//------------------------------// // Borrowed Time: Caring // Story: Imbalanced: New Age // by Nameless Narrator //------------------------------// [Blazing's Entry] Alright, time to head off to Pine Hills. This time, however, I have a plan. When I was asleep, I've been messing around inside my head, or in whatever constitutes my own "pocket dimension". The thing is, I can't get there physically, not like with Final Sanctuary, but my mind can wander easily within, well, itself. However, I might be able to repurpose the process of jumping between Final Sanctuary and Manehattan Ruins as a mind into returning back to Final Santuary from the real world with a corporeal body. It's definitely worth a shot. If it doesn't work, then it's a long haul on hoof back to Manehattan. Thankfully, with Heavy by my side it should be fairly safe. Funny, I'm one of the few individuals who can actually call traversing the new Equestria somewhat safe. Alright, I'm all sandwiched up and ready to go, Heavy is already looking over my shoulder to see what I'm scribbling, and there's not much I want to write anyway. Let's go. [End Entry] As the flash of light gives way to reality, fresh air, whispering leaves, and ground under my hooves, I immediately look around to see where we landed. I couldn't get a clear lock on Guiding due to her inherited ability to resist magic and my honestly lacking skills, but I was able to target Pine Hills. Of course, teleporting next to a random Corrupted could have been fatal, but nothing is without risk anymore. I'm not a baker. The trees surrounding me and Heavy are very... tree-like, and the best guess I can make is that we're in a forest. Whether it's the Everfree or some completely different place is something I can't discern at the moment, but the black taint all around assures me we at least hit Equestria. Listen. "Whoooooah!" I hear Heavy's excited moan, "I can... hear, feel, sense so much. Everything... everywhere." Yeah, it'll take him a while to get used to this. I know the feeling of new senses and the old ones being drastically improved. Thankfully, his instincts are taking over in the good way, and his six grey back tentacles are waving in the air, doubtlessly examining the flow of air and and incoming sound waves, but he's not jumping at me with his mouth open and about to show me a tentacular experience. "It helps if you close your eyes," I try to be helpful, and Heavy does so a moment later. As for me, the most I can hear is his heavy breathing. Hmmm, and possibly the sound of a saw coming from the distance. "That way," Heavy's back tentacle points in the vague direction of the noise. "I assume you meant to use a hoof there." He looks at his all four legs still firmly on the ground, and then at the pointing tendril. "Oops, too many appendages. I'm a bit overwhelmed here." "Judging from me not lying on the grass under you, you're doing great." "Thank you. I think I'm getting it under control, though. Just slap any tentacle that tries to do anything uncouth." "Will do. Lead the way." Heavy's much larger body razes the way through the forest for me, and I use most of the time behind him wistfully staring at his flexing backside. I think he knows, or maybe he's just busy taking in all the feelings of his new form reacting to the real world. As a small tree cracks under Heavy's hoof, heh, I can see his back tentacles -backtacles? No.- tense up. My ears perk up in response. Cracking and hoofsteps. Whoever is ahead doesn't care about secrecy. Must be a Pine Hills patrol. Their goal isn't to catch intruders but rather scare them off. "Let's approach them slowly, Heavy. I'm not partial to a bullet to the head." "Okay, but stay behind me. I'm itching to give something a good smack." As expected, when we don't turn away, the noises move towards us, and as I can clearly hear the bustling of a small settlement we are faced with a rather unique group which nonetheless makes me smile - a grey, blonde-maned earthpony amazon close to Heavy's size I recall seeing back at the ruined castle, a light brown unicorn mare with darker mane wearing nothing but a pouch around her waist and a normal black, grey-maned earthpony stallion with an axe on his broad back, neither of which I remember seeing before, and dreamling curiously sniffing the air with his head tilted to the side, blue eyes locked at us. The unicorn's horn flashes, and she mutters: "Southern patrol. We've got company. Presumed threat level - six." "This one big," the amazon stomps the ground and a smile grows on her muzzle. I notice her hooves being completely covered by steel boots, "Good fight or mate." "Alright, girls. Let's go with the normal strat while I line up a good shot." Black wines grow from Heavy's foreleg and form a long staff ending in a scythe blade on each end. As everyone but the dreamling takes a step back, Heavy chuckles. "First, I feel a little offended by being regarded as only a six. Second, you don't have the right kind of equipment to spark my interest, amazon lady. And lastly, put down that gun before I shove it where the sun doesn't shine." "Big one talk good. Ponyville cursed one, maybe?" "Okay, okay, enough scaring them, Heavy. We're here on business," I step out of my Protector's shadow, much to the gasps of the patrol. Well, most of them. The dreamling rushes at me, stopping a short distance away, raising his foreleg hesitantly... ...and waving. "This one familiar. Smaller. Worse mate. Ask Bloodrage. No wings. No curse. Me wrong?" Welp, another blow to my ego. However, nothing can stop the warmth spreading through me as I examine the dreamling and see no straps of rotting flesh, bleeding gaps between the chitinous plates, nor smell any semblance of necrotic tissues. He's still stick thin, one of his legs is badly regrown making him limp a little, and there are deep grooves in his plating, but he's clean and doesn't look feral at all. "No, no, I remember you from the Castle of Two Sisters," I nod towards her, but look at the dreamling and wave back at him, "It's me and you know that. Come here, little guy. No need to be scared of Heavy." "I'm a little confused here," says the earthpony, "Do you know these guys? Is that Corrupted from Ponyville? I thought they didn't venture this far away from their territory." To my surprise, the dreamling trots over to Heavy. To my absolute shock, he hugs his leg. "He remembers YOU?" "I spent a lot of time with Guiding when she came to visit you. She often brought some of her lings with you. Maybe she and Three shared a lot of memories with the rest." "You have no idea how great it makes me feel that they are recovering. Now you're uncle Heavy." "Oww, that makes me sound old." "Two hundred and fifty or something?" "Youthful like never before, Blazing." "Ehm!" the unicorn clears her throat meaningfully, looking at me. "Oh, right. Just take me to Crimson Heart. He'll know who I am... eventually. Heavy might be a bit of a stretch, but at this point I'm willing to believe anything." She exchanges a glance with the earthpony, and eventually shrugs. "They aren't hostile, there are just two of them, and One seems to know them." "Me know too. Alicorn before, now unicorn. Wings eaten." Strange, but apparently the amazons are so used to losing limbs when encountering a Corrupted that me not having wings anymore is much less of an issue than I thought. "I think I'll just call this one in and we let them pass?" "Sounds reasonable. Tell the boss to meet them, though." "On it," the unicorn recasts her communication spell, and mutters, "We've got two visitors - a Corrupted Protector, and a unicorn wanting to see lord Heart. One and Spinebreaker seem to know them. We're letting them through and continuing the patrol." I can't hear any answer, but she nods to the rest of her group. "We're going. One?" the dreamling's eyes dart between me and the commanding unicorn, "We have a patrol to finish." He looks at me, question in his eyes. "Just go. You've got a village to protect, and I'll still be here today after you're done," I nod towards the unicorn. Whether One understands what I said or the nod is enough for him, he runs off to his companions. "Pine Hills is that way," she points in a direction behind them, "Lord Heart said he had something important to take care of, but few ponies will take you straight to him." "Thanks," I give her a smile, "Let's go, Heavy." "Mhm." We resume walking, and the patrol disappears into the forest, leaving only distant noises of breaking branches. "Thinking of something?" "When you came through here for the first time, I didn't have the form to see what was really happening. I just had a bit of insight into some flickers of memories and senses. When we were here last time, I could see them getting better and the ponies around them giving them uncomfortable looks while trying hard not to freak out. Now, One looks almost normal. He still can't talk or think properly, but he... remembers. You caused this. I am in awe of you, Blazing. Of what you're trying to do, and of the effect you had on them to make them remember you after all they've gone through. I can... somewhat sense their mental state now, and... you're their world. I am... speechless, honestly speechless." And here I am trying to lose it all for Cromach, and I'm not changing my mind. Heavy, Heavy, you're an idealistic idiot, but that's why I like you. "Liar," the corner of my mouth curls upwards, "you talk too much for that. On top of that, One remembered you too, and you're the Corrupted one." Heavy opens his mouth as if he has something more to say, but just shakes his head. Instead, I feel his tentacle tail brush my cheek as I follow him once again. "Let's go. We can't keep Crimson Heart waiting. Oh, and I know where you're looking." "Do you want me to stop?" I raise my eyebrow. He snorts. "Whatever gave your that silly idea?" Not even five minutes later, the rebuilt palisade of Pine Hills is in clear view. Trees chopped down are lying on the ground, and there are ponies hard at work on sawing them to pieces fit for storage or transport. Heavy and I draw some surprised and worried stares, but since we don't do anything even remotely threatening other than walk by, the fear gives way to mere curiosity. After walking around the palisade and finding the closest entrance, or a yet-unfilled gap, we are greeted by two bulky earthponies in shades of brown and grey armed with hoof pistols - bracelets with cartridges on the circumference activated by the correct hoof movements. It must be next to impossible to craft ammo for these small cannons here, so they have to be for emergency use only. Not to mention that any untrained pony is far more likely to blow their own hoof off rather than hurt the target. "You must be the visitors the patrol mentioned," rumbles the bigger one of them. "Exactly. I don't mean to be rude, but my business here will proceed much smoother if I can talk to Crimson Heart or Guiding Light as soon as possible, though in Guiding's shape the talking might not be on the table." "And what about it?" he nods to Heavy who gives him an amused smirk. "I can assure you I pose no threat to any of you and much less to Guiding Light or her caretaker," answers Heavy in the most cultured tone he can. Their jaws drop. "Is this enough for you, or do I need to vouch for him? Trust me, Crimson Heart will recognize me... after we have a chat." The big earthpony, compared to me, leans to the smaller one and whispers: "Do we just let them in? Lord Heart is busy in the town hall." His companion answers in hushed tone as well: "This is a bit above our pay grade. Let's escort them, but if they even breathe funny just shoot." I keep smiling at the duo. I have no doubts that Heavy heard them loud and clear, and I have pretty good ears myself even as a pony. Anyway, I can understand their concerns and can't blame them for being worried. Without any further delay, we follow them through the now ancient town ruins with the occasional house under reconstruction into its center where the original town hall is nearly in a working shape. It is clear most of the chiseled stones and difficult to get building materials like glass went to its repair, but it was obviously the correct choice since, if I recall correctly, there are large cellars where ponies can hide in case of trouble, even an escape tunnel, and enough space to house all the settlers to last through any rough weather. I really should stop being so surprised about Crimson Heart's decisions. He is clearly a competent pony, or at least knows how to surround himself with competent ponies. The ground floor of the town hall is just worked stone with only a simple wooden table in the lobby occupied by a teenage mare wearing glasses. As expected, when we close the door we're greeted by significantly warmer air, signalling little to no draft or structural defficiencies. "Can I help you?" the "probably temporary receptionist" asks rather nervously. "They are here to see lord Heart. Somepony should have told him already." "Right, right. Yes, he's upstairs in the corner office with miss Guiding Light. He should be done shortly and-" "Great, they are together. That makes things easier," I nod to our escort ponies who must have gotten the hint that I know my way around the place when I took charge and led our way straight to the town hall. A short trip upstairs later, the smaller earthpony knocks on one of the only three repaired doors we've passed on the way. "I'll be right-" I hear Crimson Heart's muffled answer, and cheerfully interrupt it. This will either end well and make the necessary talking much shorter, or it'll be absolutely horrible. "Morning, Crimson Heart. Morning, Guiding. Long time no see!" It takes me a second to take what's going on in. Crimson Heart is sitting next to a wooden bathtub filled with foamy water, scrubbing Guiding's neck. I don't have any more time to process the scene, because the noble frowns, turning towards me entering the otherwise bare room. He opens his mouth to say something, but is rudely interrupted by Guiding jumping out of the tub, her short duster of a tail spraying the unicorn with water, and pouncing straight at me with: "D-aaahd!" The next moment I'm tackled by the dreamling queen who might look like a broken stick figure but who has the grip of a vice and the speed of a darting snake. "My... ribs..." I groan under the pressure of the crushing hug. Huh, I was mostly joking with the chance for the good outcome... "Blazing Light?" I hear a careful question and move Guiding enough so that I can look at Crimson Heart who is walking around and examining me from all sides, "You... look different. Again." "Long story short, I had a personal thing to take care of. It ended... poorly." I'm glad he doesn't push the issue. "Then I'm happy you made it back here, and I guess that goes double for your daughter." "D-aaahd," Guiding pulls away, looking at me with a smile on her face. No matter any circumstances, the teeth are still terrifying. She repeats the word as if just saying it makes her happier, "D-aaahd." "You look great, Guiding," I scratch her behind the ear. Like One, Guiding is still skinny and her ribs are poking out, her left hind leg sports a twisted and poorly healed fetlock, her right foreleg is gnarled from multiple wrongly healed breaks, but that only makes her past speed and agility that more amazing. Her tail, as well as her mane, has been cut short, removing the dead and rotting strands. She's still nowhere close to any sort of colour, but the white hair once again feels alive. What is far from comforting, though, is her milky white right eye with barely visible pupil which twitches every few seconds and leaks a sticky tear. "D-aaahd." "You're dripping," I smile, wet my hoof on her coat, and wipe the fluid staining her cheek. "Right, here," Crimson Heart looks at a box in the corner I completely missed from which flies a padded eye patch along with a small unmarked bottle. Sharp, minty scent fills the air as the unicorn pours a little of the clear liquid onto the patch and then fastens it around Guiding's head. "Owowowowowowow..." Guiding grumbles, but doesn't even twitch otherwise. "Desinfectant," explains Crimson Heart, "We don't have anypony with delicate enough magic to help healing an eye, so I'm just keeping it clean and letting it heal on its own. Your daughter has immense will to live and recover." "I guess being hard to kill runs in the family. To be honest, I wasn't expecting this to go so smoothly. I thought I'd have to repeat what I've gone through again to prove to you that I'm me." "Guiding hugging you and calling you dad over and over definitely dispelled most of my doubts-" "D-aaahd," the adorable killing machine nuzzles my neck. "-Just like that. However, what remains a question is this strangely quiet Corrupted gentlecolt," he gives Heavy a questioning glance. "Well, you see-" I begin, but am interrupted by Guiding finally seeming to notice Heavy and scowling at him. She growls. She hisses. Her horn flickers. She tilts her head. She walks over to the tensing up Corrupted. She... hugs his neck? "He-vee Huf?" Heavy's eyes bulge and instantly mist over. Paralyzed, all he can do is nod, and wrap the not-hugged foreleg around Guiding's back. I look at him. He looks at me. "I thought I had nopony but you..." he whispers to me, crying quietly with huge smile pastered on his muzzle. "Nopony could ever forget you, uncle Heavy," I grin back at him. "An-kle He-vee." Heavy just pushes Guiding's head firmly into his chest. "Wait, did I understand correctly... Heavy? As in Heavy Hoof? The founder of the new Silver Sun, baron Heavy Hoof? Few months ago, I would call you a liar, but I've met three legends in my lifetime already... so I'm a little more... flexible about these things." Heavy wipes his eyes with as little disturbance to Guiding as he can, and turns his head to Crimson Heart. "I know about you from wandering around Blazing as a spirit, but... why do I get the feeling that I'm more than just a name to you?" "Just a name?" Crimson Heart shakes his head. I've never seen him so animated before, "You are the idol of many a young pony joining the Silver Sun. A common earthpony who worked hard and eventually got into the position of a baron and the leader of the organization responsible for protecting ponies against dark forces. There's a ton more to it, but that's the shortest version." "That's a bit more than I deserv-" "Can I get an autograph?" I wish I had a camera to take a picture of a middle-age noble unicorn giddy like a schoolfilly meeting her crush. "This... this doesn't bother you at all?" Heavy points his back tentacle at Crimson Heart who just waves his hoof. "I've now seen Blazing Light here as a tainted alicorn, a fully corrupted alicorn, and again as a unicorn whom I've seen only in sir Cromach's old photos. With the two of you being in this room right now, I believe from the bottom of my heart I will see even sir Cromach again. Speaking of which, a message came for you from Manehattan." Such trust really, really shames me. "Hmm, how? Did you organize a route through Ponyville?" "No, actually. A Separated mare arrived few weeks ago, curious about what we're doing here. She doesn't talk much, but spends her time watching us work and takes a trip to Manehattan and back whenever we need it, and in record time. Give me a second," Crimson Heart's horn flashes, and a scroll case appears hovering in front of me. I look with suspicion and disbelief at the black and white griffon seal, one half with Cassius' face and the other with Nicolai's. However, just watching it as if it was about to explode isn't going to change anything, so I screw the top open and unroll the paper. I must have gasped or something, because the next thing I hear is Heavy asking: "What is it, Blazing?" I read some passages, letting my eyes wander over the writing. "For Blazing Light... blah blah blah... service to the Empire... more official garbage... mission of utmost importance to our war effort... blah blah details in person..." I stop. "Blazing?" "...with the incentive for further cooperation being the binding promise of me and my brother to mount a fully equipped expedition into a hostile territory in order to capture a certain Corrupted target we understand to be of great interest to you." "Capture?" "Heavy... that means they haven't used their advanced weapons to reclaim Drachenberg yet." "I guess we'll have to cut our time here short then?" "Leev?" Guiding turns her head to give me a disappointed look. I look at Heavy who, while he looks as supportive of me as ever, hasn't let Guiding move any further from his embrace. Priorities. "No," I shake my head. I don't even need to look at them. I can feel the relieved looks, "Tomorrow. Cromach can wait one more day." "Baron Hoof, do you want a tour of the settlement?" asks Crimson Heart. Heavy opens his mouth, but closes it again when I nod towards him. "Give me some time with Guiding, Heavy. I promise I'll lend her to you later." Heavy chuckles. "Alright, lord Heart. I guess the two deserve their time together." The noble nods, and waves at Heavy to follow him outside. When the door closes, I look back at Guiding quietly sitting there and just watching me. "How about you call One and... Two over, and we take a stroll around as well? You can tell your dad everything about all the new ponies in your life." "D-aaahd," she gives me the happiest smile I've ever seen in my life. The second part of my shock comes from the realization that I am the reason for that pure joy. I am not going to lie to myself that there is hope, that things are turning around, that everything might be okay. I've lived my life long enough not to be that foolish. However, only for today, for these several hours... ...it might just work.