//------------------------------// // 28-3: Northern front // Story: Imbalanced: Legacy of Light // by Nameless Narrator //------------------------------// The snow crunching under Gem’s hooves was doing wonders for her anxiety about everything that was going on. She was almost home, namely about two day’s trip over the surface and a day’s worth if she found the nearest entrance to the secret connecting tunnel between her hive and the Crystal Empire. For now, however, she was only entering the makeshift beginnings of the fortified camp along with princess Celestia’s entourage as well as her own companions. The camp was too small to encompass the presumed circumference of the circular seal, but it was centered around where the seal key shaped like an altar would have to be, and no one was going to get a massive block of granite into the center of the camp unnoticed. Wait, was she hearing laughter from the sky? No one else was reacting, since the sound was faint even to her changeling ears, but eventually she heard ground burst out in the far distance. She turned around, expecting monstrosities to be swarming the camp any minute, but all she saw was a giant tentacle wrapped around something which it threw towards the camp. The black dot grew bigger and bigger, and never stopped laughing. It was a Corrupted, an absolutely gorgeous Corrupted mare with godlike hourglass but fit proportions covered by protective, smooth scales. She fell from the sky, doing flips and rolls, then landing just behind the encampment checkpoint on all fours and proceeding to casually walk forward until she was surrounded by guards of all branches. A Corrupted who enjoyed flying, or at least launching herself through the air, was someting even Gem had never seen before, although she had met this particular Corrupted. “At ease,” Gem heard Celestia say, and the princess approached the newcomer, “Greetings, Nightshade. It’s rare to see you alone up here.” “Chilly was busy with that rampaging Corrupted alicorn, so it’s up to me to make sure you don’t get outmuscled here no matter what happens,” replied Nightshade casually. “Is that still a problem? Even for the two of you?” Celestia sounded genuinely surprised. From what Gem had heard about Nightshade over the years, something that was a problem even for her indeed was a real problem. “Alicorn Corrupted, Celestia,” Nightshade bonked Celestia’s forehead with her hoof in a friendly fashion of someone pointing out a really dumb comment, “The first wild and insane one ever. Fighting her is a mix of wanting to keep her where we can contain her and pushing her away where she can’t harm anyone or grow stonger. It helps pass time.” At that point, the conversation turned into friendly banter, because both Celestia and Nightshade knew that the rampaging Corrupted was a tiny threat in comparison to what they were up here for, and they weren’t saying anything Gem hadn’t known already. With Magpie and Packy busy raising tents for all of them, Promi walking around the makeshift camp, and Starry Night being with Luna just like during their entire trip north, Gem noticed Harriet sitting alone on a bench, looking into the distance at the bubble of the Crystal Empire shield. Despite having the option to go home or at least being happy that she was back in Equestria, Gem knew something had to be on Harriet’s mind that she hadn’t been willing to share. Still, with even the guards either ignoring or downright avoiding the dragonpony Corrupted, Gem walked over to keep her company before she’d return home for a visit.  “Hey, Harriet,” she smiled, “All good? No deep, dark need to jump the bones of all these sweaty and fit guards no matter their gender?” Harriet’s head jerked towards her, and she gave Gem a smile which the changeling identified as some fifty-ish percent forced. “Just feeling a little out of place here, that’s all. Everyone is so busy.” “Yeah, building a proper camp is going to take some time, but it looks like all these guards have a lot of experience with living in these conditions,” Gam sat down next to her, “Look, Harriet, I know it might not be any of my business, but you’ve been really quiet since we returned from Zebrica. Is there something bothering you?” “Aside from the prospect of impending doom?” Harriet retorted. “You had the option to go home, Harriet, so I don’t think that’s it. And I know wanderlust when I see it, and that’s not it either. Is is something about returning home?” Gem knew she hit the nail on the head as soon as the words left her mouth. Harriet looked away. “I caused the whole thing in Zebrica by carrying the sword there, Gem. I think it wouldn’t have happened without the sword, especially after miss Prominence saw that… that Mistake walking around the wrecked battlefield with it,” Harriet hung her head low, and poked her chest, “Plus, I’m… this now. Anyone I come into contact with back home will just be scared of me, and anyone I might want to… get close to… if you know what I mean… will risk turning into a Corrupted themselves. There’s a Corrupted territory fairly close to Windy, and everyone there is already scared of it spreading. And my dad is a dragon, Gem. They barely like ponies. Him falling in love with my mother was already a super rare thing, and now his daughter is this creature who can only be a danger to everyone around her even if she by some miracle retains her self-control.” “Harriet, no matter what, he’s your dad. I have heard that dragon parenting instincts aren’t,” she looked for the right word that wasn’t ‘existent’, “the strongest, but I don’t doubt for a second that he loves you and will love you no matter what. Take me, for example. My father lives in a hive nearby, and I haven’t seen him in months. Our entire hive lives underground, with only the occasional contact with the Crystal Empire, other than me and sometimes Three. I’m not exactly a model changeling, with my aversion to violence and because I’m travelling all the time undisguised, but he loves me nonetheless. Hole, he loves all of us, and if you want to talk about a species with actually zero natural parenting instincts, then it’s changelings,” Gem patted Harriet’s head when she saw she wasn’t getting through to her as much as she’d like, “Besides, now you’ve got a ton of stories to tell in your little tavern, don’t you? You brought an end to the invasion, you ruined a zebra slaver ring, you’ve met all the princesses as well as old Bugbutt.” “Gem, I caused-” A changeling hoof in her mouth stopped her objection. “Now here’s where you’re thinking too much of yourself, Harriet. If you hadn’t brought the sword, someone else would have been manipulated or forced to do so, I’m hundred percent certain of it. Evil plans work like that, I know. I would actually call it a stroke of luck that the sword ended in such capable hooves as yours. Besides, it’s not like you have to share every little detail. Maybe just focus on the bits that led to us surviving and coming back when you’re eventually telling those stories to your foals one day, hmm?” Harriet sighed. “I can’t, Gem,” she said, “It took me all the trip here, but I finally found the courage to write a letter to my dad about everything that happened. He’s going to know what I did in full.” Gem instantly became suspicious of the form in which Harriet must have recounted the events. She sighed internally. The work of a good-hearted, meddling changeling infiltrator is never over. “You know what I think you need?” Harriet shook her head. “A hug!” Gem beamed and shook her head, “Not from me, no, but I know the best expert in huggery in the world. Luckily for you, he lives nearby.” She quickly stood up and left confused Harriet sitting on the bench. Her first steps didn’t lead out of the camp and towards her hive, though. Instead, she looked up the public letter courier’s tent.  She didn’t even have to bite the earthpony stallion. A smile, some pheromones, and a suggestive wiggle of her hips coupled with genuine worry for her friend broke his will quickly, and he helped Gem find the required letter in a surprisingly large pile. It looked like the guards stationed here were fond of writing home often. Gem unrolled the parchment, and read it while the courier stared dazedly at the tent wall with the occasional peek at her backside. Gem didn’t mind, considering it a reward for his help. “Miss you, dad...” Gem mumbled to herself while reading, “caused the death of millions… Corrupted monster… will stay here until I die or lose my mind… inevitable… avenged mom...” to herself, she added, “Nope, that won’t do.” Gem took a magical crystal lamp hanging on the central pole, took the power crystal out, spat on it, and then put it to the letter which burst into flames and burned to ash within seconds. “Hey!” the courier broke his daze for a moment when he realized what Gem had done. “I believe that my friend will want to reconsider some formulations in that letter, that’s all,” Gem looked at the earthpony, and smiled, “By the way, I haven’t been here, and I definitely haven’t just done that.” “Okay...” he said slowly. “Good colt,” Gem leaned close and gave him a long kiss. With that sorted out, she left. There was a long trip ahead of her. Not for just some hugs, but for the best hugs. *** The cavern with rough walls dotted with black istrium crystals was lit only by the faint green glimmer of changeling love crystals set in the ceiling. In its center were two narrow black obelisks a pony length away from each other and taller than princess Celestia. They sprung up to life, crackling with power, and lightning arced between them. Shortly after, an eye-watering tear in reality opened, letting in the stumbling equine form of Flow, complete with his istrium mask. “Finally,” he breathed out, “the right amount of legs,” looking up, he noticed Mistake standing nearby and watching him, “How long was I gone?” “Over two weeks,” replied the unicorn, standing still and simply observing, “In the meantime, ponies figured out where the gate is, and the zebra army was vaporized. We have all the seals, if...” Mistake left the question hanging in the air. In a small flash of light, the seal from Cadance’s vault appeared hanging in the air before floating over to Mistake. “All of them,” said Flow, “The only thing left is to place them, and then...” “And then it will all be over,” Mistake finished the sentence, “Finally. However, placing the keys will be a problem. As I said, the alicorns know about the gate, and the central altar area is in the middle of it.” Flow facehoofed. “On the other hoof… what do few dozens more lives matter at this point? You know what to do.” Mistake nodded, and disappeared with a flash. Short moment later, Flow did the same in a much less flashy way. *** Hex Guards surrounded Gem as she walked past the camp checkpoint the next day, aiming their spears not exactly at her, but at the changeling drone riding on her back who waved at them with a happy smile. “Miss Gem, you know the access to this place is heavily restricted,” said the leading unicorn guard firmly. “I brought… you can call him moral support,” said Gem, unbothered, “He’ll just be here for few hours, that’s all.” “Miss, I need to inform my superiors about this,” the guard insisted. “Sure,” Gem shrugged, “In fact, why don’t you tell the princesses. It’ll be the quickest.” The unicorn narrowed his eyes, and upheld his orders by sending a second unicorn towards the center of the camp where princesses Luna and Celestia were staying in what was technically a war council tent. As a Hex Guard, he would have preferred princess Twilight’s blessing, but she was busy solving this whole Flow situation, and kept disappearing and reappearing on hourly basis. He flinched when princess Luna materialized with a loud pop next to him, looking straight at the strange, small changeling with strings of purple glimmering runes over his legs and barrel. “Greetings, Three, long time no see!” Luna smiled at the changeling who waved back, jumped off of Gem’s back, flew over to Luna, and hugged her neck, “Two- three years, was it?” “Boss doesn’t like me travelling on my own because of the big Twisted around… I mean Corrupted, so I can only go past the Crystal Empire with miss Gem when someone else needs to go outside too,” he lets Luna go, and lands on the ground, ”Come to think about it, miss Gem promised me a big surprise.” “Oh?” Luna tilted her head, having a look at the smirking changeling. “Harriet hasn’t been feeling herself lately, so I decided to pull out the big guns.” “But I left my Big Friendship Gun at home, miss Gem,” Three gave her a puzzled glance, “And only baddies need remedial friendship camp anyway,” he narrowed his eyes, “Are there secret baddies around?” he flexed his forelegs, failing to show any muscles, and kissed them in turn, “I got my hoofsies ready for them, both Huggy and Huggy Harder!” Three of the nearest guards didn’t know it yet, but they just caught diabetes. Even Luna clutched her chest, muttering: “Thank stars for alicorn vitality...” she shook her head, “How are things at home anyway, Gem?” “No idea, I thought time was of the essence, so I didn’t go all the way there. As soon as I could reach Three through the hive mind, I told him there was a hugging emergency, and he teleported all the way to me.” “Over Corrupted territory?” Luna blinked. Gem snickered. “One, it was through the underground tunnel. Two, corruption isn’t spreading too far through the frozen tundra, so we’re in the clear pretty much up here. And three, don’t try to understand Three’s powers when hugs and the need for cheering up are involved.” “Yep,” Three nodded with enthusiasim, “Nothing can stop me from making the life of nice ponies just that tiny bit better through the power of huggery!” More unicorns around clutched their chests, starting to gasp for breath. This time, Luna noticed. “Understood, Three. Guards, this particular changeling has free movement around the camp. Gem, Three, be about your business before Twilight arrives to see why most of her guards are in the infirmary with a case of heart-attack.” “I can hug it better...” Three offered, upon which Luna immediately shook her head. “I don’t think that in this particular case-” Gem, currently passing by, leaned to her ear and whispered: “He can cure cancer that way, no one understands how or why.” The corner of Luna’s mouth twitched, and she corrected herself. “I do believe that the issue for which Gem brought you here is more important at the moment.” “Exactly,” Gem nodded, “Come on, Three. Don’t bother the already busy ponies.” “Bye, princess,” he waved back as he followed Gem, “Bye, purple guardponies.” Gem spotted Harriet several minutes later by the southern end of the barricade of wood reinforced with metal marking the border of the camp. The guards had made significant progress during the day she was gone, and were digging actual trenches with fortifications. How that would help against Flow was beyond Gem, but it would slow any conventional attack thrown their way.  Harriet was sitting alone, looking into the distance, and noticed Gem and Three only as the thin layer of frozen snow on the ground crunched under their hooves. “Heya, Harriet!” Gem smiled at the mare when she turned around, “How’s it going?” Harriet forced a smile. “Still out of place, miss Gem. A night’s sleep didn’t change much,” she pointed her back tentacle at the nearest working group of ponies, “Everyone’s always busy, so I don’t have much to do,” she looked down at the comparatively tiny changeling drone watching her wibbling back tentacle with open amazement, “Who’s the little guy?” “So wobbly...” mutters Three. “That’s Three,” Gem patted Three’s head, “He would like to meet you.” “Me?” Harriet blinked. Three’s wings buzzed as he flew up to Harriet’s eye level, still transfixed by her back tentacle. “He’s been curious about the possibility of a friendly Corrupted for a long time, but Queen Spring’s spawn are more simple animals than someone like you, so I decided it would make his day to finally meet a smart one.” “Nice to meet you, Three,” Harriet raised a hoof which Three grabbed with his both, and shook it vigorously. “You’re SO AWESOME!” he squeaked, making Harriet blink in surprise. “Ummm, am I?” “Uh huh,” Three nodded, “You’re so big. Not as big as miss Cryo, no, but for a pony you’re really huge. I mean, if you hug someone, they stay hugged, right?” “If I overdo it, yeah...” Harriet’s mood dropped a little further. “You can’t overdo hugs, miss Harriet,” said Three with genuine ‘you are so silly’ inflection, “Try it on me, go on!” Waiting for nothing, all Three’s four legs clamped around Harriet’s neck and chest. In response, the stunned Corrupted mare couldn’t do more than to wrap her forelegs around him as well. “Don’t be afraid, miss Harriet. Tighter!” With a sigh, Harriet decided to apply a little more pressure which for her combination of a dragonpony and a Corrupted strength could probably crush a steel girder if pushed far enough. She didn’t even make Three budge, so she added a little more pressure. More. And more. And then she stopped. Part of her wanted to show the little drone how dangerous she was, that if she wanted she could crush him into paste, but that part was instantly stomped under the unstoppable hooves of the rest of her, which stated with firm authority that there would be no harm caused today, even as a lesson. Her self-control won, and at this moment Harriet knew it wouldn’t lose to the corruption no matter what. Instead, she pried Three off of herself, and put him back on the ground. “You’re quite the hugger yourself, miss Harriet,” Three beamed, “But you can’t beat me. I’ve been hugging since I was a tiny drone all those cent- ceti- hundreds of years ago.” “You are still tiny,” Harriet booped his nose, upon which Three scrunched it. “Only where it doesn’t count,” he replied with confidence which hit Harriet like a truck, “You are huuuge, though.” “Only where it doesn’t count,” she chuckled and her tentacle patted Three’s head. “They can extend?” the drone gasped with pure joy. “They can do a lot more. Wanna see?” she leaned closer with a conspiratorial smile. Three nodded so fast his head became a blur. In one smooth motion, the remaining five tentacles sprouted from Harriet’s back, all spread around and pointing at Three whose eyes went wide, and his jaw dropped. “OH MY GOSH, YOU COULD HUG SO MANY PONIES AT ONCE!” his high-pitched squeak made the nearest guards turn their heads towards the duo. The only thing they saw was a small changeling bouncing up and down like ball dribbled by a hoofball player on cocaine binge. Then the changeling sprouted six tentacles from his own back as well in a burst of green fire. They were much thinner and completely uncoordinated, trying to touch the much bigger ones of Harriet. When Gem returned after some ten minutes in the central tent with Prominence briefing her about the situation being pretty much the same as when she’d left, all she saw was a changeling and a Corrupted playing patty cake with their tentacles and giggling all the time. Nothing out of ordinary, not at all. With that, she decided not to bother them, and went for a walk instead. After all, Three could contact her via the hive mind at any point as long as she wasn’t too far. Three. Making the world better one hug at a time.