as we return.
With Crom's situation completely out of my hooves, I'll be damned if some griffon bitch stops me from rebuilding Pine Hills and saving Guiding and the dreamlings. So far, my intervention only screwed things up, but they have nothing to lose and everything to gain.