//------------------------------//
// 19: Nearing the end of the journey. 
// Story: Imbalanced: Legacy of Light 
// by Nameless Narrator 
//------------------------------//

This place wasn’t afflicted by corruption, yet it was no more hospitable than any of the black, swampy territories of Equestria and newly the Griffon Empire. The grating smell of ash and sulfur permeated the air, and the whole volcanic island called Dragon Lands rather than ‘death valley for anything without scales’ mostly for diplomatic reasons brought a nostalgic sigh to the now landing red dragon. A bunch of smaller ones of various colors and sizes got out of the way of Hazaren, because while they were too young to know him, the aura of power surrounding the ancient dragon introduced him as someone not to be messed with.

Hazaren’s short trip to the dragon lord’s castle, if it could be called that, was only interrupted at the entrance to the cavern system where the main hoard would be by two azure dragons, clearly the guards of this place.

“I seek audience with the dragon lord, whoever it is these days,” announced Hazaren, “It’s of utmost importance.”

“Dragon lord Ember is busy,” said the bigger of the two dragon guards, “She cannot be bothered by every tourist or visiting dragon.”

“I bring a message about a threat to both her and the dragon lord’s hoard,” replied Hazaren with admirable patience, fully aware that arguing with these younglings wouldn’t be of any use.

The bigger dragon opened his mouth again, but the smaller, this time female one raised her claws and cleared her throat.

“I will present the issue to mother.”

Hazaren sighed, sat down, and lowered a tiny coffin held in his claws all this time onto the ground. Then he shook his foreleg. The stasis magic keeping Red Wind’s body from decomposing all this time had the unfortunate effect of making his claws feel as if they had been shoved into a freezer for two weeks.

He didn’t wait long before a different azure dragon with white belly, one followed by the smaller female from before, emerged from the cavern mouth. She measured Hazaren, clearly not worried despite the size difference between the two, and to the red dragon’s surprise, she gave him a courteous bow. Times must have changed a lot while he was living in Windy.

“I am dragon lord Ember,” she announced while her guards, who indeed had to be her clutch at least judging by their looks, took their place by the sides of the cavern entrance, “and you must be...” she closed her eyes, and a tiny scepter with red crystal hanging on a thick chain around her neck glowed, “Hazaren. Am I correct? I haven’t used this thing to identify an ancient dragon in some time, and even my father knew you as old.”

“Yes, that’s me. I come bearing bad news, and with a small request as well.”

“Let us start with the request,” said Ember, “We’ll see if it’s something we can take care of while you explain what the threat to my hoard.”

“As you wish, dragon lord, or dragon lady?”

“I’m fine with the old title. Don’t worry.”

Hazaren only nodded.

“Then I simply seek the permission to arrange a dragon burial for my wife,” he gently shoved Red Wind’s coffin forward, “She’s a pony, but she got killed while protecting my hoard. If being the light of my recent life wasn’t enough for my request, then her heroism should be. It will not take long. Our daughter is waiting for me at home.”

Definitely...

“A love between a pony and a dragon...” Ember smiled, as if remembering something, “A rare thing, and one bearing a daughter as well is almost unique. Of course I shall allow a burial for a mare who managed to conquer a dragon of your stature,” she gave Hazaren a devious, knowing smile.

“Thank you, dragon lord,” Hazaren bowed, “That, however, brings us to my warning. Red Wind died when a group of ponies attempted to steal a certain artefact from my hoard, one which I got from a… very special messenger. My part was a simple necklace adorned with writing I could not understand. It didn’t look of any value, nor did it exhibit any magical aura, but I was told it was from a set of artifacts more important than anything ever made, or anything that will be made.”

“Will be made?” Ember furrowed her brows.

“The pony who gave it to me was a brown alicorn bearing the mark of an hourglass.”

If Hazaren thought this would have a dramatic effect on Ember, he was proved completely wrong.

“I don’t know any alicorn like that,” she said.

“That doesn’t matter,” Hazaren shook his head, “I took it as a joke that time, but a gift as well as a request from an alicorn is something you don’t just ignore. However, I know that previous dragon lord-”

“My father.”

“Your father showed me that he had a similar artefact as a part of his hoard. Considering that the dragonslayers managed to steal mine, I believe you might be in danger, and that the time for our safekeeping of the artefacts might be up. Whatever is rising these days wants them.”

Ember laughed.

“No one dares enter the Dragon Lands without my permission. Come, I will show you what you want to see,” she led Hazaren deep inside the dragon lord caverns, both of them ignoring the vast piles of gold, gems, and ancient magical items until Ember’s claws raked a pile seemingly at random, and pulled out what looked like a pony head-sized twenty-sided dice covered in the same writing as Hazaren’s lost amulet.

Showing another dragon a crucial part of one’s hoard wasn’t normally a good idea, but Hazaren simply nodded.

“Good. Keep it secret, keep it safe, young dragon lord. You have eased my mind a little, and now I can finally go let my wife rest in peace.”

Calmer than in weeks, Hazaren left the cavern, and went off on the other side of the volcanic island to prepare the proper burial.

Several hours later, Ember, resting on a pile of gold, heard rapidly approaching stumbling. Curious, she stood up, and immediately rushed forward when she saw her daughter Bonfire bleeding from a narrow cut which had nearly gutted her.

“What?!”

“Outside… black… dragon… and pony...” Bonfire collapsed on the floor, the trail of her blood leading all the way to the entrance, “Others are… slowing them… down...”

Ember clutched the dragon lord’s scepter which started glowing, and Bonfire’s horrendous wound started healing. Her daughter passed out almost instantly, but the mortal wound quickly turned into a scar. 

With a roar that would and should make most living creatures soil themselves, Ember barrelled out of the cave system. The first thing she saw was a dragon ripped in two land nearby. This wasn’t the clean wound her daughter sustained, this was caused brute force beyond imagining.

She looked up. 

“A gold dragon… a Corrupted gold dragon?” she breathed out in disbelief.

Balls of fire from dragons swarming around the intruder harmlessly slid on his tainted scales as his tail punted a dragon into another one. The enemy breathed out a cloud of black mist which turned into tentacles in mid-air, binding the wings of a dragon ahead who plummeted towards the ground.

What was worse, though, was a pony wearing a silvery white mask and a white robe heading straight towards her. Behind him lay Hearth, bleeding out with both his arms neatly cut off.

That made Ember see red, and with a deep breath, she opened her mouth, and launched a column of almost white fire at the intruder.

She didn’t know what happened. Her metaphorical seeing red turned into a much more literal sense a she coughed out blood and lost sight in one eye instantly. Her step towards the unharmed intruder ended with her on the ground as her legs failed to obey her. Everything felt so cold all of a sudden.

She focused on the scepter lying under her, tightly pressed against her neck. It was the only source of heat remaining in her world, and it was fading quickly. Ember had no idea what the pony did to her, she only saw him pass by her into her cave. She immediately realized what the pony was after, and tried to call for help, for someone to take the strange artefact away, to hide it, but to no avail.

As she fought to stay awake in the rapidly growing pool of blood, all she heard were screams of her dragons in the air, and the heavy impacts of the dead and wounded from the fight above.

Inside, Flow sighed when he saw the many piles of treasures some of which would make kingdoms go to war over. His blue eyes flashed under the mask, and he started walking ahead, taking a quick look at each pile before continuing his progress. For a second, he stopped by Bonfire’s unconscious body, and if Ember had any idea what was going on, she would be thanking all dragon gods that he left her alone. Instead, after some digging, Flow found the dice-like artefact, and returned to the entrance. Looking up, he started waving his foreleg.

It took a while for the dragon now fighting everyone to notice, let out an ear-rending roar, turn away, and push his way through the surrounding cloud of dragons. Seeing him fly off, Flow opened a dark portal in the air, and disappeared.

With one final look behind him, Vertradict gritted his teeth at the slaughter he’d caused. It was horrible, and unnecessary. However, dragons would have never given the seal key willingly. On the other claw, he was now powerful beyond the wildest imagination of the dragonkind. Of course, the chilling part was that he also knew how little it actually meant.


***


At this point and with his quite recent experience, Starry Night was sittin in an armchair inside his Canterlot office, and listening intently to the radio, trying to untangle the mess of information into facts and frothing insane babbling. The strange part was that today, facts seemed to be in the majority.

“-gas attack on a refugee camp near Amaretha. No survivors were-”

“Oh stars...” the batpony sighed while listening to the Good Fight. Just as he thought he’d heard everything, the army always found something to make his stomach turn.

“For your information, dear listeners, the Amaretha refugee camp was a city of its own, a place where the northern Zebrican countries agreed on sheltering all survivors from the south. Mares, old ponies, and foals, mostly, because according to our information able stallions are being drafted into the biggest army Zebrica has ever seen. Finally, the threat from the south has overwhelmed the usual zeeb mistrust of each other, and for the first time in history, the northern coast of Zebrica is uniting against the previously unknown psychopathic warlord. However, our reporters have finally managed to uncover the identity of the zebra in charge of the army. We will reveal that after the commercial break,” a short jingle plays, followed by, “SUPER ULTRA STALLION VITALITY PALEO GLUTEN-FREE KETO VITAMIN PROTEIN GRUEL-”

“Ooookay...” Starry lowered the volume, burying his head into his hooves.

“Bad news?” Bladedancer’s voice cut through his sudden exhaustion. He hadn’t even noticed her come in.

Revealing bags under his eyes unfitting for someone of his age, Starry looked up at her.

“The army gassed a refugee camp with only mares and foals. No survivors. Almost two and a half million zebras. Why…? Why would somepony do that? That’s beyond reason. You can’t rule a dead wasteland.”

“Insanity usually is beyond reason, Starry.”

“Why are you here anyway?”

“Can’t a friend just visit a friend?” asked Bladedancer innocently, opening a closed cabinet by the back wall and levitating a set of glasses as well as a bottle of amber liquid.

“Apparently not, because a certain friend usually wants something more because she doesn’t know what ‘off duty’ means, not pointing hooves here,” Starry winked at her as she poured the alcohol, downed her glass instantly, and shoved the other under Starry’s nose.

“Well, you asked for it,” she shrugged, levitating a small stack of papers from her ever-present saddlebag, “A report from queen Chrysalis’ changelings in Manehattan. Shortly after we left the Silver Sun headquarters, a top-ranking member of Silver Sun by the name Heavy Hoof left the city and headed south on his own.”

“Through the wilds? There’s nothing within reach,” Starry furrowed his brows.

“The report on Heavy Hoof is there as well. As it turns out, he’s part Corrupted. Well, more than part. He’s the most similar to a Separated, but is a Corrupted, if it makes sense. Very similar to princess Twilight’s sons, actually. Anyway, the changelings enlisted the help of Nightshade’s Corrupted in tracking him through the wilds, and from his course it seems that he’s headed for Pine Hills. We have no idea why, though. This secrecy doesn’t bode well for the Silver Sun.”

“Not necessarily,” Starry shook his head, “I badgered my mother about why she’s being so lax with Silver Sun, and it turned out to be quite an interesting story time.”

“Yeeeees?”

“As it turns out, and this is pre-corruption stuff, the resurgence of the Silver Sun as a powerhouse in recent history happened mainly under agent Cromach and for a short while the organization worked tightly with the crown until a certain event I wasn’t told details about happened. Silver Sun members had to stop the end of the world while princesses Celestia and Twilight were on the wrong side, thinking them to be traitors. That operation was successful, but ended with the death of certain Blazing Light, supposed to be the alicorn of Hope. Agent Cromach, Blazing Light’s lover, stopped working with the crown afterwards, turning Silver Sun into an independent organization with the help of griffon secret service money, and eventually built it to be the powerful entity it’s now. From what I heard, Cromach died during the last attack on Silver Sun headquarters, and before you ask, I have no idea what that’s about. Now that Bucket is in charge, he is suspicious of the crown as well, believing us prone to misjudgement of the situation, but he isn’t hostile.”

“So you think that Heavy Hoof leaving the city on some mission right after we questioned Bucket is a big nothingburger?”

“Certainly not, but I don’t think it’s an evilburger, or my mother doesn’t think that. I think that Bucket is doing something he believes the princesses wouldn’t agree with. Considering that deep south is where Silver Sun observers met this Flow for the first time, my guess is that Heavy Hoof is searching for him to get some information,” Starry raised his hoof, “Oh, wait-” and fiddled with the radio.

“The zebra warlord’s name is Stern, and while he comes from a long line of southern chieftains, none of his bloodline have ever achieved anything even remotely similar to what he is doing. Considering that he’s a zeeb, noble or not, we at Good Fight believe that there must be somepony- no, something else behind him. Something responsible for the inequine feats of magic used on any resisting forces.”

“He’s got that one right,” Bladedancer smirked.

“Oh?”

“A zebra stallion was caught, or got himself caught by the Northern Coalition patrol, saying he managed to escape from Stern’s army, which would be the first. The report is classified at the moment-” Bladedancer raised her hoof to silence Starry already opening his mouth to object, “The zebra’s name is Zach, and he’s recovering. He’s incredibly exhausted and somewhat delusional from the long trip through the desert he used to avoid the path of the army. The only thing he said that a unicorn wizard was behind Stern. Once Zach recovers, the Northern Coalition forces will interrogate him in any detail. The princesses are already setting up a war council in the Northern Coalition territory.”

“Are we going anywhere?” asked Starry.

“As far as I know, we aren’t. Right now, diplomats, information gathering experts, and strategists are on the way south with a special, heavily guarded caravan. There’s some trouble in Nightshade’s territory, and she can’t secure a safe route anymore.”

“Why is everything going to Tartarus?”

“Wrong metaphysical question posed to a wrong physical pony, Starry.”

“Anyway, the problem is still Flow. If negotiating with Stern’s army from the side of Equestria fails, the princesses will get involved, and I honestly doubt anyone can handle their combined strength. We need to focus on somepony who, as far as we know, might be able to.”

“Flow, yes. But how do we do anything when we have no idea where he could be?”

Starry smirked.

“We follow Heavy Hoof. Bucket knows or suspects more than we do, that’s for sure. And if we meet Flow, all I need is to get hurt by him again,” Starry touched the scar on his barrel and winced.

“I know I should punch you right until you stop talking nonsense, but I’ll stick to the facts for now,” Bladedancer gave him an unimpressed look, “Even if we did that, your mother has already stabilized the stasis spell, even I can sense it, and I’m no archmage. The same thing as before would happen.”

“Can’t you… dispel it?” Starry withered from the absolute death glare from Bladedancer following the question.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that, and not only because I know what princess Luna would do to me if I did. Besides, no, there’s no way I could counter magic as complex as your mother’s.”

“Alright, but we’re going to the Badlands anyway,” Starry beamed at suddenly perplexed Bladedancer.

“Badlands? Why?”

“Because Heavy Hoof is going south. Bucket’s observers met Flow the first time near there. Aaaand the booty festival in Pine Hills starts in few days.”

“I KNEW it! You just want to have a turn with some amazon ass!”

“Guilty as charged,” Starry shrugged, “And it wouldn’t hurt you to wear something a little revealing. Paladin plate mail-”

“I’m not wearing any of their traditional ‘clothes’, not even for you.”

“We’ll see about that.”

What he didn’t tell Bladedancer was that he also knew about queen Chrysalis’ old hive near the center of the Badlands, an area which rendered all magic and supposedly even divine power null and void. All he needed was to get close enough through the deadly anomalies, and both the stasis and the alarm spell put on him would be gone without his mother knowing. Then, finally, if they did find some trace of Flow, he could get wounded and gain a much clearer insight into the future. Of course, it would be up to Bladedancer to get him out again, but no plan can be perfect.


***


Harriet could finally let out a long sigh of relief.

The last few hours had been taxing even on her stamina, mainly due to the pace set by Magpie. However, nothing horrible had happened since the attack on the caravan, and now the group had passed long lanes of farmland and gradually found themselves in the real streets of what had to be Ponyville.

A strange place, Harriet had to admit. On the first glance, the town looked like a significantly bigger version of Windy - no outside walls, farmland surrounding the house-filled center, but where in Windy you could see bandits coming miles away, the lack of borders and protection made little sense to Harriet, at least until she realized how often she could spot guards clad in purple armors of similar craftsmanship like the gold or dark blue ones in Canterlot. The big difference from the white city, and a similarity with Manehattan, lay in every group of guards being accompanied by at least one Corrupted.

In short, after some thought this place indeed did look like, as Harriet had heard, the seat of princess Twilight Sparkle and the Hex Guard a well as the home of Corrupted Queen Nightshade. 

When the group reached a wide open area with caravan wagons neatly stacked side by side, Magpie waved at the nearest guard patrol passing by.

“Hey, officers,” he said when they walked over, “Our caravan was attacked by some Corrupted few hours to the north. A lot of civilians got hurt before Nightshade herself got there to help. It might be a good idea to send out few ponies to check for survivors.”

“Damn it, again?” the unicorn guard hissed, “That’s the fourth time in two weeks,” he nodded at Magpie, “Thanks for the info, I’ll go report this immediately, but I could use a witness.”

“Yeah, I’ll go,” Magpie nodded, and looked back, “Hey, Gem, I’ll go with the guys to report the attack. Meet you later at…?”

“There’s an inn called Breeder’s Embrace in the east part of town-”

“Inn and a brothel,” chuckled a guard, which Gem clearly didn’t miss by the quick look she shot to him.

“-We’ll be sleeping there tonight.” 

As Magpie left, Gem stopped Harriet, and smiled.

“I guess this is where we part ways.”

“Looks like that,” Harriet looked at the ground, “I can’t thank you enough for everything, really.”

“Yeah, we’re all big heroes saving lives on daily basis,” Pack Rat standing a step behind Gem chuckled.

“You’re joking, but...” Gem left her answer hang in the air for a moment, “Anyway, where are you headed, Harriet?”

“Some place called the Badlands.”

Gem tilted her head.

“Ahhh, you’re a tourist,” realization dawned on her face, “I’m sorry, judging from our first encounter, I assumed you were on a dangerous business of sorts. You know, dragonslayers on your back and stuff.”

“Exactly, a tourist!” agreed Harriet, praying to the Emperor that all the stories about changeling ability to read minds were overexaggerated, “I wanted to ask, actually, if you didn’t know how to get there. This is my first time here in Equestria, and I want to see everything I can before going back home to Windy.”

“Hey, Promi,” Gem glanced the white unicorn’s way. The fire-thingy mare was casually observing the passengers waiting for caravan departure times, and workers loading the wagons, “Go make the reservations for tonight, will you?” 

“Hmm?” Prominence blinked, as if previously lost in thought, “Yeah, sure. Goodbye, Harriet, have a safe trip,” she waved, and left.

“Bye, miss Prominence!” Harriet waved back.

“No reason to waste time standing around,” said Gem, “So, you want to go to the Badlands. Off to see the anomalies, I presume?”

“Mhm,” said Harriet. The message had said something about some chaos anomalies, “I want to see the biggest and baddest one!”

“Well, considering that most will kill or cripple you if you take one wrong step, I can’t speak for the baddest one,” Gem chuckled, “but you’re still quite far from the Badlands. You have to get to Pine Hills first. There are some tour guides there who can take you to the edge of the Badlands to see some of the weirder chaotic events.”

“Do I take a caravan or something?”

“Don’t bother, it’s a waste of money unless you’re transporting some bigger cargo,” Gem waved her hoof, “Pine Hills isn’t far east, and the route is heavily guarded by both Corrupted and the amazons.”

“Hey, what are those?” Harriet heard a familiar word, “Someone called me an amazon before.”

Pack Rat measured Harriet from head to hooves.

“You know, you could pass for one,” he smirked.

“Definitely from behind,” Gem added, making Harriet blush, “Don’t think I don’t know why you’re always walking in the back, Packy.”

“I’m a true gentlecolt and let ladies go first, especially when stairs are involved,” he whistled innocently, much to both Gem’s and Harriet’s amusement.

“And they say chivalry is dead,” Gem mused, “Anyway, Harriet, as I said - no reason to take a caravan. If you go on hoof, it takes only about half a day. Used to, actually, it’s even shorter now that they’ve managed to construct a basic road.”

“I didn’t notice anything leading east while we were approaching Ponyville, is it some dirt path or something?”

“Mostly, you won’t find many paved roads in Equestria these days. You can’t miss this one, though,” as if remembering something, Gem suddenly raised her hoof towards Harriet, who shook it after a second of thought, “It’s been nice meeting you, but I’ve got few ponies I need to visit before it’s dark, and,” she patted the empty vial belts on her chest, “I’ve got to replenish my supplies after the attack.”

“What was it anyway? That Corrupted looked strange.”

Gem shrugged.

“No idea, and I’d like to keep it that way, honestly,” with a final smile, Gem left for the town center, Pack Rat trailing behind her and waving at Harriet, “Goodbye.”

“Bye, both of you!”

Now armed with information and with still enough evening sunlight, Harriet decided that she should get to Pine Hills today, and soon left Ponyville behind.

However, not before trading her broken pan for a new, sturdier, cast iron one for the road. Priorities