[Blazing’e Entry]
I’m in way over my head this time, but at least there’s a clear course of action ahead. Why is it that bad? Because I can’t just wander or fight my way into some mine, grab a pickaxe, and excavate some istrium on my own.
I needed an expedition, or at least some company. Thankfully, that second part was easy to solve. After my return to Manehattan, I told Bucket about my findings. He knows way more about the state of affairs in this day and age, and his opinion on how to proceed was something I could definitely use. Of course he knew about istrium, why wouldn’t he? He also confirmed that the last known mining operations were indeed happening under minotaur oversight. Unfortunately, when Corrupted ran over Equestria, there was no way to get more mining equipment into Rift and no chance of transporting the mined minerals back south. Eventually, all contact was lost, although some of the rarest crystals indeed still appear on the Crystal Empire market from time to time, which makes Bucket think there is some minor trade between the northern tribes and the crystal ponies.
Now, Bucket told me he could assemble a mining operation, probably even an extremely profitable one for the Silver Sun, but only if an advance party could find the istrium veins, clear any potential threats to the miners, and secure a way to Rift, which is a tall order. Luckily, while he didn’t know how much raw material he would need for the third Blade, it wouldn’t be a crazy amount even when accounting for some failed attempts and refining. So, the goal was simple - get to Rift, find the mines and istrium, secure a path for a Silver Sun mining expedition. I wondered whether we could just buy some of Desert Shade’s scrap, and after examining a piece of Des’ armor, Bucket came to the conclusion that the Silversmith istrium would only get damaged by any industrial process the world knows now. We needed the raw, pliant crystalline mineral in order to precisely refine it into the intricate structure Starswirl described in his blueprints.
Well, I didn’t leave Manehattan alone as much as I wanted to. As it turned out, Bucket’s sources of information claimed that there was something big happening in the Crystal Empire which made princess Cadance, Shining Armor, and even the northern Corrupted Queen Spring, heh, spring into action. Apparently, the Crystal Empire mines have been overrun with strange monsters recently, causing shortage of materials all over Equestria. Bucket didn’t know much more, but he said the beginning of the trouble strangely coincided with my previous trip to the Barrier. I COULD assume there is no connection, but I won’t. Where I go, trouble either follows or is already there.
Is it possible Nightmare is trying to stop me from getting the materials for the third Blade? I mean, no one else should have even the faintest clue about my plan. On the other hoof, why would the Crystal Empire mines be under attack as well? Meh, I’m pretty sure I’ll find out soon.
Bucket made copies of Starswirl’s blueprints to study while I’m away and prepare the crafting requirements and methods. At first, he wanted to send Shadowstep’s changelings with me as well so that I had the deck stacked in my favour as much as possible. I changed his mind, saying that in light of the attack on Pine Hills, Silver Sun HQ would need protection the standard force wouldn’t provide. That discussion being over, I took Heavy with me. I wanted to take only him, but Cromach insisted.
Very, VERY, mega very super much insisted.
I really didn’t want to put him in danger, but that goes both ways, and no matter what I say he will stay by my side until we either win, or fall together. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love him. Ehm, I got a bit carried away there. Anyway, it’s a great idea to have someone around who can seemingly rip even Heavy in half without getting winded. Besides, we’re going to make a really soft cuddle pile when we camp.
So, Cro’s a bit strange. I know there’s the difference of over two centuries since the last time we were together, I know. Still, I can see the hunger in his eyes when he looks at me. I don’t know how, but I am certain he’s holding himself back with all his might not to jump at me any second. Through my tracing spell, I can see him staring at me when he thinks I’m not looking. Nightshade might have reconstructed as much of him as she could, but the corruption is still there.
I know the temptation, Cro, I really do.
Now, spending another three weeks walking across Equestria was the last thing I wanted, so I called Joy and asked for more help. Welp, now there are four of us going north, because she didn’t take “It’ll likely be extremely dangerous!” for an answer. It only made her more firm in her decision not to let me out of her sight. As worried as I was about her meeting Cromach, she took it in stride, and I don’t think she was lying or pretending. There was no friendship from her side, no, but no hostility either. I think she might have come to the conclusion that a fresh beginning was the way to go like she’s trying with me.
In the end, we did discover that her teleportation has some serious limitations. While she can track a pony she knows extremely well, transporting us into a certain AREA is a different cup of tea entirely, which explains her usually travelling on Vertradict’s back. Thankfully, the place where she dropped us off was very peculiar - a white forest looking like winter landscape even now in early summer. Aside from Heavy, everyone recognized the area. Cromach, because he knows Chilly, the king of the Separated whose territory this is, Joy, because she can literally see the massive forest out of her window as it’s not too far northwest from Canterlot mountain, and I, because I’ve crossed its southern part when I first travelled from Vanhoover to Ponyville.
Fortunately, Heavy’s attuned to his Corrupted senses the most, and finding which way north was and subsequently the closest road was something he achieved quite quickly. So, as I’m writing this into my little levitating book, we’re walking through the Separated territory, at least temporarily safe.
[End Entry]
With another day on the road behind us, we set up camp - four simple tents by the roadside with a fire pit in the middle. We haven’t exactly had time to catch up on everything that’s happened, and this warm early summer night seems like a good time. We left the Separated territory sometime around noon, and our surroundings changed from the beautiful and rather eerie frozen forest into a much more classic greenery… with moss everywhere. It’s not like you can hear Corrupted coming anyway, but the thick layer of soft green carpeting makes even our hoofsteps completely silent. Cromach explained that just like the classic black swampy ground of wild territories, Nightshade’s grassy domain, Chilly’s rime-covered crystalline forest, the moss is a telling feature that we’re in the territory of northern Queen Spring.
“Have you met her?” I ask Cro between bites of those horrible packed hay wafers. Curse their inventor for making them so nutritious and lasting but utterly disgusting, “Spring, I mean.”
Cromach, grabbing some dry wood with his talons and tossing it onto the burning fire nods.
“Several times. To be honest, I like her the most out of the four Corrupted leaders,” he pokes the fire with a stick. Strange, unlike Heavy he doesn’t seem comfortable using his back tentacles.
“Four? Chilly, Spring, Nightshade… and?”
“Technically the Queen of the wild Corrupted living in the Barrier. Unlike the others, she’s… wild, what more can I say?”
“Feral?”
“No no no,” Cro waves his forelegs, “nothing bad like that. Those Corrupted understand you, but they don’t speak nor do they care much about what we do. You’ve gone to the Barrier, you must have noticed that Corrupted there avoid visitors unless approached.”
“I didn’t exactly have the time to socialize with Harmony’s avatar on my back.”
He shrugs.
“We should go there for a casual visit sometimes. If you count out the dangerous trip, it’s a really nice place. Remember how Harmony ripped the fabric of reality there?”
“As if I could forget. I still sometimes wake up screaming...”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be there to hug the bad away,” he gives me as wide grin as his beak allows, “So, the ‘scar’ in reality often glows in the moonlight. Imagine pure white veil dropping from the sky, this time without a giant ball of tentacles trying to tear their way through. It’s breathtaking.”
“Speaking of breathtaking,” Joy looks behind Heavy quietly lying on the ground, his ears twitching as he’s listening to us, “We’ve got visitors.”
Heavy’s reaction is instant. Within a fraction of a second, he’s on all fours, scanning the darkness for any threats. He growls:
“Corrupted, I can see eight.”
I immediately turn my tracing spell on, and count under my breath.
“Twenty-three.”
“That’s quite a number,” Cromach cracks his neck and stretches, “Too bad they’re not here to scrap. I could use the exercise.”
“They aren’t?” asks Joy, her horn flashes, glowing balls of light split from our campfire and spread out over the clearing, the road, and into the forest like little floating lanterns.
The outlines my magic provides along with what I can now see in the dim light show some interesting details about our new company. Among the large group of Corrupted, there is no Protector, only three Hunters, and one drippy Corruptor who is a bigger reason for concern than a Protector would be. The rest must be Breeders, male, female, and even those possessing both characteristics.
Cromach shakes his head.
“Just like Nightshade is a Protector Queen and Chilly is a Hunter King, Spring is a Breeder Queen. As such, she’s friendly by nature, but don’t consider her stupid or simple. Her patrols look like this, they offer company and healing to travellers, and by company I mean… you know what. Breeders are very tempting and comfortable.”
“Not a fan of the male ones,” I frown, “Met few, nearly got raped and corrupted by one.”
“Spring’s folk are different. You can take my word for it. They can even suppress their corrupting influence almost to the level of Separated. A roll in the hay with them is fairly safe.”
Heavy calms down, now only watching the figures closing in.
“So, what do we do?”
“From my experience, we’re sleeping outside tonight. They won’t do anything too forward unless you initiate it, but they will sleep with us. Take it as a local custom,” Cromach shrugs.
“Main question,” Joy raises her foreleg. A Corrupted stallion with an enormous package between his legs approaches and carefully sniffs it. Joy can’t stop the grin creeping onto her face, “Is it really safe?”
“Definitely. As I said, these guys aren’t wild, and if we get attacked by a wild pack with Spring’s patrol around… let’s just say it’s fun to watch.”
“Cryptic much?” I give him a smirk. A Breeder mare lies down next to me, her upper barrel draped over my hind legs. I pat her head, and Cro winks back.
“Well, since she’s a Breeder Queen, she and her Breeders have a certain enhanced set of skills relevant to them. For her, it is the ability to concentrate corrupted biomass inside her body. That means she can carry minds and bodies of many Corrupted within herself. I think she can hold several thousand when she’s within her territory. So when you think she’s alone, she might suddenly make an army sprout out of the ground. These Breeders are the same, although on a much smaller scale. I guess this small group could spawn about fifty more Corrupted if someone attacked them, and those definitely wouldn’t be other peaceful Breeders.”
“Can a Breeder absorb another Breeder and few Hunters? Then can the absorbed Breeder hold another Breeder and Hunters-”
“They are Corrupted, not Stalliongrad nesting dolls!” Cromach walks over, pulls me into an embrace, and onto the ground. He sticks a tongue out at the Corrupted mare originally resting on me, “Mine.”
Another Breeder mare wraps her tentacles around his back, and a stallion lies down by our heads like a pillow. Musky, warm pillow. I look up to see Heavy and Joy in their own Corrupted beds.
“Night, Cro,” I press my muzzle into the griffon’s fluffy chest, “Night, everypony.”
“Good night,” comes from everyone as well as some ‘blrblrs’ and grumbles from the Corrupted.
Meh, beats sleeping alone.
***
I don’t know when they left, but when I wake up the only thing wrapped around me are Cromach’s forelegs.
Very tightly wrapped. I try to wiggle myself out without any success.
“Cro?” I whisper.
The tainted griffon opens one eye, whispering:
“Just give me one more minute, buddy, please!” his hind legs lock around my hips, and he pushes my head into his chest while running his other foreleg across my back. I don’t mind, I like my back scratched. A loooooot...
Don’t tell me you want to let go.
Of course not.
And he’s been awake all those years without you around.
Lucky me for spending two centuries dead.
You know what I mean.
I do. I do, Mistake. I’ll make sure that if you get a body at some point again too, you’ll get your barrel crushed by Crom as well.
After few more moments of heat and pressure of Cromach’s barrel and forelegs threatening to crush me into a diamond, I tap his side.
“We have to go, Cro. I think Heavy is starting to wake up.”
“Been awake since the Breeders left,” comes from the Corrupted earthpony in question, “But don’t let me ruin the moment. I know Cromach has been waiting for an opportunity like this since he got out of the cage.”
Soft hoofsteps behind me reveal Joy is awake as well.
“And I know exactly why,” she nuzzles the nape of my neck. Am I in heaven? I must be. This can’t be real.
Heavy sighs.
“You know how I said I didn’t want to ruin the moment? Someone else doesn’t agree with me. I can feel a large force of Corrupted coming by the road from the south.”
“Spring’s patrol?” I push Cromach away, finally able to breathe normally again.
“If they were, I wouldn’t hear or sense them like yesterday. These aren’t from around here.”
“Alright, let’s pack our tents and-”
“Already done,” Heavy tosses two backpacks to us, “Do we get off the road?”
“No,” Cromach shakes his head, “No matter who they are, if Heavy can sense them then you can be sure Spring’s patrols can too from far greater distance. They are much more attuned to their territory. I think we should just be on our way.”
“It wouldn’t have anything to do with you wanting to try out your new body in battle, would it?” I jab his side.
“N-No,” he looks away, whistling innocently.
“Alright, let’s go then,” I chuckle, “In case of trouble we throw Cromach to whoever is behind us, and run.”
With everything packed, saddlebags and backpacks on our backs, chomping on some dreadful hay wafers, and mainly turning our heads every few seconds, we continue our journey north.
Until we hear the shifting of grass and leaves, that is. It’s like the whispering of trees in the wind, but stronger and regular. Ponies would be loud and stompy, even on the mossy ground, which means Heavy was correct - Corrupted are coming at large.
A wild pack?
No.
“Oooh, Separated?” Heavy stops, looking into the distance. All I can see are the faintest silhouettes down on the road, but that’s just my budget eyes. He blinks, “Separated and Corrupted together, around a hundred I guess.”
“What could they-”
Within the span of a second, black biomass sprouts from the ground next to Heavy, forming the Protector Queen herself who circles us at a lazy pace as if she didn’t just grow from nothing.
“I shouldn’t be surprised to see YOU headed where there’s trouble that requires both of us brewing,” Nightshade facehoofs.
“Both of-” I can’t even finish the sentence before a tall white Hunter with ice crystallizing on his breath stops in front of Cromach after breaking away from the incoming group and a quick dash at absolutely blinding speed.
“Hey, Chilly!” Cromach cracks a smile, and bows his head, “Long time no see.”
The Separated King returns the gesture, looking genuinely pleased.
“I’m glad you’re back among us thinking creatures. Nightshade told me you went feral for some time.”
“Don’t tell me the signs of corruption on him don’t look great, although… you look a lot more griffon than before,” Nightshade tilts her head, looking at Cromach, “Oh… oooooooooh! Like you and Celestia, Chilly, and then like you and me? Or like Bastion and Bound Tome?”
Chilly examines Cromach from all sides.
Come to think of it, aside from his tongues Cromach has always kept his tentacles retracted, and now he has bright white streaks in his coat and feathers again. I thought he was a pure Corrupted now like Heavy, just with his own mind… so exactly like Heavy. Was I wrong?
Maybe you underestimated him. Maybe he really HAS got the discipline of an alicorn like Celestia-
“-and when Twilight jogged her memory, she was powerful enough to restore herself. Maybe when he’s around friends-” I whisper in realization.
Around you, let’s be real. Yes, his divinity is winning now that you’re together. He’s not like Heavy. He’s like you.
“Why are you here?” asks Heavy, “What did you mean by trouble requiring both of you?”
The small army of Separated and Corrupted arrives with Mana Burn and Knowledge in the lead.
“Hello, Blazing,” Mana Burn waves at me, “You and eldritch trouble go together, don’t you?”
Grrr…
“So I heard. Now, the next pony who comments about me and unexpected problems without explaining what’s going on is getting a tentacle where the sun doesn’t shine!” I roll my eyes, and demonstratively summon mentioned fiery appendage from the ground.
Cromach immediately grabs the tendril which reflexively twists around his talons.
“Really warm, kinda slick. Hey, Blazing, trouble-”
He’s immediately wrapped up like a mummy by a bunch more, silenced and immobilized.
“Now,” I lower my voice, feeling my eye twitch, “Can you please explain what’s going on in an area where we need to be that’s so important it needs the attention of Twilight’s emissaries as well as all major Corrupted rulers?”
“Talk about grouchy...” Nightshade grins. Another eye twitch. Murder incoming, “Alright, alright. Crystal Empire mines have recently been overrun by creatures nopony else have seen before. some are plainly weird, not my words, and some are from old legends. Spring is keeping the main mining complexes secure, but the deeper and outlying shafts are too dangerous. Her Corrupted are more primal, so they dislike deep underground. My and Chilly’s fighters have no problems with these kinds of places, and we’re happy to help find out what’s going on.”
“Those wouldn’t be istrium mines by any chance, would it?”
“What is that, some kind of crystal or metal?” Nightshade raises an eyebrow, and then shakes her head, “No, nothing so specific. All mines are now in trouble, and all contacts with Rift have been dark for the past week or so. What did you do this time?”
“What?!”
“After we had our last… disagreement,” Nightshade looks away for a second, “Mana Burn returned with the news about an insane divine pony you saved, saying something about you trying to finish off the god who is more difficult to get rid of than hoof fungus. Seriously, the only creature who refuses to stay dead more than that is you. Few days afterwards, the first sightings from the Crystal Empire arrive, then Spring calls for help, and then we meet you headed north as well. Coincidence? I doubt it.”
“Listen, the only way this would somehow be my fault is if Harmony after our last clash retreated into the deepest, most forgotten hole he could find and licked his wound- we’re gonna fight his avatar again along with a bunch of spawned mutants on the way, aren’t we?” I finish the thought with complete certainty.
“Look on the bright side,” Heavy pats my back, “It could also be just Nightmare trying to stop you from gaining the istrium you need.”
“Wait, there are more gods involved now?” Mana Burn jumps in.
“If Discord isn’t in the equation eventually too, I’ll be damned,” I nod, “But I don’t think Nightmare is involved in the mining operations.”
“Why?”
Because she’s guiding you to GET the third Blade.
“Because she’s g-hnng,” I stop myself from accidentally telling the truth, ”No, because this isn’t her style. She’s more into the possession of one powerful being and then misleading and controlling sentient creatures through lies and deceit. Harmony is more about the physical mutations, which you should know best,” I shoot back at our Corrupted visitors, “If you’re in trouble with weird eldritch abominations, then it’s him.”
“Ouch,” Nightshade frowns, “I like the eldritch, but I don’t consider myself an abomination. Not a fan of Corrupted, are we?” she winks at me.
“Not a fan of you, mostly,” I tilt my head towards Cromach who isn’t resisting his imprisonment in the slightest, “Although I am reevaluating my position on that. Now, since we might be headed the same way, do we go together or...?”
She shakes her head.
“You’d only slow us down, and unless you’re willing to join a wide-scale hunt through the Crystal Empire mines then we’ll split at the shield anyway. You said you needed some material, istrium, was it? The mineral trade has been severely limited due to the attacks, and Shining Armor and Cadance are keeping an eye on strategic resources and the black market.”
“We can’t really buy what we need. We need to get to Rift in order to find the proper mines and arrange an expedition. We’re not exactly miners.”
A tentacle grows from Nightshade’s chest and rubs her chin.
“Then you should visit Cloudsdale. I heard Mayor Icy Gaze has airships capable of getting to Rift and back with supplies and minerals.”
Waaaait… that name rings a bell.
“Wait, you mean flying above corrupted landscape?”
Nightshade shrugs.
“Flytraps are pretty rare in the permafrost, but some are there. How Cloudsdale smuggler- I mean Mayor’s transports are doing their rounds I don’t know.”
“We were planning on walking.”
“Dumb idea. There are no trails anymore. Normal creatures touched by taint are abundant, but corrupted minotaurs are the really bad news, and that’s me talking, so you can be sure it’s serious. If you can fight your way through, which I think you can, nature will most likely claim you anyway. Your best bet is Cloudsdale anchored above Crystal Empire, trust me.”
“Mhmmhm?!” Cromach suddenly mumbles into his restraints.
“Icy Gaze… Icy Gaze,” Heavy mumbles, “I know the name...”
“How is that rotting piece of horseshit still alive?!” Joy raises her voice filled with fury, “How, after all we went through due to him, is HE STILL ALIVE?!”
Oooooh… now I remember. That’s not good, because…
“Joy, I know all you want is to flay him, bathe him in acid, and then keep his still living brain in a jar full of maggots, but we need him to get us to Rift.”
“I want to do so much more, Blazing. You can’t imagine the ways in which I can break him now.”
Mana Burn clears his throat.
“I don’t know your problems with the Cloudsdale Mayor, but I know recent history. His leadership saved the city, and he is largely responsible for the survival of Crystal Empire and pegasi in general.”
Joy only growls again.
“We’ll take it into consideration,” is all I can answer, “Anyway, thanks for giving us some pointers.”
“No problem,” Nightshade cracks her forelegs, “Enough chitchat, everypony, we’ve got abominations to purge!”
Without waiting, she dissolves into the ground again, Chilly, Knowledge, and Mana Burn give us a farewell nod, and along with the other Corrupted they rush north faster than we could ever follow.
I sigh.
“Joy, can you at least let me talk to him before you start tearing limbs off?”
“If he’s polite, I might.”
I don’t pressure her. She has always hated Icy Gaze for his role in our story, and I can perfectly understand why. On the other hoof, we’re all here and alive, and Icy is an incomparably small fry considering what’s ahead.
The gently burning tentacles disappear, releasing Cromach.
“Awww, and I was just getting used to them,” he pouts, “But hey, at least I know what to ask for when it’s my next birthday.”
Seriously, he’s worse than I am now… and I wouldn’t change it for the world.
***
“The Mayor will meet you shortly,” a pegasus mare holding a notepad to her chest flies out of the topmost waiting room inside the Cloudsdale city hall.
“Remember, no punching until I say so,” I mutter as everyone sits down on cloud furniture. Daaaaamn, if there’s something to being an alicorn then it’s the ability to walk on clouds, or comfortably melt into them as is the case now. Feels so good…
So, Heavy had some problems with Cloudsdale at first, and I thought Cromach would too. However, Crom seem more and more like just a tainted griffon rather than a full Corrupted under the control of a sane mind like Twilight’s sons. That means he wasn’t bothered by the height whatsoever, something I unfortunately can’t say for myself. Heavy on the other hoof, despite being uncomfortable at first, simply didn’t let his body stop him, and he even managed to do enough changes to himself so that he can now walk on clouds. He said he felt ‘fragile’ in that form, but it was only temporary, so whatever. Seriously, his self-control is freaking admirable.
“Aaaah,” Cromach sits down into a fluffy white armchair, stretching his hind legs, “Damn, I missed that. With so few pegasi in Manehattan, there’s almost no chance to grab a good cloud to rest on.”
“Hmmm, almost as good as what I’ve got at my place,” Joy sits next to me onto a couch and leans against me, “Nope, way better.”
I don’t deserve this.
Are you complaining that you’re happy for once?
The meteor strike is way overdue. Must have taken a wrong turn somewhere in the last galaxy.
Just shut up and enjoy the moment!
Maybe I should break my leg, or two just to be on the safe side. Balance and all that.
Sigh.
Just kidding, Mistake.
It’s really hard to tell with you at this point.
The door to the Mayor’s office opens. It’s a real door, or at least it looks like a real door, because hard wood would likely sink through the reinforced clouds. Yes, yes, great door. very well made, brown too. No I’m not stalling while feeling Joy grip my side tighter at the sight of the pegasus coming out of the office.
He’s tall, his long golden mane is flowing down his neck, and there’s no way his blue eyes haven’t charmed hundreds of mares in combination with his handsome bordering on beautiful facial features. Icy Gaze looks only a little older than when I saw him last time, with the main difference being him missing one of his huge wings.
Aaaand the ethereal dark blue smoke I’m certain only I can see surrounding his whole body. In the center of the shifting veil stands a much smaller figure.
Is that…?
Well, Guiding and two other dreamlings survived this long. Why wouldn’t he?
Then you’d better do something, because Joy is about to change that.
She’s grinding her teeth, about to stand up and probably vaporize ‘Icy’ along with the entire city hall.
Vaporize? Technically clouds are-
Not now, Mistake.
I wrap my hoof around her shoulders and stand up.
“You’re the one Guiding sent out to see the world and then tell her some stories,” I give the disguised dreamling a smile, “My daughter would love to see you again.”
His mouth opens and closes over and over as he walks closer to me.
“T-The queen is still… she’s still alive? I thought… I thought-”
“It’s a long story, but she’s okay. Pine Hills is being rebuilt.”
He pulls me into a hug.
“You’re here, mom’s here, the queen is alright… I fell asleep behind my desk and this is a dream, is it?”
“Nope, but I’d drop the disguise if I were you. ‘Mom’ here would love nothing more than to commit unspeakable atrocities on Icy Gaze, and you’re the closest target.”
“Ha haha,” fake Icy Gaze wipes his eyes and points with his wing to his office, “Come inside, I’m sure we’ve got a lot to talk about.”