//------------------------------// // The Noose Tightens: Insanity // Story: Imbalanced: New Age // by Nameless Narrator //------------------------------// [Blazing's Entry] It's hard to write while trotting. On the other hoof, an earthpony would be having more trouble. [End Entry] The headache is fading away with every hour of us making our way north. With no other Corrupted nearby I can focus at least a little, although it's still not much more than nothing. It feels as if all thoughts were passing through a swamp of sticky honey. I must admit one thing - this new body is working much better than I could have ever hoped. I've always been a terrible runner, both in terms of stamina and speed. However, after my transformation into a stars-forsaken mushroom I feel like I could traverse the whole continent on hoof. Well, at least I can add 'being beaten at physical exercises by a fungus' to my ever lengthening list of failures. So, it's been over half a day of constant- *** The barriers of my fortress tremble and fail after the final assault. I know who is out there, and I've been preparing myself for my final stand for a long time. Alicorns fell in our defense against Tirek, and in the end we killed the monstrosity. At least that was what we thought at first. A being of such power was too difficult do destroy completely, especially with our most powerful members incapacitated. Discord, in his new form he calls a draconequus, arrived just in time to save his servant from my final assault. I could not stand against both at once, even if one was drastically weakened. However, I was not alone. Magnus and Scream observed our fight that spanned the whole city and left it in ruins. My fires of true death ended the lives of innocent alicorns who got too close, and I will never forget them, but I had to unleash almost everything I had otherwise Tirek would absorb my power in such an amount he could eventually adapt to. My two best, and two of the very few at all, friends were not called the most knowledgeable alicorn magicians for nothing. They crafted a complex spell which imprisoned Tirek in a pocket dimension with such different rules of existence that his absorption power was ineffective there, a prison dimension they called Tartarus. I was pretty surprised that they used a 'place' on the border of the realms of dead and the living where souls I took care of departed to come to terms with unresolved grief and eventually fade. It made me realize the power I hold in my hooves is so different from anything anyone else possesses. Wizards can tap into the energy of the dead, necromancers they call themselves, and use it as an extremely limited resource, but I have... everything. However, I must protect the spirits who trust me with their final safety so that their sanctity remains untarnished. The more I do for them, the more they do for me. And here it is, my final hour. I knew Discord was looking for me. The entire event with Tirek allowed the god of Creation to regain much of his original power, and of course he wants to end the ones who are stopping him from becoming the absolute force of the universe. We split up. Magnus and Scream are busy researching the Elements for a way to use them reliably as a weapon. They have located the other five in what we call the mirror world, but the problem is that the Elements must not be gathered in one world. Such amount of power focused in one place would, according to them, cause unknowable and devastating effects. The two younglings, Celestia and Luna, are helping with the research, but I fear I might not be there to see the result. As expected, the attack is coming while they are still occupied with unlocking the power of the ultimate weapon. My black temple turns to pink cotton candy, and chocolate rain starts pouring all over the dessicated desert outside. In a flash of white light, the draconequus appears. "Such a gloomy place, wasn't it? Much better like this," Discord gives me a sadistic smile, "Oh wait, weren't you supposed to be somehow 'countering' my power with yours?" I tried, stars know I tried. My true death is the refined power of Nightmare, focused, deadlier than the god's own, but now that I stand alone face to face with the god... ...I feel like a block of the purest ice from the absolute zero between stars in the middle of a conflagration. I might have the quality over him, but he has the overwhelming quantity. "Let's begin then, shall we?" He snaps the fingers on his tail, and we're suddenly standing outside under steel grey sky. Even here, inside my own world, he can manipulate reality without me standing a chance. His first strike is not physical, just pressure assaulting every atom in my body. Anyone other than I would have been disintegrated in an instant, but my flames flare around me and break Discord's hold. He recoils, scowling. Even 'touching' his projected power with mine causes him discomfort. Sadly, only discomfort. "I am fighting for all those who do not want to be just a source of your power, Discord. All those you consider toys or less than ants. I know you do not possess any empathy, so you cannot understand what you are doing by throwing your creations against each other. That is why I do not hate you. You are who you are." "You're pretending to understand my plans and reasons?" Discord starts laughing. Sky fills with giant mouths which mirror his thundering amusement, "If you've grown in power at least a tenth of the growth of your ego then I might have decided to keep you alive just for the amusement value," Discord suddenly appears in front of me, his fangs snapping at my muzzle. I teleport aside, only to be grasped by his lengthening tail and slammed into the sand, "But you are nothing. You don't even deserve a name. ABSOLUTE. NOTHING!" I know. Empty, Endless Void. Reality breaks. Words fail to describe the deeds a furious god can do. I work by the feel of shifting power between us. My enemy is everywhere when he wants to attack and nowhere when I rarely get into a position to counter. The only reason I can even barely comprehend what is all happening at once is because I am used to feeling the millions of souls passing through my world in each second, either coming, fading, or new ones being born. Left is music, up is green, down is potato... ...and right is... ...I must never forget... ...what I am doing is right. Not for me, but for everyone. "WHAT IS THIS?!" I hear Discord's roar as my reality reasserts itself, forming my obsidian temple and Final Sanctuary in its entirety. I feel the power of the legions of the dead I have assembled over the millenia behind me. They remember what this place was to them. They remember to whom they offered their eternal service. They know how things should be. "These, Discord, are the creations you forgot. Descendants of races we, alicorns, guided after you made my sister. They all had hopes and dreams. Some are here with me out of rage at their violent deaths. Some are simply wise beings who knew someone had to care. Some just had nowhere to go, no reason to exist, and wanted to do at least some good in their deaths. Over the ages, the lack of caring by you, Nightmare, and even Harmony, your constant games, all caused needless amount of victims." "THEY ARE TOYS, YOU MISERABLE ACCIDENT, JUST LIKE YOU ARE!" "No, Discord, each of them possesses a tiny fraction of power belonging to you and your kin. Alone they are weak, but together they make me the one and only alicorn who can stand up to you." "In your wildest dreams..." he growls. Creatures of nightmares grow all around, immediately struck by blue figures of my legions. Discord's innate power of constant creation is facing the fury of the lost and damned. Soon after I join the fight I realize how lucky and insignificant I was. I thought the souls were enough to grant me and all the other races freedom, to stand up to the gods. I was so wrong... so completely wrong. The only thing that had saved everyone was that we really were no threat, completely unimportant. Now, as I barely hold my own against a god DRASTICALLY weakened by the conflict against his kin I know the absolute truth - if Discord wanted us gone before Harmony did whatever it did, we wouldn't be here anymore. Our resistance would have amounted to a snowflake in a supernova. However, that was then and this is now. It might be a miracle that the struggle between our creators allowed us to survive this long, but we need to use it. And use it I do. The charred form of the draconequus coughs blood, lying in the desert sand. A pillar of true fiery death comes from the sky, sucking him in and destroying everything that makes this... avatar of all creative force in existence a willful being. Soon, only the force will remain, no more angry, competitive will, no more Discord. Only rules of physics and universe again. "ENOUGH!" the dark fire disperses, leaving a shimmering bubble with Discord's physical body hanging in the air. Behind him, reality shatters like glass, leaving a hole into empty, inky blackness, "Up until now, I have considered you an insect, VOID, an irrelevant dead end, but you... I will remember you, and next time I won't be this... merciful." The darkness sucks him in. I cannot follow him out into the real world. In here, inside my seat of power, I proved I was stronger but things are different out there. If I tried to unleash the full potential of true death I would cause the utter annihilation I am trying to prevent, and it would likely not be enough anyway. All I can do is hope that I weakened Discord enough to buy us the time we need- I am ripped out of Final Sanctuary and appear floating high above the alicorn city. Next to me, Scream and Magnus are hovering as well. Deep down below us, a furious draconequus is dodging rainbow beams of energy cast by two quickly flying alicorns. "I don't know what you did, but he just appeared here and started summoning some pretty nasty creatures," says Scream calmly, smiling for some reason. "We must help. Well, you must-" "I really wouldn't go down there, Void. Those things can blow up any second," Magnus stops me, pointing at the multicoloured laser show. "You made the Elements work?" "I did, aren't I a genius? I even found two willing victi- research assistants to tap into their full potential and use it in a combat situation." Discord slows down with each prismatic beam hitting his physical body. "Weren't they chosen already by the Elements?" "Those two fillies? They were, but there's a difference between being filled with the essence of the Element's power and using said power to blast a god's face off." I keep watching as Discord eventually stops moving, turning into a grey, stone statue. "Finally... one god is dead," I let out a long, exhausted breath. Magnus shakes his head. "No, all eleven Elements would be required for that. This... this is just imprisonment." "For how long?" "No idea, but considering the dissipation of power I would say tens of thousands of years without any external trigger." Alicorns pour into the streets, gathering around the two exhausted sisters. "Those two will be the heroes in the eyes of everyone." The alicorn of Magic shrugs. "I don't really care. As long as Discord stops spawning world-eating monsters all over the globe and I can return to my research." "I hoped it would be over today, one way or another. After all, if we could take on one god then we might deal with the other as well," I whisper, realizing my eternal watch isn't finished by far. Scream puts her head on my shoulder. "Honey, I believe in you. Don't lose hope." *** I shake my head. Half a day of confusing flickers, daydreams, memories, all that while my body goes through the motions. It's all blurring together. At one point I turned to check on Desert Shade and asked Magnus what he thinks about properties of some crystal I've never heard of. When I turned back I saw Nicolai's ass in front of me and all three of my tongues reached out to grab him. I stopped myself just in time. Corruption, foreign memories, reality... it's all becoming one. Trotting ahead of me, Nicolai finishes sipping from his water bottle and raises his voice. "ALRIGHT, EVERYONE, LISTEN UP! Some of you noticed we're not heading straight north but instead in a minor arc. That is because there's a forest ahead which we need to enter when darkness falls. In there, we can lower the pace and recover a little. However, it is the most likely place for ambush if Legius called for reinforcements, which he doubtlessly did. In case we meet anyone there, shoot first. I hate the possibility of attacking a random trapper, but we're not in a position to hesitate. How are we on the energy reserves?" "They stopped shooting couple of hours ago so the accumulators are recharging. We have enough energy to use beam weapons as well," one of the griffons in the back reports. "Good. The Legion traitors are straight up following us, but there's too many of them to keep the pace. Plus, they will soon have to deal with logistics problems. Does anyone need to slow down?" when none of the agents open their beak, Nicolai continues, "Desert Shade, Blazing Light?" "What did you say, Scream?" I mutter. "Blazing?" "Huh?" "Are you okay? Do we have to slow down?" "Okay?" I shake my head, "Not by a long shot, but I don't think I'll start humping anyone's leg anytime soon. Keep going, this new body is running on autopilot and doesn't feel tired whatsoever. How about you, Des, not crazy yet? I'm really trying to not even think about you so that my presence doesn't taint you anymore." "My group and I are used to running away from Corrupted, we can keep going for a day or two more if need be. And Blazing, don't worry, I'm fine... mostly. Though I have to avoid looking at anything other than sand. Sweating fit griffons all around are not helping, and the wriggling mass of tasty, delicious, dripping tentacles in your crotch is just the cherry on top." "Sorry." "Look, I'm glad you snapped out of it, is it enough? I'm not holding a grudge or anything as long as I don't turn into a jellyfish and absorb Lyam here." "You look fine," I give her a thorough look. Her toned muscles moving under her black coat as she's running, determined stare forward, thin, elegant legs, behind swaying from side to- Calm down, you're drooling! "Dammit!" I curse. "Trust me," Des smiles, "Now that I know how it feels to be one I can't stay mad at Corrupted always wanting to mate with everything they find." "We can take some of your equipment off of your backs," Nicolai offers. "We're alright, trust me," Des refuses. The day passes on, and sun finally drops behind the horizon. As per Nicolai's prediction, we're approaching a vast bushy growth. It's not a forest as such, the nice, leafy ones from Equestria don't grow this close to the desert. These trees are thin, only about five times as tall as a griffon, but growing extremely densely. Legius' army will have to cut through or slow down heavily while we can pass. Thankfully, the growth is expansive enough so that the soldiers behind us cannot just keep the fast pace up and go around. The night goes on with us traversing the patch of dense vegetation. "Commander, I am detecting a mass use of electronic equipment further north," an agent reports, holding some device with two antennae sticking out of it. I immediately start my tracing spell, but I can't 'see' much besides the trees. "How far?" "The edge of our tracking range." "Damn it!" Nicolai holds a glowing disc up. It looks like it's showing an eagle-eye view of the area. An electronic map of some sort? "Those must be the reinforcements." "Do they know about us?" Des asks. No, they are here on a vacation. "I'm sure they've been informed about our coming, but Legion soldiers should not have the equipment to detect our shielded devices accurately. We just need to be quiet and careful," Nicolai turns away from her, "How many signatures are we talking about, agent?" Hey, I was wrong... again. Des' question actually wasn't obvious. "Several dozen, fifty at most. However..." "Airship?" "Yes, sir. Small, though." "I doubt it's a combat vessel. Bringing in too much heavy equipment would raise questions. The airship most likely just transported the soldiers here." "So, what's the danger here?" Des asks, "Can we steal the ship?" "Several miniguns along with few rifles from above, depends on the remaining crew. And no, we can't. It'll be hovering above the stationed forces. Our best bet is to take the soldiers by surprise, use our vastly superior firepower to blast our way through and run like blazes towards the old fortress before they recover. We could clear the entire force if they are inside the forest and not on its edge, but that would take too much time." "This Legius guy has already proven pretty good at evaluating the situation," I chime in, "How do we know his guys won't be waiting in the fortress already?" "We don't," Nicolai sighs, "but I believe Legius has drawn enough forcess from everywhere around to make someone notice. If he was able to move the Legion in any serious numbers, with tanks and assault airships, then he would. He is trying to keep this action secret which means his number of soldiers is limited. Cassius would execute him on the spot if he knew what's going on." "Signatures approaching," an agent says sharply. "Cut all chatter!" All lights fade and everyone goes quiet. Only the soft whispering of grass under hooves, paws, and boots follows our progress. Other good thing about being a Corrupted - I make absolutely no noise while walking. I sense something familiar. So old, but so close. I just can't put my tentacle on it. "CONTACT!" I hear from the distance and immediately drop on the ground. My tracing spell hasn't warned me whatsoever. What the hay? The gunfire isn't aimed at us. Allies? The night flares with an explosion of gold and pink flames from the right. Nicolai's agents don't react in any way, only quietly follow their leader. The discipline is astonishing. If I was one of them, I'd be unloading my gun into the direction of the fight the second anything moved. Maybe that's why I was never in any army, and my only job in the Royal Guard was teaching martial arts to newbies. Pained screams are quickly cut off. More panicked yelling I don't understand through the sheer amount of voices comes. It sounds official and military-like, but combined with horror. The sound of glass exploding and ground erupting reaches my ears. It's not my normal senses, though, that confuse me, it's the feeling inside me that something is both wrong and absolutely right at the same time. However, we are fine as we're sneaking further and further north. Nicolai leads us a little off to the west to avoid the combat site, and I can see the darkness around slowly melting, giving way to the first rays of morning light. We all slow down as we leave the cover of trees, and eventually stop to process a new, gruesome sight. Pieces and strips of military griffons, I assume from the few non-melted bits of fur and armor, are scattered over a wide area covered with craters. Malfunctioning electronic equipment is sparkling whenever not just charred lumps. What I suppose is the wreck of the airship is still smoldering, half-buried in the ground. My tracing spell makes me freeze, then scream as I finally realize what's going on: "Run. Run! RUN!" The black and white world of my alternate vision is showing enormous fires of divine power billowing at the edge of the forest moving towards us. When I open my eyes, I see the trees are covered in black ice and shatter when an equine figure passes by. Thankfully, everyone either caught on the horror in my voice or they don't want to know what completely and brutally wiped an entire battalion of Legion soldiers within half an hour. The griffons forming our hind guard reactivate the energy shields on their backs, and with tired sighs we run as fast as we can... ...at least until a wall of fire appears out of nowhere in front of us. "FORMATION!" Nicolai calls out after sticking a sword into the wall which drips away as molten steel instantly. The agents form a half-circle of armed death aiming at the slowly walking, robed pony who sometimes stumbles but persistently goes closer step by step. Twin divine powers that used to be mine, the ability to find and track me over continents. It's the crazy guy from the ferry, but last time the fact that I had Suitie with me must have covered my... essence or whatever he's using to follow me. Why isn't my new Corruptor body throwing him off then? Or maybe it is. He is just preventing us from leaving, we're still alive... as long as we don't prove hostile. "Aim!" Nicolai whispers loudly. "No! No no no no!" I shake my head, "If you shoot you die like the rest. Give me a second to think." "Who is it?" he asks. "I think it's not a who... not anymore, but what," my head is working overtime, drowning in adrenaline, "I lost my original power when I died, but alicorn aspects live on after their bearer dies. That's why after the original alicorn of Love died, Mi Amore Cadenza gained his aspect in full half a millenium later. I was not right in the head when I gradually gained my power by stealing from various gods and enemies, and making it mine. I was a unique schizophrenic case and that was why I was able to grain two opposing aspects - Hope and Despair. I think this is my... heir, as they say, because I didn't regain my power after my resurrection. He... it is completely insane." "What does it mean for us? Do you know how to fight it?" "I went somewhat even against a GOD with that amount of power, there is nothing to fight. We can't hurt it, we can't slow it down, it can kill us with a thought. However," I sigh, "I think it is only after me." "...make it stop..." I hear the quiet grumbling from the figure, "...who are we..." "Step away, everyone," I say, walking a little closer to the figure that stops and twitches backwards, "When it goes after me you run as fast as you can. I'll try to lead it back to our pursuers. Just find Crimson Heart in Manehattan and help him-" One phoenix wing and one made of dark ice sprout from the pony's back. His, and now I can clearly see it is a stallion, hood folds back, revealing an exhausted face of somepony who has no contact with reality whatsoever. I have no clue what colour his coat or mane are, both made of intermingling divine fire and ice. His eyes go wide when he looks up at me, pupils turning into pin pricks, and in his gathering of destructive divinity I see my unavoidable death. "Even while gone, I ruined a pony's life," I shake my head. The wall of flame surrounding the others fades, but I dare not move to put them in danger again. Several breaths later, I hear hesitant steps moving away from us. "...no life, no hope..." The sheer amount of divine power from this pony is far more than I can handle now. "...I beg of you..." "...die..." "...release us..." "...end us..." "...become us..." A frozen spear with fiery tip forms in the air, aiming at me. Using both powers together used to be extremely difficult for me, but I guess having no brain to be torn under the conflicting pressures must be helping. "It wasn't supposed to happen. Harmony should have purified me." And the god did, but the aspects must have remained tangled. "...help..." The divine spear hums with energy. "...we are nothing..." "I know pity won't help, but I'm sorry you got dragged into this. I know how it feels-OOF!" Utter chaos. "HE IS MINE AND ONLY MINE!" A voice? My back hurts. My front hurts. My sides hurt. My pain hurts. "Welcome back!" a confused face of Desert Shade greets me when I open my eyes, "I thought you hated flying." Wait. I have the body of a Corrupted. Why does everything feel as if I got hit by a mallet? "Owwwwwww..." "A DRAGON!" I hear a griffon scream. "...what?" I mumble. "Lyam, grab him!" Des orders, "Someone take Lyam's bags! You, Blazing, don't shove your tentacles where they don't belong." The big griffon puts me on his back. His strong, muscular back covered with soft coat. "Can I... at least... grope a little?" I conjure up a smile. "Glad to know you're okay," Lyam answers calmly, "Any idea what's happening?" "Let me... blink.. the tears... off..." Umm, Nicolai and Des got a decent distance away while the... living Insanity was focusing on me. Then an explosion happened. An explosion that tossed me... all the way to the others. A loooong way to the others. Huh, I guess I'm not as bad at flying as I thought. After my vision clears, tentacles grow from my sides and wrap around Lyam who gives me worried glance but keeps galloping when he realizes I haven't turned completely. Controlling Corrupted abilites feels similar to divine power, at least the basic ones. It's like wanting something and your body doing it on instinct. My brain finally recovers from the blue screen. A dragon. I've been followed by a dot high up in the sky for a while now. But why? I have never had any contact with dragons. Aaand I've finally managed to rub dirt out of my eyes. However, now that I can see more than a pony's length ahead I'm confused even more. A gold dragon mostly covered in tendrils of corruption is circling above and incinerating the area underneath where exploding stalagmites of black ice show Insanity's position. The dragon is not alone, though. A black shadow is rushing around in the flames, and I feel divine power from the silhouette as well. It's not as completely overpowering as Insanity's, but it is significant as well. "He is mine and only mine!" That was a female voice as well. You know what? I'm confused but not stupid, at least completely. I'm not gonna look a gift pony in the mouth. Someone saved my ass, and whoever they are they are still buying us time. Insanity doesn't seem to move fast, but I doubt he sleeps or eats. Plus, I think he can track me anywhere. "Looks like EVERYPONY knows you and is after you, Blazing. And here you were thinking when we first met the world was new and unexplored," Des, galloping next to Lyam, laughs. She's freaking right! HOW? How is this possible? What's going on? WHY ARE INNOCENT PONIES GETTING CAUGHT IN IT FROM THE START? "I'M SORRY, ALRIGHT?" I yell at her, "I don't know what's going on. I don't know who anyone is. I am just guessing and hoping I don't mess up someone other than myself. I have no idea why there's a bounty on my head. I have no idea who would know me in this day and age. I JUST DON'T KNOW ANYTHING! All I wanted from the start was to find a single griffon who might or might not have been still alive, and maybe my dreamling daughter. Now I can't get close to anyone without putting them in danger of being killed by a pissed off griffon noble, some insane divine monstrosity, mercenaries all over the place, a freaking DRAGON and some shadow pony working with him. Two cities of griffons got corrupted and the entire continent is now under the threat of what already devoured Equestria. I NEVER WANTED ANY OF THIS AND ALL I CAN SAY TO ALL OF YOU IS THAT I'M SORRY BECAUSE I CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT!" "Don't be," says a voice I really wasn't expecting. Nicolai nods at me when I look at him, "I know how it is to be thrown into a life you weren't prepared for, a life with overwhelming responsibility. I don't know you well enough to say much, but I'll say one thing. You put yourself into a conflict between my ancestors, and you chose the right side. You chose to do what was right for the citizens of the Empire no matter your personal harm. That is something I can respect. History has proven already that you can trust your convictions," he takes a deep breath and roars, "SO STOP WHINING LIKE A LITTLE BITCH, SOLDIER!" "Umm, it was really uplifiting until the final part," I mutter, "but thanks, I guess." "WOOHOO!" a griffon I've never talked to before cheers for absolutely no reason. "Excellent," Nicolai slows down and checks his glowing map, "We can stop the breakneck pace, everyone. It seems like neither the dragon nor the crazy pony are after us." "They are, Nicolai," I correct him. "AT THE MOMENT," he raises his voice and gives me a threatening look. I get it - morale, "We should get to the old outpost at around noon just like I planned. Direct sunlight will provide us with enough energy to hole up there and hold the place until reinforcements arrive. We don't have enough food and water to get to another city, and I'm not risking an encounter with whoever Legius can bring out here. Plus, now that we know he's using transport airships, we can't outlast him supplies-wise either." "Then how do we get a message out?" I ask, unwrapping my back tentacles from Lyam and jumping down running This body's ability to recover and stamina are amazing. "With enough energy we can set up a long-range communication station. There are a lot of options with that thing, and I doubt Legius' soldiers can jam everything." It's a long shot, but it can work. Time will be our worst enemy. A snap nearby shows Desert Shade drinking a can of something fizzy. Lyam and the other two do the same. It has to be something that's been allowing them to go so fast for over a day now through wild landscape. She tossess the can carelessly away, knowing hiding tracks is irrelevant at this point. I've never been a hero, just a normal guy who got hold of a lot of power he never should have, but Nicolai, Des, her group, and the Blops agents... ...it's not them who are in the presence of legends, it's me. The terrifying part is that Legius has an army of griffons doing the same, and those guys are just over the horizon.