//------------------------------// // From Bad To Worse: Preparation // Story: Imbalanced // by Nameless Narrator //------------------------------// [Choking's Entry] Writing an official letter of Blaze's death was something I've never even imagined I would have to do. With weekend rapidly approaching, I'm thinking of taking a day off and going to Manehatten on Sunday so I can find his home and offer my condolences. Thank Celestia it's Friday and Blaze's recruits are so good that I can leave them to their evening lessons just with directions and go to Blaze's place to find what I need. [End Entry] Ignoring the evening lesson, I can finally go explore Blaze's place and try to find something which would give me pointers for my combat skills. After all, Blaze learned everything from magazines so why couldn't I? My weapon proficiency is awful. It's not a problem that I'm fairly small and weak compared to specialists. Mares usually overcome that obstacle by having custom weapons made for them as soon as possible but I have a moral problem with swords especially, one caused by Blaze. Weapons give you power, right? What if you are somepony who doesn't have the discipline to use them? You get free power and gain an advantage over a pony infinitely better than you. Coming from Blaze, this was something almost ironic as his mental stability was something even I had to question from time to time. The irony was even stronger thanks to him being an excellent swordspony. I miss him... "Thieves?" When the broken door of Blaze's apartment stands in front of me I jump inside, ready to inflict suffering on anypony inside. It's obvious pretty soon that there isn't anypony inside unless they are under the bed or hanging outside the window, with both possibilites being fairly unlikely. Looking around, I notice a freshly open bottle of wine next to the bed. It's a pretty expensive brand as far as I can tell. Most of my coltfriends usually had something else on their mind when in my apartment so my wine-tasting experience is a bit limited in that area. I still take a sip, just out of curiosity. It tastes amazing and its sweetness, strength and penetrating smell lingers in my nose long after I gulp down the rest of the glass. "Who knew Blaze had this good taste? I don't remember him drinking anything other than that glorified washing-up liquid." Deciding to take the bottle home in case I don't find anything useful here, I go through his things. The bed looks used but the mess gives no clue exactly when. The Spitfire pillow catches my eye and out of sheer curiosity I lay on the bed and cuddle it a bit, it's still warm. The appeal of buying such thing is still lost on me but I probably don't meet the 'desperate loner' criteria. Reaching under the bed I pull out few almost unused Playcolt magazines. "Damn, even mine are in worse shape than these." My attention turns towards the bathroom but there is nothing except some vaseline, general hygiene products and a toothbrush lying in the middle of the sink. Wait... didn't Blaze break his last time I was here? "Hmph..." Something feels strange but there is nothing of value here anyway so I turn to the last room of the apartment which is a small storage closet. There isn't much aside from a box with spare pieces of cloth, blankets and other household supplies. The only interesting thing is something looking like a rubber elephant trunk and the reason for having vaseline in the bathroom is clear immediately. "That's kinda big even for me and I thought I was used to a lot of things." A small crate containing the mags I was looking for and some books about griffon grandmasters from a temple somewhere eventually appear and I pick up as many as I can before leaving the storage. Seeing the door from the inside I notice something a casual observer might miss, a wine rack filled with bottles even I've heard of before. They usually came up in very expensive conversations. "This is... treasure." But I can't just take this, can I? I mean Blaze won't need it again but there must be thousands of bits worth of the stuff. At least it explains where his spare money went. In the end I just take my official yellow-black tape and seal the apartment entrance, telling the landlord to take it down after the door is repaired. I head home. Nothing in the apartment helped me in gathering courage needed to face Blaze's parents. Billowing black fog greets me when I open the door of my place. "Please no!" I yell, half suprised and half annoyed. The fog disappears instantly and leaves only Void's figure standing in the middle of the living room. "Greetings!" he waves at me cheerfully. "What was that?" I ask, still looking around. "Just a little experiment regarding my reawakening powers." "Can you please leave it for today? I just want to go to bed, I'm dying." "Then I might have a welcome surprise for you in the kitchen," he says and gestures to the open door with a small nod. A dinner is waiting there for me, something I'm not really used to. It looks... fancy and it's obvious that Void spent a lot of time preparing it but I'm too hungry and tired so I can't even savour the taste. As my belly fills up, my head empties and finally I just collapse on the bed and the last thing I feel are Void's legs wrapping around me when he gets under the blanket few short minutes after. Saturday morning comes and brings with it my most liked day of the week. I have enough time to sleep and sleep and sleep, then grab some drinks with friends and finish the day with my hooves wrapped around some adventurous colt. There is nothing of that sort today and the sensation of a warm. fuzzy pillow next to me doesn't surprise me anymore and I just huddle closer to it and enjoy every second of warmth and peace it can give. My attention is requited as Void hugs me tight and mumbles quietly: "I could get used to waking up like this again." "Yea. It makes me think I'm ready for a serious relationship," I reply half-jokingly with the key part being 'half'. "Well I would be okay with it but Scream might be a bit jealous and decide to be serious as well for once." Thank Luna for his gentle refusal to my unfortunate comment. "I wouldn't want to be there when it happens." "Do not worry, she would find you anyway and grant you the most pleasant end possible." "Tempting, tempting. Almost as tempting as a breakfast. Do you want some sandwiches?" "I will take care of that, freeloading has never really been my thing." "Oh right, thanks for the dinner yesterday, it was fantastic... a bit cold though." "I am not much of a cook but I think that was your own fault," replies Void with fake hurt expression. "Sorry, I didn't mean it. I usually eat out or just order something. I've never actually had food like that here... most of my visitors have different things in mind." With amusement, Void pretends to look under the blanket and whistles. "I can see that." I blush and pull the covers up to my neck. Then it hits me, he's joking. Somehow it just felt a bit different... perhaps something I want as well? It's easy to laugh it off though, Scream's punishment for any inappropriate actions would result in really interesting ways of pleasure and pain for both of us. I remember one concern from yesterday. "Jokes aside, how would you deal with somepony who hates you for completely no obvious reason?" "Are they dangerous?" "Possibly." "Wipe them out from existence." Some things are much easier for the alicorn of death compared to a simple batpony. "I don't think that's the possibility here. See, I have to bring the news of Blaze's death to his parents and his father kinda hates batponies." "Why, has he met you before?" "Very funny. No, he's just a crazy unicorn leader of the Order of Silver Sun, a bunch of fanatics so crazy about Celestia even she doesn't like them." "Silver Sun, is he colorblind?" "Heh no, it's just that they revere Celestia so much that they don't dare compare themselves to the real sun, it's really stupid." "You seem to know a lot about them." "They were in direct opposition to the Cult of Luna, surely I don't have to tell you why." "Nightmare Moon, right?" "Yea. On top of that they hate batponies in general and Blinding Light is the worst." "Blazing Light's father, I suppose?" "Yea. Soooo... got any tips on dealing with him?" "Is it important that he likes you?" "No." "Then just saying that Blazing Light died in the course of his duty should be enough." "I would kinda like to know why Blaze was the way he was." "Alright then. Firstly - remember that everything he is saying makes sense to him even if you do not understand. Secondly - do not judge. It will only make him less inclined to talk to you. Thirdly - grow a horn, bleach your coat and saw off your wings." "I think I'll stick to the first two." "Good idea." "Thanks, I think I'll take the breakfast offer now." "Let me have a look at what is there available in the kitchen." "You really are a well-trained pet," I taunt and smile apologetically when I realize that this time I've really gone too far. He sighs and changes his direction towards the bathroom. I just fall back on the bed and doze off, I'm really not a morning pony. A still frowning Void wakes me up with a nudge accompanied by a smell of fresh coffee and- "Am I so irresistible that you have to start drooling whenever you see me or is it just your uncontrollable libido?" he tries to make a joke but the bitterness in his voice is still clear. I immediately know jokes aren't the way to go now. The last thing somepony with nothing left in this world has is his pride and I hurt that. A memory of some old coltfriend who was into dominance stuff comes to mind. The experience left me standing in rubber outfit and a whip in my teeth with a blushing pony who never wanted to see me again. "I-it's the breakfast, it smells pretty great," I just admit. "More like a lunch, you have slept for few hours and I had to go shopping anyway, there were some bits in a bag by the door." "Oh no, my vacation fund!" I scream in horror which causes Void to look around nervously. It is almost too easy to make the avatar of Death uncomfortable and regain control of the situation. "Just kidding, sorry if I've gone too far. I really enjoy having you around no matter the circumstances." Void's expression thaws a little. "The food is in the kitchen. I will stay here and keep trying to find out how much of my power can this body handle." "You're not going to eat?" "I have already had a bite." Seeing that time is the best solution to the emerging rift between us, I don't try to press Void further and just go to the kitchen where the enticing smell of coffee was coming from. "Holy... !" A beautifully laid table is waiting for me filled with cups of coffee, water, servings of sugar and milk and every little thing imaginable including sugarcube thongs which I'm not even aware of having. The food, however, puts all that to shame as plates filled with spaced cabbage leaves, white and black bread, daisies, carrots and a variety of flowers and vegetables I don't recognize forcibly resume my drooling. With pinpoint accuracy and piggish greed I begin devouring the parts of my brunch I can identify and love, then only the identifiable parts remain and I butcher the ranks of those as well. In the end only the unknown parts remain and thanks to being completely spent after yesterday I'm not averse to broadening my culinary horizons. Unfortunately, due to my panic about recruits yesterday I've completely forgotten the official letter about Blazing's demise in the castle. The closer to the departure I am the more my hope to find both Blazing's parents evaporates however. "Calm down, what can realistically happen? They're gonna cry a bit and then you'll leave. With the bad news, Blinding Light probably won't even notice you're a batpony." With a sigh, I leave the emptied table and go to the living room where I put on my silver armor and all the official regalia. Even if I'm not on duty I will need them for things to look as official as possible to make Blazing's parents feel better. Unwilling to break Void's concentration in the next room, I just leave without saying anything believing time will help more than anything now. Maybe I could buy him something nice?